Taste at the Cloud has been running at the Cloud on Queens Wharf since September 13th.

Today is the last day. I highly recommend you check this out today if you are heading around the city. It’s your last chance! There is no entry fee, you only pay for your food and drink ticket. Tickets come your choice of 2, 4, 6 or 8 dishes with matching beverage. Prices $17, $28, $42 or $54.

The more dishes you buy, the cheaper the average price per dish. We didn’t realise until after we had bought our three separate tickets that we could split 1 or 2 big tickets between us. Oh well. Hopefully this info benefits someone else.

There are menus from four themed kitchens: Seaside, Urban, Rural and Winery/Orchard. Each offering four kiwi showcase dishes. You can choose to mix and match any of the menus. You simply queue at the kitchen of your choice, collect your food and then your drink.

We checked out the food at the Cloud yesterday and Now I wish we had been to eat more times. With a short but sweet menu of 16 dishes with matching drinks, the Cloud is better value for money than Taste at Victoria Park. The cheapest price is $6.75 per dish ($54 for 8) includes matching (or non-matching) wine, beer or cocktail. Matching drinks were specified, but you could have anything you wanted if you insisted. We tried wine, beer and cocktails. All local. Yum.

Can you think of anywhere you can get a delicious Kingfish Ceviche paired with an equally delicious “Stolen Summer” rum cocktail for under $9? I can’t.

My personal favourites were:

1. Horipito Venison Tataki
2. Kingfish Ceviche
3. Marlborough Clam Chowder

NZ ingredients were really celebrated and the natural flavours pimped out. It was pretty busy, but the lines were short and sweet. I guess that this has been on so long (over a month) that this is a well oiled machine. Open every day of the week from 10am until 6pm, there has been plenty of time to eat. They’re open until 6pm today.

The chefs. What troopers! Nosey food gawkers watching and photographing, poking into their open kitchens all day long, 7 days a week. Here are a bunch of beer braised beef & honey kumara pie with macadamia crumb being prepared.

Other posts you may be interested in:

Taste of New Zealand Festival 2011

Auckland Seafood Festival 2012

Taste Festival 2010

Food Show, Auckland, 2011

Taste of Auckland 2009