Herald rating: * * * * 1/2
Address: Mercure Hotel, 8 Customs St, Auckland
Ph: (09) 302 9424
Website: vertigorestaurant.co.nz
Open: 7 days, 6am till late
Wine list: SStandard
Vegetarians: Choices
Watch out for: The view
Bottom line: A solid showing
To say that I am not fluent in Mandarin understates the case. After four days in Beijing, I had nailed "hello" but, judging by the way people fell about laughing when I said "thank you", I suspect I was pronouncing it wrongly and saying something like "virtuous carrot".
So when the Blonde asked our Chinese waitress in this room with a view what a tian was, and received the unhesitating response that the word is "Chinese for `tower'", I was sceptical but not sure enough to contradict her. I later found out that it means "heaven" in Mandarin, but, in culinary terms, a tian is an earthenware dish common in Provencal cooking and it's a name that comes directly from the Greek. Since a tian is typically used to make a dish that is layered, the word has now come to mean a dish created in layers.
The Blonde's crab tian was not so much a tower as a tiny stack, of shredded crab and cucumber on toasted brioche. It was more subtle than was good for it and barely a mouthful. She eyed my starter - generous slabs of roasted venison loin - and ate enough of it to persuade herself that she should get her own. It was a good call: dusted with sumac and seared before slicing, it was marred only by being served on a mountain of parsley, a substance I have always considered better suited to composting than cookery. I was tempted to ask for a doggie-bag to take it home for the worm farm.
As the name suggests, Vertigo is on the top floor with splendid views out to the harbour and the west. I can't say I think a lot of the name which is only marginally more inviting than "Acrophobia" or "Plummet To Your Death", but I was much more impressed than I expected to be with the restaurant.
We had been politely urged to arrive before 6.30pm when "a large tour group" was scheduled to sit down. In normal circumstances the phrase "large tour group" causes the blood to run cold, but, I told the Blonde, it would be interesting to see that species called The Package Tourist in its natural New Zealand habitat, so we turned up as instructed and were shown to a table nicely warmed by the westering sun.
It turns out that tour-bus, hotel-guest business, accounts for a big slab of Vertigo's custom. The staff are predominantly Asian, presumably selected with the restaurant's likely patrons in mind, and they do a damn good job. After a shaky start the service was friendly and efficient, if a little anxious. Even with the large group in place, the atmosphere was relaxed. As an impression of New Zealand hospitality, it is a very good one.
The food was also a cut above the average. My roasted kingfish had spent a couple of minutes too long in the oven, but the plating, with Mediterranean vegetables and a chilli salsa, was good and the Blonde much enjoyed a watercress salad with new potatoes, fresh walnuts and small pikopiko tips. The standard dessert choices were well-executed. I liked the way they offer a special menu in which a junior chef gets to strut his stuff - that ends on Friday, so be quick.
