1A Alberton Avenue,
Mt Albert
Auckland,


(09) 845 5331

add to my map

Sal Rose’s tag line ‘Country Italian’ is a bit misleading; this restaurant is, in fact, the consummate neighbourhood restaurant.

The weeknight we visited, customers of mixed ages and ethnicities (reflecting the demographics of Mt Albert) came and went, and all seemed to be having a great time.

Sal Rose occupies a large space decorated with every cliché from those Italian restaurant scenes in Hollywood movies: booth seating, dark wood, distressed walls, framed black-and-white photos.

I cracked up at the Italian language tapes that were playing in the toilets. I wasn’t so pleased with the small slatted chairs we sat on at our table (we were in the rustically-decorated outside terrace area). The seat didn’t suit my large frame and made for a very sore back by the end of the meal.

There’s a tempting list of cocktails, and the large food menu isn’t precious about Italian traditions. Many of the choices were crowd-pleasingly Kiwi-fied.

We had two items from the specials list of Tuscan dishes. Sal Rose promised that its specials changed monthly, each time visiting a specific Italian region.

Our starter of chicken liver paté ($12.90) had a nice flavour, and was served with crostini, chutney and a few caperberries.

My companion’s main of baby pork ribs ($24.90) was a large, tasty portion, smothered in plum sauce and served on an oval plate with a good helping of tomatoey cannellini beans, with a small green salad to one side.

I ordered a pizza ($16.90) from the regular menu. It had a thin, crispy base which was overloaded with tomato sauce, sloppy cheese and two classic toppings from American-Italian cuisine: mild sausage and herby, succulent meatballs.

Service was excellent: a team of young, enthusiastic waitresses moved confidently around the restaurant, and didn’t miss a beat at our table.

From a wine list evenly divided between Italy and New Zealand (each entry had a succinct flavour description) my companion had a Valle Reale Montepulciano ($9.90) and I had a Ruffino Chianti ($9).

We were pretty full, but still felt like sweets, so my companion went for a long black ($3) and a shot of nocello walnut liqueur ($7), and I had a competent, if unexciting, crème brulée ($8.90). The accompanying biscotti tasted more like fruit-and-nut granola, and there was even a cardamom seed in one of them.

I have made several references to America—with good reason, because co-owner John Palino is a New Yorker of Italian extraction, and at Sal Rose he has successfully translated some of the best features of casual US restaurants for a suburban Auckland audience.