Black Barn Bistro, Havelock North, Hawke's Bay

So, on my fifth post, I've already broken the self-imposed rules of this blog. The Black Barn is emphatically not in Auckland, being a good five hours' drive south, so although I suppose you could make it there and back for lunch at a stretch, I wouldn't advise it. I did consider not writing about this visit, but frankly it was good enough to break a rule or two, and by my reckoning this place could teach a number of restaurants around the world a thing or two about value, service and so on.

A bit of context. The Black Barn is a winery, farmers' market, bistro and (occasionally) concert venue situated on Te Mata road, just south of Havelock North. As a winery, it turns out very small quantities of smart, elegant wines with a touch of French style, including the best sparkling wine I've had from NZ so far, beating Pelorus, the Lindauers and so on hands down. Soft, rich and refined, with a full palate of citrus and stone fruit, it's got those slightly mushroomy, yeasty tones reminsicent of toasted coconut that can only really develop in a vintage (which it is, despite no mention on the label) with a bit of bottle age. All this for not a lot of dollars at all.

The rest of the wines are similarly good, and as you might expect have pride of place on the Bistro's menu. The Bistro itself was part of the natural, organic development of the Black Barn site, and on the many sunny days Hawke's Bay enjoys, they serve lunch in the sunken courtyard outside. This has to be one of the most gorgeous places I've eaten; with views stretching out into the vineyards on three sides, and shade provided by vines curling up and over the courtyard, it's pretty stunning.

Service is relaxed, efficient and friendly with a touch of restraint. Not dissimilar to London's River Café, I reckon (where, contrary to some reviews, I actually enjoyed really good service). All this, though, serves only to support the main event - what comes out of the kitchen.

I HATE food blogs where the authors studiously photograph each course and post the resultant shots on their reviews. It's vulgar, and apart from anything else the sight of some spod photographing their meal in a restaurant is just all kinds of wrong, but in the spirit of breaking my own rules, here's my main course - a whacking great slab of pork belly, juicy and meltingly tender, with all the right kind of spices and a stunning lychee/chilli salsa on the side with enough acidity and chilli kick to lighten the deeper flavours of the pork. Perched atop all this was a single raviolo, full of delicately flavoured pork and moistened with a little delicate, soy-spiced broth.

Pretty much the best dish I've had in quite some time. Alongside this was a glass of their superb Pinot Gris, rich enough to stand up to the punchy flavours of the food but still offering refreshing crispness on this hot afternoon.

Dessert-wise you're spoilt for choice, and so the kitchen very obligingly offers a tasting platter featuring a miniature version of each one, which personally I think every decent restaurant should do. Neatly lined up, and very prettily turned out indeed, were a very serviceable crème brûlée, a terrific lemon semifreddo, an intriguingly perfumed lemon jelly, a lemon tart with a pink 'wig' of candy floss, and a tiny black forest cake accompanied by a swirl of kirsch-scented cream. Absolutely tremendous, every one.

My only disappointment in the whole experience was that our plans for the afternoon prevented us from staying there til sunset, working through their very tempting wine list. Rumour has it they're planting Tempranillo and a few more aromatic whites this year, so I'll be looking out for those next season.

And we'll be back in February next year, having selected this as the venue for our wedding reception.