Umu, Coromandel

By CARROLL du CHATEAU for canvas

There's a feeling of old New Zealand about Coromandel village.

This is no racy canal-fringed town, like its twin town Whitianga on the other side of the peninsula, but a place that breathes history.

And now that the road across the Tokatea range linking Coromandel with Te Rerenga and Kuaotunu has been upgraded, it is also part of a long loop round the lower peninsula.

Best of all, though, are Coromandel's restaurants. We tried Umu, which sits at the crossroads of the town, and is locally renowned for the superb food turned out by Graeme Fraser, who cooked for Wellington's famous Bacchus restaurant in the 70s, when Des Britten was at the Coachman and the competition for the best meal in the city was furious.

So here we are at Umu on a rainy winter's morning, hungry, waiting to be delighted and stoked up for the drive home.We began with a Deli Platter ($25 for two) that turned out so large and crammed with plump black olives, roasted peppers and slices of rolled smoked salmon, we gasped when it arrived.

Often with this sort of starter the look is better than the taste, but in this case everything was fresh, tasty and quite unusual, including the two pates - pumpkin and cumin, and pistachio and salmon - which were made on the premises.

That demolished, we moved on to local grilled oysters ($10.50 for six) farmed down the bay, fresh as this morning and served in the shell. They were fabulous - fat, tasty, drizzled with tabasco and balsamic vinegar and topped with a garlicky breadcrumb crust. They were good enough to make us break the resolve of ages and begin lightly cooking oysters - at least, farmed varieties such as these.

Umu serves wine - it would have been a crime not to have a glass of Cooks Beach Savignon Blanc with a brunch of this standard. The coffee was excellent and they even make their own icecream. The specials when we were there were tamarillo, raspberry, feijoa, plus persimmon and lime - worth the trip to Coromandel for them alone.

Parking: Right outside, so the dog can see you.

Ambience: Bright colours, sunny people, excellent service.

Open: Seven days, seven nights from 9am.

* 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.