Bistro 1284, Rotorua

By JAN CORBETT for canvas

Probably because it is a tourist town, Rotorua has always enjoyed a range of restaurants out of proportion to its size and when I was growing up there the best ones were mostly found within the hotels. Not any more.

Having done her research for my home-town sojourn, Mother steered us towards the small but perfectly formed Bistro 1284, which boasts having twice been judged Rotorua's finest. But how and by whom, this cynical reporter wondered.

An informant advised us to book, which on a wintry Wednesday night of the type that usually turns the geyser city into a ghost town, seemed overly cautious. But, as it turned out, necessary - not just because the restaurant is small, but because as the evening progressed and the tables filled up, we watched as numerous other hopefuls were turned away.

Located in an old wooden house alongside the always popular Sirocco, Bistro 1284 has a tastefully spartan white, cream and-polished floor interior and a tastefully simple menu to match.

Sufficiently warmed by the gas heater glowing in the corner, all three of us began with the grilled scallops topped with salmon caviar and accompanied with a ginger cream sauce ($16). Each individual scallop came in its own miniature china dish and they were succulent and delicious and arguably the finest scallops I ever had.

I went on to the snapper, served on potato mash and topped with tomato salsa and with a dash of avocado oil ($29) and was very pleased. My father ordered the beef as is his custom, a fillet served with grilled mushrooms, bearnaise sauce and the ubiquitous French fries. At $29.50, that is slightly more than we paid for a similar dish in Wellington, but that is the nature of tourist towns. Mother shared a little of both and the salad which appeared to be complimentary (if that was our mistake, they now know where to send the bill).

We accompanied our meals with a bottle of Ngatarawa Stables Cabernet Merlot 2001 ($34) and for the helpful reader who has complained in the past about me drinking sauvignon blanc with steak and who will be equally appalled about red wine with seafood, get over it.

None of us was spoiled for dessert, which is unusual. Dad and I each had the passionfruit and citrus tart with raspberry compote and tequila syrup ($13.50) and Mother the apple and berry-fruit crumble with ginger and honey icecream, helped along by a glass of port for him ($7.50) and our second choice of dessert wine - a Brown Brother's Muscat ($6 a glass) - in the absence of our first choice.

We emerged reluctantly into the type of central North Island night-time chill that takes your breath away, feeling the evening had been an enormous success.

The service had been efficient without being effusive and I hope it's not patronising to say Bistro 1284 is as good as any good restaurant in the big cities and worth remembering if you're holidaying in Sulphur City.

Cost: Meal for three, excluding a main, including wines, $200.50

* Read more about what's happening in the world of food, wine, party places and entertainment in canvas magazine, part of your Weekend Herald print edition.