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Overlooking the famous Takapuna beach, Regatta is a bar and restaurant that focuses on serving food inspired by the Spanish island of Ibiza through a modern lens. The food reflects this with bold flavors and concepts that focus on using amazing cooking techniques with great ingredients. There wasn’t an item on the menu where I questioned its place on it. And while not everything on the menu is partially everyone's first choice. This is the ultimate place to expand your palate if you're looking to do so. The simplistic plating and easy to share items on the menu makes everything super inviting to eat. Regatta is an open and vibrant restaurant with a warm atmosphere. The open kitchen at the back is almost guaranteed to catch our eye more than once during your time here. There is a variety of seats from a bigger sit-down table for a group, to the smaller outside seats to enjoy a cocktail or two. The bar program here is super interesting and well done and doesn’t clash with the menu. Regatta also hosts events since it has a large bar, and there was one going on while I was eating there. Fortunately, I found that it didn't distract or ruin my dining experience. The only negative from the dining experience was the initial waiting time after being seated. I didn't receive a glass of water until around 10-12 minutes after being seated on a Thursday afternoon where it wasn’t too busy. But after that, the wait times were excellent, and the staff did an excellent job of communicating with me. They also seemed confident in front of the house, which is always a plus.
The first starting dish I tried was the sweet Romano peppers with garlic and parmesan and this was an explosive starting dish! Not only was the presentation super beautiful but so was the taste. The peppers were super soft and tender. I probably could have gotten away with not chewing. They were so soft because of how long they had been roasted, and the restaurant knew it, serving them with only a spoon and fork. Not only did this leave a positive impact on the texture but the flavor too. It was super roasty and contrasted with the sweetness from the natural sugars of the peppers. It was an amazing small bite of food. But it doesn’t stop there. The pesto type topping on each pepper added this lovely garlic and herbaceous notes that worked so well with the previously mentioned flavors from the pepper itself. Then the grated parmesan on top was just enough to add a salty element to the dish without being overly cheesy. Then the fresh herbs just enchanted the pesto making this a surprisingly well rounded dish for just a simple side.
The next starting dish I had was the Chicken Liver parfait with red wine gel pickles (red onion) and toasted sourdough. The parfait itself was generously served, almost an ice cream scoops worth of parfait on the plate. And I have to thank regatta for this because it was incredibly addictive. The flavor was super rich and meaty and made you want to have many more bites. The texture was creamy but still thick to the point where it held its shape well. Some parfaits are either too loose or too hard like clay and regatta finds itself perfectly in the middle of those extremes. The red wine gel was a perfect compliment which added a sweet and bitter undertone to the whole dish. However, it was cleverly not covering the entire parfait, allowing you to sample it alone or with the gel. The bread it was served with was the perfect holder for the parfait as they were big slices with lots of surface area to cover. Along with that it was fairly thin which I liked. It allowed the main elements to shine. But the bread had been covered in butter and fully absorbed, then toasted on the grill until it had the char lines, so it had this delicious buttery flavor balanced by the charred bits of bread. The pickled red onions rounded out the dish with not only a burst of acidity and freshness but a welcomed crunch which made this dish near perfect in my opinion.
The final side dish I had was beef tartare with Szechuan pepper, potato crisps and baba ghanoush. This is the type of dish that definitely wouldn't be everyone's first choice but if you’re feeling adventurous this is a must try! The texture of the raw beef had just enough bite to it and the overall flavor wasn’t too strong. I loved how it wasn’t overly complex but rather let the flavor of the beef be enchanted by the other ingredients rather than the other ingredients overpowering the beef. It was clean and delicious and all the ingredients together had a very pleasant mouthfeel. The what I believed to be a crumbled cheese on top added a slight sharpness to the cooling tartare. The baba ghanoush was a pleasant surprise on the bottom of the dish which helped add a creamy texture and unique flavor. It was awesome to see a dish that many are afraid of being served in a way I felt was approachable and tasty. The potato crisps on the side were a much needed crunch element and it paired super well with the beef. The one negative about them is that that crisp itself was way too thin. It was a challenge at times to get even a small amount onto the chip without it breaking so if the chips were just slightly thicker it would make this dish even better than it already is.
The main dish I had was the Braised short rib with baba ghanoush, grilled leak pumpkin seed dukkha and harissa. When you think of a braised short rib you think of a soft and sticky meat that falls apart with no effort and this dish was exactly that and more! They could have served this dish with no knife and I wouldn’t have compiled because the rib was a heavenly level of soft. This resulted in a melt in your mouth texture. The flavor of the rib itself was incredibly delicious, and the braised glaze on the outside of the rib was sweet and sticky and everything you could want from a braised short rib. The Pumpkin seed dukkha added an occasional crunch and burst of spice which was a great contrast to the soft beef. And that harissa pepper sauce was awesome on this dish. It brought in notes of brightness through the dish and I thought it was such a smart choice of flavors paired together. A great meat main is defined by its sauce and this dish proves that. The grilled leaks looked so cool on the plate. The whole leek segment with the nautical char marks was great to see. The lays of the leaks broke into separate layers and while some of the outer layers were a bit tough and woody in texture. The inside layers were so satisfying to pick off with your fork and add with a bite of the rib. The baba ganoush wasn’t too bad either. Definitely had more of a place in the tartore than it did here. And some of those eggplant skins were a bit unpleasant. But overall this dish was an absolute winner, absolutely gorgeous presentation and amazing flavors. You need to get this if you find yourself here.
The dessert I had was the Gateaux Basque with lemon crème patisserie, cognac cherries and an orange Chantilly. This was plain and simply a beautifully presented dessert, the choice to let each element sit alone really draws you in and allows you to pick your bites. The Basque itself was pretty heavy with that lemon crème pat in the center but it made for a satisfying bite and mouth feel. The outside was well cooked and has that lovely crumbly quality to contrast against the more dense interior. It wasn’t too acidic nor too sweet and the lemon flavor worked so well with everything. The Orange crème was the perfect cooling and acid hit. It wasn’t sweet but brought an amazing brightness and the zest on top was such a genius move, I loved it! Then the cognac cherry concentrate was super strongly flavored when tired alone but when mixed with everything it added a certain zing. Each element had a part to play in making the dessert so complete. This was a real stand out.
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