Harbourside, Auckland Viaduct

The seafood platter plus crayfish. Picture / Fotopress

(Herald rating: * * * 1/2)

When Harbourside opened in the late 80s it was one of the hot places for a girl to be swept off her feet by a handsome beau. A visit to the grand Ferry Building with its green tiled and bannistered stairwell is a blast from the past, but the former fine dining atmosphere of this first-floor seafood restaurant is now "smart casual attire" bar and grill.

A pity the grey weather meant that the wide terrace was uninhabitable as Harbourside boasts views of Queens and Princes wharfs and ferry activity — enough to make you feel on holiday for at least another dreamy day.

So, midweek after the New Year, tourists and those of us struggling to get back into work mode filled this dining room to capacity.

Harbourside maintains a predominantly seafood menu with good-sounding dishes using what they claim as "the freshest New Zealand seafood". Popular fish (snapper, John Dory, hapuka, salmon) are featured alongside game fish and shellfish, and there are chicken, lamb and beef fillet dishes for the non-fish eaters.

Our waiter informed us politely that they were out of hapuka, cockles and pipis for the rest of the evening. The platters on the tables beside us looked jolly good as did the fish dinners that passed us.

We ordered a bottle of Lawson's Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc '04, the crab timbale and the salt and pepper squid for starters and a seafood platter with half a crayfish to share. The menu described the crab starter as "blue
swimmer crabmeat with avocado cream, green apple and mustard cress" and, due to my Asian background I'm always curious to see how chefs execute their salt and pepper squid — a personal favourite. Harbourside chef Jimmy Gerard serves his with an Asian eggplant pickle and a capsicum, chilli and tamarind jam.

Two warmed plates arrived along with an empty bowl for shells and two rolled wet towels. We looked, rather puzzled at the platter. The half crayfish, prawns, mussels, queen scallops, solo pipi, Thai flavoured fish cake and single skimpy scampi arrived on top of two small fish the size of my palm, some wok-tossed squid and bok choy and skewered battered scallops. They must have decided that we didn't need the entrees.

This aside, our cray was sweet, succulent and tricked us into thinking it was a warm, balmy summer night.

We decided not to wait for the order to be corrected, stuck with the mains and therefore had room for a dessert each. We chose the cinnamon brioche with seasonal berries and the spiced panna cotta with roasted peach, rose water syrup and citrus toffee. Our brioche was a bit heavy but we appreciated the foamy manuka honey sabayon studded with fresh, sweet raspberries. The panna cotta was suitably wobbly and the twist with Middle Eastern flavours seemed to work well.

The staff were very embarrassed with the earlier mishap over the entrees and I appreciated that this sort of thing happened rarely here. As a consequence, they didn't charge for the coffees.

It's always a pleasurable experience to be able to eat and dine close to the water and it's encouraging to see Harbourside's historic location as an ongoing drawcard for tourists and locals. Let's hope late summer will be kind so we'll get to sit on the terrace and watch the water traffic.

WHERE: Harbourside, 1st Floor, The Ferry Building, Quay St, Auckland. (09) 307 0486; open 7 days.
OUR MEAL: $168 for 2; entrees $17.90-$21; mains $31-33.50; platters $48 & $87; sides $3.90-$7.90; desserts $13.80; cheeses $19.80.
OUR WINES: by the glass $8.50-$15.50; by the bottle $34-$195; bubbles $30-$320.