Tabou in Kingsland has hit its stride. Photo / Janna Dixon
Rating: * * * *
Where:462 New North Rd, Kingsland, www.tabou.co.nz
Ph: (09) 846 3474
Wine list:Not big, but very smart. Cocktails too.
Vegetarians: No main course on our menu.
Watch out for:At last, a great Caesar salad.
Bottom line: Class act.
At the time of writing, a political journalist was comparing our attitude to the recession to that of people milling about on a beach after a tsunami warning: "We know it's coming," he said, "but we don't know how big it is or how far inland it's going to go."
Of course, there is a view that those with money should spend it. It's a sort of social duty, the logic goes, because it stimulates the economy. Things may have changed by the time this appears in print, of course, but in the week before Easter, Kingsland was in recession-busting mood and I couldn't get a table at Tabou. At Easter itself, the strip was still busy but enough people were out of town - stimulating other parts of the economy, bless them - to leave room at Tabou for the Professor and me.
I had been to Tabou not long after it opened and thought the food mildly overwrought and the service more chic than warm. But more than two years on, the place is still popular and it isn't hard to see why.
I was interested to see that some dishes have stood the test of time: the chicken livers with grapes and Marsala and a duck with watercress risotto were there on day one. But the rest seems less fussy than I remember it: onion soup or mussel fritters for entree; steak with potato bake or coq au vin as a main. This is hearty food put together with panache.
They also offer what they call amuse-gueules, though they are really tapas that can be served as appetisers: almonds, olives or dates stuffed with chilli and goat's cheese, as well as bar snacks like bowls of fries or little fishcakes. The amuse-gueule (literally "mouth amuser") was originally a little morsel of the chef's choosing served before - or less commonly during - the meal. In any case, there was plenty on the small but substantial menu (five entrees, six mains - plus several specials) to keep us occupied.
A crisp French sauvignon blanc proved ideally suited to both my courses: a perfect account of a Caesar salad (big crisp rashers of pancetta, a soft poached egg, a delicate but tasty dressing) and a big fillet of crispy-skinned snapper which came atop a deliciously wintry medley of steamed vegetables (Easter, you'll remember, is when winter announced its intentions).
Across the table, the good Professor was much taken with a special of house-made gnocchi which came with her whole five-plus-a-day supply of veges: peas, zucchini, tomato and olives.
She followed that up with the aforementioned duck leg. I forbore to mention that she had it last time and said it was dry because I wanted to see whether things had improved: they had - the skin was crisp but the meat was juicy and the moist, neatly circular pile of watercress risotto and balsamic-soused cherries were a perfect accompaniment. A superb apple tarte and a peach Melba completed the picture.
Maybe I was a bit fussy last time; maybe Tabou has warmed to its task. Perhaps a bit of both.
Either way, I heartily recommend it. And now that they've introduced a prix fixe menu from Tuesday to Thursday (two courses $35; three courses $45) they're ready for that recession.
