close button

Clooney (4)

Aug 18, 2012 Restaurants

Metro Best Restaurants in Auckland - Clooney33 Sale St, Freemans Bay. Ph 358-1702.
clooney.co.nz

Dinner 7 days.

 

Still, still, after all the action in other parts of town, this is the most poshly dramatic dining room in the city. Rich brown curved leather banquettes, black frill curtains, distressed concrete, big hanging globes of light… The real beauty of the room, though, is that although it’s large, they light it and screen it in such a way that every table feels intimate. You can come here in a group and it’s like you’re in a private room (the big group table is pictured). You can come for an intimate dinner and, well, it’s like that too. Chef Des Harris revels in the subtlety of his food, presenting delicate flavours in exquisite combinations, and owner/manager Tony Stewart maintains a very large and very excellent wine list to match. Degustation is a good option here, and — how’s this for commitment? — there’s a full vegetarian degustation option, right there on the menu, so you don’t have to plead. We brought British food writer AA Gill here once and it didn’t work out. In our more recent experience, they’ve solved the problems of that night. If AA Gill came back, we’d be proud to take him here again.

A favourite dish: Potato gnocchi with sweet pea salad.
$$$$$  |  FP  |  D  |  V  |  FR  |  PR  |  G  |  B            what’s this?

WINNER
Best Fine Dining Restaurant
FINALIST
Best Drinks List

[booking_form]

Latest

Latest issue shadow

Metro N°441 is Out Now.

It’s our annual, inflation-busting ‘Where to Eat for Less Than $25’ list (with thanks to Uber Eats) issue! PLUS the Summer Books Special and the Auckland Property Report Card (with thanks to Barfoot and Thompson). Also, Sir Bob Harvey looks into the missing treasures in our museums and talks to Jacqui Knight about monarch butterflies. AND NOT ONLY THAT: Emil Scheffmann looks into our secondary art market, Matthew Hooton and Morgan Godfery look into the new government, Jamie Wall into the tennis, Hana Pera Aoake into the Māori response to the war in Palestine and Abby Howells into being the lion in the Wizard of Oz. We also find the 10 Best Bakeries in Auckland, a great recipe for a Japanese Breakfast and the king of the supermarket pasta brands. All this and much, much more.

Buy the latest issue