Trivet – 22 Albert Street, Auckland City, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
We went there because…
We had heard good things, we knew the chef from a previous “hotel restaurant” and liked what he did there, so we entered with educated anticipation. Would you call Trivet a hotel restaurant? I guess so, it is part of the JW Marriott hotel and it is where the breakfast is served to the hotel’s guests (and anyone else who walks in), however after that, it is a standalone restaurant. Many who know this part of town will be familiar with the space, it was formerly inhabited by the Thai restaurant Grasshopper for more than a decade, but had been empty for four years prior to having a complete makeover (as has the hotel when it rebranded to JW Marrioitt) and opened last August as Trivet.
The food…
Trivets menu is divided into four sections, Raw, Smalls, Large and Side, it’s a menu that can be easily divided into entree/main if you have a penchant for eating what you want and anyone who touches your plate will lose a finger, or if you want to throw it all in the middle and get to taste everything (and then haggle over who get second dibs at each dish). The menu is set out in the style of name all of the ingredients and guess how they are put together. The executive chef is Wallace Mua who had over 20 years in restaurants in NZ and France and he blends that experience with his Samoan heritage.
There were four of us, and while it seemed that we ordered a lot, it was basically four entrees and 3 mains, so we weren’t as bad as I thought. We ordered the Kaipara trevally sashimi, soy and truffle, herb, chilli, the Rare beef tartare, lavosh, chimichurri, egg yolk, smoked crème fraîche, the Tora Bay pāua, palusami, vol-au-vent, chives, the Green lipped mussels, chorizo piquante, coriander, pastis, saffron, the Pork Belly nem, wood ear, peanuts, cos, herbs, the Free range chicken breast, buttered curry, scallions, mustard seeds, potato and the Market fish, coconut chutney, mustard seeds, curry leaves (I know what you are thinking, with incredible amount of different ingredients to choose from how did we end up ordering two dishes that had mustard seeds?). We also ordered a side of Hand-cut Asian slaw, orange and something called Shoestring fries, curry mayo.
I’m starting to have a bit of déjà vu, so I’ve gone back through the reviews I’ve written and over 70% of the time I’ve ordered either, ceviche/sebiche, crudo or sashimi and while purists will claim that these are all completely different dishes, it would appear in todays modern cuisine there is a lot of crossover. Thin slices of raw fish, sometimes marinated in citrus, sometimes with oils and other times with soy and wasabi and sometimes a combination of the above. This was clearly sashimi (without the wasabi) and first dish down and all I can say is that it was lucky that the number of fish slivers was divisible by four.
I love a good beef tartare, which is lucky, because this was a good beef tartare, the chimichurri and smoked crème fraîche finished it off perfectly. After a long break, I’m having a bit of a mussel renaissance at the moment and these mussels confirmed that shall continue, let’s face it what doesn’t chorizo piquante go with (don’t say vanilla ice cream, because I will challenge that). The last “Smalls” dish was the Tora Bay pāua, palusami, vol-au-vent, chives the only dish that they couldn’t give me a work around for my dietary requirements. I’m told it was magnificent and it certainly looked and smelled it. I was a big fan of a vol-au-vent back in the 80’s and could never understand where they went, now that I can’t eat them I don’t really want to dwell on it, but apparently this was much better than what the other diners had experienced with a gluggy chicken and mushroom mixture served up at cocktail functions in 1984.
The Pork belly nem was juicy and spicy and not enough for the four of us to share, but we somehow managed (I don’t recollect who missed out, but it wasn’t me, I’d already had to endure the vol-au-vent torture). The market fish (kingfish) was cooked to perfection and the Chicken breast (apparently inspired by the chefs mother) finished off the savoury portion of the menu beautifully.
Not being big on sweets, to finish three of us shared a Liquorice parfait, speculoos, mango, passionfruit, which was seemingly floorless.
The drinks…
The drinks list is extensive and well put together compared with many other restaurants I have visited recently. New Zealand beers dominate the beer list with a couple of international brands and New Zealand wines are well represented in all grape varieties. The lead in white wines are either $80 or $85, whereas you won’t find a red wine for under three figures, so if you like to a central Otago pinot with your pork belly nem or a Hawkes Bay Syrah with your bavette, chances are it will be good, but it might effect the final bill.
The service…
The service at Trivet was excellent, the waitress was attentive and friendly, she established the dietary requirements at the beginning and was knowledgeable of what could and couldn’t be done. Service was always there when needed, while not being in your face when not.
The atmosphere…
The space was completely gutted and rebuilt, it looks new and stylish, with a raw bar in the centre with some fairly impressive large specimens of the sea on display. While the restaurant wasn’t full, you wouldn’t have known as it almost seems to have been designed so that although you are in a relatively open area, you almost felt like we were in our own space.
The price was…
The food at Trivet was $263 for 4x Smalls, 3x Large, 2x Side, 1x Dessert
Overall
The space looks spectacular, the staff were very good and the food was not only tasty, but thought provoking. I’m still not sure if it’s a hotel restaurant, but if it is, it is a very good one. Overall I would give Trivet a well deserved 9/10
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