Cuisine

Issue 128, April 2008, By Lauraine Jacobs

3 out of 5 stars

There’s always room in the most crowded market for another restaurant. Even in Newmarket, where experienced operators Alastair Bryan, Suzie McAlpine and Matthew McAlpine have bought and remodelled the former Olympic Café.

The points of difference between their casual restaurant and the cafés that line lower Carlton Gore Rd are longer hours and an intimate bar that serves wine and cocktails. Market has three distinct areas: the bar, the main dining area and an outdoor courtyard that will be heated through the winter.

But it’s the food upon which restaurants stand or fall, and the kitchen, under the direction of chef Adrian Brett-Chinnery, is off to a good start for what is ultimately a neighbourhood restaurant. He has designed a simple dinner menu full of fresh flavours and managed to keep all mains under $30.

The slow-roasted tomato soup with chunks of ciabatta, melting mozzarella in the centre and garnish of fresh basil was like an inspired rendition of the Italian flag. “Cannelloni” of smoked salmon with avocado, watercress and a lemon dressing is just the ticket for a refreshing start to a dinner. And there are also oysters, chicken liver parfait with apple jelly, tortellini of confit rabbit, a chunky pork and pistachio terrine, and herbed gnocchi.

The pork, chicken, beef, fish and lamb mains all arrive with well-thought-out vegetable sides to complement the protein. For the vegos there’s a daily choice. Being a lamb fan, I was surprised to be stonkered by the gargantuan portion of tender lamb rump and accompanying confit lamb shoulder that came with kumara purée and a vaguely Asian-flavoured salad. Delicious, daunting and no doubt designed for the boys!

Although sous-vide is a cooking method that’s of the moment, I thought the fish done in this manner was a little pallid and lacking in flavour.

Full marks to Market for their lunch menu. It is a slightly reworked dinner menu, with lighter choices at sensible lunchtime café prices.

Breakfast is served from 7am on week days and a lovely brunch menu appears on weekends with both savoury and sweet dishes to accompany the good coffee.

What did not overexcite me was the wine list. There were some nice wines and they were generally well priced, but $17 for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc seemed steep. There’s a little work to be done there, but with so much activity seven days a week, Market is off to a good start.