WHERE: 7 Bacon's Lane, Chancery, Auckland CBD.
OUR MEAL: $216.50 for three beers, a bottle of wine, two bottles of water, a shared platter and four mains.
THE WINE: A very short list. Beers ditto.
VERDICT: Overpriced and underwhelming. Attention to detail is seriously lacking.
OUT OF 10
FOOD: 4
SERVICE: 6
VALUE: 5
AMBIENCE: 7
It was yet another dark and stormy night, a "weather bomb" that blew roofs off, swamped boats, closed roads and left thousands without power.
Just the night to leave a warm house and venture out in search of food. Any sensible person would have had a casserole in the oven and the red wine breathing. And later, as we left Invito in the terribly stylish Chancery quarter of the city, we resolved that next time we would be sensible too.
Invito, at first glance, is inviting - as the name suggests. Clean, clear lines, warm and comfortable. Gas heaters outside for the terminally hardy, otherwise known as smokers.
The staff were less inviting, apart from our delightful waitress, a Belgian tourist working her way round the country. Her colleagues were more concerned with walking about tidying their hair with their fingers and chatting. Not surprising, really - they were hardly overworked. For the second time in a month, we were the only patrons in a restaurant. Nearby places were doing good business.
Dave and Bill ordered Peroni beer while Di and I shared a bottle of Spy Valley pinot gris. We also ordered a mezze platter for four, a larger version of the menu item, as we studied the main course offerings.
The platter was a disappointment. Barely enough for two, let alone four, it comprised salami slices artfully arranged around the edge, a la 1980s, small pots of two different dips, a few olives and squares of feta, and four small pieces of bread. We asked for extra bread and after almost 10 minutes it arrived.
Water was offered and poured. We hadn't opened the bottle of water on the table, not wanting a surprise when we got the bill. Imagine the shock then, at the end, to find we had been stung for two bottles of water for $9.50 each.
The arrival of the main courses cheered us up. Bill was concerned that the king prawns and scallops in his pasta dish might be overwhelmed by the chilli and soy sauce glaze, but it was not the case, and he was a happy diner.
Dave's fish of the day, terakihi, was well cooked and delicately sauced. The accompanying lemon was well-sauced too, having been put on top of the fish before the sauce was poured. The vegetables were good, although skimpy.
Di's baked chicken, topped with feta and spinach in a creamy sauce, came with steamed vegetables and a baked potato. The chicken was tender and not dry, possibly because of the excess sauce and oil it swam in.
I find it hard to resist anything that is served with aioli. My crepes, filled with spinach, mushroom, sundried tomato and cream cheese, came with a green salad and a very good garlic mayonnaise.
So the kitchen had redeemed itself somewhat. But little things irritated. There was a very limited music selection - we heard Frank Sinatra inviting us to fly with him twice in 10 minutes, and then become totally mute for the last 20 minutes. There was no finger bowl for use after peeling prawns. And no way to wash hands, because the men's toilet door remained stubbornly locked, even when the sign said "vacant".
By the time we left, Invito had become veto.
