Take four hours and two hungry people. Combine.

I'm sold. The tasting menu at Clooney is a thing of wonder.
Scott and I have a thing for degustation, but seem to tackle them about a year apart. They're expensive.

I'd booked us into Clooney http://www.clooney.co.nz/ tucked away behind the rather depressing Victoria Park Market in Auckland, as a surprise for our one year wedding anniversary. We hadn't intended to do the eight courses, but when the menus came, it became impossible to resist. Scott loosened his belt, I did some quick sums. At $130 a head, or $230 if you include the matching wines, you want to make sure the babysitting is cheap that night.

Mum had the kid under control. She doesn't charge, and so we began.

I won't pick apart the entire menu for you but here's the thing. The food is exquisite, and the meal is perfectly paced. You start with a tiny serve of vodka marinated kingfish with the teeniest calimari rings on the side, and it's a wee bite of heaven. Then there's a Japanese inspired broth with dashi and roe, followed by my favourite course of ostrich and foie gras. These three courses take over an hour to complete and just when you're wondering whether you should be stealing a few truffle fries off the neighbouring table (Scott had a $2 coin he was going to swap for a handful) the protein arrives: pork fillet with cider jelly, then Scott's favourite course - the lamb with farro and soy bean. After that, there's a zingy cape gooseberry course, signalling the beginning of the sweet courses.

And suddenly, we detour. I wasn't thrilled with the second to last course but Scott loved it - a sweetish salad of pomegranate and walnut. Sorta felt to me like a starter that had arrived five courses too late.

The lightest chocolate and chestnut souffle to finish and we were sated.

As a special occasion destination, Clooney is tops. If you were to recommend a place to your visitors to Auckland - a gastronomic must-do - Clooney's tasting menu would head up the list. But you've got to ask yourself if any meal is worth $130. Is it?

In this case, I think the answer is yes. If you consider that you're paying for service (impeccable, always is there), plating (every pinch of micro-greens perfectly positioned), ingrediants (fresh and fine), ambience (sexy, velvety, dim and delish), and of course taste, then it rates. Save up, go there.
With a bottle of Martinborough Vineyards sauvignon blanc under my belt I even felt brave enough to raise the 'salad posing as pudding' course with owner and Maitre d' Tony. He considered it, and said he caught my drift.... although he argued that the dish deserved its position given the sweetness of the beetroot and pomegranate.

Next time we go there, we'll be signing up for the set menu at the other end of the Clooney economic spectrum - the $49 pre theatre menu. Three courses, in and out by 7:30pm. That, I can afford more than once a year.