Review: Chinoiserie, Mt Albert

Erk's sticky chicken nibbles at chinoiserie. Photo / Nick Reed

Address: 4A Owairaka Ave, Mt Albert
Phone: (09) 971 3836
Rating out of 10: Food: 6, Service: 8, Value: 7, Ambience: 8

Relaxed, fun and incredibly popular is how we'd describe Chinoiserie after our Thursday visit. We arrived at the new restaurant's rather ordinary suburban site just off Mt Albert Rd at 6.30 and were amazed to see a colourful queue of young people stretching out the door. Luckily our dinner companions had arrived a little earlier and were waiting just inside the window, holding the last available seats.

But the overcrowded feeling didn't last long. While our youngest member queued for cooling beers, the charming maitre d' organised us a table for four, explained this was their busiest time of the night and how it would soon quieten down, and we were on our way.

That's the system at Chinoiserie. Waiters don't order your food. Instead they organise the crowd, keep the tables full and tidy, answer questions and generally make sure their customers are happy, well-fed and, shall we say, hydrated. Everything was a surprise: queuing to order our food and drink; the short, bright yellow menu; the fabulous mural of a Chinese dragon on the wall; the colours; the wild and whimsical decorative art in every corner and spare space; the laughing patrons; the loo painted like a garden; the beer and wine on offer (10 types of beer, three white wines and three red, plus a selection of cocktails).

The menu is divided into three. All the main courses come in gua bao or soft house-made, milk-steamed buns. There are four to choose from and all are served with Asian-style dressed slaw and crushed peanuts. We ordered the lot: chicken thigh with garlic and hoisin sauce, tofu with satay sauce, braised five spice pork belly ("two please," said Brian) and squid with sambal lemon mayo. The accompanying sides, though slightly more expensive, included sticky chicken nibbles, coconut crusted squid rings, edamame beans, Szechuan pepper peanuts, Asian slaw and fries with wasabi-laced mayo.

What we hadn't anticipated was the difficulty in sharing. We all wanted a taste of each bun, but cutting them in half, let alone quarters, turned out a nightmare. Our cutlery jar contained just one bread and butter knife and we were not provided with individual plates. And although, when we asked, a waiter cheerfully brought each of us one of the soft bamboo, boat-shaped plates they use for almost everything, it was difficult to cut our buns on their soft curved surfaces. By the time we'd finished, the table looked as though we'd had a food fight, the buns didn't taste as good as they should have and we became so confused we mistook the tofu bun for chicken.

Our mistake and, as we realised later, at $8 each it would have been better to order at least two of each variety and not bother. As it was, the most successful gua bao were the pork, tofu and chicken fillings, all of which were wrapped in thick, milk-white, soft and slightly sweet buns, which set off their spicy interiors with a bang. There simply wasn't enough squid in my sample to make the cut.

Our sides were good to share, but although the peanuts and drumsticks were delicious for the chilli-hardened, the squid rings were disappointing.

So roll on the desserts, which we had carefully ordered later for fear they would arrive first as they so often do in Chinese restaurants. Black sticky rice with salted coconut cream was delectable and the Taiwanese doughnut crunchy and fresh. Shame that the chocolate sauce was thin and tasted more like cocoa than chocolate.

As we sauntered away into the soft summer night, stopping to enjoy one of the city's best views of Sky Tower and with plenty of evening left to enjoy, we felt gratified, even uplifted by our evening at Chinoiserie. Relaxed, arty, eccentric, cheap and cheerful, the locals obviously love it. Lucky Mt Albert.

Our meal: $132 for four beers, five gua bao buns, four side dishes and three desserts.

Wine list: Short and unpredictable, offering six wines to choose from: an Alpha Zeta pinot grigio; Ash Ridge chardonnay; Andre Delorme brut blanc de blancs; Castano rosado; Don Ramon granacha; and Ash Ridge merlot: all available by the glass or bottle with prices ranging from $9-$10 a glass.

Verdict: Chinoiserie is pretty rudimentary, but the atmosphere is casual and off-beat, the service brilliant once you're seated (though you still have to queue to order) and somehow the spirit of the place prevails. And where else in Mt Albert can you find a joint open from after work until after the movies and you can eat all you like for around $35 a head?