Tonight was dinner at the famous Auckland landmark: French Cafe. It has been rated in the top 10 restaurants in Auckland for the past 4 years at least. As in SF, I've tried to make it a point to check out the top restaurants around town. I usually like to dine with folks that enjoy food and are not concerned about the cost. This gets to be difficult in Auckland unless you are part of the elite. So, my tristes to upscale restaraunts are more by way of celebrations of friendship and experiences.
The decor is light and the staff delightful. As an American living in Auckland for two years, it felt really nice to finally do it up as I used to in San Francisco. We dined with our wonderful Kiwi friends. The last time they enjoyed this restaraunt was a good 20 years ago. I had no idea this restaurant was around for that long! Simon Wright is the Chef/Owner of the restaurant. He has trained in Europe´s top Hotels and Michelin Star Restaurants. Simon changes the menu monthly in order to utilise the best ingredients available. Simon Wright believes he is a better chef for moving to New Zealand. With an eye to the top end, he’d worked in some of London’s best kitchens – “and New Zealand forced me to be more creative”, he says. “It would have been so much harder in London.
One must look at several types of menus -1) Tasting menu - 6 courses - $90/person; with optional $60/person wine matching
2) Chef's tasting menu - 11 courses - $120/person with optional $85/person wine matching.
3) A la carte: appetizers ~$18; First course ~$25; and mains- $40.00
All four of us did the tasting menu. It started off with a tiny dish called an
"AMUSE BOUCHE": Creamy pate stuffed in crispy cannelloni laid on a pear salad. Well, that is all I could recall; my mind was overwhelmed at how this dish was so well put together.
Other courses were:
MARINATED TUNA
picked crab, aromatic herb salad, toasted rice, lime leaf dressing
SEARED SCALLOP
crispy pork, cauliflower and almond puree, apple salad
ROASTED FRENCH GOATS CHEESE
caramelised onion, beetroot and fig tart, red wine syrup
SEARED DUCK BREAST
sweet spices, steamed bok choy, kumara mash, jus of oranges
or
CRISPY-SKINNED SNAPPER
pearl barley and sweetcorn risotto, prawns, crushed basil
ELDERFLOWER AND CHAMPAGNE GRANITA
lemon cream, blueberry compote
BAKED CHOCOLATE SABLEE TART
toffee cream, chocolate sauce, roasted hazelnuts,malted milk ice cream
The whole menu was a gustatory delight! Although the whole menu was well presented and the flavors were tingle to the taste buds -the best of the menu items were the Amuse Bouche, Roasted French Goats cheese, Seared duck breast and elderflower dessert.
The Goat cheese was divine - the cheese was home made - lovely soft and not too strong. The pastry was light and buttery and the presentation a work of art. Here is a picture:
Overall dinner was worth it. The variety of flavors and pairings with wine were fantastic.
The price for all 4 with 6 courses each and 4 different types of wine = $600.
Add to this tip. Now here is where it got funky. As an American the tip calculator should have been ready to calculate; however living in Auckland for 2 years and not required to pay a tip for over two years...well let's just say the tip calculator no longer worked. So when I saw the EFTpos asking me for a tip on the teeny weeny screen for the first time- I stood there dumbfounded trying to calculate it out. Instead of $50 I typed in $5.00 for tip. Restaurant fanatics beware that tips are making a comeback in Auckland.