Bracu - A Journey Through Lunch
Wednesday, 2 April 2008 by Dr Maytel
Bracu's menu begins with some wafty, self-aggrandising and cliched quotes and desciptions designed to inform the diner of the chef's unwaivering dedication to excellence and great produce....words like "handcrafted" and "sophistication with a twist" are employed and sentimental stories are told about warm jelly as a child and cooking being a journey .
I'm always a bit suspicious of restaurants that feel the need to explicitly spell out the merits of the chef, and overall atmosphere they are trying to achieve at the beginnning of the menu. It seemed patently obvious from the moment I entered Bracu, situated on the outskirts of Auckland in the rolling hills of the Simunovich olive estate in an old country house exactly what they are aiming at. The setting and decor immediately convey everything that they so annoyingly spell out on the the menu. Except perhaps I would have thrown in the word "mumsy"
Seated in the restaurant when we arrived were ladies who lunch, daughters taking out their mothers to a special lunch and a few patrons who looked as though they'd found the place by mistake. The white veranda seating and modern floral wallpaper gives Bracu a very la-de-da feeling that seemed to have middle class NZ mothers fawning. The place just screams "heirloom organic tomatos picked straight from the kitchen garden".
Anyway, once we finally sat down after the late members of our ensemble arrived after taking a wrong turn on their "journey" off the wrong motorway exit, our journey through lunch began.
First they served what you'd expect to be really great olives...and they were, really really great
OLIVES
ENTREE
After a week of far too much gluttony and a new found obsession with watercress, I opted for the:
WILD WATERCRESS & WHITLOF SALAD
roasted local hazelnuts, pedro ximenez vinegar dressing ...$8.50
Others around the table had the following:
TORTELLINI ‘BUBBLE & SQUEAK’
soft agria potato tortellini, poached quail eggs, sweet heart cabbage, parma ham $18.00
CARAMELISED FRESH GOATS CHEESE FILLED
WHITLOF ‘PACKETS’
beurre bosc pear salad, candied almonds $18.00
AKAROA SALMON
marinated in tea petals confi t, rhubarb and orange salad, toasted walnut
and mirin dressing $19.50
SEARED DEEP SEA SCALLOPS
toasted wheat and cranberry ‘muesli’ coconut and lime leaf ‘zepher’, curry oil...which was changed to potato and proccuitto
$19.80
Oooohhh and aaahhhs were exclaimed and Hock didn't complain.
MAINS
As with the French Cafe the mains were enormous. Even after eating just a salad I couldn't finish my salmon which arrived with not one but two fillets. One would have sufficed. Again, I would have prefered half the amount and to have paid half the price and it seemed odd that such manly proportions would prevail in a restaurant filled mainly with women.
TOM BATES PAN ROASTED AKAROA SALMON IN PAPER
rolled crab and ginger kedgeree, celery branch fondue...$37.00
Hock had the duck, even though it wasn't on the standard menu. He fell in love with the pastilla
BREAST OF LOCAL CRISP SKIN KING COLE DUCK
pastilla, pistachio, cocoa, caramelised mango, quatre épices
JOHN FLYNN, SOUTHLAND HEREFORD
PRIME BEEF FILLET
béarnaise reduction, salsify ‘étuvée’, freshly shelled broad beans...$38.00
KIDS STEAK AND CHIPS
Dessert was definitely the highlight. We ate it in the garden and swapped mouthfuls of sweetness.
DESSERT
CALVADOS & RAISIN PARFAIT ‘pain d’epice’, thyme poached apple, almond financier, granny smith sorbet, caramel foam $16.50
‘FOURME D’AMBERT BEIGNET’ seven spice breton biscuit, walnut and szechuan croquant, beetroot and pear sorbet, baby watercress $16.50
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
fluid rose water stones, orange fl owers crème brûlée, pink grapefruit gelato, chocolate soil $17.50
LOCAL ICED STRAWBERRY & YOGHURT ‘SANDWICH’ meyer lemon curd, italian meringue, strawberry and elder flower caviar
$16.00
A final note on the overly descriptive menu. I noticed when I downloaded the pdf of the summer menu there was also this piece of text on the third page of the menu.
"It is not just about how the food is created and served,
it is about the food itself and this menu celebrates just that.
Our wine director, Josselin de Gésincourt, will help untangle
the mystery of pairing wine and food and recommend wines
to accompany each course."
The problem with this is that, unless they actually deliver on their promises all it does it serve to highlight...in writing, their shortcomings. I didn't see Josselin anywhere 'untangling wine mysteries', instead the service was sloppy and slow and on several occasions I had to get up from the table and get the waitress myself. At the prices they charged the service was pretty appalling. Hock's parents paid the bill so I rounded up the tip. The others in our party nominated to pay a measly $10 each. And so I bumped up the tip myself. It seems to be a common occurrence with kiwis. It's hard to complain about the service when you only tip $10.
I'm always a bit suspicious of restaurants that feel the need to explicitly spell out the merits of the chef, and overall atmosphere they are trying to achieve at the beginnning of the menu. It seemed patently obvious from the moment I entered Bracu, situated on the outskirts of Auckland in the rolling hills of the Simunovich olive estate in an old country house exactly what they are aiming at. The setting and decor immediately convey everything that they so annoyingly spell out on the the menu. Except perhaps I would have thrown in the word "mumsy"
Seated in the restaurant when we arrived were ladies who lunch, daughters taking out their mothers to a special lunch and a few patrons who looked as though they'd found the place by mistake. The white veranda seating and modern floral wallpaper gives Bracu a very la-de-da feeling that seemed to have middle class NZ mothers fawning. The place just screams "heirloom organic tomatos picked straight from the kitchen garden".
Anyway, once we finally sat down after the late members of our ensemble arrived after taking a wrong turn on their "journey" off the wrong motorway exit, our journey through lunch began.
First they served what you'd expect to be really great olives...and they were, really really great
OLIVES
ENTREE
After a week of far too much gluttony and a new found obsession with watercress, I opted for the:
WILD WATERCRESS & WHITLOF SALAD
roasted local hazelnuts, pedro ximenez vinegar dressing ...$8.50
Others around the table had the following:
TORTELLINI ‘BUBBLE & SQUEAK’
soft agria potato tortellini, poached quail eggs, sweet heart cabbage, parma ham $18.00
CARAMELISED FRESH GOATS CHEESE FILLED
WHITLOF ‘PACKETS’
beurre bosc pear salad, candied almonds $18.00
AKAROA SALMON
marinated in tea petals confi t, rhubarb and orange salad, toasted walnut
and mirin dressing $19.50
SEARED DEEP SEA SCALLOPS
toasted wheat and cranberry ‘muesli’ coconut and lime leaf ‘zepher’, curry oil...which was changed to potato and proccuitto
$19.80
Oooohhh and aaahhhs were exclaimed and Hock didn't complain.
MAINS
As with the French Cafe the mains were enormous. Even after eating just a salad I couldn't finish my salmon which arrived with not one but two fillets. One would have sufficed. Again, I would have prefered half the amount and to have paid half the price and it seemed odd that such manly proportions would prevail in a restaurant filled mainly with women.
TOM BATES PAN ROASTED AKAROA SALMON IN PAPER
rolled crab and ginger kedgeree, celery branch fondue...$37.00
Hock had the duck, even though it wasn't on the standard menu. He fell in love with the pastilla
BREAST OF LOCAL CRISP SKIN KING COLE DUCK
pastilla, pistachio, cocoa, caramelised mango, quatre épices
JOHN FLYNN, SOUTHLAND HEREFORD
PRIME BEEF FILLET
béarnaise reduction, salsify ‘étuvée’, freshly shelled broad beans...$38.00
KIDS STEAK AND CHIPS
Dessert was definitely the highlight. We ate it in the garden and swapped mouthfuls of sweetness.
DESSERT
CALVADOS & RAISIN PARFAIT ‘pain d’epice’, thyme poached apple, almond financier, granny smith sorbet, caramel foam $16.50
‘FOURME D’AMBERT BEIGNET’ seven spice breton biscuit, walnut and szechuan croquant, beetroot and pear sorbet, baby watercress $16.50
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
fluid rose water stones, orange fl owers crème brûlée, pink grapefruit gelato, chocolate soil $17.50
LOCAL ICED STRAWBERRY & YOGHURT ‘SANDWICH’ meyer lemon curd, italian meringue, strawberry and elder flower caviar
$16.00
A final note on the overly descriptive menu. I noticed when I downloaded the pdf of the summer menu there was also this piece of text on the third page of the menu.
"It is not just about how the food is created and served,
it is about the food itself and this menu celebrates just that.
Our wine director, Josselin de Gésincourt, will help untangle
the mystery of pairing wine and food and recommend wines
to accompany each course."
The problem with this is that, unless they actually deliver on their promises all it does it serve to highlight...in writing, their shortcomings. I didn't see Josselin anywhere 'untangling wine mysteries', instead the service was sloppy and slow and on several occasions I had to get up from the table and get the waitress myself. At the prices they charged the service was pretty appalling. Hock's parents paid the bill so I rounded up the tip. The others in our party nominated to pay a measly $10 each. And so I bumped up the tip myself. It seems to be a common occurrence with kiwis. It's hard to complain about the service when you only tip $10.
hell yeah those desserts looks damn good.