Restaurant review: Beirut, Auckland CBD

Beirut's manoush Flatbread and Kingfish Kibbeh Nayeh. Photo / Greg Bowker

Address: 85 Fort St, Auckland CBD
Phone: (09) 367 6882
Rating out of 10:Food: 8, Service: 8, Value: 7, Ambience: 8

Not surprisingly, a high percentage of the new eating places enlivening the Auckland eating scene is influenced by Asia and street food styles. And very welcome this is, too. But it is encouraging that the repertoire is being broadened with one of the newer additions, drawing its inspiration from another locale.

Beirut, the latest from the team that brought us Mexico and Orleans, among others, tips its hat in the direction of the Middle East although it makes no claims to replicate the cuisine of the Lebanon. Nor does it go down the rural/street food route. This is food of sophistication and subtlety of flavour. An old friend who was stationed in Beirut before the disastrous civil war used to rave about its cosmopolitan quality and this Auckland incarnation reflects why.

Head chef Jacopo Crosti is formerly of Cassia, another place that relies on influence rather than imitation, and he and executive chef Javier Carmona have spread their net. The first entries on the menu are four different styles of bread. Our choice of the manoush, crisp and thin like a quality pizza and topped with a spread of lamb, tomato, red pepper, olive powder, pickled chilli and lemon, heralded the vibrant flavours that were to follow.

If you are not familiar with the armoury of Middle Eastern techniques and ingredients - and I cannot pretend I am - the staff here are trained to produce an educational tour of each dish, even if I could not always hear the finer details over the insistent drum beats from their sound system. But this is a place that seems aimed at the trendy crowd and the volume comes with the territory. The decor is stylish, drawn from a restricted colour palate favouring dark tones of bronze, and the feel is relaxed and intimate.

Having engaged in discussions with our attentive and informed server, we moved from the flatbread into a dish that had familiar notes but with its own characteristics. Slices of burned eggplant, redolent with a smoked flavour, were accompanied by crisped leaves and spices - apparently black sujuk and other delights. It was good but outshone by the kingfish kibbeh nayeh. I don't think I have ever encountered a raw fish dish I didn't like, from roll mops to classic ceviche; from crudo to kokoda and oka by way of sashimi. But this one, made with white and yellow turmeric, pink peppercorns and some sweetness from honey and apple, was little short of sensational.

The fish provided an act that was going to be hard to follow but the sous-vide beef basturma, rubbed with spices and accompanied by meat shavings and bits of cauliflower served four ways, including pureed and pickled, put up a creditable contest with its harmony of textures and flavour.

I tend to think of goat as the meat of choice for the Middle East and the slow-braised version rich with cinnamon, fenugreek leaf, sweet olives and radish showed why it is popular in those parts - certainly not difficult to tell the goats from the sheep here.

Those of us who don't have a sweet tooth can find dessert choices difficult and it was flying into the face of my prejudice to order the pashmak, a Persian version of candy floss but with the sweetness alleviated by dried fruit and nuts and a side of clotted cream. It was delicious, even if I found the apricot tea a little pointless, though pretty.

Our other dessert choice of buttermilk icecream with Turkish delight ice with candied walnuts had a slightly unexpected tang and provided a rounded finish to a meal we had enjoyed.

One of the constants in an Auckland restaurant reviewer's experience is the stream of comments on the lines of "who can afford to eat out at prices that would feed a family of nine in South Auckland for a week?" Judging from the fact that Beirut was full, on a dull Monday night within a fortnight of opening, the answer is plenty of people, politically unacceptable though this may be. And they are likely to keep coming to places providing entertaining food in a slick and comfortable manner.

Our meal: $196 for five dishes, two desserts and four glasses of wine.

Wine list: Not the most extensive list but varied, with some less familiar choices to try. My current preference for tempranillo was met with a good 2010 Cillar de Silos Crianza. The Bilancia Hawkes Bay 2013 pinot gris made a good start, nicely followed by the reliable Maude 2014 Central Otago pinot noir.

Verdict: Fine and unusual flavours well served in a welcoming setting, a combination that left us planning a return visit.