Mikano, Mechanics Bay, Auckland

The hapuku with eggplant. Picture / Fotopress

(Herald rating: * * * * *)

The chopper gently banks and in a few seconds we're on the helipad, he takes off his Ray Bans to expose dark Latin eyes, and we glide to our waiting table at Mikano.

Dream on kid but, hey, we're allowed to fantasise given our dinner location. There are few restaurants in this country where the architectural features are as much a part of the experience as the view and, of course, the food. David and I were in need of a treat — a night off the stoves/barbecue/teenager and somewhere with no parking hassles. Mikano fitted our brief. Over the last decade, we've both been here on numerous occasions, both private and corporate and to host international guests and clients. Mikano has a sureness about it, a reputation for reliability. I like the multi-cultural wait staff, who bring an inter-national flavour with the bonus that they are professional with their hospitality. Mikano's menu is modern, fresh and changes with the seasons.

We ate: rare-roasted, hot and sour beef with watercress, Vietnamese mint (laksa leaf, hot mint), pickled green cucumber and tamarind dressing. Asian in style, this salad is reminiscent of Thai beef and Vietnamese green papaya salads. I enjoyed the use of baby watercress and laska leaves to mop up the zingy dressing.

The filling for David's handmade chicken, bacon and thyme ravioli was tasty, though he said the pasta was a tad heavy around the wide brim. It was served with fried julienne leeks and verjuice butter sauce. The sauce was a little at odds with the simplicity of the pasta pillows but he did clean his plate up.

The selection of fish and shellfish — depending on availability — is offered five ways: with Cajun spices and potato salad; pan-fried with dukka crumbs; roasted with eggplant; pan-fried with Caribbean rice; and grilled with green beans, roasted pepper, black olives and romesco sauce.

My best boy then smacked his lips over a whole flounder with Caribbean rice, shrimps and peas, encircled with a smooth gazpacho sauce. The fish was fried until the short fins are crispy, just cooked enough to ensure the sweet flesh is not spoilt but moist-tender. He leant over and offered me some of the prized roe — silky on the outside and with fine briny beads which wash across the tongue before disappearing down my throat. My partner is as fond as I am of whole fish, the bones, the succulent pocket of cheek meat ... the whole sucking and messy affair!

Local hapuku has good fat, juicy flakes and mine came roasted with a generous slice of melting eggplant, a mashed white bean and feta dip, roasted tomato and saffron dressing. The feta in the dip was a little over-powering but I was partial to the white beans.

An asparagus side-dish rounded off the plates of fish well but were too much to finish.

For pud, the gentleman chose to share with his love the field-ripened strawberries with Cointreau cream, honey wafers and strawberry sorbet. The wine suggested for this sublime sweet is the Cloudy Bay, Marlborough Late Harvest Riesling '02.

Our wines: Glasses of Turkey Flat Rose Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet and Dolcetto '04, Barossa Valley and the luscious Pencarrow Pinot Noir '02, Martinborough.

Mikano has stood the test of time and we wish it well into its second decade.

WHERE: Mikano, 1 Solent St, Mechanics Bay, Auckland. (09) 309 9514
OUR MEAL: $136.50 for 2; entrees $17.50-19.50; pizza $19.50-22.50; mains $27-32.50; desserts $10-11.50; cheeses $12 each.
OUR WINES: by the glass $8.50-11.50; by the bottle $34-110; bubbles $38.50-325.