Where: 157 Pt Chevalier Rd, Pt Chevalier. Ph (09) 815 2175.
Our meal: $267.50 for starters, six mains, three desserts, coffees, a beer and a bottle of wine.
Wine list: Fine. After all, it's a bar too.
Verdict: Limited choice, which should improve, nice atmosphere, and outstanding service.
Out of 10
Food: 6
Service: 10
Value: 8
Ambience: 7
KEY POINTS:
Pasta and Opera, now surf and turf. The former home of highbrow music and excellent Italian food has become a bar/restaurant offering more traditional New Zealand fare, in both food and music. But the excellence, in some part, remains. With the threat - or promise - of a major Christmas catering onslaught looming, a night out where someone else cooks seemed a sensible idea. So six of us gathered to eat, drink and talk.
The former P & O has had an interior makeover, too. French cafe-style chairs suit the modern decor, a large mirror reflects light from the streetside windows, and a gas fireplace with wooden surround promises good things in the colder weather. A covered extension next to the dining area bodes well for the winter too, with outdoor heating.
After the great first impression, the menu came as a shock. Many items were crossed out with felt-tip pen, and the rest only just covered the bases. Fish, steak, chicken - all cooked various ways - with one pasta offering.
In its defence, the restaurant had just taken on a new head chef, Vini Tongalahi, late of the Stone Oven in Devonport and Deve in Kingsland. He was in the process of revamping the menu, which should be in place this month. The bread and dips we had as starters ($7.50 for two) were meagre, only three dips and very little bread, insufficient for six people even though we had asked for a larger platter.
The mains made up for it. Merima's chicken breast ($25) was stuffed with mushrooms, almonds and spinach and wrapped in bacon, and arrived with a stuffed capsicum. Too many flavours, she reported, but wonderful presentation. My snapper with lemon caper butter ($26) was beautifully cooked and delicately flavoured. George's seared tuna ($26) suited him perfectly, rare in the middle and generous. Kevin's eye fillet ($32) was melt-in-the-mouth. When it came to Barbara's order, she was in a quandary, with no vegetarian options on the menu. When this was explained to our excellent waitress, she nodded, disappeared into the kitchen and a miraculously short time later, reappeared with a vegetable stack ($15) that the chef had put together. It should be on the menu, according to Barbara.
Bill's seafood platter ($40) contained all the things he likes and none that he doesn't. He was even more impressed when a fingerbowl and steaming towel arrived to help him clean up. Our desserts (at $9 each) of icecream sundae, chocolate cake and creme brulee were fine without being exceptional.
D's (pity about the name, it makes it very difficult to find in the phone book) is a very good neighbourhood restaurant, and Tongalahi is a real asset. But one thing sets it above others of similar ilk - the service: Faultless. Good work.
