What to expect from the new restaurant from Burger Burger founder Mimi Gilmour-Buckley.
This night began inauspiciously when I showed up to try a new chef at a flash restaurant, but was met by an unfriendly maitre d’. He showed me to a table lit brightly from above in a
manner seemingly designed to emphasise all the flaws on a human face. The only less flattering way to light someone is from below, like when you put a torch under your chin during a ghost story, and because I am a human being, not a bracelet on show at Michael Hill, I asked to be moved somewhere dimmer.
Sadly, after promising to grant my request, he disappeared for a little too long and, when he asked for my food order without telling me anything about the restaurant, or offering a drink, or noticing that I hadn’t opened the menu, I made the socially challenging decision to get up and leave.
And so my friend and I found ourselves on the footpath, calling around to find somewhere open on a Sunday night. Fortunately, I remembered the promising new Mama in Newmarket, and when the guy on the phone (admittedly after failing to pick up on my first two attempts) answered “yes” enthusiastically to all of my questions, we jumped in an Uber and travelled towards him at pace.
Mama restaurant in Newmarket. Photo/ Babiche Martens
If the last place felt soulless, this was the opposite: bright and happy waiters, a courtyard glowing with festoon lights and, nice touch this, a collage of handwritten postcards dedicated to the mother for whom owner Mimi Gilmour-Buckley has named this restaurant.
I was last in the building when it was Gilmour-Buckley’s Burger Burger, a business I loved and which was perfect on particular occasions. For me, one of them was escaping nearby Birthcare for an hour to grab a beer and a feed while my wife met with her midwife. Alcohol hits the bloodstream quickly when you’re sleep deprived but I would have got away with it if I hadn’t accidentally referred to her as the “widmife” on my eventual return to the newborn wing.
Mama is much more of a restaurant restaurant, and I’m so glad that I will now have somewhere to send people who ask me where to eat in Newmarket (shout out to Katsu Katsu and the Indian food at Victoria Station but you really need to be in the mood for either).
Mama is more of a restaurant than Mimi Gilmour-Buckley’s Burger Burger, which was formerly on the same site. Photo / Babiche Martens
Because Mama is simply brilliant. An exceptionally appealing menu, a buzzy vibe, good wine and it’s open six days a week. Granted, we were probably over-indexing on the good vibes, given that just 20 minutes ago we were facing the prospect of eating at Taco Bell Sylvia Park, but everyone around us was happy too, and I’d received (useful but not binding) positive reviews from people I trust even before I got there.
After a brief tussle over how high we would turn up the courtyard heater (one glance at the three women next to us and I knew they would have the final say), we settled into the winelist. The options are entirely Italian, which is a bold and beautiful move, and there are helpful descriptors throughout the menu to give you an idea of what you’re ordering.
The snapper on the menu at Mama restaurant in Newmarket. Photo / Babiche Martens
Foodwise, I loved a dish of two vinegary prawns, barely “cooked” by the curing. Panzanella salad had the usual pieces of ripped, soaked bread along with some big pieces of tomato but actually it was the generous heaping of herbs (including out-of-fashion curly parsley) that stood out. Then the mains started arriving and things got even better.
If a 30-layer lasagne sounds a bit silly I can report that it does actually work. It takes a moment to get your bearings because they take an extremely narrow slice then serve it horizontally, but the taste is out of this world – somehow they get the browned meat flavours they used to master at Burger Burger. And there are loads of other things going on in that mince.
“Is it beef and pork meat?” I guessed.
“Pork and wagyu and chicken liver and a couple of others,” the waiter reported with pride.
Mama’s sobrasada pizza. Photo / Babiche Martens
I don’t have a big spectrum of reactions to pizza – to me it’s either average or great – but the one we ordered was notably good, with a browned and bubbly base featuring a regional version of spicy nduja contrasted with mozzarella and sweet red capsicum.
They also lightly bullied us into a bright asparagus risotto featuring spears chopped so small you could taste but not see them. On top were panfried snapper fillets and the dish reminded me of one that’s been on forever at Prego (though at almost $50, the latter is significantly more expensive than Mama’s version).
I was all set to endorse the restaurant with a full throat but right on deadline I got a (useful but not binding) message from someone I trust who’d been disappointed in both the food and the service. It was very inconvenient but I am obliged to tell you that it’s possible Mama is still working some things out. With one of Auckland’s legendary Gilmour girls in charge, that won’t take long.
Contact: Osborne Lane, 3b York St, Newmarket, (09) 524 2859, mamaresto.co
From the menu: Salt and vinegar prawns $16, panzanella $22, Sobrasada pizza $26, lasagne $30, risotto with snapper $38
Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.
According to dining out editor Jesse Mulligan.
Dining and Cooking