A new menu at Bar Centrale

BAR CENTRALE

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 51 Willow St, Tauranga

Phone: 07 574 8200

Website

Drinks: Extensive cocktail list, wines, craft beers 

Reservations: probably for dinner or events

 

Last time I ate at Bar Centrale was back in January to try their truffle pizza. So when I heard that they'd changed their menu I was keen to give it a try. Three of us headed in for lunch on what must have been the last sunny day of summer/autumn so sat outside and enjoyed a feast. On the downside, being in the glaring sun meant the pics were even iffier than usual. Forgive me. And apologies to Centrale for making their food look less beautiful than it is. And it really is.

 

• FISH CROQUETTES - Local Fish, Potato, Caper Aioli     $15
• SNAPPER CRUDO - Orange, Grapefruit, Aperol, Petite Carrot     $20
• BURRATA - Creamy Mozzarella, Fig, Parma Ham, Basil, Vincotto     $24
• OX TONGUE SPIEDINO - Shallot, Lardo, Salsa Verde     $15
• GAMBERI - Banana Prawns, Chilli, Garlic, Caper Butter, Focaccia     $35
• PORCHETTA - Roast Pork Belly, Broccoli, Tuscan Kale, Almond Jus     $37
• SPAGHETTINI - Spanner Crab, Tomato, Chilli, Mascarpone, Bottarga     $36
• CHEESE BOARD - Aotearoa v The World  Cheese - Selection of New Zealand & International Cheese’s, Muscatels, Fig Jam, Breads & Lavosh     $10 per cheese

Chef Perrin Yates from the Bistro is currently looking after the kitchen in the bar as well and is, I assume, behind the menu changes, which are more refinements and tweaks rather than a whole new start. But as a result of his influence things seem to have become a little flasher - the food looked fancier and there were some new funky notes - the Aperol dressing, crispy kale and more - to add a touch of surprise.

 

OX TONGUE SPIEDINO

SNAPPER CRUDO

 

 

 

 

 

BURRATA

PORCHETTA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SPAGHETTINI

 

GAMBERI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The croquettes: forgot to get a pic, there were three of them and they were quite large. Delicious.
• The snapper was brilliant, the Aperol combining with the citrus for an unusually thick, bright and zingy dressing, the fish firm and tasty, the carrots an attractive touch. It looked and tasted stunning. 10/10.
• The burrata was good as ever, nice to see it seasonally moving from the summer's tomatoes to figs. They were really good red figs too. You can barely see them in my crap pic. Chef Yates said they come from Katikati and he reckons there is enough supply for at least May - get in quick! 
• The porcetta has also moved sideways, taking on-board a bunch of crispy deep-fried kale. I've always hated kale but this was great - crunchy and barely tasting like kale! And the pork, also just about invisible in the picture, was moist and tasty. It was a perfect combo: crisp kale, crisp crackling, charred broccoli, a meaty treat.
• The spaghettini was also damn good, very fishy from the bottarga and filled with exciting little hits of crab.
• But my two favourites were the tongue and the prawns. I do love tongue and it's now very fancy, with bits of crisp lardo and just a touch of salsa verde. I'd quite happily eat tongue just neat but these additions lifted it to a new level. 
• And the prawns. Big beautiful prawns that just begged you to suck the juices out of their heads and a simply incredible sauce that I mopped up until it started to take the glaze off the plate. Spectacular!
  

CHEESE BOARD

• The cheesboard? Well to be honest it was a bit of an anticlimax after all those treats. Nothing wrong with it per se and the two blue cheeses and the Comte and whatever the other one was were very nice as were the accompaniments. But, perhaps because of the previous fireworks, it didn't really pop my cork.

I really like Centrale, as must be obvious. It is clearly not an inexpensive place to eat, but they are very very good and their standards seem to keep rising. Combine that with their top notch cocktail-craft and a wine list that just expanded to include a pile of Italian wines and you have a real winner. I think in some ways the rise of Centrale and Clarence (along with others like Solera and Alpino at the Mount) has heralded a new era of top-end dining for Tauranga, the same way that Rice Rice Baby, Dumpling Delight and Chidori have pumped up the cheaper Asian end. It's good to have them all here!   

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