sunday at the socialkitchenwasn't as social as we expected however, on a chilly spring day we hadn't anticipated there to be a long wait for a table. what we did expect was for the staff to be a little more engaging with us than they were with each other. i find it so frustrating watching staff leaning over tills gossiping/giggling with each other and ignoring tables - especially when you're the only table in the joint.
first impressions aside, we were seated comfortably, the interiors were a credit to their designer, an intentionally eclectic mash up of french bistro booth seating, new york loft style glass partitions and hunting lodge stags heads that worked so well together they set the stage with a bold identity that was both masculine, feminine and a little dominatrix all at the same time.
our menus were introduced by a charming blonde - 'the food will be brought to the table when it's ready' she proclaimed, 'it's all about sharing and the portion sizes are large, you'll need to order two from the large section and two sides' - we couldn't help but feel that the relaxed social dining experience we expected from a sharing plate menu was a little more formal at the social kitchen.
our drinks arrived promptly on the first occasion and then again on the second though - they would benefit from sending the team on a barista training course as i can remember having better coffee at a roadside shack en route to cape reinga for $2.
we ordered squid balls, chicken liver pate and spanish sausage.
'the squid balls come as 3, would you like a fourth or can you just cut one in half' asked the blonde - we ordered a fourth and were surprised to find a $5 charge for it on the bill when it came to settling - what we had assumed was a service to improve our sharer experience was actually a genius way of upping our spend.
the squid balls (3 for $15) were the first to arrive and were rather underwhelming, we couldn't taste the squid - or anything else for that matter though the texture was good. they were well coated in a crispy fried breadcrumbs shell and had a soft inside - a great bar snack option for late night boozers maybe?
the chicken liver pate ($14) was truly divine, the pate tasted wonderfully of sweet and savoury without being overpowering. the house baked bread accompaniment was soft and salty which allowed the flavour of the pate to shine, though the cuts were a little tricky to spread onto and the portion size was great to share.
finally we had the spanish sausage ($29) a whopping great wheel of tasty sausage fresh from the chargrill which was exactly what was listed on the menu - it was nothing more and nothing less than a huge amount of spicy sausage which after nibbling away on a quarter of its mammoth size had lost all momentum with both of us - we were expediently 'over sausaged' and spent the next 10 minutes looking at it with the same feelings of disappointment and regret you feel after waking up with a colleague the night after the christmas party.
finally we settled our tab at $81 which for 2 small plates, one large, 3 sodas and a bad latte we felt was pretty top end for lunch.
ultimately we had expected the experience to be a social spectacular, a mix and mingle of new plymouths who's who with excellent gastronomy and an equally wonderful beverage selection however, after a rather basic dining experience we left underwhelmed and most probably wouldn't return.
3.5/5