Kermadec, Viaduct Quay

By JOHN GARDNER for canvas

A word of warning: avoid dining at the Viaduct Harbour if we are reviewing a restaurant there. Without fail the rain will be sweeping horizontally, driven by gale-force winds, and the passing parade of people and boats that makes the Viaduct so attractive will have been replaced by a convincing facsimile of a ghost town.

A window seat at Kermadec is, in fact, one of the better observation posts and despite the disaster movie overtones, we could still watch the lights flickering through the torrents.

It needed a pleasing dining experience to lift our spirits and we were hoping the upmarket option of one of the Viaduct's veteran venues would turn the trick.

While there are meat options, Kermadec is distinguished by its seafood. In honour of the headlines I felt obliged to start with the scampi tasting plate ($22.50), although the sausage of crab and scampi with langoustine sauce was tempting.

The varied preparation of the little beasts provided some pleasing contrasts, although, for my taste, the simple barbecued option displayed the meltingly sweet scampi at its most tempting.

Our other first course was the seared scallops with Madras curry risotto and lemon grass oil ($19.50), which we chose in experimental mood, not being convinced that a curry and scallops are natural companions.

In the event we treated it as two separate meals with the seared scallops being, as ever, one of the glories of New Zealand produce and the rice piquant without being overpowering.

When it came to the main courses it was hard to turn away from the snapper. I had been looking at some in the supermarket earlier in the day and the price, to quote Belloc out of context, "made one gasp and stretch one's eyes".

But this simple, crispy-skin version with young leek, clam and cocktail tuatua ragout ($29) was a reminder of why snapper is so sought after. It is delicious.

My monkfish with prawns and mussels in a vermouth broth ($28) was satisfying and in the absence of bread - my perpetual gripe - a mussel shell came in handy for slurping up the tasty liquor.

The portions were elegantly presented but not huge - if you had been out catching the fish all day you would have needed a decent complement of side dishes - so desserts were in order.

We were told the caramelised banana and milk chocolate custard, with a banana-nut caramel slice and banana wonton was particularly popular, but decided on the less rich lemon-scented panacotta with poppy seed cake ($11), which was quite subtle, and the raspberry brulee ($11.50), which was a decent specimen of the type and came with what was described as apple-pie icecream.

The service was efficient and professional without leaving much of an impression. The wine list was standard, but had only a poor selection of wines by the glass.

Having encountered the forces of the law conducting an oddly timed compulsory breath test on the way in, we sampled only the Matakana Estate 2003 pinot gris, which was respectable.

In all, a cheerful evening dampened only a little by my heartfelt conviction that seafood is best enjoyed accompanied by warm and balmy breezes.

* Read more about what's happening in the world of food, wine, party places and entertainment in canvas magazine, part of your Weekend Herald print edition.