Tag Archives: Restaurant

No love

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When you can’t decide what to order at an unfamiliar place, I’ve always figured your best bet is to go with their specialty. At a steak house? Order steak. Sushi shop? Order sushi. It should be a no brainer. If in doubt, don’t order the seafood platter in a burger joint. Don’t order the cheeseburger in a fish and chip shop. Both will usually contain frozen elements and possibly nuked back to life.

There’s a trend for places to offer too wide a menu and instead of doing a few really things well, they do many things badly or average at best. An Australian coffee chain was offering “authentic” Thai cuisine not long ago. Really? I wish I could have a Thai fish cake with my espresso…said no one ever.

The other day I went out for lunch with The Koala. Going out for lunch is a treat that every worker should reward themselves with once in a while. It breaks up the day and for a moment during the week, you can pretend you don’t work for a living.

Our usual Chinese BBQ shop was closed so we tried a BBQ duck restaurant around the corner. I ordered their BBQ duck on rice. Perhaps the lack of BBQ ducks hanging in plain view should have triggered warning bells.

Lunch was average at best. The duck was bland, the expected crispy skin was flaccid*. Some of the rice was ok, some of it was dry and hard. I suspect the plate had done a stint in the microwave. I wasn’t all that keen on last night’s leftovers. If a duck restaurant can’t do duck right, I’m worried. So I’m pretty much sworn off the place.

* I’ve always wanted to use the word flaccid in a non dirty manner.

Go to a Korean BBQ

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It was a cold, wet and wintery night, part way through Auckland Restaurant Month. My parents, The Koala and I were in for a nice Korean meal at Faro on Lorne Street in Auckland City. First impressions: the restaurant is beautifully fitted out. There are a several dining areas and we were seated at the back in what we called a dining pit. The sunken tables hover just above be near the wooden floor, but our legs disappeared into a recess under the table. Getting up can be difficult, but made for a cozy meal. The staff were friendly and when we walked through the restaurant to our table at the back, we were greeted by many of their staff. Nice touch. The atmosphere is great here and they play  modern dance music, it’s upbeat but not loud.

When dining with my family we usually share dishes. We ordered two set meals and two barbecue meals and it was the perfect amount of food. The set meals are great if you want authentic Korean cuisine without having to cook for yourself. But if you enjoy the interactive element of cooking your dinner to your preference, barbecue is the way to go. If you’ve been to a Korean barbecue before, you’ll be familiar with the permanent hazy interiors. Not so at Faro, they have a nifty retractable extractor at each table to suck up all the smoke. This is pulled right down when you start cooking and retracted out of the way when you are done.

The favourite was probably the marinated scotch fillet steak, but the pork scotch steak was also delicious. The bulgogi and the pork belly sets came out already cooked on cast iron pans and continued to sizzle at the table via their cookers. These also went down very well.

The 8 side dishes that we received were delicious. It’s always a pleasure to try little morsels of super tasty sides. Japchae which are sweet potato noodles dressed with sesame, chili and soy, was probably my favourite of the sides. I could eat a bowl of the stuff no sweat. The Koala, ever the pickle lover was keen on just about everything.

The bill for four mains came to a nice round hundred. While there are many cheap, all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurants in the area, you usually get what you pay for. We found Faro to be good quality and authentic and $25 each was not unreasonable. It is sumptuous enough for special occasions, though at these prices, you might also come for a mid-week meal. Already thinking about our next visit.

Faro Restaurant
5 Lorne St
Auckland Central
Auckland City
Phone: 09 379 4040
www.faro.co.nz

Experience a degustation

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Celebrate

The Koala and I have been together for 10 years, and we recently celebrated our third wedding anniversary. As with any good relationship, good eating has been and will probably always a part of our relationship. To mark 3 years, we treated ourselves to a degustation dinner at Kermadec in the Viaduct.

Two years ago, our first official anniversary dinner was unplanned. It ended up being at KFC in Hamilton. It was scoffed down, on the way home from a wonderful weekend in the Bay of Plenty, but we can’t help thinking of how far away a degustation in the Viaduct is from “Kaccas in The Tron”.

Degustation

A degustation is a tasting menu, designed by the chef. You get to sample a range of delights over many courses, and the number of dishes usually ranges from 6 courses up to 12. It’s considered the best way to sample a chef’s skill. Instead of choosing what you want to eat, you completely surrender your choice to the chef. Degustation can be matched with wine pairings, but this can be expensive. We opted for a bottle of pinot noir to share. The Koala doesn’t drink white and I also prefer reds these days, so a classic seafood-friendly Sauv, Chardonnay or Riesling was out. As far as reds go, I figured a pinot noir was a decent match for seafoods.

Viaduct

The Viaduct is all bars and restaurants, a fancy part of the city that I’ve always seem to avoid when it came to “going out”. I’ve never had dinner on The Viaduct before. FREAK! I know, what kind of foodie am I? Walking through the Viaduct at night on a Wednesday night, I wouldn’t recognise my own city.  I’ve lived in Auckland almost 20 years, but I swear, if I woke up and found myself in the Viaduct, it would take me ages to figure out where I was. It’s weird feeling like a foreigner in your own city.

Kermadec

Kermadec is named after the Kermadec Islands, a group of 4 tiny islands in the Pacific a thousand kilometres northeast of New Zealand. Being a seafood restaurant, the 6 course degustation dinner included 2 sashimi courses, 1 scallop course, 1 snapper course, 1 venison course and dessert. The Koala and I adore seafood, and this seafood heavy ratio was not wasted on us.

The Experience

We were shown to a table by the window, overlooking the water and boats below. A printed menu given to us at the start of the evening and it was great to have this on hand for the whole evening. Too often, menus are whisked away the moment after you order. Our waitress, who was lovely and smiley, explained each course to us before its arrival. The progression was great with a very delicate light start up to the robust venison and foie gras climax. This was the first time either of us had tried foie gras. It was smooth as silk and tasted amazing.

A range of lovely breads were on offer before each course and butter and a grassy, delicious oil set on the table. Eating fresh bread made me excited about amazing baguettes we’ll be eating in Laos in just a short while. I’m not a huge fan of bread, but when it’s super fresh, it’s glorious.

If I had to pick a favourite course, it might be the the salmon sashimi with frozen blobs of chamomile. Thick slabs of umami salmon were beautifully offset by the flowery sorbet. I may be biased as salmon is my absolute favourite fish. The Koala refused to pick a favourite dish. He insisted that he loved all of them. I guess that is a compliment to the restaurant.

The meal was well paced and we were never left for very long between courses and took about a hour and a half from start to finish. Our waitress asked us only before dessert if we would like a break or to continue. We chose to continued, but I can see how some would prefer a break to talk about and digest. The portions were a good size and 6 courses was a great number. We left feeling full. I’ve heard of degustations that include many more dishes, but I feel if the courses were all smaller, it might feel like there wasn’t quite enough of each course.

A few months ago, on voucher website, many fine restaurants across Auckland offered specials for their degustation. We were trying to save money for our upcoming trip, but still wanting to celebrate our anniversary, I picked up a voucher and saved it for the occasion. The 6 course degustation menu is usually $120 per person (without wines) and it is a special occasion feast.

The Bucket List

I thought that crossing degustation off my bucket list would settle this, but now it’s only got me wanting to try the degustation menus from other restaurants too. That is a hobby that no one can afford. We will just have to think up more excuses for special occasions.

The Menu

  1. Tuna sashimi, hadjki, pickled peach, sesame, mirin dressing
  2. Chamomile infused Marlborough salmon, watercress, young vegetables à la grecque, salsa Verde
  3. Seared Scallops, sweet corn, bacon crumb, truffle mayonnaise
  4. Crispy skinned Hauraki Gulf snapper, courgette and crab beignet, court bouillon in its entirety
  5. Wild red venison, sweet corn custard, pickled shitakes, thyme pop corn, Puy lentils, sauce Rouennaise (foie gras)
  6. Sablé breton, Heilala vanilla cream, violet espuma, strawberry consommé, wild thyme honey ice cream

 

 

Mamak

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We spent last Christmas and New Years in Malaysia (Borneo) and I’ll never forget the food we ate there. I can’t believe almost a year had gone by already. One fond memory of indulgence was our first day in KK. Upon seeing the tiny prices on the menu, we assumed the dishes were starter sized, so we ordered 2 dishes each. They were main sized. Generous. We ate till our eyes glazed over.

I’d been reading about a new place called Mamak from various local Malaysian food bloggers. The word mamak refers to Malaysia’s Tamil-Muslim who run food stalls serving tasty snacks at all hours. Mamak Malaysian is a fairly new addition to the Chancery in Auckland city and it’s been operating under the radar (or at least my radar) for most of 2011. The first time I visited, there were lots of Malaysian people dining and this is surely a mark of authenticity. The Chancery has always been had a European feel about it and with posh retail on all sides, al fresco dining in the centre, you can forget you’re in Auckland city. The Chancery location is a huge contrast to the traditional mamak of Malaysia.

Jeffrey, the friendly owner of Mamak, works the floor ensuring the place runs smoothly and gives recommendations on request. He is a warm host and nothing is too much trouble.  Mamak is more cafe than restaurant and the design is modern and fresh in comparison to some other Malaysian places. The indoor dining area is cosy and there are covered tables outside. The laminated menu boasts photos of the dishes and is short and sweet rather than the 50-100+ monsters that I’ve grappled with before. Some of my favourites are missing, but that only gives me a chance to try new things.  A good mix of rare and authentic dishes as well as always popular (but not really mamak) spring rolls and dumplings. Limiting the number of dishes on the menu suddenly transforms it into a “to do list”.

I visited Mamak twice last week with different friends. With lots of vegetarian appetisers at Mamak (8 out of 12 are vegetarian), most of the mains have vegetarian options too. It’s not so much that Mamak caters to vegetarians, they really celebrate vegetarian food. Want meaty dumplings or pandan chicken? You won’t find them here, but you can try their Leek Dumplings or Pandan Soy Bites.

Please forgive my photos. I’m having technical difficulties at the moment with the shutter on my camera. I seem to get this problem once a year and I’m not sure I want to part with $180 to get my camera looked again. Fingers crossed it magically fixes itself at some stage…

Mamak Visit 1

I went with Miss C and Miss L on Thursday and we ordered Tofu Salad $8 and Vegetables Soy Satay $8 to share. Our mains were the Beef Murtabak $13.50, Vegetarian Mee Goreng $12.50 and Beef Rendang with Roti $14.50. The portions are decent and it will take all your willpower to show restraint with the appetisers. We could have shared our order between 4 people rather than 3. We ordered the tapas first and they came well ahead of the mains. The Tofu Salad was sweet with a good amount of heat and the vegetarian satay was good also with a generous serve of peanut sauce. I am a meat eater, but the vegetarian tapas we tried were delicious. Beef Murtabak sounds exotic but in reality is beef mince and egg wrapped with roti. Served with spiced cabbage and dhal the flavours are familiar rather than punchy. With lots of roti dishes on the menu, it’s obviously one of their star players. Made fresh daily (not common here in NZ), I really wanted to try their roti as well as the rendang so requested my rice to be swapped for roti. This was no problem and my roti came out flakey and beautiful and not greasy at all. I wrapped each morsel of tender spiced beef in roti. It tasted stunning but was too generous for me. It is deceptive how filling the curry roti combination is.

Mamak Visit 2

Sunday night’s visit with Miss V and Miss A saw us order Leek Dumplings $8, Vegetarian Mee Goreng $12.5, Mamak Mee Goreng (prawn and fish) $13.50 and the Roti Curry Chicken$13.50. Our food came out quickly and piping hot which caused us to eat in that funny, “sucking-in-air-whilst-chewing” way. It was too yummy and we were too hungry to wait for our food to cool. The dumplings came out after the mains which was a bit odd, but we had ordered everything at the same time. My Mamak Mee Goreng was delicious and very flavourful. No gluey bland noodles here! The others were happy with their meals although the Curry Chicken was too spicy for Miss A.

Ice Lemon Tea

We got addicted to this stuff when we were in Malaysia and Mamak’s ice lemon tea $5 comes in a jug with a straw which you can choose to share or greedily slurp by yourself.  It’s absolutely delicious and actually tastes like tea – something that commercial ice tea lacks. It is very refreshing and a cooling contrast to the fiery dishes. The best ice lemon tea I have had in Auckland.

Keep an eye out for:

  1. Roti – made daily
  2. Soft shell crab
  3. Sambal prawns
  4. Laksa in huge-normous bowls
  5. Lots of vegetarian options
  6. Malaysian drinks

Boiled Down

As I write this days later, I’m salivating at the thought of Mamak’s food. Striking in flavour and depth and though they were a smidgen too spicy for me (I’m a lightweight when it comes to spice), they were excellent. I want to shout about my love for Mamak food from the towers of the Chancery. The service is spot on and while the food comes out quickly, we never felt rushed and were welcome to sit and “chew the fat” after our meals. I can’t stop thinking about what I want to order next time…and the time after that. I am addicted to this place now and with fantastic food, decent portions, nice ambience and value for money (I paid less than $20 on both visits). I don’t mind indulging in this addiction.

I’ve always said that I will tolerate bad service if the food is brilliant. But if you can have great food and great service for a sweet price as at Mamak, then all the better. This place is already being raved about so I won’t be surprised if it gets too popular for it’s little premises. I’ve only been at night, but I’ve heard that day time is super busy and they no longer take lunch bookings. Eat here. Don’t pass it on ;)

Mamak Malaysian
Chancery (to the right of Mecca Cafe)
50 Kitchener St
Auckland CBD
Ph: 09 9HUNGRY (09 948 6479)
www.facebook.com/mamakinchancery

Opening Hours
Tuesdays to Sundays: 11.30am to 10.00pm

Edit: Added December 2011

Mamak Visit 3

Came back here in for Mum’s birthday in December. There were 6 of us this time and we ordered 10 dishes:

  • Spicy soft shell crab $12 (we ordered 2 of these)
  • Salt & pepper squid $8
  • Curry Puff $8
  • Mamak Chicken Bites $8
  • Satay Chicken $14.50
  • Beef Rendang $12.50
  • Mee Goreng $13.50
  • Roti Curry Chicken $13.50
  • Roti Tissue $7.50
  • Beers, ice teas and coffees

The Roti Tissue towered about 60cm high and was impressive to look at and fun to eat. I would recommend this dessert to share between at least 3 people. The chicken satay is incredible and highly recommended. The ice tea and coffees went down very nicely. Is there anything these guys don’t do well? This time we ate much more than we should have and it cost around $30 per person. I think I’ve sold this place to my family now and I can’t wait to go back again. Ok, I’ll stop gushing now.

 

On the bandwagon at Depot

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This week, I convinced Miss A to try out Al Brown’s new restaurant at Sky City: Depot with me. It’s had great reviews and what I read about the food really appealed to me. If you haven’t read the reviews, this place is small. The are no real chairs, just stools that you perch at. This means your bags and coats may need to find a hook on the wall. It also means that you’re unlikely to get cosy enough to let your dining experience drag on. Smart.

Third time’s a charm.

We had failed to get a table twice the night before – at about 7pm (full) and then at about 10pm (kitchen closed). This time we were joined by Uncle and more determined to eat. It was lunch so the turnaround was faster and that means better odds for a table. They don’t take bookings here and they get busy. You have been warned.

We took one end of a large table. If communal dining isn’t your thing, then you might want to say so. What better way to indulge in a little food voyeurism than to have other people’s food delivered right to your table? I also enjoyed looking into the tiny bar-side kitchen. There’s no crying or shouting in this kitchen. It’s a well oiled machine.

Right off the bat, Al Brown asked if we were in a hurry. Great idea. Some diners don’t appreciate being rushed, but if you are short on time, it’s usually up to you to let the staff know. Not so here.

The food.

Some bread to start with. Flat tortilla style wedges with a mild, sweet paste of something or rather. We gobbled them up.

The Depot menu is interesting with unique cuts of meat that you don’t often see. We really couldn’t decide and after a bit of indecisiveness over the menu, Al asked us if we trusted him to order for us. We did.

1. Turbot sliders w/ preserved lemon and watercress

A turbot is a monster sized flounder and I don’t remember ever seeing it on a menu before. I adore flounder and I adored this turbot. I watched Get Fresh just this Sunday and after seeing the flounder dish he whipped up, I think Al Brown might have a thing for flounder too.

Harold: I want 30 sliders, 5 french fries, and 4 large cherry cokes.

Kumar: I want the same except make mine diet cokes.

My first introduction to sliders was from the stoner movie: Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. I’ve wanted to indulge in sliders ever since.

Sliders are tiny burgers (about 7 cm wide). We don’t call these sliders here in New Zealand. We don’t really call them anything. It’s more likely your average kiwi has indulged in 5 giant burgers than a single baby sized one. The fish was melt in your mouth tender and the preserved lemon was just right. I could have eaten all the sliders. Easy.

2. Battered snapper tortillas w/ slaw, coriander and green tomato salsa

New Zealand has this unreasonable obsession with snapper. I’m not a huge fan of snapper and eating these after the sliders only reminded me. They were nice, but not amazing (like the turbot was).

3. Lamb ribs w/ skordallia and cumin paprika oil

In my experience, there are pork ribs are pork and sometimes there are beef ribs. I’ve never heard of lamb ribs, but why the hell not? I love lamb. I love ribs. These were good. So tender and flavoursome, you could eat these without teeth. These ribs are great and they’re kind enough to share the recipe on the Depot website. Download it here.

4 & 5. Depot slaw w/ toasted peanuts, Potato skins w/ manchego, porcini salt

Our plates were cleared and we thought we were done. But then came coleslaw and potato skins. A nice way to fill up any gaps you might still have in your belly. Manchego is a Spanish sheep cheese. Slightly pungent, but perfect against the plain but humble potato. The coleslaw was creamy and yum. A delightful way to finish the meal.

Summary.

The total bill for 3 came to $84 including juice/cokes. Not a cheap, but a fun experience and very good food. I consider it to be good value for the quality of food.

Great for omnis and good for pescatarians but vegetarians should dine elsewhere.

Making the average foodie squeal with delight:

  • A variety of raw oysters and clams (pedigrees noted)
  • Lambs tongue salad
  • Crisp pork hock
  • Hapuka belly
  • Wine on tap
  • Al Brown at your service
  • Beignets and bacon butties for breakfast

Depot Eatery
86 Federal Street, Auckland 1010, NZ
09 363 7048
www.eatatdepot.co.nz
Open from 7am every day

Will design for Dahi Puri

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I went for a walk yesterday during lunch and my curiosity had me peering into the window of a not-yet-ready-to-open new business.

Freshly painted dark red walls. Luxurious fabric covered chairs.

What’s this? A tell-tale shiny new sign resting across some chairs. It bears the name of one of my all time favourite restaurants.

Delight! Excite!

This restaurant is consistently considered one of Auckland’s favourite Indian restaurants and the place to go for south Indian food. They currently have 3 restaurants and this will be their 4th.

Many years ago, The Koala lived behind their Hobson Street restaurant. This was in the early days long before I fell in love with cooking. We ate there a lot. When the family realised that The Koala was artistically inclined (the art in the alleyway gave it away), they requested help with a child’s homework project. Butter chicken was payment for artistic guidance.

I wonder if times have changed?

Eating Thai and Vietnamese at The Kad

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The Kad Klang Wiang area is in the middle of Old City in Chiang Mai. An open air courtyard with shops and restaurants all around. There is a good mixture of classy and cheap places to eat here and while many are for tourists only, there are a couple of places that are frequented by the locals.

Tourists spend a lot of time on their feet so it was nice to have a place that you could just have a sit at. Trees provide some good shade.

Sate Salad & Spice

Papaya Salad was on my list of dishes to try while in Thailand. In this dish, green papaya is mixed with fresh chili, garlic, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. I asked for not too spicy, but this was really spicy. The flavours were intense – salty, spicy and sour. It was like eating a whole bowl of condiments. I crossed it off my “To Eat” list but I’m afraid I’m not a fan. I have a feeling that this dish is usually eaten with other things. If I had some grilled meat and rice to share it would have been better.

Kelvin’s chicken club sandwich came out as a chicken salad instead. It looked amazing. Extra points for the bowl of peanut dressing on the side. Yum.

Pho Vieng Chane

…is no frills. You come here to eat. We picked one of their set meals. Great value at only 160 baht. Sometimes it’s nice to let someone else choose your dishes. Set 6 came with Shrimp mousse on sugar cane sticks, Pork with betel leaf, Rice cakes with pork floss and shrimp, steamed pork sausage, a big serving of herbs which came with free refills. We didn’t really know what we were doing when it came to the herbs.

Kad Klang Wiang
71 Rachadamnern Road. T.Prasingha A.Muang, Chiang Mai
Tel : +(66)53 208 291 
Fax : +(66)53 208 292

Art Cafe, Chiang Mai

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Art Cafe is right by the Thapae Gate between McDonald’s and Starbucks. We ate there every second day so they must have been doing something right. The menu is huge and they are yet another restaurant that serves Italian, Mexican and Thai food. Good food at good prices. We may have been subliminally enticed by the name of the cafe, but there is no interesting art in here and while the interior is a bit dated, but it’s clean and light.

Breakfast at Art Cafe

With one of the most extensive breakfast menus around, I loved that they had lots of mexican inspired breakfast dishes. We don’t eat Mexican for breakfast in New Zealand but I love beans and rice first thing in the morning. The quesadilla were really good.

3 Buttermilk pancakes.

Omelette with country fried potatoes and a croissant.

Thai food

They do offer Thai food, but it’s only ok. There are better and cheaper places around for Thai. After all, this is Thailand! If you want Thai, eat where locals eat.

A super mild chicken curry for The Koala.

Fried rice. Like a variation on Pad Thai.

I ordered this chicken sate thinking it was going to be a good small snack. Don’t let the prices of Thai dishes trick you into thinking they are small. Thai dishes are just cheaper than western dishes. I got 5 large sticks of chicken with yummy dipping sauces.

This Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad might be a an fugly Frankenstein of cuisines, but it came with a bowl of anchovy mayo on the side. I adore anchovy mayo and being able to administer it onto the salad (generously) really hit the spot.

Art Cafe cream sauce spagehetti with chicken, olives, tomato and paprika. This was creamy deliciousness.

We don’t know what this was supposed to be, but The Koala was looking forward to a creamy carbonara. This was a poor, dry substitute. We should have said something when we realised they had given us something completely wrong but he just picked at it a little and left feeling hungry.

This pile of food tasted better than it looked. Ravioli peeping out of a mincey blanket.

Lasagne for one. Post-dental surgery food. Please wait until sufficiently cool.

Art Cafe Chiang Mai
285 – 291 Thapae Road
Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50100
Tel./Fax (+66) 53-206365
Mobile 081-9802301

Open 8am to 11pm

www.artcafechiangmai.com

Eating Italian and Mexican in Chiang Mai

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In Chiang Mai, many restaurants that we went to weren’t Italian or Mexican, they were Italian and Mexican. For reasons unknown to me, there are shit-tons of Italian and Mexican restaurants in Chiang Mai. There’s not a noticeable Italian or Mexican population there so it must have something rather to do with how both cuisines offer a range of dishes with just a few ingredients. With a little training any chef can do pizza, pasta, nachos and burritos. Whether they do it justice is another story.

Pizza and a pasta ordered. Pizza and pasta eaten. I was pleased I got to try squid in pasta for the first time.

There is some kind of play centre right next door and the noise of children yelling and screaming is cute for about 30 seconds.

Pizzadilla
38 Loikroh Rd., Changklan, Muang, Chiang Mai
Tel : +(66)53-449629 Mob : +(66) 81-838975

Open: Lunch/Dinner 10am-12pm

Birthday Dinner on the Tramway Restaurant

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Surprise birthday gift from parents-in-law: A 4-course dinner for on the Tramway Restaurant.

Yes, I know! Spoilt!

Tablecloths, linen napkin, lots of cutlery, air conditioning, smooth music in a colonial style dining tram – this was the works! The menu is short and sweet. Perfect for a chef on a tram. The tram seats about 35 diners and there is a tiny kitchen in the centre of the tram. There are no doors so both dining areas can see into the kitchen space. 35 diners with 4 courses in a tiny kitchen over 3 hours. The chef is a genius!

We shared bread and dips, I had a lamb entree, salmon main, brownie with compote for dessert. I wasn’t expecting salmon to appear on their limited menu. This was local salmon and beautifully cooked. I even ate all my asparagus.

The others had a vegetable tart, porterhouse steak, cajan chicken breast, coconut creme brulee and a cheeseboard. Everything was delicious.

We shared 2 bottles of Church Road Merlot and were tipsy and pleasantly full by the time the tram had done 7 loops around Christchurch city centre.

The perfect way to finish a birthday day in Christchurch city.