close button

The Engine Room (4)

Aug 18, 2012 Restaurants

The Engine Room " src="https://www.metromag.co.nz/images/uploads/5f1c6661-31e9-462c-8c92-ac68d85afb0b-MT0512ROTY_TheEngineRoom_DSC_02751.jpg" alt="Metro Audi Restaurant of the Year 2012 - The Engine Room" width="640" height="426" />15 Queen St, Northcote Pt.  Ph 480-9502.
engineroom.net.nz
Lunch Friday; dinner Tuesday-Saturday.

 

The winner of its category for six straight years since it opened, The Engine Room serves the best double-baked goats’ cheese soufflé in town. That’s also true, or as good as true, for its steak frites, veal schnitzel, churros con chocolate… in fact, so much of the menu is so popular that they find it hard to make room for new items. On recent visits, we particularly enjoyed the fish: a special of clams served in a divinely harmonious broth, and fish soup, chef Carl Koppenhagen’s tasty Mediterranean classic in which the balance of soup to fish — a thing which defeats so many chefs — was just perfect. Most suburban bistros have lost their spots in our Top 50: they might be good but they’re no longer good enough. The Engine Room shows there’s no reason that should be.

A favourite dish: Fish soup.
$$$$  |  V  |  FR  |  GB      what’s this?

WINNER
Best Upmarket Bistro

Latest

Metro N°448 is Out Now shadow

Metro N°448 is Out Now

In the Spring 2025 issue of Metro: Find out where to eat now in Tāmaki Makaurau with our top 50 restaurants, plus all the winners from Metro Restaurant of the Year. Henry Oliver picks at the seams of the remaking of the New Zealand fashion scene. Matthew Hooton puts the exceptional talent for Kiwi whinging on blast and Tess Nichol recounts her ongoing efforts not to pay attention to everything. Plus Anna Rankin pens a love letter to the 20th Century, a short story from Saraid de Silva and Bob Harvey assists the walls of Hotel DeBrett in talking. Oh, and last, but not least, it’s the end of an era.

Buy the latest issue