Soul

By JOHN GARDNER for canvas

After a couple of expeditions wading through cold puddles into the teeth of a biting southerly, the Viaduct basin in winter is not our priority choice of dining venue. But judging from the crowd at Soul on a Wednesday evening, we are in the minority.

As we stood waiting for our table, one party came through that appeared to be the entire work-force of a tower block, and the place was already buzzing before they joined the throng.

In lesser hands the crowd might have made one fear how the kitchen and the service would cope, but the campaigns here are conducted along strategies tested by the battle-hardened Judith Tabron, and it runs with striking efficiency.

But it was the food rather than a display of professional logistics that demonstrated why Soul is so popular. The menu is voluminous - again something that tends to sound the alarm in less well-organised places - with 16 different first courses, not counting breads. The exotic Fatima's fingers stuffed with minced chicken, vermicelli and Lebanese spices sit with the more familiar, although there's usually a twist - the mussels are delivered with chorizo and lima beans.

I began with the jumbo quail stuffed with Moroccan sausage and roasted in vine leaves ($17.50). I love the word jumbo and entertained fantasies of something like Dinornis maximus turning up, with drumsticks like Arnold Schwarzenegger's thighs.

In the event, it was more modest, although I guess by quail standards it might have played prop, but it was distinctly jumbo in taste, with the first mouthful a flavour epiphany.

It was so delightful, I wondered if it might develop like one of those extravagant sauvignon blancs, sensational at first but palling after the first couple of glugs. But no, it stayed delicious with every mouthful and soon only some sad little bones and a happy memory remained.

Our other first course of scallops ($19) came virtually unadorned, my preferred method of letting the quality of one of this country's top treats come through.

With one of our main dishes, however, it was the accompaniment that stood out. The roast rack of lamb ($29.50) was fine, but the Syrian eggplant was a wonderful sharp aside to contrast with the creamy potato and goat's cheese.

I went for the reliable option of fish, available with a choice of four methods of preparation, selecting the yellowfin ($27.50) grilled with sage fried potatoes with coriander and walnut vinaigrette. This was good, although the coriander came a touch too close to domination.

We could face only one dessert, with a satisfyingly rich chocolate tart with glazed orange and citron caramel edging out Mo Mo's date brulee in the selection argument.

In a busy environment, the service was running as if on speed with courtesy maintaining an even contest with efficiency. Our wines, a Clearview 2002 unoaked chardonnay and a good 2002 Peregrine pinot noir ($9 and $13 by the glass), arrived with excellent timing.

Soul is not the venue for an intimate dinner, but if your preference is for hearty somethings rather than sweet nothings, it is an Auckland front-runner.

Cost: Dinner for two with wine and one gin and tonic, $166.50

Ambience: Busy corporate.

* 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.