Boulcott Street Bistro, Wellington

By JAN CORBETT for canvas

Even from the outside, Wellington's Boulcott Street Bistro screams "private club". Housed in the historic Plimmer House, its olde-worldly exclusivity is somehow heightened by the juxtaposition of its concrete highrise neighbours.

Inside, the dining areas and bar and divided into separate rooms, adding to the dining privacy - perfect for discreet conversations about government policy, or whatever it is they discuss over dinner in the capital. Later on, of course, the bar is wont to get raucous. But when people at the neighbouring table are warmly greeted by the maitre d' - whose demeanour suggests he is just filling in time between acting engagements - and served dishes that bear no resemblance to anything on our menu, you indeed feel that this is a restaurant that runs an A-list and a B-list and we were clearly on the latter.

Which is not to suggest we were ignored, far from it. The service was exacting and, dare I say, almost too fast, which if we were paranoid, might have increased our perception of B-list status.

Three of us began with the fried calamari, crumbed, with garlic and anchovy and honeyed soy dipping sauces ($15). Tender though it was, the sauces were more memorable than the calamari. But then calamari can be like that. David instead chose the sauteed lamb sweetbreads, veal kidney, watercress salad and ravigote sauce ($15), and was very satisfied.

He and I both moved onto the fillet bearnaise with pommes frites ($28) and, while the meat was devine, and even though they are French, there is something just a little down-market about the bowl of stringy fries. Rosemary, on the eve of turning a certain age, skipped the main course entirely, while Maree ordered the triumph of the night - crisp salmon fillet, with what was described as summer vegetable ravioli, but tasted delightfully like something else entirely, all served on a tomato seafood boullion, the menu says, but we think they mean bouillon ($27). We accompanied our meals with two very fine bottles of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc ($40).

The others ordered dessert, and I ordered a spoon so at least to sample the creme brulee with fresh fruits ($15) and the hokey-pokey parfait with roast apricots ($14).

The BSB, I decided, was a serious place for a serious dinner and if you went often enough, which would be a pleasure, you would eventually make it onto the A-list.

Coats were retrieved from under the stairs where it is clearly signposted that they take no responsibility for clothing that is in bad taste, so we were pleased to see they had a biting sense of humour.

Cost: Meal for four, including wine, excluding a main course, $274.50.

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