Bar Magda
In the wake of the great COVID-19 lockdown of 2021, a number of Auckland stalwarts including Euro and La Cigale French Market have closed their doors for the last time. These closures have filled my heart with sadness, however from their ashes rises a phoenix set to awaken your tastebuds and make you ask the question “What the hell am I eating?”.
Bar Magda is located off Karangahape Road on the dingy but hip Cross Street. They opened their doors in the middle of 2021 but my original plan to visit last August was curtailed by, you guessed it, lockdown level 4. I have been chomping at the bit ever since to visit and finally did so last Friday evening. This subterranean joint’s interiors mimic the vibe of the street above it: pink and red tinted lighting, a retro glass brick wall. If you look closely you’ll notice the exposed brick walls have been sandblasted with glitter, their insidious twinkle quite mesmerising.
I eat a lot, and I read a lot about food (a natural curiosity of mine), but reading Bar Magda’s menu had me puzzled. Tiger’s oil? Salsa huancaina? Tuna suglaw? Can some please tell me what all these things mean?! Despite the confusion, the novelty of chef Carlo Buenaventura’s menu offerings makes Bar Magda one of the most innovative and interesting restaurants I’ve had the pleasure of dining at in recent memory. This is not a place for the bland of palates. The drinks list is an exciting read in itself. My friend Steph ordered the 2021 Organised Chaos Pinot Noir Rosé Pet-Nat, a sparkling natural wine that had an almost plum coloured tone and was juicier than your average rosé (and I’d say certainly more enjoyable too).
The menu reads as starting things, cold things and hot things, but we wanted the chef to choose all the things for us and so opted for their $55 tasting menu which was touted as the lighter, fresher option, sans dessert. They also offer a $75 tasting menu which the waiter described as an ‘earthier’ option including dessert. Unsure either of us could consume $75 worth of food, we opted for the $55 tasting menu which ended up being just want we wanted, and needed, on this hot summer evening.
We started with the green lipped mussel escabeche with green garlic and fennel, and pickled kohlrabi with coconut saffron aioli and tiger’s oil. The plump mussels have been pickled and dressed with a fine puree of garlic greens which lend a bitter, earthy element to the dish. The kohlrabi (a rather alien-appearing cousin of the brassica family) looks nothing like its usual bulbous green self. Instead, here it appears more like a dragon fruit, coloured magenta by beetroot and dressed with dollops of coconut and saffron aioli and tiger’s oil which added a distinct sesame flavour to the dish and the overall effect reminded me of a kimchi-esque pickle.
Next to arrive was the house made garlic focaccia, hot pillows of spongey bread with a crisp, garlicky exterior accompanied by avocado spread. The Oscar the Grouch-green spread was smooth and creamy with a hint of bitterness and astringency from the caper salsa. I suggest saving the plate juices from the kohl rabi and mussels escabeche to also drag the focaccia through.
The last three dishes arrived together and were all fabulous. The charred cauliflower kolma is drizzled in a rich, spice-infused almond sauce and sprinkled with slivered almonds. It is lip-smackingly good and carries an uncanny resemblance to the Indian korma. We enjoyed the last of this season’s asparagus, the delicate strands halved lengthways and curled into a gorgeous green wreath enrobing a pool of buttermilk sauce. The dish is served refreshingly cold, punctuated with preserved lemon and tangy white anchovies.
Our last dish had us shaking our heads (‘how did they do this, how?!’) and sighing with pleasure at how meltingly tender the lamb ribs were rendered. The ribs had been rubbed with blackened coconut in the ‘pyanggang’ style and finished on the grill. It was dressed with a sharp green sambal and a veritable bed of soft herbs. It reminded me a lot of a dish I’d eaten a while ago at Melting Pot, a Filipino-fusion restaurant in Panmure, who serve a broth of slow-cooked beef and blackened coconut, with a hefty piece of roasted bone marrow sticking out of it and a smattering of chimichurri. Both are delicious and it amazes me that two chefs can take the same elements of a dish from home and make such starkly different but excellent versions.
I’ve already sent a friend there in the intervening week since my visit who has echoed my praises and I firmly recommend Bar Magda be your next meal out.
Bar Magda
25B Cross Street
Auckland CBD