Sale St Brewery, Freemans Bay

I am a bit of a snob. There, I said it. I'm not necessarily proud of it, but it's probably true. The more mainstream a band gets, the less I'm inclined to like them. I got considerably less enthused about seeing Slumdog Millionaire when it won all those Academy Awards. By the time the Fat Duck was a staple on the corporate entertainment circuit, it had lost all its appeal to me. Thus I'd decided well in advance that I really couldn't be arsed with Sale St.

News of Sale St had reached us by the time we arrived in Auckland in January, and mentions of it have kept cropping up since then, generally in explanations of hangovers, 'what a great place' and so on. When we decided to meet for lunch there, I was in two minds about what to expect. It's a big place, with lots of different faces - a bar, a cafe, a restaurant, a brewery, a live music venue, serving bar food, pizzas, brunch... and this often spells A V O I D. Over-egging a proposition usually leads to chaos, and those many things done half-heartedly. I'd rather see one thing done well, than be subjected to a hospitality version of a Swiss army knife.

The multi-function aspect to Sale St isn't immediately apparent, which in my book is a good thing, managing to feel intimate whilst actually being pretty big. It reminded me a lot of Cargo, back in London, but smarter, with better food, and less full of children. It's laid-back to the point of being fully reclined, with service attaining that beautiful level of appearing off-hand and lazy, but in reality being highly efficient and attentive. Offering sunblock to those sitting outside is a nice touch that's all too rare in New Zealand.

The brewery itself turns out some interesting stuff. Asking about the local brews produced a few samples and a helpful chat through them - the summer ale in particular is a peculiarly good one, with flavours of ginger and honey making an excellent food beer. The Ponsonby Gold, being less unique, is a much better session beer, smooth and full-flavoured. The wine list is worth a look, too - and better still, your waiter will probably know their way around it, too - how often can you say that??

On the food front, the brunch menu is pretty average in content, but the bar menu is where the kitchen seems to come to life a bit. It's refreshingly simple, showing a reliance on quality ingredients and cooking skill, rather than the overload of flavours New Zealand restaurants seem to love. Chilli salted squid was tender and judiciously flavoured, with some excellent nuoc cham on the side. Fries were spot on, crisp and fluffy inside, a massive portion with a good helping of harissa mayo.

The pizzas look good too, despite an odd pricing policy putting them at $22, way more than anything else on the bar menu. They are a healthy 12" though, and the toppings look fresh, well-matched and believably Italian for the most part. No pineapple in sight - grown-ups and anyone who's ever been to Italy will be pleased. The coffee was good, not great, serving a relatively bitter roast which would appeal to some palates but definitely not all.

So on the whole, I'd been prepared to be disappointed, but it's actually a great venue - and we're looking forward to going back, either for lunch or for drinks, or perhaps both... I guess the beauty of Sale St is that you could conceivably stay there from breakfast til closing time, and provided you changes seats a few times, it wouldn't get boring.

And on my opening point - I stand corrected. This once.


Sale St Brewery
7 Sale Street
Freemans Bay
Auckland

+64 (0) 9 307 8148
http://www.salest.co.nz

Soljans Café, Kumeu

Some years ago, back in the UK, I worked in marketing for one of the UK's largest independent wine retailers. As part of the job, the occasional perk included trips to wineries around the world. Almost invariably, the following rule applied: the more expensive / flash / pretentious the restaurant, the more bland / boring / overpriced the wine. I don't mean to be overly judgemental here, but it does make sense - there's not a lot of money in wine, so if serving pretend haute cuisine to tourists makes more of it, more effort should be expended in that direction. If the wine suffers as a result, so be it.

This, it has to be said, is a viewpoint borne mainly of European vineyards, and my experience in New Zealand has been slightly better, if not entirely different. The food at Mills Reef, for example, is excellent, and the wine is well above average. The food at Black Barn is terrific, and the wine is similarly great. Soljans also proves me wrong, being entirely average on both counts.

Saturday lunch is prime time for winery restaurants, most of them not opening for dinner. As such, Soljans was packed, and we were fortunate to get an outside table - inside looking, sounding and feeling like a school cafeteria. A delightful view of the car park and SH16 was spoilt only slightly by a few well-manicured vines. The menu is an interesting read, with more ingredients per dish than I have in my pantry at home, and the wine list is comprehensive, covering all the usual suspects at very reasonably ($8-9 a glass) prices.

I put myself in the hands of whoever wrote the menu, going for the recommended Pinot Gris with my Croatian salt and pepper lignja (squid), and yes, it was a pleasant glass of wine which would be perfect for someone who didn't really like Pinot Gris. No real varietal character, some fruit salad flavours and a twinge of acidity. To their credit, the bar served it at precisely the right temperature, rather than chilled to within an inch of its life.

Food-wise, my squid was excellently cooked, not rubbery in the slightest, and the spiced coating, despite there being a ton of competing flavours in there, actually worked quite well. Roughly ground spices meant for a fairly gritty mouthful though, and the heaps of dry spice did detract from the tenderness of the squid. A bit of sauce, whether integrated or to the side, would have helped here. Accompanying salad was fine, simple and fresh-tasting.

A quick straw poll around the table had similar results - all good, not great, satisfactory, not thrilling. At around $30 per head, I reckon that's about right, too. On the whole, we'd come out here to get out of the city a bit, to meet up for Saturday lunch and do the social thing, and to that end it served its purpose well. If you're visiting this winery expecting great wine or top notch cuisine though, you might well be a little disappointed.


Soljans Café
366 State Highway 16
Kumeu
Auckland

+64 (9) 4125858

Sierra, Mission Bay

If there's one thing New Zealand does exceptionally well with a remarkable degree of consistency, it's cafés. This is something the UK struggles with, even in these enlightened times. Every time I've visited New Zealand, and on numerous occasions since we've moved here, I've been impressed by the average standard - from the quality of the coffee (except in Esquires, always excellent) to the muffins, sandwiches and larger plates, you're almost always in good hands.

Sierra is a cookie-cutter modern New Zealand café, all clean, white lines and classic brunch-style menu. The coffee is slightly above average, the food definitely in the top quartile, with the missus' pancakes fluffy and light, with a healthy serving of lean bacon and plenty of fruit and syrup. My grill was excellently cooked throughout, with superbly rich creamed field mushrooms in addition to the usual suspects. One criticism I do have is the way they add in unadvertised ingredients - the sausages for example were actually kranskys, those little Polish sausages which I love, but not for breakfast. A difference which was worth mentioning, I think. Also with the kumara mixed in with the sautéed potatoes - I'm a fan of kumara in general, but it's a very different flavour to potato and thus shouldn't be snuck into a well-worn formula like breakfast without mentioning it on the menu.

Service was pleasant and efficient, portions were on the large side, prices were reasonable given the location, and that'll do me, thank you very much. A great place for brunch.


Sierra Café
2/33 Tamaki Drive
Mission Bay
Auckland

+64 (9) 521 0818