KEY POINTS:
Our reviewer discovers a decent businessman's lunch when he visits Zest on Queen Street in a bid to sample its menu del dia and conjure up images of Spain.
"The best thing that Franco ever did," I mused, "was ... "
Emma looked up from bread and dukkah with mild amusement. "Coming from a chardonnay socialist," she said, "this'll be interesting."
"It's pinot, actually," I pointed out helpfully, or so I thought. "A soft red.
"Franco ordered every restaurant in Spain to serve the menu del dia, a three-course meal, including a drink, for a fixed price. The idea was, the working man could have a decent lunch and then go back to the coalface. After a reasonable siesta, naturally.
"Most restaurants continue the tradition. Fantastic value for money."
My tablemate displayed even milder interest. "And the point of this riff on geo-culinary social history is?"
"That a number of restaurants in the CBD have got it into their heads to serve express lunches. Quite a few offer selections from their main menu, fixed price, sometimes with wine thrown in, guaranteed to have you in and out within an hour. Dead flash places, too, like dine, the O'Connell Street Bistro and the Wine Chambers."
She looked around the hotel-neutral decor at Zest in the City Life establishment. "So why," she inquired, "are we here?"
"Because, my dear," I pointed out helpfully, or so I thought, "Zest is bang smack on Queen St and it, too, has a menu del dia. Or its Kiwi equivalent, the express lunch."
Emma offered a smile that I have learned to associate with the last word and looked out the plate-glass at the vista of orange safety-fences and ditch-digger.
"So you want me to imagine we're on Las Ramblas in Barcelona?" she asked, sweetly. "On the working man's credit card?"
ZEST won a lot of prizes when it opened around the turn of the millennium but has been rather buffeted, or perhaps buffet-ed, over time. Its present take on the express lunch is rolls, an unusual, smoky tasting olive oil and bland blend of dukkah, choice from eight mains, tea or filtered coffee, $19.50 including a wine.
The deal varies. At dine, you're offered two courses for $35 a head or three plates for $45: three choices from Peter Gordon's evening menu in each round. Knights at the Stamford Plaza suggests light meals from $18-$28.
O'Connell Street serves two courses for $32.50, three for $39.50, the wondrous braised artichoke salad or confit duck leg on linguini. Add $10 for a midday tot of Cape Mentelle sauvignon/semillon blanc or cab-merlot.
When I tell Emma, she responds with broad Scots practicality. "It sounds like a good way to try some of the best restaurants for a fraction of a normal evening out."
Our meals arrived. I've a theory that you should eat fish and chips only once a year. It's a childhood memory that a grown-up should always look forward to. The reality so often disappoints. Mind you, that's true of many grown-up experiences.
Zest did rather well on the shark'n'taties front. The fish was gurnard, which separates nicely on the fork. Tempura rather than batter, lighter at lunch but less oomph. Real chips, not poncy shoestrings. Capers, tartare for dipping and, just to show it's a healthy lunch, a nibble of salad.
Emma is petite. The same could not be said for her charred beef sandwich. No one asked how she'd like it cooked (a surprise, for the staff are attentive and efficient without hovering).
The small mountain of meat was mostly pink on the inside, seared outside, as a good steak should be. She relished the tangy tomato chutney, slow-cooked onion and crumbly blue cheese - but wondered at ciabatta and chips.
"Do they think I'm carbo-loading for a marathon?" she asked.
"Businessman's lunch," I said. "Not catering for working . . . women."
Fess up time: we cheated on the express menu. The house white was a Corbans savvy, and I felt like Kim Crawford's pinot noir. Yeah, with fish. It was a cold day. Emma preferred a Jacobs Creek reserve syrah.
Draining the huge pot of filtered coffee, "Time to head back to work," said Emma. I'm sure that sounds much better in Spanish. So does a siesta, to be frank.
Zest
Address: City Life, 171 Queen St
Phone: (09) 367 1234
Web: www.heritagehotels.co.nz/citylife-auckland/restaurant-bar
Open: Breakfast 7 days, lunch Mon-Fri, dinner 7 days
Cuisine: $19.50 express lunch
From the menu: Thai seafood broth, noodles; eggs benedict; Caesar salad; four-cheese pizza
Vegetarian: Well done - 3 of 8 options
Wine: House red, white
Herald rating: 3 out of 5
