SPQR, Ponsonby

SPQR's dessert tasting plate.

Herald rating: * * 1/2

The thing about taking a fellow writer to dinner is that the talk inevitably turns to semantics. I'd been thinking SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus — the Senate and the People of Rome) was becoming something of an icon. I mean how many Auckland restaurants are pretty much consistently hot after nearly 14 years?

So Tom and I had a bit of a discussion about the word iconic. We both agreed we don't like it because the meaning has become muddied. But as with all debatable words, it's not a bad idea to check a recent dictionary for the current meaning — the language being such a capricious thing.

One minute a word means one thing (i.e. icon: a religious image) and next time you look it's being used all over the place (think: awesome, conventional, tycoon). Two recently published dictionaries say icon means: somebody or something that is an object of uncritical devotion — such as SPQR. Because it does have its devotees.

On this Thursday night it was full to the gunwales. Just about every table was taken and there was a lot of chat going on, but not a lot of eating. And the crowd seemed younger — most seemed under 35 — than I'd remembered from past visits.

One of SPQR's good-looking waiters — they're all so charming and efficient, those boys — gave us a recently vacated table and menus, and the iced water arrived soon after. A good start.

Tom remembered the first time he dined at SPQR not long after it opened in 1992 and before the al fresco bit was added. He'd had a thin-crust pizza that stacked up well with one he'd had in an Italian place in New York. And not much else had changed — the brass-topped tables and brass light fittings on the walls are still there. The low lighting is fabulous for disguising a multitude of sins but lousy for reading the small type on the menu. We had to ask for a torch to read the dessert menu.

Tom decided to do a pinot noir taste test. And he thought we should try another pizza. I started with a glass of an excellent Gisselbrecht pinot gris ($14) and he had a Sleeping Dogs Pinot Noir ($12) which he found too light for his taste — its nextdoor neighbour's equivalent — the Two Paddocks — was better, he reckoned.

The thin-crust pizza of wild mushrooms (they looked and tasted like button to me), crispy sage and Kikorangi blue cheese ($22.95) was a disappointment. The base was fine, but the topping was just bland with a whole lot of nothing going on. Same with the chicken salad ($22.50) The pieces of chicken breast were dry and tasteless and after a couple of mouthfuls I gave up.

By this stage Tom was on to the Mt Difficulty pinot noir ($16) which later he pronounced the best of the night.

A special of scallops ($19.50) was another disappointment. Such a delicate thing doesn't need the addition of anything complex and the vinegar overwhelmed the little darlings. Such a pity.

Next came the mushroom risotto with truffle oil — a good splash of it — which saved the day. A good risotto is a beautiful thing and this was no exception. It went well with the Auntsfield sauvignon blanc ($8.50). Tom's Lake Chalice pinot noir ($9) had "more grunt" although the Auntsfield pinot noir ($13) "didn't stack up at all".

We decided to splurge and have pudding. The dessert tasting ($24.50) was a combo of a watery pannacotta, not a bad tiramisu, a good chocolate and sour cherry pudding and a couple of other small, sweet things that were lost in the low light. A glass of De Bortoli Noble One ($9.50) was gorgeous, however. Tom finished off with a Remy Martin and took note they'd warmed the glass.

And perhaps that's what SPQR is all about — drinking and chatting, because the food is no great shakes. Maybe that's why the place was full of people doing a lot of talking and not much eating. But it doesn't detract from the fact it's definitely a Ponsonby icon. It's just that the senators are so much younger these days.

Overall: Stylish location, good service, but could do much better with the food.
Where: 150 Ponsonby Rd
(09) 360 1710
Our meal: $211 for two. Four mains, one dessert, nine glasses of wine, one glass of cognac
Our wine: From $6 by the glass to $345 for a bottle of Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame '95