Partington's, Auckland City

You'll get impeccable service in the gold and chocolate surrounds of Partington's. Picture / Carolyn Robertson

Herald rating: * * * 1/2

On August 30, 1889, Joseph M. Stoddart invited a few guests to dinner at the Langham Hotel in London. The publisher of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in Philadelphia was considering an English edition with a local editor and contributors.

It was, one guest wrote, "a golden evening" at the city's most elegant hotel. Two diners would be commissioned to write novels that would define the era. After The Sign of Four, Arthur Conan Doyle set several Sherlock Holmes adventures in the hotel. After The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde had many adventures in various hotels.

Auckland's Langham - you probably still call it the Sheraton, cabbies do - has been tarted up for a reported $18 million. Designers describe the new gold-leaf domed lobby, the teal, gold and chocolate opulence as "mannered maximalism".

"Art deco bordello," Adrienne called it. Or perhaps Wilde at heart.

Marc Soper, formerly of Blenheim's boutique Hotel d'Urville, has arrived and unpacked his knives, aprons and certificates. Since December the 2005 Chef of the Year has been warming up as "signature chef" for the revived Partington's.

"Pushing the culinary envelope, melding European inspiration with locally sourced New Zealand seafood, lamb and other ingredients," is the promise/premise. Like the decor, this food is mannered maximalism. Each plate features five or six distinct elements, each with layers of refinement.

I began with a flash salad: endive, walnuts, figs, blue cheese, pear, muscatel and fig wine dressing; Adrienne with a potato crepe, smoked eel, lardons, creme fraiche and lettuce. Load your fork selectively or suffer tastebud overload.

Soper's signature dish features a base that we don't often see in these parts: thar. The loin was wrapped in prosciutto, stuffed with a herb mousseline, and served with strong tastes to balance the goat. Cumin-scented kumara puree, red pepper and eggplant tian, thyme and pinot jus. Not a dish for the faint of heart or stomach; again, too much going on, it was hard to concentrate on the presumed star.

Adrienne dived for the pan-roasted crayfish tail, set off with more delicate plate-mates - buttered savoy cabbage, mushrooms, warmed foie gras, champagne and tarragon foam. She thought the crayfish wonderfully cooked when she found it, and resolved to go diving for the real thing.

The five-star bits? Her excellent brulee and my chocolate trio, and an excellent cellar with a suitably authoritative French sommelier. He espoused a passion for organics, pouring a clean, light Moana chardonnay for the salad, Millton riesling (crepes), Nga Waka pinot noir (thar) and neatly matching the crayfish with a Trinity Hill viognier.

The staff were attentive, discreet, their timing impeccable. But it's disconcerting that a major city hotel catering to overseas guests doesn't have limoncello and the waitress could not understand "Drambuie".

Overall, or over the Drambuies when we snared them, we were faintly disappointed. The food is imaginative, not gobsmacking. And the bill is maximalist: entrees $18 to $22, wine $16 to $19 a glass, mains start at $36. 

Address: Langham Hotel, Symonds St
Phone: (09) 920 6985
Open: Tues-Sat, 6pm-11pm
Cuisine: Modern European
From the menu: Hazelnut crusted lamb rack, truffled potato mash, blanched carrots and baby beets, salsa verde, lamb essence $39
Wine: Excellent cellar
Bottom line: Interesting, expensive, disappointing