Jesse Mulligan Auckland Restaurant Review: The Grill At Five-Star Horizon By SkyCity

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By Jesse Mulligan

Tuesday Sep. 03, 2024

Viva

The steak on the menu at The Grill at Horizon by SkyCity. Photo / Babiche Martens

REVIEW

THE GRILL

Cuisine: Steak and seafood

Address: Horizon by SkyCity, 85 Hobson St, central city, Auckland

Phone: 0800 759 2489

Reservations: Accepted

Drinks: Fully licensed

From the menu: Beef tartare $28; pork belly $30; cheese souffle $25; sirloin steak $58; lamb backstrap $52; iceberg salad $15; sorbet $10

Rating: 12/20

Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.

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I’d been really looking forward to my dinner at The Grill, but the experience was puzzling and hurtful. Puzzling, because I can’t understand how such a well-funded, professional operation can make as many errors and bad choices as it did. Hurtful, because I think of all the bright-eyed tourists and conference delegates who’ll eat their first New Zealand meal here, in the house restaurant of the country’s newest five-star hotel, and assume this is the best we can do.

The evening began promisingly when I strolled in through the Horizon lobby and each of the three receptionists looked up, smiled and called “hello!” as I passed. It was like I was the star of a 2000s-era Lynx commercial. Beyond reception, The Grill’s dining room is gorgeous – shiny-new and perfectly lit. Each table has a little lamp that casts illumination over your menus and a comely glow on the faces of the people you’re eating with. I’m telling you, I’ve never been so set for a happy night out.

We waited 15 minutes for a waiter to approach us. That’s quite a bit of time. Try sitting there for 15 minutes before reading the next paragraph.

Each table has a little lamp that casts light over your menus. Photo / Babiche Martens

Welcome back. We’d had plenty of time to peruse the cocktail list by now so we immediately ordered a martini plus a house special that had been “inspired by the misty rainforest”. She asked if I’d like my martini with gin or vodka. I said “gin”. She wrote something down then said “I’m sorry, I’ve already forgotten – was it gin or vodka?”

She was nice and trying her best. She returned with the drinks very quickly, and when I commented on the speed she said “we pre-make a lot of them in batches”. That’s quite an admission when you’re charging as much as they are.

The martini was fine but the other drink was terrible. Overly sweet with almost nothing but honey going on, it was a little cloudy which I guess was the misty rainforest theme. Worst of all the glass was filled with the sort of ice you get with soft drinks at Burger King – you know, those tiny little concave cubes that melt when you look at them.

Forty-eight dollars poorer we ordered a second drink, torn between a couple of misspelt brand names – “Ubernaught” for Urbanaut and “Smith and Seth” for Smith and Sheth (I rarely see typos like this, even at a mid-range restaurant). We asked for a recommendation but there was no sommelier, only a bartender.

The Grill's 'cured bacon' dish and cheese souffle. Photo / Babiche Martens

It was hard to choose food because nothing looked very good. When it was in Federal Street, The Grill’s best dish was a steak tartare, prepared in a steel bowl at your table. It was brilliant. They’ve dropped that concept here and now it arrives looking very dull by comparison – perhaps it had been premixed, like the cocktails. We ordered it to share but it arrived without serving cutlery.

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My guest ate pork belly, but it had been cured to be almost inedibly salty. I notice on my receipt they call this dish “cured bacon” and it was like eating a big wedge of the stuff. A sweet bourbon glaze is presumably meant to provide balance but it doesn’t work.

Meanwhile, I had a cheese souffle, which was a flop. I don’t know how much puffiness I expected but this one had not risen. Served in a skillet, it was more of a duvet draped over a bed of caramelised onions (perhaps their steam had altered the chemistry of the process) and though it tasted good I think they need to be more frank about what this souffle is and what it isn’t.

The steak was perfectly cooked. Photo / Babiche Martens

My friend’s lamb backstrap and my sirloin were both cooked perfectly. And they tasted fine, though I expected a $58 steak to be unbelievably delicious. I’m sure this is good meat but there wasn’t enough going on for me to recommend you spend the money.

That steak came with a small glass bowl of mustard and the last critical thing I’ll say is that the crockery is very dull. In a beautiful room like this I think there’s an opportunity to go beyond a relentless succession of white plates.

I attended Cuisine’s Good Food Awards last week and had a great night. At one point I was surrounded by four members of SkyCity’s food and beverage team – a group of lovely, chatty people who won’t be enjoying this review. I also took advice from a couple of classically trained out-of-town chefs (on that souffle in particular) because I wanted to make sure I got it right.

Jesse ended the meal with sorbet. Photo / Babiche Martens

There is a long way for The Grill to go here and some of it at least is easy to fix quickly. Perhaps they’ll disagree with me on some of the food criticisms – it is, after all, just one experience and only my opinion. I’ve tried to make most of my criticism simply a description of what happened – you can decide for yourself whether my disappointment was justified.

Hopefully, my next visit is a better one. In the meantime, SkyCity should be proud of its armful of Good Food Guide hats and some fantastic signature restaurants that are among the most reliable in town.