Restaurant Review: Molten

Metro magazine’s Simon Wilson checks out this Mt Eden restaurant.

In a good little restaurant, you can expect the owner/chef/maître d’ to give their personal attention to every little thing. It’s their baby, and they treat it as such.

But in a great little restaurant, that baby remains cute as a button even when the parents are away. I’ve eaten dinner at Molten recently when Michael and Belinda Van de Elzen (owners and, respectively, chef and maître d’) were both away. The restaurant was full, the food was fabulous and no one missed a beat in the service all night.

I’ve also eaten there for lunch, more than once when things were quiet, and I can attest you get the same good level of service however busy or not busy they are. Not too much, not too little: ask for a wine match or about the provenance of the food and they know their stuff; and they are personable, attentive, efficient, and discreet.

So to the food. They were serving an art¬ichoke soup last month that made me think, “Maybe I should just come in for a bowl of this each day.” It was thick, full in the mouth as a winter soup should be, and riddled with elusive flavours: savoury, creamy, with a lin¬gering hint of something sweet.

And piled unsteadily on top of the soup in the middle of the bowl was a small tangle of crispy, shredded duck meat. Rich and tasty, it made a glorious counterpoint to the soup itself, and so, for that matter, did the French Chablis suggested as an accompaniment.

There’s more like this. A slice of mushroom “terrine” encased in puff pastry and served with warmed goat’s cheese. Duck livers entwined into a high pile with mushroom and onion on slices of home-made onion bread. Both are intensely flavoured, the one a passionate statement of vegetarian intent, the other aimed straight at the heart of the carnivore. It’s a small menu, and they don’t muck about.

There’s also a sweetly flavoursome linguine with spinach and ricotta, in which the star is succulent Waikanae crab; roast pumpkin gnocchi; Van de Elzen’s famous salt-and-pepper squid (mostly, one wishes restaurants wouldn’t bother with this, but at Molten it’s a blessing); and tender, juicy, parmesan-encrusted veal escalopes. On paper, none are remarkable dishes. On the plate and in the mouth, they are gorgeous.

On a recent visit, game fish was replaced by “ocean-run salmon” (Marlborough sea-farmed king salmon), with a risotto featuring sweetbreads.

What a delicate dish: the fish was mildly flavoured and warmed to melt-in-the-mouth consistency, with the rice a subtle, perfectly cooked accompaniment.

There are some strikingly original touches in the desserts: tobacco syrup with a choc¬olate torte, lime bombe Alaska and a hot plum pudding that comes with star anise milkshake.

But why stop even there? They also serve dessert cocktails, including a vodka and chocolate concoction whose only problem is that you may end up wanting three; and a “Jelly Tip” in a martini glass, comprising raspberry, vanilla, chocolate and liqueurs.

Molten is simply and comfortably designed. The banquettes are fractionally low for the tables but, that aside, I am not aware of many better ways to await the arrival of summer than to sit in this quiet, warm room, watching the world hurrying past through the rain outside, with a plate of their ex¬quisite food and a glass of something lovely to go with it.

And when summer comes? They have a rear courtyard now. Just waiting for some good weather.

RATING: Two stars (extremely good)
ADDRESS: 422 Mt Eden Rd, Mt Eden, ph 638-7236.
HOURS: Lunch, Tuesday to Saturday from noon; dinner, Monday to Saturday from 6pm.
BILL: Entrées $17.50-$21.50; mains $30-$33.50; desserts $14.50-$16.50.
STAND-OUT DISH: Artichoke soup.
NOISE: Easily conversational.

How Metro reviews
Metro is the only publication in New Zealand that visits restaurants anonymously at least twice. We pay in full and sample at least two courses on our visits.
One star:  very good but some weaknesses
Two stars: extremely good
Three stars: excellent

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