462 New North Road,
Kingsland
Auckland,
1003

(09) 849 4020

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It was quite a shock back in March when Tabou suddenly shut up shop. One day it was there on the main drag of Kingsland, the next day it was gone, its windows covered with sheets and the only reminder of its presence being the sign above the door. Fast forward a few weeks and the sign has gone, replaced by its successor: Arthur Avenue, named after the original Little Italy in The Bronx, New York.

The first thing you notice upon entering Arthur Avenue is how much work has been done inside. The whole back wall has been knocked down and the kitchen is now visible from the main floor. With the new red distressed decor, cute little two-person booths and bubbly music, this is quite a step away from Tabou's more dark classic look. And it works.

But enough about decor! You want to know about the food right? Well, you can choose from pasta, pizza or tapas options on the menu, and we went for the latter. Four plates were ordered for the two of us, and included panfried calamari, garlic mushrooms and chorizo with croutons and panfried garlic and chilli prawns with garlic bread. The prawns were a definite standout, juicy and full of hot garlic goodness. I adored the sauce that these came in, greedily mopping it up with the generous helping of garlic bread. Heaven.

The mushrooms were lovely, the chorizo not wowing on first taste but revealing a lovely kick of heat when savoured. The calamari was tasty but looked like it had been cooked in a pan that had been used for another dish as it had quite a well-done colour to it even though it was perfectly cooked.

For dessert we tried the muddy chocolate cake. It's not really muddy at all, more soft and fluffy but a lovely way to round off the meal. The icecream that came with it could have been much creamier though, as what we had looked a bit... well... cheap.

Arthur Avenue isn't perfect - the pinchos beef tapa looked great with accompanying salsa and pide, but the scotch fillet itself was actually pretty tasteless. For such juicy chunks of meat, I was expecting big flavours. Also, whilst opening up the back is good for space, it does mean that going to the bathroom involves walking past the storeroom for the kitchen and a randomly placed computer and desk. But it's early, and with the rest of the experience being so enjoyable, this can be overlooked for the moment.

Two weeks in and Arthur Avenue seems to have started well. Sure, there are some tweaks to be ironed out, and I'm still not sure that the signage and menu style quite matches with what the restaurant actually is, but it's a confident start for the latest addition to Kingsland and we'll be happy to return to see how it progresses.