Review: Clooney, Freeman's Bay

Clooney's free range pig with quince, celery, rosemary, walnut and mustard. Photo / Nick Reed

Address: 33 Sale St, Freemans Bay, Auckland
Phone: (09) 358 1702
Rating out of 10: Food: 9, Service: 9, Value: 8, Ambience: 8

Amid the ever-rising and welcome tide of new eating places opening in Auckland there are a handful of longer established venues that provide a benchmark of quality against which the arrivals can be measured. These are places which once novelty has worn off sustain their appeal by consistently supplying those three essentials of a great dining experience: superlative food, expert service and a warm atmosphere.

Since 2006 one of these has been Clooney and our recent visit revealed a fine restaurant, still at the top of its game. This has always been a very individual place and you enter the dining room in lighting of almost sepulchral gloom only to discover the arrangement is such that at the table you can read the menu with ease, unlike a restaurant I visited recently where both I and the diner at the neighbouring table had to resort to using our phones as torches. The curved bench seats are as comfortable as they look and the stringed black dividers provide such an illusion of enclosed privacy that it comes as a surprise when service is delivered from behind you.

That service is totally professional, knowledgeable and efficient and with an undefinable air of pride in working in an elite environment.

And then there's the food. This is the art end of the market, blending imagination with technique and substance with presentation. At times the dishes provide something of the same pleasure as reading a classic detective thriller - what's going on here and how did they do it? There will inevitably be dishes that, for one reason or another, don't suit the individual diner's taste but there are few where you don't see the point of the exercise.

The amuse-bouche was typical, a bland, smooth pureed cauliflower custard set against the popping vibrancy of salmon roe. We have had meals where the amuse-bouche turned out to be the best bit but here the following dishes were not upstaged.

I started with a tuna tartare where the listed accompaniments included white anchovy, eel in ferment, tomato, basil, and watermelon rind. I could not swear that these were all there, although the pungency of the eel highlighted the tuna, but the overall dish was as fresh in flavour as it was visually attractive.

The yellow tail kingfish was similarly received with praise for both its appearance and taste. My main dish of "pig" supplied a trio of delights with melting pork belly, pork loin prepared sous vide, a technique for which this cut is perfectly suited, and rillettes in a black croquette. I solved the mystery of how this was achieved by asking and was told that squid ink dye turned the trick. This may all sound rather too precious but the end result was hearty and satisfying. Our other main of duck breast had an almost peasant look, pink flesh nestling on red cabbage and cavalo nero, and side dishes of tomato and green beans were appealingly simple.

This was followed by a superb little chocolate tart and I went for the prune poached in plum juice accompanied by what appeared to be fragments of a light airy muffin. This was the only dish in which I was slightly disappointed but puddings are even more a matter of taste than mains. The desserts come as part of a three-course $95 a la carte package and there are five- and seven-course tasting options. It is not cheap but for your money you get, without challenge, one of the best eating out experiences in town. And the wine list is simply superb.

Our meal: $274 for two three-course a la carte dinners plus five glasses of wine.

Wine List: A magnificent list with good options by the glass and including a selection of half bottles, something of a rarity these days. The 2010 Prophet's Rock Central Otago dry riesling was outstanding and I enjoyed a novel Azienda Cos cabernet merlot Nero d'Avola from Sicily. The Cloudy Bay late-harvest riesling was a welcome accompaniment to dessert.

Verdict: Superb style and substance without being stuffy. If this doesn't impress, you're very hard to please.