WHERE: 5B Lorne St, Auckland, ph 300 6381.
OUR MEAL: $156.50 for two beers, three glasses of wine, five shared plates, plus rice, and one dessert.
OUR WINE: Short but well-chosen. Some less common alternatives. A little more in an $11 glass would be welcome.
VERDICT: Intelligent food in clever surroundings. Worth a visit.
OUT OF 10
FOOD: 8
SERVICE: 9
VALUE: 9
AMBIENCE: 9
Bill sinks back into the dark red leather banquette. "These remind me of the chairs in the debating chamber of Parliament," he says. His parliamentary career was short-lived; a 15-minute visit during a school trip in 1963.
What a remarkable memory. But the point is made. The seats are comfortable and, unusually, do not leave the diner with his chin on the table. Jimmy Wong's is a very cleverly designed space.
It is a long narrow room in black and white, but the inventive use of pressed aluminium screens over mirrors gives the impression that the room is twice the size. With Japanese-style lighting and floral arrangements, Chinese name and a mix of Malaysian, Thai and Japanese food with a touch of Indian, Jimmy Wong's is fully pan-Asian.
We are ushered to a table tucked in a corner by the door, shielded from any draught by a small screen. This also affords a degree of privacy. The wine menu offers 12 beers, only one of which is local, and a short but interesting wine selection.
Bill orders a Tsing Tao from China, and at the suggestion of Lulu the lovely and attentive maitre d', I have a glass of 2007 Akarua Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
A very good suggestion too, grassy with a hint of flintiness. The menu is based around sharing plates that can, in some cases, be ordered as mains. We sup and study. The menu isn't long but the choice is difficult.
We finally settle on spice rubbed squid with wasabi chilli dressing ($15), roasted spiced duck in crispy rolls with hoisin sauce ($17.50) and pork spare ribs with a cider and five-spice sauce ($15). The squid comes with extra five-spice, and is beautifully tender, the spice not overpowering the delicate flavour. The duck in rice paper rolls are searingly hot temperature-wise, and the spare ribs are a delight, three or so ribs to a slab and falling-apart-tender and sticky. We decide we can handle another couple of shared plates. Sake beef stirfry with lemongrass and peanut satay ($17.50), and ginger and tamarind chicken on crispy noodles with chilli and almonds appeal ($22.50).
I cannot resist anything with tamarind (or crispy noodles, or ginger) and this dish does it exactly right. The chicken is chunky and plentiful, the ginger and tamarind complement each other and the almonds add further crunch.
Bill's stirfry is very good as well, but, after sampling the chicken, he decides I have made the better choice. Room yet for dessert, for one of us at least, and the coconut ginger pudding with lime syrup ($13) gets the thumbs up.
The flavours are distinct, and the dish comes with tiny pieces of pear marinated in ginger, and crystallised violets. It is a delightful confection.
A lighter summer menu is currently under consideration, which will include, for instance, fresh rice paper rolls instead of the crispy variety.
And the eponymous Jimmy Wong? Research tells me he is either a comic book character or a comedy actor, but either way, he'd be welcome here.
