Queen city tapas

Restaurants and bars in Auckland serving ‘small plates’, or a kiwi version of Spanish tapas, are vogue. Foodstyle Review field tested five popular venues within the inner city. 

The definition of a ‘tapa’ dish is pretty loose, even in Spain, and covers a broad spectrum of entrée-sized snacks served in an informal dining venue. Informal, designed to be shared and often more interesting than the conventional entrée, ‘tapas’ are a fad that could be here to stay.

Our Auckland CBD tapas review covers an interesting spectrum of dining experiences, from the tiny El Faro in Elliot Street, to the corporate trendy Bellota in Federal Street, a rustic Grey Lynn community drop-in bar, and a trend-setting, outdoor-indoor bar in the new Britomart complex.

Cosy & inexpensive 

The tiny, character-filled El Faro is located inside Elliott Stables, the epicurean village created from the refurbishment of the old Elliot Stables at 39-41 Elliott Street – a tasty, snacky assortment of small dinning venues with eclectic wooden furniture on cobblestone floors that also features French crêperie, Italian bruschetta, German sausages and a whisky shop. 

El Faro, Spanish for lighthouse, is a miniature licensed restaurant and tapas bar with a few tables inside (mostly on a small mezzanine floor) and more outside in the shared interior of The Stables. 

”We have a passion for getting back to basics with food,” say its owners. “With eclectic music and décor.” They got that right! El Faro is a fun place, atmospheric and with very affordable tapas ($6 for vegetarian and $8 for anything with meat in it). The venue is also noted for its mussel pots and sangria. Open Mondays to Saturday for lunch and dinner, with 25 percent off drinks between 5pm and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and $5 tapas on Thursday and Friday evenings.

 www.elliottstables.co.nz/el-faro. 

Corporate Spanish

Bellota is part of the expansive Skycity complex, located in Federal Street opposite the entrance to Skycity Grand Hotel. It is open seven days from 5pm and Friday for lunch. The name is pronounced bey-otta; Spanish for acorn ­- a loose reference to jamon iberico de bellota, the very expensive, naturally cured, ham from the Iberia region made from an endemic black pig fed on wild acorns. 

The menu is associated with one of New Zealand’s internationally recognised chefs, Peter Gordon, whose name is also attached to Dine, Sky City’s signature restaurant. Bellota tries to cover the numerous tapa styles of Spain, a ‘journey of complex tastes and textures’ and does it very seriously and with a comprehensively researched menu that covers the geographical A to Z of España culture from flamenco to bullfight. 

The décor and service at bey-otta is very slick; attracting a well-heeled crowd. Tapas are complemented with a big range of Spanish and European wines served in the non-stem glasses (common in Spain) and you either like the ‘hold-in-your-hand-feel’ or you don’t. The tapas, like everything else at Bellota, have a look and taste that comes from a professional hotel-world kitchen and a contrast to the rustic small plates served up at the other venues. Over Christmas and New Year the place is closed between December 25 and 30, opening for New Year's Eve and then closed January to 4.

www.skycityauckland.co.nz

A Melbourne touch and more 

You have to be impressed by the Roukai Lane in the new Britomart area (so new it wasn’t on Google maps when we tried to track it down). Two outlets that opened in this lane earlier in 2009 are the Agents & Merchants (tapas and wine bar), and a late night bar called Racket, both operated by the owners of the three-year old Cartel bar in Christchurch and opened in February 2009. 

Both venues have a licence to serve the public in the lane which has taken inspiration from Melbourne’s new inner city cuisine lane cuisine tourism (Foodstyle Review spring issue) to create a rustic, kasbah-like lane with a huge open fireplace surrounded by sofas and armchairs.

We liked Agents & Merchants very much and our guest chef was very impressed with the tuna and apple salad tapa recommended by informed, quick-talking staff. 

 www.agentsandmerchants.co.nz 

Europe in Grey Lynn 

Foodies residing in Grey Lynn must have smacked their collective lips in glee when Mondial Café opened up in the middle of one of Auckland’s last inner city retail centres to leave the 1970s and creep into the 21st century. 

Mondial Café is bang in the middle of the retail shops at 549 Great North Rd, opened for dinner Tuesday to Saturday and brunch Tuesday to Sunday. This venue is as ‘Mediterranean wine and tapas bar’ themed as you are likely to find Down Under, a mixture of Spanish and French, reflecting a partnership between Manuel Garcia (who used to grace the counter at Bonita on Ponsonby Road) and Pascal Murello who put in a long stint at the excellent Euro on the viaduct – the training ground for many a good Auckland cookie and table runner. The overall operation is a cuisine tourism symmetry of pre-prepped kitchen organisation, diligent bar and table service, and gregarious social intercourse – in other words, a smartly run community bar. The tapas fall into the ‘simple and satisfying’ category and the venue has more dining room than you think.

www.mondialbar.co.nz 

European heritage 

Dida’s Wine Lounge and Tapas, at 54 Jervois Road on the border of Ponsonby and Herne Bay, was set up by the family folks who own Glengarry Hancocks who did a great job converting part of the original Glengarry retail shop and offices into a rustic European bar, and added Didas Foodshop a little later. 

Not surprisingly for one of the country’s largest liquor merchants, Dida’s Wine Lounge and Tapas offers over 500 wines - 100 by the glass, and staff are clued up on the inventory. They also serve a 187ml glass of wine (the standard is 150ml), a great innovation to slow the re-fill trek to the bar. The kitchen produces a convincing interpretation of a Spanish tapas menu and our guest chef says small plates don’t get much better. This venue is also a tribute to Auckland’s early Dalmatian immigrant families who founded the country’s wine industry. Pictures on the walls feature the early Jakicevich family and friends. While other Auckland Dally families held on to their viniculture, (their names still very much a part of our wine industry), Joseph Jakicevich branched out from his winemaking in Glengarry Road, West Auckland, in 1940 and expanded into wine retailing, becoming the country’s first retailer to hold a liquor licence. Salute to the family – still a leader in wine retailing 70 years on.

www.glengarry.co.nz 

Summer 2009

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