BON PINARD
A RESTAURANT REVIEW OF A WINE BAR, IF THERE IS SUCH A THING.
3 STARS / 5 (GOOD)
VISITED AUGUST 2025
BIRKENHEAD, AUCKLAND, NZ.
The bohemian indulgence and simple rapture of being in a nice wine bar that plies you not only with fine libations but also the bonus of delicious plates of food, can convert any afternoon into an endless weekend. 'Twas a gloriously sunny winter day and Birkenhead was looking as beautiful as a baguette fresh off the oven with warm butter on top. Jesse Mulligan, writing in top form for NZ Herald, had recently evoked tantalizing times here at wine bar Bon Pinard, crescendoing with the season's frisson-flecked truffle shower on request, with a 19/20 rating. I was already half-ready to motor my imaginary vintage Citroën leaping past the blue to North Shore.
If one is travelling from central Auckland on a sunny day, it is one of the loveliest drives, zooming over Harbour bridge past glinting solar diamonds on the aquamarine below, a yatch here and there, taking the first exit to arc higher and higher into scenic waterside Birkenhead, past picture-postcard vistas of the iconic bridge, white boats-'n'-azure. If you lose your way a bit, take the time to circle the coveted block, chewing on the scenery of elegant classic homes perched on green hillside overlooking the beautiful natural harbour.
The exterior has the central facade of a Kiwi villa, contiguous with the buildings on the side, with ample glass frontage. Enter and you'll find that whoever lives inside this two-room set-up is a raving dipsomaniac, having strategically filled the space with chairs and tables for dedicated consumption, whilst rows upon rows of wine bottles are ranged all over the place. They seem to have run out of wine bottles to plant inside the second shorter room by the side, which has more commonplace furniture. The double-height entry room, clearly the better choice for imbibing the Bon Pinard ethos, has a spartan but smart, rustic Euro aesthetic. Green paneled wainscoting has a nice contrast with the light walnut brown of borders and table-tops, while the polished concrete floors and chairs are a darker brown.
The wine list, offered in a booklet bound in thin soft leather of a fashionably august hue, offers ample selections from France and New Zealand. Prices have a reasonable range, from the mid-70s to 80s all the way to $150 above. A solid selection of wines by the glass has heaps of choices from $15 to $20, with Te Mata "Coleraine" triple blend offered at $50 per glass.
I had a glass each of Prosper Maufox 2023 chablis and Roux 'Le Cotilles' 2022 pinor noir - both good, easy-drinking wines, the chablis in particular having a level of smoothness that would give most of NZ's fine pinot gris a run for its swirl.
Appetizers hover about $20, and mains $32. Truffle shavings, as a winter special ending early August, are an extra $10. French and Italian cuisine influences the offerings which are an excellent match with the wine.
"Poached Prawns" was a beaut of a dish, crowned by grated truffle that afforded another dimension of luxurious flavour. It is very hard to find flavorsome prawns in Auckland (or for that matter in most parts of the world) but these large ones had a chilled juicy succulence that went superbly well with the dish's tastiest ingredient hidden underneath - cocktail sauce whipped into a delicate, sweet and rivetingly savoury cloud.
Chicken Liver Parfait by itself was no great shakes, but was much more palatable when tasted with grated truffle that lifted its umami profile, with the cherry relish doing a fine job of balancing the taste. Arancini looked better than it tasted - the truffle topping, like magic masala again, boosted the aromatic bite - and while these were hearty mouthfuls, they did not have the expected flavour burst.
"Burrata, mushroom and ala grecque herbs" was a stomach-friendly, palate-pleasing triumph, going superbly well with the Prophet's Rock 2023 Central Otago white wine which is a prime example of beautiful New Zealand pinot gris - a crystalline focused drop with lovely balance that would have been perfect if it were a touch less sweet. The shapely hunk of burrata was pillowy heaven, with juicy mushrooms all bathed in and percolating into a lean herbed sauce whose whisper of dulcet notes was a joy to eat and sip on.
Of all the fries I've had, the ones here sported the ripest potato flavour - a softer, rather rustic persuasion as distinct from crisp-soft zingers, paired with smacking good truffle aoili.
Baguette with Lewis Road butter was a missed opportunity considering how well many of the other appetizers bolster the wine menu and French ethos. These were just chewy chunks of thickly cut white bread, not a patch on the more moist, layered versions which can engineer bronzed sunshine with good butter.
A young lady was running the floor. She was pleasant, and overall service was decent but a place like this with its French spirit vastly benefits from a splash of charm. Good wine and lusty food make the day of course, but personality adds the zephyr that lifts the kite, and I wish more restaurateurs understood this. Gotta hand it to her though for good photography sense - when asked to take our photo from a particular angle, the opposite one was sagely suggested as it was more congruent with sunlight.
Confit duck leg with braised lentil cassoulet could have been a lusty countryside heart-warmer, ideally enjoyed in the autumnal fields of "Jean De Florette" with a swig of red wine from the grabbed bottle. Alas, while the duck was decent, the copious lashings of lentils were chewy, better suited to the chomping of a horse. While I admire horses, even in my finer moments I have not thought myself to be one.
I have abjured red meat but would have liked my companions to try the pork schnitzel - certainly an attractive item for meat lovers but we were told they'd run out of this, and also the wagyu tataki, at the end of the previous day (Friday) - a state of affairs on Saturday afternoon which is not a good example of well-managed logistics. I did not manage my capacity logistics well either, being too full to try the cannellini bean gratin and tell you how it was.
At $30, Delice De Bourgougne cheese is better positioned in a wine bar compared to other menus, and it was liked by all at the table. Presented with flavoured crackers, honeycomb and black raisins (we sent back the bread as we'd had enough of it earlier), it was very soft, creamy and delicate, like a brie with none of the funk and all of the fresh, milky innocence.
Creme Brulee was the only dessert on offer, and considering it was the standard version - an unambitious way to end the meal. Truffle Tiramisu available from a nearby sister kitchen which Mulligan had evoked in scandalously provocative terms in NZ Herald when he was offered this dish, was not available here this time, I was told on my asking about it (the sad reality of my being neither Jesse Mulligan nor a NZ Herald writer). But I was encouraged to try the place next door for dessert only. Once you're sauced to the gillls, you're loath to get up unless you want to settle the check and shuffle home or to a shaded park for a well deserved snooze. The creme brulee was finely executed, with pleasant custard underneath, topped by a solidly crisp exterior blow-torched to perfection - the caramelized boozy shards a nice contrast to the softness below. But the flavour profile of this dessert is inherently modest, often superseded by a decent ice candy or good chocolate ice cream.
It's a solidly good wine bar - a slice of France refracted through Kiwiana - with a range of attractive casual eats. The sadly short truffle season from July to early August is a clear bonus. I didn't have much luck with the mains and the sweets could certainly do with an upgrade, but its core business of "sauce" with a focus on wines is done very well, particularly with a snugly atmospheric entry room. More charm in service would have marked this out in my hang-out dossier.
U. Prashanth Nayak for Chow Luck Club upn world
