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[unclear: Discerning] Dining

pleasant way to spend an hour or two [unclear: ading] after half-an-hour in the library, [unclear: toring] your sense of reality after two es in a row is to slip out for a drink, [unclear: oon] tea or a meal 'downtown'. In [unclear: ries] of articles we 'internally assess' [unclear: pubs], coffee bars and restaurants with we hope are helpful hints or warnings what to expect.

[unclear: It's] start with a pub-lunch. This may [unclear: it] of a surprise but the 'Dominion' [unclear: ry] St) is definitely worth a visit. It's [unclear: v] an imposing piece of architecture but [unclear: s] (upstairs) they offer a meal and [unclear: ser-bout] which few complaints could be Even if it is a little more expensive [unclear: tainly] superior to anything available [unclear: mpus].

[unclear: c] roast pork is probably the pick of [unclear: enu] and at $3.60. It's a bargain [unclear: conng] the current price of pork. (A [unclear: tho-al] range of condiments includes apple ). The fish (groper cutlets) at $3.00 cheapest item and if's also most [unclear: agree-] Roast potatoes are a welcome change the pile of greasy under or over-cooked which usually comes with a quickly I meal. And the service here Is quick [unclear: fficient] with minimum use made of [unclear: ud-speaker]. The huge bowls of [unclear: some-slushy] salad can't be recommended [unclear: hly] (nowhere near the standard of [unclear: ffered] in the now-defunct 'Southern for example) — but if you're a greedy [unclear: elp] yourself.

By the way, they charge the same prices for evening meals so if you think this is an expensive lunch, go at night and have a cheap dinner.

The environment in which one consumes a repast is often as important as the food itself. Here, the decor is that 'attempted plush' of an old pub done up — if you find looking at yourself in a mirror while you eat it is somewhat disconcerting, choose your scat carefully.

The clientele are a mixed bag — Glyn Tucker, the TV 'personality' has been observed in here filling his flatulent features, there's a woman who can talk for an hour continuously without hesitation, repitition or deviation from her chosen topic of illness, physical or mental with no detail spared, and a corpulent Maori woman with an unusual high-pitched laugh which can probably be heard in the street. It's best to go around 12 to half-past if you don't like crowds and avoid Friday nights and Christmas Eve when the place fills up with drunken businessmen and other loutish types whose vocabulary seems to consist mainly of two words, 'poofter' and 'chunder'.

A feature which distinguishes this place from others similar is the personal touch. There's a gentleman who's pleasant without being ingratiating in charge of the catering who, as he clears away the empty plates asks you whether you enjoyed your meal. You're able to reply, honestly, that you did, thanks very much.