91/95 Upland Road, Remuera, Auckland 1050, New Zealand
We went here because…
Some friends that we hadn’t seen for many years wanted to try something new for lunch and we had a nice experience there last time, so we thought why not. We went there for lunch on a sunny Saturday afternoon and sat outside in the shade, it was magical.
The food…
It was a fairly casual affair and nobody was in the “I’m ordering something so I can eat it, not so I can share it with every-bloody-body-else at the table” mood, so we decided to order a cornucopia of dishes and chucked them in the middle to see who was the greediest (me by the way, just in case there was any doubt).
The ceviche looked outstanding with it’s vibrant green oil and pink petals, the taste did not let it down. I’m not exactly a caper fanatic, but the crispy capers won me over and I found myself wanting more.
The smoke Kahawai Rillettes have been on the menu for a long time and in my opinion deserve a promotion to the “Morell Classics” section of the menu.
We also ordered the Salt & Pepper Calamari, which was perfectly cooked, not oily or chewy, the Chicken Liver Parfait (hard to beat) and and the Meat and Pickles. Overall the food was very tasty and just what the doctor ordered for a lazy afternoon graze! We all agreed that we were full and then I cleaned up what the others had left behind.
The drinks…
Morell has a good wine list without it being excessive, the pricing is in line with similar bistros. With a 70’s dining style the gentlemen had a couple of beers and the ladies had a gin and a dry white wine each.
The service…
Morrell is a local bistro with generally excellent service mixed with a little informal charm, this was no exception. Unlike when we have visited in the evening, when the custom is heaving, as they had only just reopened following the traditional Auckland New Years shutdown, the afternoon traffic was light, but the service didn’t match many establishments in the area, where they mirror their patronage (that is another way of saying that the service was very efficient unlike other recent experiences).
The atmosphere…
It was one of those afternoons where four people were sitting outside catching up over many lost years, it didn’t really matter what the atmosphere was and as there were very few people sitting outside that is probably lucky. However after visiting a this establishment a few times, normally atmosphere is never lacking.
The price was…
$240 for the food for 5 sharing dishes and 4 drinks.
Overall
A great afternoon of mouth-watering sharing plates with a few drinks and never having to ask “where is the server, I want another drink!” Also the fact that one of us was GF wasn’t a problem; gluten free crackers were provided to replace the bread and the calamari was GF to start with. Overall I would give Morell a strong 8.5/10.
Leave a Reply