GET TO KNOW YOUR BYO with Kellie Larson

Fiori Cafe, Takapuna

BYOs are often viewed as the “cheap” alternative, not a dining experience. I’d like to think this isn’t entirely true. BYOs on the North Shore are integral to the local restaurant scene that we love to rely on for great food and a friendly atmosphere. Relaxed, in a good way. Not lacking in flavour. Just delicious, enjoyable dining experiences in our local communities. But these BYOs aren’t always easy to find. Online searches produce very little for the North Shore, and personal references tend to only take you to someone’s local Thai restaurant. So I have placed it upon myself to seek out the best BYO experiences to add to my “black book” of restaurants.

Fiori Cafe, Takapuna

Looking for a real winter warmer on the North Shore, I noticed Fiori Café at 99 Hurstmere Road across from the Takapuna Bar. With a very typical Kiwi menu, I thought it was worth a try.

The atmosphere at Fiori Café is quite charming with rich burgundy painted walls, dark wooden tables and tea light candles throughout. This is a great place to bring a bottle of red wine and hunker down for the night.

The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we arrived, so our waitress was able to come over to our table right away and explain the special of the evening – seafood paella.

The menu was filled with hearty dishes – steak, lamb shanks and pork belly.

We started with the seafood chowder and a platter for entrée. The seafood chowder came in quite a generous portion and was served with garlic toast. It was delicious, and it would have been a great light dinner as well. However, I probably wouldn’t order the platter again. The breads and dips on the platter were moorish and tasty, but the cured meat was actually just grilled bacon and the marinated vegetables seemed to be stock standard fare poured from a jar. More attention to detail was definitely necessary.

For mains we ordered the pan-seared chicken, braised lamb shanks and scotch fillet steak.

The chicken was stuffed with brie and spinach, wrapped in bacon and served on mashed potatoes drenched in a creamy mushroom sauce. The chicken was fairly dry, and the sauce was very, very rich – but it stuck to my ribs and was an indulgent meal. The steak was cooked medium rare with sweet carmelised onions, red wine jus and prawns. This was cooked well although the onions made the dish a bit too sweet and a bit heavy handed. Nice but not great. But, the best meal, was the wine braised lamb shanks with mashed poatatoes and seasonal vegetables. A home-cooked dinner in a romantic, comfortable setting.

If you love mashed potatoes, than Fiori Café is a local BYO that you should visit. The large portion meals may be hearty dishes lacking just a bit of finess, but it is a decent BYO alternative from the more popular Thai and Japanese BYOs you may regularly frequent.