All posts tagged: cocktails

Cocktails and dumplings

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This week I tried First Table, a booking website which gives users an early-bird special. Each booking gives the first table of diners (groups of two to four) a generous 50% off their food bill. Food includes dessert and there is no maximum spend. That’s right, no maximum spend. Whether you order $50 or $500 worth of food, you pay half price. While drinks are not included in the special, it’s good to note that your visit may happen to coincide with happy hour at some establishments. First Table currently have about 40 Auckland restaurants to choose from (including The Commons, Pilkingtons, Everybody’s) and covers 16 other regions in New Zealand. The website is easy to use and bookings cost $10 each and can be made up to 6 days prior. Spaces are very limited as there is only 1 first table per day, per restaurant. If you are flexible with dining times or like to eat early and love a great deal, then First Table is perfect for you. After browsing their list of Auckland restaurants, …

7 years and 7 whiskeys

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The Koala and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary last night. I have been on the lookout for something special that we would both enjoy and stumbled across it when I read a date night review by Megan on She Said Yes blog about a whiskey bar called The Jefferson. Ribs? Tick.  Whiskey? Tick.  Nice setting? Tick.  Something out of the ordinary? Tick.  Down on the gentrified service alley of Fort Lane and beside freshly crowned Restaurant of the Year, Cassia, you’ll find the entrance to The Jefferson. A basement whiskey bar with 600 whiskeys on offer, this is a great spot to get comfy and let the staff share their nerdy whiskey wisdom with you. With a teal and brass colour scheme and old school glamour The Jefferson feels like home…if home happens to be cerulean lounge with spacious banquette seating, decent lighting and a long well-stocked whiskey bar. There is a small food menu which I suspect is a work in progress, but they have two varieties of rib which is was of the reasons for …

Booze and fire

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Last week I learned how to make a fireball from an orange peel. I might not disclose this on my CV but I hope it will come in handy sometime soon. Thanks to Zomato, I attended a cocktail class hosted by Bellini which is the bar at the Hilton on Princes Wharf on Auckland’s waterfront. Yeah, pretty swish. I’d never visited the Hilton before and it’s recent renovations make this a very inviting spot for drink. With over 130 cocktails on the drinks menu, harbour views and open fire features this was a wonderful place to spend a windy Tuesday night. Bellini Jonas the bar supervisor and mixologist had the expected showmanship required of his position. He started us off with bellini, traditionally made with peach puree and prosecco. My drink was made with Deutz, peach and pomegranate and we learned that we can change up the ingredients a little while still being able to call it a bellini.   Mojito The first cocktail was my all time favourite, the mojito. A mojito made properly is a beautiful …

Watermelon Summer

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Today marks the final day of NZ Watermelon Month and to celebrate, here’s a cocktail I whipped up over the weekend. Inspired in part by blogger meet ups where there are several distinct categories of bloggers present, two of which are food bloggers and beauty bloggers. Food bloggers got together and thought up how to bridge that gap and the Cocktail vs Nail Polish post was born. Bri posted her Polynesian Heat over on Instagram last week and here I am following suit with Watermelon Summer paired with Double Breasted Jacket by Essie. This drink is refreshing and isn’t too sweet as there is no added sugar. To make watermelon juice, I sliced some fresh watermelon, poked out and discarded the seeds and blitzed with a stick blended. Chill until required. Watermelon Summer Makes 2 drinks Ingredients 30ml Feijoa vodka 500ml watermelon juice with pulp, chilled A splash of pinot noir Ice Watermelon for garnish Preparation Fill two tall glasses with ice, add half the vodka to each, fill glasses to the top with watermelon juice. Stir to mix and top with …

Project Botanicals – Auckland

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Last night, my friend Miss A and I attended Project Botanicals as guests of Bombay Sapphire. Coincidentally, this event coincided with my birthday (week) and I am not one to turn down birthday cocktails. The pop-up is at James, an unassuming venue at the bottom of Parnell which you might have driven past but not noticed before. I’d been there for dinner with The Koala before years ago but it’s not somewhere that gets much foot traffic. It’s a shame because it’s a great venue. The space was beautifully transformed with flowers, cloth and blue lighting…an event planner’s wet dream. Gin is enjoying a revival these days and if you thought you didn’t like gin (as I once did) I urge you to rethink it. With so many flavours and ways to prepare drinks these days, gin cocktails have come a long, loooong way. Bombay Sapphire is made from 10 botanicals and each botanical was celebrated and translated into a cocktail and food pairing. A $40 ticket buys you a two hour session with two cocktails and two …

15. Fukuko

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In celebration of Auckland Restaurant Month, I will be posting 31 quick-fire reviews on 31 restaurants and cafes in the Auckland CBD and city fringe. The atmosphere is… A surprisingly cozy space with clean lines, mood lighting, 6 tables and plenty of standing room. The jars and bottles of sochu may be decoration and/or ingredients for cocktails. We visited on a quiet weeknight but I can see this place filling up easily. Come here for… Very good Japanese fusion bar snacks. Their pork buns and tacos are divine. The softest, loveliest buns I’ve eaten in a long time. Their cocktail is extensive and very experimental. The most interesting thing on the menu… Spiced roast duck taco Unexpectedly wonderful… Steamed pork buns Sole tempura taco The temperature inside on a cold winter’s night I would come back to try… Braised miso short rib taco Japanese gimlet Catering to… Afterwork and lunch time drinkers and snackers. Not many vegetarian options. Gluten free options not marked on menu. Expect to spend… $20-$40 per person The service is… Great. Just …

Tofu Tuesday: Sangria

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One of my “To Do” activities this spring was to make white sangria. I first tried it this year at Urbis Design Day and thought it was a lighter, refreshing version of red sangria (which I also love). We had a few friends over in the weekend so I made both red and white. The white was yummy, but the red was even better. I’ve grown out of love with white wine over the last year or so and while I don’t like chardonnay, I picked it because it’s less acidic to me than the other whites. Thanks Mum for this cool blue drink set for my early birthday present! I’ve put it to good use already. I made a simple sugar syrup with 2 cups of sugar dissolved in 2 cups of water. Boiled for 5 minutes (stirring occasionally just for fun) and then cooled and stored in a glass bottle. I used fresh strawberries (sliced) and canned fruit salad with additional canned mixed berries for the red sangria. Tofu the bunny gets the green …

Good View

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Only a short work from Chiang Mai Thai House and over the bridge is a strip of bars and restaurants along the river. A nice place for pretty drinks, pretty food and a good view of the sun set over river. We met up again with Leanne and Kathy from Brisbane for a leisurely outing. Good View Bar and Restaurant is big and there is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. We sampled a range of different cocktails and also ordered lots of snack plates to share. What a fun way of eating. Just be careful of anything that looks like a pickle garnish. It may turn out to be a spicy chili. We arrived late afternoon and the place was fairly empty, but by the time we left the place was buzzing with diners and a live band and there wasn’t an empty seat in sight. We split the bill which ends up being 420 baht each / $17NZ / $14US. Not bad for a bunch of snacks and several cocktails. Yummy cocktails in …