Address: 23 Ponsonby Rd
Phone: 09 3606262
Website: moochowchow.co.nz
Cuisine: Modern Thai
Rating: 8/10
I've been waiting a long time for this. Where Sydneysiders enjoy contemporary Thai cuisine at the renowned Longrain restaurant and Melburnians get to chow down at the fabulous pan-Asian Gingerboy, Auckland has lacked a Thai restaurant that successfully brings a modern twist to Thai food while still capturing its magical zing.
Now Mark Wallbank has taken the initiative and transformed Rocco on Ponsonby Rd into MooChowChow, offering modern Thai food and drinks. The kitchen is headed up by chef Che Barrington, who comes to us from a stint working at the aforementioned Longrain under Australia's bastion of contemporary Thai food, Martin Boetz.
As soon as MooChowChow opened its doors, I booked a table. I wouldn't usually review on an opening night, but Wallbank is such a professional I was pretty sure any opening night teething problems would be kept to a minimum. They were.
Walking through to the dining space, the four of us take in the new 'reinvented" surroundings. There's not a Buddha in sight and the lines are clean and simple with "social seating" very much the order of the night - there are large communal tables inside and out.
The refurb isn't extensive and the outside annex is still covered by the original awning, which has seen better days, but I'm told it's a work in progress.
The menu is short, but thanks to Barrington the food bar has been set high and every dish sounds irresistible. Our waiter informs us the food has been designed for sharing and dishes will be brought out in the order deemed best according to the kitchen. Fine with us.
Though the food takes up one page of the menu, there are seven pages of drinks. There's a good choice of wine by the glass (14 whites and nine reds), exotic cocktails that stick with the Thai theme and include flavours of lemongrass, kaffir lime, ginger juice and more and then there's the tea list with food matching suggestions. Refreshing.
Drinks in hand we begin with a plateful of the intriguing betel leaves topped with a zingy salad of chilli, lime, ginger and peanuts. Making a wee parcel, by wrapping the leaves tightly around the salad, I take my first bite. Pow! The essence of Thai cuisine bursts into my world - spicy, salty and sour notes all rush in. Then sweetness, provided by a clever coconut caramel, kicks in and balances the dish. This is what I've been waiting for.
Fillets of grilled salmon are paired with a salad of fresh mint, peanuts and chill and a sweet and tangy dressing spiked with the fragrant tamarind and lemongrass.
A half chicken is rubbed with five-spice and roasted until tender and succulent. The accompanying Sichuan orange sauce, though a deviation from traditional Thai cuisine, delights us with its trademark 'tingle' sensation.
But it is a beef short rib that really makes us swoon. It has been slow roasted, rendering it soft and sweetly full of flavour, then finished on the grill to give it a hint of smoke, and is dressed with a medley of coriander, mint, roasted chilli and shallots. Magnificent.
A much-maligned weed (at least here in NZ) is transformed into a choko salad. Teamed with snake beans and tomatoes and spiced with pungent and sharp birdseye chillies, this is the only dish that has any real heat in it. Perhaps the chef is playing it safe to begin with, but I'd rather see more heat in some of the dishes.
The standout dessert is the pandanus and yoghurt bavarois, with the pandanus leaf lending its subtle and unique flavour (nutty and a bit like the smell of freshly cut hay) to this perfectly cool pudding.
A night out at MooChowChow is a Thai treat. The food is punchy and exciting and the atmosphere is as social as a Bangkok night market. I can't wait to take my Melbourne-based sister, in town next week, to show off.
From the menu: Betel leaf $4 each, Grilled Salmon salad $18, Stir fried wild pork $22, Five-Spice Crispy Skinned Chicken (half) $20, Grilled Beef Short Rib $30, Choko Salad $8, Lemongrass and Coconut Brulee $14, Pandanus and Yoghurt Bavarois $14, Teas $5 each.
Drinks: Fully licensed with cocktails & a tea list.
