WHERE: 23 Ponsonby Rd. (09) 360 6262
OUR MEAL: $352.50 for four beers, two glasses of champagne, three glasses of wine, four entrees, four mains, two desserts and a coffee.
OUR WINE: Thorough, and a small but sensitive selection by the glass.
VERDICT: With the recession biting why take a risk? It's better to go to the best.
OUT OF 10
FOOD: 9
SERVICE: 8
VALUE: 9
AMBIENCE: 9
KEY POINTS:
Recently we went to the ever-popular Canton Cafe in Kingsland with some friends for a typically fine but fast evening of Chinese food and noise. We were out just over an hour later while others waited on the street for seats. One of our number was a chef, who gloomily observed that with fuel prices, winter chills and what we now jokingly call the cheese price index, many good restaurants are struggling.
He named a few respectable, mid-level places he didn't expect to survive the coming months and observed that only cheap eateries such as small Asian places and the top-tier restaurants could feel secure. We'd worried about this too, because in the previous few weeks we had noticed many small but excellent restaurants - especially in the suburbs - were now alarmingly quiet.
A week or so later we went to the very reliable Rocco in Ponsonby and although it wasn't exactly crowded on a Wednesday, there was a warm welcome, the same excellent menu and we were assured that later in the week they were still very busy.
That was a relief because Rocco is a firm favourite which enjoys a regular clientele and has a reputation for consistency. We were in a celebratory mood and ready to enjoy ourselves. Later, after we had finished (the last to leave with no suggestion from the lovely staff that we should hurry out), we decided we couldn't have picked a better place for the occasion. And so nice to be able to hear each other, said the one who makes her living on noisy stages.
Indeed, good company inspires conversation and it is important to be able to hear it. Rocco delivered on all fronts, from the taking of our coats (surprising how few places can't even get that right) through the explanations of the menu and wine list, to the delicious desserts of the chocolate hot pot and the rhubarb and quince crumble.
We started with beer and bubbly in the warm bar area, then with no prompting, moved to the comfortable restaurant and indulged in excellent entrees (softly fried calamari, an especially good plate of jamon and chorizo, breads, soup, pistachio-crusted halloumi).
This was a chill night so we two males went immediately for Rocco's famously rich and deep seafood cazuela, Megan had superb seared tuna, and she who is now eating for two paced herself over the spinach and chestnut risotto. This was a night of exchanging stories and in that regard our meals might have seemed incidental, but often we stopped mid-flight and commented on just how delicious everything was.
We laughed about negotiating Rocco's precipitous stairs to and from the bathroom and agreed that here was a place which has long managed that rare marriage of a casual New Zealand atmosphere with fine food of the Spanish persuasion.
At a time when many restaurants must be looking at the weather, the gloomy mood of the country and the prices at petrol pumps with deep concern, Rocco again proved that quality, consistency and a warm ambience remains an unbeatable combination.
