This new restaurant, with an ex-Homeland chef, is just waiting to be discovered.
To find Ohui, head for the Birkdale roundabout and, when you’re halfway round it, stop the car and get out. Motorists behind you will wonder what you’re doing but if you shrug and point to the restaurant
they’ll get it soon enough. Perhaps they’ll stop and come in for dinner too.
When you step through the front door you may, as I did, wonder what you’re in for. There is usually a visual language to restaurants that, even if you’re not consciously aware of it, tells you something about the sort of place you’re walking into – cool, rustic, formal, familial. But Ohui offers few clues. It moved in when someone else moved out and I think it has poured most of its money and energy into the food. That’s okay, the food is very good.
It has a tight, talented team, devoted to the menu and honest to a fault.
“How has business been?” I asked one of them.
“To be honest, not good,” she replied, but without self-pity. Ohui has a really hot chef, and some spectacularly good dishes, and now I think they’re just waiting to be discovered.
Ohui restaurant in Birkdale. Photo / Babiche Martens
A couple of things Ohui might think about: every dish on the menu is ornately described and, while a chef might feel that an offer of, say, “seared venison, seasonal asparagus, chili tamarind, bacon mascarpone, fried egg and puffed black rice” is mouthwatering, I don’t think the human brain has capacity to hold that many flavour ideas at once.
As a guest, it becomes overwhelming, particularly after reading through a few of them, and I wonder how many people have got as far as the online menu and decided that life’s too short.
It was a quiet night and they put us next to the only other occupied table. It wasn’t the restaurant’s fault these people were gathered together watching a video at a volume I didn’t think was physically possible from a smartphone, but at least if we’d been on the other side of the room, we could have heard the waitress speak.
After that I had few complaints. Though it wasn’t an obvious option on the menu, we asked if it was possible to do a “Trust the Chef” experience and it turned out they do offer it, for $90 per person. They should put that front and centre, in a bold font, lest someone black out trying to choose an entree. It’s great value for the price and, like all tasting menus, the best way to try as many different things as possible.
And before I get into the food let me just mention the very solid drinks list – good beers on tap and some nice wines by the glass, including the first time I’ve ever come across The Hunting Lodge Albarino, recently judged Champion White at the New World Wine Awards.
Ohui’s yellowfin tuna crudo. Photo / Babiche Martens
You wouldn’t necessarily guess it from reading the menu but most dishes have strong Indian influences, sometimes specifically referencing ex-Homeland chef Dinesh PM’s heritage in Chettinad, a southeastern part of India.
An early gazpacho-style soup is served bright and spicy like the “rasam” from his childhood; it’s made with green tomatoes, green chili, green herbs and a little citrus in place of the traditional tamarind.
Dinesh is a “more is more” kind of guy and aside from the sashimi-grade tuna laid on top of it, the cool soup features a savoury thread of black garlic oil (“I asked the chef at my favourite ramen shop how to make it and he said it was a secret, so I came back to my kitchen and worked it out myself”).
Chef Dinesh’s pāua tortellini has been recognised in an Auckland “best dishes” competition and it really is good; it sounds European, but the wonton wrapper, chili oil and coconut veloute tip the experience firmly back towards Asia.
Spiced duck breast from Ohui restaurant in Birkdale. Photo / Babiche Martens
I also loved the first main. “My version of meat and curry and rice!” the chef said, laying down a plate of masala-rubbed duck, a sort of cauliflower biryani and a sauce of miso and coconut cream. After that came a scotch fillet steak, which looked a little grey but tasted great and, finally, one particularly lovely dessert: a matcha-pistachio tiramisu served in a martini glass.
I hope they can hold on. It can take a frustratingly long time for locals to try out a restaurant that has opened on their doorstep, and I don’t feel Ohui will be able to wait forever. In the meantime, they’re trying a few things to bring people in – a brunch menu, an evening with rockstar preserver Kylee Newton, and curries to take home for the freezer. I picked one up myself when I paid the bill, and enjoyed more of Dinesh’s magic a week or two later with a palak paneer for lunch. If times are too tight for the tasting menu, consider supporting this excellent restaurant in whatever way you can.
Cuisine: Modern Indian fusion
Contact: 6 Birkdale Rd, Birkdale, ph 09 418 0436
From the menu: Set menu $90pp
Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.
According to dining out editor Jesse Mulligan.