Fans of the daily documentary about life in the Auckland suburb of Ferndale have no doubt been frantically trying to get a booking at Prospero, the hottest restaurant in town. Well, its number is unlisted, of course, but if you’re truly desperate, you might want to try having dinner at Partington’s at the Langham Hotel instead. It looks identical to Prospero, and its prices really are very reasonable. Although they don’t have the crispy duck that both Chris and Brooke rave about, they do offer a seasonal menu featuring crayfish for $95 or vegetarian pasta for a measly $46. And if you think that’s ridiculous, perhaps you’re probably not the kind of person who can turn their head far enough around to read the menu PDF, and they won’t want your type there anyway because you might steal their crystal stemware.
I missed that episode of Shortie, but by some weird coincidence I was in Partingtons for the first time on Sunday (a belated Mothers’ Day present, going to the high tea which was so popular they put us in Partingtons). The wait staff are somewhat intimidating…