Restaurant review: The Glass Goose, Auckland CBD

Chilli wagyu beef lettuce cups at The Glass Goose. Photo / Nick Reed

Address: 78 Federal St, Auckland CBD
Phone: (09) 379 9404
Rating out of 10:Food: 7, Service: 8, Value: 7, Ambience: 8

You'd think that the competition clustered around SkyCity makes Upper Federal St pretty choked already, what with Depot, Masu, The Grill and Gusto at the Grand all clamouring for patrons. But The Glass Goose adds a new dimension. With its down-to-earth Irish waiters, classy fit-out and deafening music inside that had us sitting under the stars despite the southerly breeze, we kept turning to each other and saying: "Isn't this great?"

The food was pretty good too. Although The Glass Goose is a little hard to find, it's worth it. Just head down the alleyway beside Gloria Jean's, up the stairs and you're on the rooftop, all twinkling fairy lights and, for us, a marvellous full moon.

The wooden tables on the deck are spaced well apart and on different levels, some high, some low, giving you a feeling of intimacy, despite the crowd.

The menu, stylishly folded together, offers a mix of sharing plates, a couple of platters and big, satisfying dinners. We started with the sharing Bites, designed as a couple of mouthfuls for one to two people and, if you order two portions as we did, just right for four.

At between $3.50 and $6 each, they turned out to be great value, especially the chargrilled lamb cutlets - big, juicy and tender, the croutons topped with smoked tomato and plenty of tender, zingy white anchovies - and the crumbed pork belly and pancetta ($3.50), which everyone loved. Only the potato cod croquettes disappointed, the delicate cod taste being drowned out.

The place was filling up nicely for a Monday evening and we were well into our drinks: a big bloody mary for him, an equally large gin and tonic for me and wine for the others. It wasn't until the end of our meal that we realised The Glass Goose's wine list is almost exclusively New Zealand, but many of the names so unusual we didn't recognise them. Our waiter, however, knew her ground thoroughly, producing an excellent non-acidic Camshorn riesling.

Despite their small size, our Bites staved off the hunger pangs and it was only after our waiter arrived for the third time that we were shamed into ordering. Glass Goose offers three choices: Large or Medium Plates, something relatively small from the Raw Kitchen, and Sides. Three of us ordered from the Large list. Who could pass up the opportunity to taste fresh blue cod? I swear this is the first time I've ever seen blue cod in Auckland. Our pescatarian was overjoyed (though she did murmur something about "overfishing") before falling on her cod with delight.

The two men, ordered the spicy beef fillet and pork tenderloin accompanied by a side of duck fat potato skins with garlic and rosemary. Both were super-solid helpings of perfectly cooked, tender meat. The pork fillet, which can be dry, was a real stunner and the potato skins just as juicy and sinful as you'd imagine.

Although initially disappointed by my chewy wagyu beef, I changed my mind after a few mouthfuls. Taste is far more important - and this beef, with a little fat still intact, was delicious, especially paired with crunchy lettuce. Even better was the raw kale. It was part of a sweet/sour salad brimming with fennel and chunks of salmon, all lavishly topped with chopped macadamia nuts and a sweet/salty Asian-style fish sauce.

This is probably the first time I have had no room for dessert, but I can assure you that the chocolate marquise with air-dried raspberries I sampled was a near-perfect rendition of the art. Crumbly and chocolatey, it melted on the tongue: delectable.

Our meal: $325 for eight small bites, three large and one medium main course, two desserts and two coffees plus a bloody mary, a gin and tonic and six glasses of wine.

Wine list: Shortish and almost exclusively New Zealand vintages and varieties selected by someone who really knows their stuff, but, at $16 a glass at times, pretty pricey. There's also a wide range of cocktails, including a bloody mary oyster shooter.

Verdict: The Glass Goose is an excellent addition to the line-up
of offerings around the Sky Tower. Its super-cool fit-out stars a glass ceiling over the deck, graceful wooden chairs and tables, some high, some low, allowing you more intimacy than usual. New Zealand-style but with an organic, Asian twist. The atmosphere is friendly and fun, the service efficient and genuinely unpretentious.