Review: Woodpecker Hill, Parnell

Beef brisket at Woodpecker Hill. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Address: 196 Parnell Rd, Parnell
Phone: (09) 309 5055
Rating out of 10: Food: 8, Service: 8, Value: 7, Ambience: 8

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Those pedants who regularly infest websites to point out smugly that some element of an ethnic restaurant's cuisine is not "authentic" will have something of a problem with Woodpecker Hill. Mark Wallbank and Che Barrington have taken the Thai street food influence from their successful MooChowChow and into the mix have chucked a large dollop of American smoked barbecue style.

The result is a wildly eclectic barrage of tastes and, judging from the crowd when we visited, one likely to be wildly successful. Even the decor is a terrific hodgepodge. Usually the fit-out of an establishment comes a very long way down my priorities when it comes to judging a restaurant. But here it is hard not to be impressed by the copper-coloured bell-shaped lampshades that look as though they have been looted from some Asian temple, while there are marble-topped tables straight from a retro American saloon and the check-out desk appears to be set in a metal channel full of running water.

Amazingly, it all works to provide an entertaining setting and it is even acoustically forgiving, allowing us to converse without too much effort against a very lively background buzz of chatter. All this is very well but the food has to match the expectations aroused by all this ingenuity, and for the most part it did.

It is very much a sharing plate experience and the four of us spread the net pretty wide. We started well, with some oysters nicely topped with little nuggets of pork and a lively lime and chilli dressing, and a MooChowChow favourite in the stuffed betel leaves.

The fresh Thai influence met the American predilection for clams with the excellent dish of South Island clams with squid and lemongrass and chilli, which vanished almost as soon as it landed on the table. The smoked beef brisket was a joyous blend of smoked meaty flavour, but rather drier than we had expected, and the marinated grilled duck was tender and succulent with just enough spicy notes. If the duck was a strong contender for dish of the evening it had stern competition from the soft-shell crab, stir fried and surrounded by a delicious blend of turmeric, shallots, chilli and tamarind.

The meat dishes met our hopes but the vegetable selections were a disappointment. The crispy eggplant wasn't, in fact, crispy and the coriander, sesame and spice accompaniment didn't save the dish from being boring. Deep-fried pickles also failed to impress, turning out to be tempura-style lumps of vegetable with a vinegary undertone.

Another MooChowChow refugee dish, papaya salad, was, however, back up to standard, delivering those fresh Thai accents which are so irresistible.

We had ignored the advice of our excellent server about how many dishes we should order and had eaten ourselves to a standstill and so I am unable to make any judgment on the three desserts listed, which are of the Asian persuasion, one being of sticky black rice with coconut icecream, honeycomb, dark chocolate and banana, but it and its companions looked likely to appeal to the very sweet-toothed.

The service was good throughout and impressively knowledgeable, with one passing staff member picking up a snippet of overheard conversation to inform us of a detail from their long wine list. We had a relaxed and cheerful evening and Parnell can consider itself lucky that the Barrington/Wallbank bandwagon has chosen to park itself on its main street.

Our meal: $334 for nine dishes including 8 oysters, one bottle and three glasses of wine.

Wine list: A large and slightly hard to follow wine list, unusually featuring American wines alongside the usual suspects, plus cocktails, Waiheke whisky and craft beers. The Ransom 2014 Matakana Albarino was underwhelming but the Tim Adams "The Fergus" Clare Valley GSM was outstanding.

Verdict: It is hard to imagine that this very individual restaurant, which combines innovative food with good service and a great atmosphere, will not be a roaring success.