Wine and Roses

 Metro magazine's Jan Corbett reviews this Takapuna restaurant.

I can understand why a restaurant would have a no-bookings policy. It must be annoying, and costly, to hold on to a table whose intended occupants arrive late or never, while other hungry customers are turned away. But I think a no-bookings policy needs two things — a system and a bar. The system is so when you are told a table won’t be avail-able for at least 40 minutes, you can put your name on a priority list and be alerted when one becomes available.

Otherwise you run the risk of wandering off, coming back at the appointed time and finding some lucky new arrival has landed the table ahead of you. And that could be really annoying and unfair, I said tersely to the waitress. The bar, of course, is where you would happily wait for a table and contribute to the eatery’s profit but, alas, Wine and Roses in Takapuna’s Hurstmere Rd restaurant strip doesn’t have one of those either.

With an already full restaurant at 6.45 on a wet and wild Saturday evening — it seats a maximum of 24 — the waitress didn’t seem at all concerned that, given the afore-mentioned issues, we might choose to eat elsewhere. She seemed almost surprised at our determination not to, which I have to say by this point was driven solely by the professional imperative that I’d been asked to review the restaurant and I was jolly well going to.

Plus, as many other reviewers bemoan, in Takapuna there aren’t a lot of choices when you’re looking for good food.

The bar at the neighbouring GPK was the chief beneficiary of our need to wait nearby.

By the time we were seated in Wine and Roses, it was suddenly emptying. The staff tell me the bulk of their clientele arrive between 6.30pm and 7.30pm, but even with that knowledge I’m not sure I’d risk arriving outside those times in hope, especially not if I had guests, for example, or was looking to dine at an appointed time before a show at the Bruce Mason Centre.

Which is a pity, because I would otherwise recommend eating there.

This is the latest restaurant of Martina Lutz (Wine Chambers, the Wine Loft and Number 5) but unlike those other incarnations, wine is not the point here — the list is small, around half a dozen of each hue, but all available by the glass.

And they’re respectful of wine — bringing the bottle to the table for you to inspect the label before pouring a glass, on one occasion accepting the rejection after a taste-test and bringing another without demanding justification.

The menu is also relatively brief with, interestingly, two veal choices but no beef. There’s nothing particularly innovative or exciting — it’s just good, satisfying food that’s reasonably priced.

The scallop and chilli prawn entrée with salad greens and bacon was a meal in itself, the shellfish plump and juicy but the bacon, to my mind, unnecessary; the Caesar salad was aromatic, topped with a soft poached egg and pronounced a triumph; the duck liver pâté with pickled beetroot was a de-light, but yes, I know, difficult to get wrong.

On both visits I ordered the veal — the shank was a little bland to my taste but very tender, although I didn’t understand the accompanying mash in phyllo. The veal marsala served on potato gratin was far more flavoursome and memorable.

On both occasions the pan-fried fish (Hapuku on the first visit, John Dory on the next) served on baby potatoes and slow-roasted tomatoes was perfectly cooked and evoked satisfying coos from across the table. The stand-out dessert is the chocolate cake to beat all chocolate cakes.

Rating: Two stars
Address: 168 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, phone 09 489-9510
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 12 noon
Bill: Entrees $9.50 to $16.50; mains $18.50-$26.50; desserts $9.50.
Stand-out dish: Fish of the day
Noise: Quiet background music conducive to easy conversation.
Chef: Vera Kulikova

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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