Valhrona chocolate mousse dessert at Bowmans. Photo / Babiche Martens
Address: 597 Mt Eden Rd (corner Mt Eden & Kingsview Rd), Mt Eden
Phone: (09) 638 9676
Cuisine: Modern NZ
Rating: 6/10
Driving down Mt Eden Rd and through the village, I noticed the casual cafes and pubs I passed were all comfortably full, if not overflowing, even though it was a week night. I was heading for Bowmans, a restaurant further past the main shops, which has seemingly been there forever,
yet always flies under the radar.
When we arrived the dining room was sparsely populated. There was a time when I considered it one of my go-to favourites for a "slightly informal formal" dining option. That was some time ago, however, and in the years since my last visit it appears the kitchen at Bowmans has moved towards the culinary trend for incorporating complex molecular gastronomy into their menu.
A chef's tasting plate for starters arrived in a stack of lacquered layered containers, tiffin-style, which was initially quite impressive and fun as we unveiled each layer, but flavour-wise the elements lacked lustre. When we asked our waitress whether we should approach them in any particular order, we were met with a shrug. So we started with the warm ones - sauteed prawns, pieces of crispy salmon, mushroom arancini - before moving on to the soft goat's cheese mousse, which was really just whipped cheese, beets and a divine honey syrup, and sashimi with puffed rice and ginger. "Fine" is how I'd describe them all but, at $22-$25, I'd prefer to be leaping for a word like "magnificent".
Our mains hit the mark more and were the sort that you'd keep coming back for, essential for any local eatery I'd have thought. My Hawkes Bay lamb was some of the best I've eaten - a rump and a rib, both cooked to their strengths. The rump had been cooked sous vide then finished in the oven to colour and caramelise, before being served sliced into thick, medium rare, meaty chunks. The rib had been slowly roasted and left with its fatty layer intact - crispy from the long slow heat, it was deliciously tender. Combined with a kumara puree, which grounded the dish in our country, and lemon and almonds to give it a Middle Eastern twist, it was tremendous.
