The Maple Room, Remuera

Wood-smoked lamb rump with spinach, feta, field mushrooms and potato gratin from The Maple Room restaurant in Remuera. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Where: 93-95 Upland Road
Phone: (09) 522 1672
Website: themapleroom.co.nz

Few suburban restaurants could be more suburban than The Maple Room, situated in a small block of shops on the corner of Upland and Benson roads in upmarket Remuera. This is an area - a self-described "village", of course - which won't ever have to fight off a proposal for a drive-through McDonalds but rather can just enjoy its graceful location.

Words used to describe this part of the city might include the following: tasteful, gracious, discreet, comfortable, sophisticated, elegant ... And much the same adjectives could be applied to The Maple Room, which clearly knows its clientele and caters accordingly: the service we enjoyed was friendly but professional, discreet but engaging.

Our waiter made intelligent suggestions of wine matches and what on the tempting starter list might be of particular interest. Because it was bitterly cold and we had an upcoming overseas trip to celebrate, I started with a Napoleon brandy (delivered with one small cube of ice, as requested) and Megan had a superbly fruity and honeyed Uplander cocktail.

The Maple Room, with large glass doors and an outdoor area, is a bright and airy place for weekday lunch but by night the lights become muted and the room is warm and welcoming. The short "little plates" list - tapas by any other name - was tempting.

We went for the salt and pepper squid ($9.50 and a generous serving), the dates stuffed with feta and almond wrapped in pancetta ($8.50, the word "yum" was invented for these) and the waiter's recommendation of lightly fried eggplant rizo balls ($7.50, excellent). We sidestepped the entree list - soup, oysters, chicken livers, beef salad and so on - and went straight to the mains.

This being a busy Thursday night and with a large group nearby quietly celebrating something, we might have expected some delays between courses. But The Maple Room's timing was impeccable (plates removed when finished, water glasses discreetly refilled) and our mains were delivered at the very moment we thought, "well ..."

Megan ordered the fish of the day - lightly fried hapuku with a large, handmade prawn ravioli ($31) which was excellent but so substantial she barely got through half of it - and my wood-smoked slices of lamb rump ($32) were thick, moist, perfectly pink in the centre and infused with an almost whisky-flavour of smoke. Sitting on a bed of potato gratin with spinach and feta-stuffed mushrooms, it was also tastefully presented (although I am still of the flat plate rather than bowl persuasion).

We could have easily been seduced by the dessert menu but we were just the right side of sated and so passed on those particular delights. The Maple Room is clearly a local favourite but for those of us from other suburbs it is a place where you can park easily, enjoy the quiet sophistication of the room and the menu, and step outside into a very pleasant tree-lined street in a rather fancy suburb.

Rating out of 10

Food: 9
Service: 9
Value: 9
Ambience: 8

Our meal: $156 for three starters, two mains, a cocktail and a brandy, and four glasses of wine.

Wine list: Thorough, wide and long.

Verdict: Value is never to be measured in price alone, but here price and quality are in perfect accord.