Starting 2022 with dinner at Solera

SOLERA Wine Bar

Cuisine: Modern New Zealand, sharing

Address: 165 Maunganui Rd, Mount Maunganui

Phone: 07-572 0246

Website

Drinks: Extensive interesting wine list, cocktails

Reservations: Recommended

OK. It's been a while since I blogged. Time to saddle up again. The combination of Covid, lack of time and general impecunity has made it difficult to eat out much in the past few months. But my son Cohen is leaving for Australia (yes - I know - not my choice!) and a very generous friend took us to Solera the other night. I am indescribably grateful to her and it was a terrific meal, so I thought it was time to get that ol' mojo back - let me tell you about it...

Before we start though, you should like/follow the Debt To Pleasure Facebook page. That way when I stop posting these blogs to Facebook groups you'll still know about them. Here we go: A Debt To Pleasure Facebook Page

OK. There were four of us eating and this is what we had. 

Snacks

• Baked Oyster - mornay, ham, chive oil     6
• Aubergine & Tomatoes- avocado mousse, pinenuts, rice paper crisp     6
• Cured & Smoked Salmon- nori, ponzu gel, lime     8
• Beef Tartare - hand diced eye fillet, spicy miso, sourdough      8

 

Thoughts: The salmon was a small beautifully-formed piece of modern sushi-art. The pic doesn't do its loveliness justice and it tasted just as good. 

The aubergine dish was like a posh guacamole - it had pinenuts and other treats but essentially tasted of avo and tomato. Very refreshing.

The tartare was very different from the previous tartare here, with a softer texture. I guess you'd call it very fancy mince on toast. It tasted great but might disappoint those wanting more texture from their beef.

The oysters? The oysters were outstanding. The cheese sauce was brilliant, the oysterts just cooked and still fresh and salty, and the combo excellent. I could have eaten a LOT of them.

 

From there we moved to every small plate on the menu:

 

Small Plates

• Grilled Australian Prawns - paua roe, sambol mayonnaise     21
• Cured Snapper - nam jim, tomato, tapioca crisp     23
• Chargrilled Octopus- fermented lettuce, apple ssamjang, tomally     22
• Smoked Venison Tataki- kawakawa berries, caramelised garlic, yuzu, bonito     25
• Lamb Ribs- rendang, pumpkin seed dukkah, beetroot labnah     25
• BBQ Duck Leg- szechuan glaze, sultana puree, cucumber salad     28

 

Thoughts: once again everything was excellent. I had one single reservation which was about using tomato with cured snapper. Perhaps it's just me but I found the combo slightly disconcerting.

The lambs ribs - meaty, tender - and the duck were both pretty perfect, and the prawns very nice. 

We didn't initially order the octopus and I generally avoid eating these intelligent creatures (irrational though I know that is), but since Cohen is in hospo and was about to leave the country friends in the kitchen sent it over as an extra. And - despite my reservations - it was incredible, the most tender I have ever tried and with a rich crisp charred coating and complex accompanying flavours. Really good.

But it's that other dish that fascinates me. It is such a cool minimalist presentation and the last thing you'd regularly expect from a tataki, with the meat and accompaniments all hidden under a scattering of bonito. It looks like nothing but tastes so intricate and balanced and reminds me of some of the early food from Attica in Melbourne. It is simply sensational. And that minimalist look impresses me so much, here's another more close-up pic...

 

We also had one of the Vegetable Plates:

• Purple Kumara- hoisin, peanut, sesame, pickled shallots     28

It was pretty as a pictures and immediately devoured by the kumera-lovers at the table.

As you'll notice we ordered no Large Plates. We wanted as much variety as possible and those big plates do fill you up. 

We also drank quite a lot of wine from the very interesting winelist but if I start listing it all here this blog will go on forever. There is much I would recommend on the list and Nick keeps it updated with interesting and unusual Kiwi wines. 

All in all, as I've mentioned before, I can't recommend Solera highly enough for those happy to share food. I guess you could go there and not share but I'm sure it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. And you wouldn't get to try so many different exciting flavours...