Out To Lunch

In praise of old-fashioned seasons

OUT TO LUNCH: Mediterranean Food Company & Cafe

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Last week I went out to lunch in the suburbs. Meshino Cafe in St Albans was once a large house on the corner of Rutland St and Hawkesbury Avenue, and its new life as neighbourhood meeting place, coffee stop/licensed cafe must make it a public amenity up there with parks and swimming pools.

The place bustles with customers popping in for a coffee, snacks from the cabinet and hearty meals. A large blackboard menu behind the service counter is too much to take in at once, but there are sit-down and read menus and a wine list.

Reservation signs spot the room and those on a time-limited lunch break will find it best to book, or get there early.

The menu is a comforting read. It suggests the chef likes the style of Hugh Fernley Whittingstall and his River Cottage TV series. Last week the list included a chicken pie, chicken involtini with mash (and according to the menu 'asparagus' which flew in the face of any 'seasonal' persuasions but green beans were a reasonable if not exactly seasonal substitute), lamb shanks and a steak sandwich, and daily specials that included not only the expected soup and fish but surprisingly risotto, and game.

Our game of the day dish was wild pork sausages in a potato and cabbage broth. Could anyone with even a spit of Irish in the ancestral history pass that? Not me. Thank you Meshino for the best sausages to have ever come my way. I liked the cabbage broth idea too, especially with the inclusion of potatoes, but it wasn't easy to eat. I should have remembered my father's habit of tearing bread into pieces and soaking them into his soup. And I should have asked for a spoon.

The chicken involtini - an Italian dish meaning little rolls - was prepared in the classic manner; boned chicken thighs wrapped around a stuffing of garlic and rosemary with fine strips of bacon in turn wrapping the chicken pieces. Again nicely cooked but alas my lunch companion was one who dislikes eating meat and vegetables from a bowl rather than a plate. Still, a minor quibble as the food showed finesse in both presentation and flavour.

It was a red wine kind of day and Meshino's small but quite wide-ranging wine list offered good reds by the glass, including a friendly fruity Cotes du Rhone that went with both wild pork and tame chicken.

Whether it is because of a very busy service or the popularity of takeaway coffees everything happens at the counter. Orders are taken and a number issued, then everything is paid for. "What if I wanted another wine or dessert or something," I asked. Simple: "open a tab". Which means you hand over your credit card. Meshino keeps them clearly marked with table numbers, in the till and I was assured of safety.

A close inspection of the cabinet for a sweet ending resulted in a compete change of mind and I took home with me an excellent vegetable pie. A savoury cheese- topped bake, its vegetables included chunks of beetroot and swede. Fantastic. Cafes that incorporate such sweet old-fashioned and seasonal vegetables in their dishes deserve praise.

Meshino Cafe

75 Rutland Street, St Albans Ph 355 2449

Cost: Game dish of the day $18, chicken involtini $18. Cotes: du Rhone wines $8.50 per glass, cappuccino $4, savoury vegetable bake $9.50

Style: Friendly, casual but comprehensive

Who: better to ask, who not?

Go again: yes, and with children. A child-friendly menu and an enclosed outdoor area impressed

Our scoring system is simple. Five stars means lunch was perfect in every way. Four stars is one star less than perfect. Three stars is given when the lunch was above average. Two and a half stars is awarded to an average lunch. Two stars, sorry, is a mark below average and one star is bad news for both sides of the pass.

- © Fairfax NZ News