This was the rule: “You can come at 6pm or 6.30pm but you would have to be out by 8pm. Otherwise you can book at 8pm or 8.30pm.”
Luckily that didn’t put me off, and when we arrived for our precious 6.30pm table, Mekong Baby’s dining room was totally empty. It filled up quickly, and service was swift, smart and thoroughly pleasant. We were out into the cold and home by 8pm, before anyone could bossily tip us out.
Dominique Parat, the jaunty Frenchman who owns Mekong Baby has always managed to keep at the cutting edge of exactly what people want. I wonder if anyone else remembers that slick little French brasserie that was his first solo gig, a stone’s throw from at the Auckland Town Hall? The name escapes me (it began with Z) and it was a real delight - bold, bright and snazzy with proper bistro cooking. He’s had a string of places around the city including GPK on Ponsonby Road and Takapuna, that gorgeous elegant dining room next to his GPK Ponsonby (the beautiful staircase remains leading to one of Mekong Baby’s three private dining rooms), Banque that was set up for the good folk in Remuera to dine on delicious fare, and now he’s celebrating three years at his clever Mekong Baby. None of his places are over the top; each and every single one has hit the mark on current trends for its time.
Mekong Baby’s menu reflects our current fascination with Asian food. The interior, even three successful years on, is comfortable and oozes that South-East Asian atmosphere. The restaurant is named for the Mekong River, which flows from China, defines the borders between Burma and Laos, and then Laos and Thailand, before passing through Cambodia and on to the Vietnamese delta. It is a fertile region, and the food of all those different countries is what inspires the Mekong Baby menu.
So there are various dishes paying homage to the food of those countries, with an overriding theme that’s light, fresh and spicy. As it should be. The menu is vast and even though I often think that too often signals over-ambition in the kitchen, here it all works. Start with a tasty little betel leaf topped with crab, hot wings with gochujang (hey, now that’s Korean), Khmer beef skewers, spicy lime corn fritters, kingfish sashimi or any other tasty treats from the ‘small beginnnings’ section. Not all are authentic Mekong cookery but everything is piled with the fresh herbs that mark the cuisine of the region and the flavours are delectable. My favourites? The Vietnamese pork rolls which are extremely chunky but refreshingly light and pleasing. And the kingfish sashimi which had a hauntingly interesting flavour profile from the green nam jim and a lovely coconut sauce.
Then things got a 'little bigger' and I could return every week for the masterful dish with crispy skinned hapuku pieces topped with sweet and sticky chunks of pork and garnished with pear, radish and a giant pile of fresh herbs. That totally captures the essence of the Mekong. There are lovely fragrant curries and salads, a roast duck with pineapple, potatoes in a Massaman curry and a goat curry redolent of lime and coconut aromas - a dish that most regular customers swear by. Chicken, beef, pork, lamb and vegetables all have their place on the menu and here’s the thing - go in a group so you can really experience this huge array of flavours, textures and tastes.
Do leave a little room for dessert. If there’s a better Asian dessert in the city than Mekong Baby’s coconut sago with vanilla icecream and a topping of crunchy crisp of puffed black rice I will eat my hat. It is lightness itself and a thing of wonder.
The cocktails are intriguing and the wines by the glass well suited to the food. Loved my vouvray which may be the perfect match for all the spice and punchy flavour that underpins the Mekong Baby fare. With so much variety and so many light dishes I could happily eat here regularly, which is obviously what many diners do. Closed Mondays. Open Tuesday to Sunday 12 noon until late.
(LAURAINE JACOBS)
www.laurainejacobs.co.nz
Mekong Baby, 262 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 360 1113, www.mekongbaby.com