The Viaduct Grill

By GRAHAM HEPBURN for Viva

Restaurateurs down at the Viaduct must by now be praying daily for a sustained break in the windy and rainy weather that's been blighting Auckland for the past few weeks and keeping the punters away.

On the gloomy weekday evening that we dined there, the surrounding restaurants were hardly bustling. Only a few hardy souls were out promenading and a rainstorm soon scattered them.

Staff at the Viaduct Grill must have one eye on the heavens, as it is in a prime people-watching/posing spot overlooking the basin with roughly twice as much space devoted to al fresco dining as eating indoors.
Our affable waiter offered us the option of sitting in the weather-proofed outdoors with a heater, but we chose the cosy interior with its restrained lighting and mood music.

The menu could be loosely described as surf and turf, offering fairly standard fare but at prices a notch above your average steakhouse. And, as we observed that night, it's the sort of place popular with groups of blokes who don't want to be threatened by anything too fancy.

For our entrees we chose the chicken livers with polenta ($12.50) and the teriyaki chicken skewers ($12.50). While my chicken livers made for a hearty dish, they presented as a brown splodge, Jane's teriyaki chicken, served with an Asian salad, were a little lacking in teriyaki flavour.

After our entrees, I barely had time to order a glass of Drylands Estate Merlot ($8.50) before our mains arrived with the sort of unnerving haste that conjured up images of a Formula One pit crew putting the meals together out the back.

My rare eye fillet with English mustard ($28.50) was beautifully cooked - melt-in-the-mouth tender and juicy beneath its charred surface - and served with roast potatoes and tomatoes, flat mushrooms and greens including asparagus.

Jane's lamb rump ($24.50), which shared the same vegetables, had a robust chargrilled flavour, but she was frustrated by the (unadvertised) addition of lashings of mint sauce. The potatoes strung on a rosemary stick and tomatoes on the vine were a nice rustic touch, let down by the fact that the potatoes were a little dry and tired.

Service at the Viaduct Grill is efficient and friendly, though they seem a little unsure of the quality of the food they are serving: being asked once if everything is all right is courteous but by the fourth time the fixed smile behind your "fine thanks" is beginning to crack. But some people may appreciate that concern, likewise being menaced with the ubiquitous mammoth pepper grinder every time a dish appears on the table.

The generous entrees and mains had vanquished my appetite, but Jane decided she could accommodate the lemon tart ($9.50), which, with its delicate crust, tangy filling and caramelised coating, was pronounced delicious.

So, while the Viaduct Grill doesn't promise anything too adventurous in its cuisine, it could do what it does just a touch better. And perhaps have a few more wines by the glass on its good wine list.

Spotting a gap in the clouds, we were off, $114 lighter, and out the door before anyone could ask us again if everything was all right.

Open: Brunch, lunch and dinner.

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