They say we're in the throes of a new internet bubble. Although 'they' have been saying this with some regularity since about 2003, this time it does seem somewhat merited. The pit canary this time seems to be the proliferation of group buying sites, where one can purchase a certain thing at a discounted price provided a sufficient number of people also buy it (or something - these things really don't interest me at all so I've not actually partaken).
My wife, on the other hand, is about as deal-focused as the average East End market trader, and so this sort of thing is like crack cocaine to her. The plan, I guess, is to use these sites to get your brand in front of people who wouldn't normally notice you, and to entice them to buy something they normally wouldn't by offering it at a very cheap price. This explains why we spent an evening not only in the heart of Mount Eden Village, but also in a place that calls itself a 'gastro style bar and restaurant', neither of which would normally appeal.
Let's split that phrase up into the component parts, as the venue itself is divided into the upstairs restaurant, and the bar downstairs, each very different and not really at all related either in concept or atmosphere. The 'gastro' element of the bar is present in the 'tastes' menu available in the bar, with staples like breads and olives and crispy squid and so on. The bar itself offers a solid wine list and a handful of well-made, if not dazzling cocktails, so I suppose you could consider their 'gastro' credentials more or less intact, in that it's a bit more than beer and pork scratchings. As for 'style', it's not as relaxing or as comfortable as a normal pub, but not as glamorous as some of Auckland's more upmarket bars, and at about 8pm on a Saturday night it was practically empty, so I think you can make your own judgement there.
Upstairs, all evidence of 'bar' disappears, and you enter what could be almost any mid-range restaurant anywhere in the Western world. A flick through the menu continues this feeling. The arrival of the food, the consuming of the food, the removal of the plates, the paying of the bill all passes without incident or indeed anything remarkable happening. My sirloin was cooked blue as requested, I suppose, which bears mentioning, but this happy moment didn't quite make up for an entrée terrine of smoked chicken which was leaden, fridge-cold and underseasoned.
This is all very well and fine, but if you eat out more than say, once a year, you'll find this a serviceable but ultimately a fairly humdrum experience. On the way out, one is struck by how busy everywhere else in Mount Eden village is compared with The Mulberry, and is reminded that perhaps the old adage 'you get what you pay for' applies as much to online deal sites as to anything else.
The Mulberry
425 Mount Eden Road
Mount Eden
09 630 1588
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