Pearl

By CARROLL du CHATEAU for canvas

I have a dream. Not a high-flown one like Martin Luther King's, merely a dream of a decent, reasonably priced dinner followed by a groovy movie to put a little distance between the working week and the weekend. The problem is getting the two in one hit, which is why we were excited by news of Pearl restaurant at Northcote Point, which recently replaced a nondescript Indian restaurant.

So when planning a bonanza Friday family experience to farewell Ben who was off to acting school in New York - and a serious movie-goer - the choice was simple.

The minute you walk into this small restaurant on the corner of Queen St, immediately opposite the Bridgeway Theatre, the name starts to makes sense. No, Pearl is not a Chinese restaurant. Instead the interior is white on lustrous white. The menu, too, is in shades of mother of pearl and several dishes involve oysters - and by name and implication, pearls.

Despite the chance of a pearl in our soup, only one of us could go past the calamari salad ($16.50). It was an excellent choice. The calamari was sliced skinny, sauteed rather than drizzled in flour and fried, and served with house-marinated olives on baby leaves resting on a couple of slices of paroa bread, which were soaking in an oily dressing. Superb and set off well by our bottle of Peregrine Sauvignon Blanc ($39).

Brian was not quite so enthralled by his duck liver pate, which tasted boring, but then for $9.50 it was a bargain, and his main course of braised pork belly ($23.50) was absolutely gorgeous, he declared. My market fish ($22.50), which turned out to be bluenose, was patchy. While the fish was overcooked, the tempura vegetables it was resting on were absolutely marvellous. Crisp, sweet-fresh and served with just enough soy/oyster sauce to lift them way out of the ordinary.

We also tried the linguini with scallops and mussels. Although well-priced at $22, Ben had a couple of complaints - nowhere to put the shells, and the slices of carrot that came with it were way out of proportion to the pasta. There was no absent-minded twirling of forks with this dish, which needed total concentration. Oliver's tuna ($26.50) served on mashed haricot beans, was, however, quite excellent.

Pearl has a couple of nice touches. As at Soul in the Viaduct, all fish dishes could be served four ways - with tempura, on white-bean mash, poached or on a kumara and corn cake with rocket aoli. The kitchen is open to the dining room so you can watch the chefs do their thing.

On the downside, the chairs - though pearl-lustrous - are a little plasticky for true comfort, our pedestal table wobbled alarmingly, we had to ask for salt and pepper and our water to be topped up, and and the table napkins are paper.

For the rest of it, the service was excellent. Possibly because we had told them we had just 90 minutes until the movie started, waitpeople hovered despite the crowd - and still we ran out of time and were forced to forgo dessert in favour of the traditional Bridgeway icecream with chocolate and nuts.

Next time - and we'll definitely be back - we'll give Pearl more time. And, judging by the queue at the door as we left, we'll be sure to book.

Price: $233.50 for four entrees, four main courses, two coffees and two bottles of wine.

* Read more about what's happening in the world of food, wine, party places and entertainment in canvas magazine, part of your Weekend Herald print edition.