Paper Moon, Mairangi Bay

By EWAN MCDONALD for viva

When in doubt, ask a policeman, Mum always said, and it's worked, from Chipping Norton to Calistoga.

Wouldn't recommend it in Auckland. You'd have to flag down one of those garish, striped Holdens and, chances are, if you got the kid out of the metal cocoon, he/she would have arrived in town two weeks ago from Hawera and need directions to Queen St (don't laugh: it happened).

So when we were in doubt about where to find a smart casual (as the invitations say) cafe in the East Coast Bays, we pressed Option B and asked a local. He was, to be frank, diffident. He named two or three places between Takapuna and Orewa, which is a fair catchment, then added: "Most of them seem to have become Thai."

Which supports McDonald's Theory of the Great Migration as the key driver of New Zealand restaurant history. To wit: the first wave of restaurants were mostly Chinese, offering bland versions of Cantonese recipes; then the Italians arrived, distinguished by red checked tablecloths and candles stuck in Chianti bottles; the Mexicans (100 things you can do with refried beans) had a brief standoff before the Indians introduced curry houses (any combination of all of the above).

Walk through any suburban shopping strip these days and every second restaurant will be a Thai eat-in/take-out, probably in the same kitchen that was the Flying Horse or the Jade Dragon or the Lucky Star 30 years ago.

In the Bays we found my friend had omitted one aspect of the North Shore culinary experience: the little empire of English theme pubs. Can there be another part of Auckland where there are so many to the acre, bearing cod-Cockney names like the Hare and Theyre, the Plough and The Stars or the Hammer and Sickle (all right, we made those up, but if anyone wants to use them for a new franchise ...).

We found what we were looking for in Mairangi Bay, which has to be one of the more pleasant beachside villages, just one row of shops, only a few yards back from the sand, planned and self-contained in a way that Whangaparaoa, say, isn't.

At Paper Moon they've conjured three dining areas from a shop - a bar upstairs, dining room for 20 or so downstairs, and pavement tables under an awning that shades the worst of the searing western sun at this time of the year. Open every day from 9am to 9pm (or so), there are breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, daytime coffee and evening cocktails. Multi-tasking, that's how small business survives in New Zealand these days.

Where they've taken a risk at Paper Moon is deciding not to take the easy way out and offer platters of fish and chips with a salad on the side, or take the fish off the plate and grill a steak, three choices of sauce. They have a Mediterranean-styled menu, with dishes such as chicken breast stuffed with spinach, feta and semi-dried tomatoes on pinenut risotto. Not challenging, but it does offer something a little out of the ordinary Thai place on one side and steak place around the corner.

It's seafood-loaded. People will say, "Well, what do you expect, 20 yards from the Gulf?" - but not many trawlers tie up to a jetty here and sell their catch to restaurateurs as though they were auditioning for parts in Rick Stein's next series.

Mussels were fresh and succulent with a chilli bite. Overbite? Your call. The chicken salad combined banana, cashews and coconut and mango dressing on mesclun leaves. It sounded West Indian, summery. Didn't quite get to the Caribbean because the chicken was on the dry side, the leaves just past zing.

"Medium rare," we told the waitress when she asked how the eye fillet should be cooked, but it was too well done to be tender. To complete the cosmopolitan air, the lamb rump was marinated, eastern Mediterranean style, on couscous, with a chunky ratatouille featuring a whole tomato and lotsa peppers.

Portions are large: XXXL in menswear terms. The dessert menu, all the usual suspects on a blackboard, is probably the staff's in-joke. Can't imagine anyone making it that far.

When we sat down, just after 7 on a January evening when restaurants around much of Auckland are all but knocking passersby on the head and dragging them in, the room was more than half full. Tables turned over as people dropped in for a meal or a coffee or dessert. This is what a suburban restaurant should be. But you should not have the best part of an hour to appreciate this before your main arrives.

Wine was, as they said in Casablanca, the usual suspects, more likely to be found at the supermarket around the corner than the fine wine emporium on the corner.

Decor is in taupes. A Hot Property designer could get through a double decaff latte without choking, and whoever was in charge of music thought better of playing Norah Jones after half a track, which is good, because playing Norah Jones automatically results in the deduction of half a star in Viva.

So that was our night: smart decor and menu, casual service and attention to culinary detail. The contemporary New Zealand suburban restaurant.

Open: 7 days from 9am-9pm

Food: Contemporary NZ

On the menu: Chicken breast stuffed with spinach, feta and semi-dried tomatoes on creamy pinenut risotto $19.90; Lightly peppered scotch fillet on kumara chips with fried egg and smoked tomato chutney $21.90; Marinated lamb on Israeli couscous with chunky ratatouille and jus $23.50

Vegetarian: Limited choices on menu

Wine: Everyday NZ

Noise: Contemporary, inoffensive

Disabled access/toilets: Street entry, toilets upstairs

Parking: Miles of it

Bottom line: Smart casual, as they say on the invitations: smart decor and menu; casual service and attention to culinary detail. This contemporary New Zealand suburban restaurant has a Mediterranean-styled menu which, while not too challenging, offers something a little out of the ordinary.