Culprit Restaurant - Auckland
On New Years Eve we were planning to go into Auckland City to see the New Year in and had been looking for a dining option. Fortunately, unfortunately - our son Declan had made a booking for Culprit for the 10 course New Year Epic Menu. Unfortunately his partner Samara was sick, fortunately we were free, unfortunately the booking was for 5pm. Anyway we took up the offer and found ourselves entering the staircase to Culprit at 4:50pm. Not our usual dining time, and making it a long time to last until midnight but we were there boots and all. In fact we were the first diners to enter.
The menu consisted of eight bite size selections before a main then desert.
Hunker down and grab a snack because here we go...
I chose a glass of the Laurent Perrier Champagne to start and it was a perfect accompaniment to the Fresh oysters served in the shell with rock melon and tequila. Tequila seemed like a heavy option for oysters but they slid down nicely with the zing of tequila complimented with the freshness of tiny cubes of rock melon. A great start!
Arriving with the oysters was something hiding under some sort of puffy crisp. I always think that oysters are a taste of the sea, however the Kina (sea urchin) cream served with the waianae and tapioca cracker had a different taste that took me straight to the ocean. The Kina cream had a richness that caught you right at the back of your palate. Both dishes were cleaned up quickly.
The next course arrived swiftly which led us to the conclusion that there must be another sitting after ours and they would be moving us along as soon as possible. So we tried to slow down. However this proved to be extremely difficult as we gobbled down the next two arrivals.
The Yellowtail kingfish sushimi with lacto fermented sweetcorn (what ever that means) and habanero dressing proved to be another show stopper. My only complaint was that it was a dish for two people and there were three slices of kingfish. There could easily have been a fight for the extra bit, but we conducted ourself with dignity and shared it without a fight.
The Matangi beef tataki was rare slices of beef served with a sliver of yellow plum and ponzu mayo and was superb. The beef was tender and had a marbling of fat which the tangy plum cut through nicely. We had to remind each other once again to slow down because we were four courses in and it was still only 5;30pm!
The restaurant doesn’t present itself as a fine dining place however the food says something different. Culprit’s point of difference is that it brings its food around on trolleys. I am not too sure how this works as on this night and the one time we had visited previously the menu had been set. Obviously we need to come back for a ‘trolley’ experience.
Back to the food which was still arriving swiftly. The thought of chicken liver parfait served with fresh doughnuts was intriguing and I thought the doughnuts must have some sort of savoury slant. But it was not to be, the doughnuts were light and fluffy and would have been just as good served with jam as they were with the chicken liver parfait. Just to give it that jammy flavour though the platter was drizzled with a boysenberry and pinot noir syrup.
I know that you must be finding it hard to believe that we could shove this much food into our mouths when the hour hadn’t even reached 6pm, but we persevered and were delighted with the Mills Bay mussel and kumera fritter tacos with saffron roullie and iceberg. I really didn’t know whether to pick this up and eat it like a taco or use my knife and fork. So I started with fingers and finished with cutlery. This was a truely delicious blend of flavours and had a street food feel with an extra finesse of flavour.
As I am writing this I am thinking that we must be up to the mains, but my photo trail tells me diffferent and next on the list of treats was Wasabi peas. These fresh sugar snap peas had been delicately coated in a cumin tempura batter and were served with a delicate NZ wasabi aioli. The crisp fresh flavour of the peas matched perfectly with the wasabi peas were devoured smartly. So simple yet devine.
The last of our bite size servings was bone marrow served with house made Vogel’s bread and sliced caper berries. Lance and I really could have easily had a tussle over the marrow, they called it ‘marrowmite’ as it was served with Vogel’s. For those of you who have never resided in New Zealand our Vogels bread is epic and is best served with, in my opinion, vegemite. Others may beg to differ and choose martmite, but the bone marrow with caper berries and a squeeze of lemon was really great. And again a unique combination.
In the short time that we had to breathe until our main course came they slipped in a small palate cleanser. The tiny jelly jet planes made from Mount Edward vermouth and a tiny elderflower were placed delicately next to a sprinkling of blackberry sherbet. You know when food is great but also extraordinary when you each take a bite and then look at each other with surprise and delight. And that is just what this evening was all about.
And then there was desert...
We tried to slow them down but were told that we needed to be out by 7pm. I know that this is the custom to ensure that the restaurant can get two sittings or more in, but it was a shame to have to rush such a wonderful eating experience.
So here we go for the last on the list; A ginger kiss ice cream sando with rhubarb and ginger jam and strawberry condensed milk ice cream with a flourish of candy floss on top.
We finished the evening with a nice little desert wine. And we had managed to polish off a few bears, four glasses of delectable Amisfield pinot gris as well as my champagne. Please note that Lance was drinking wine as well as beer and I was not the main consumer! This did take the price of the evening up to a higher level of dining so I have not graded the restaurant for price. However I believe the menu was $120 per person which is not unreasonable for something of this standard. On checking the website I found that they do offer some alternative options. And we were also eligible for a discount on a drink in their bar across the road ‘Little Culprit’.
A memorable night although a little rushed.
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