All posts tagged: Mt Eden

Kiwi Flavours in Mt Eden

Published by

Last month, I was invited to Tuihana Cafe for a Zomato meetup. A mere 600 metres from my house, I was a little embarrassed that I’d never visited Tuihana Cafe before. With a clean, modern interior with gorgeous monochrome wallpaper on one wall and a huge photographic print of the owners on Piha beach, Tuihana has a modern kiwi feel…like a brand new beachside bach. The owners are Nate and Leslie: Nate is the operations guy and Leslie in charge of the food. The story We met with Nate, who guided us through their menu and business as if we were new staff getting up to speed. I’ve worked in hospo before but I’d never seen anything like this sort of training. Nate had printed a set of notes for each of us, props at the ready for our viewing pleasure and professionally photographs via his iPad to explain the dishes. Nate’s background is in IT and this geekery clearly shows with their tech integrated cafe. As someone tethered to a computer, phone or wifi …

25. Ironique

Published by

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… Busy with unique decor to the Ironique theme. Lots of ambience. The small front opens up to a seating out back and even more seating outside. Come here for… Breakfast, brunch or lunch. All the usual suspects. They also serve dinner. The most interesting thing on the menu… Fried porridge Marinated squid salad Unexpectedly wonderful… Good coffee I would come back to try… Vegetarian big breakfast Catering to… Everyone. Gluten free and vegetarian options available. Eggs are free range. Expect to spend… $20-$30 per person. The service is… At the counter only. Avoid if… You want something a bit more unusual. Ironique Open 7 days http://ironique.freeiz.com/

17. Cereal Killa

Published by

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… Busy, airy and light but located in a crappy part of Dominion Road. Come here for… Not your average brunch. Eating on the way to/from weekend morning errands. The most interesting thing on the menu… Coconut porridge with pear, ginger and rhubarb. Unexpectedly wonderful… Their coffee. I would come back to try… Pancakes with bacon, banana, vanilla mascarpone & blueberry caramel Creamy herbed mushrooms on sour dough Catering to… Everyone. Plenty of vegetarian options and gluten free bread available on request. Kid friendly: there are 6 items on their kids menu. Expect to spend… $20-$30 per person The service is… Friendly and efficient. We had a few different servers but we were watered, coffees and fed in quick succession. Avoid if… You don’t like people experimenting with your breakfast. Cereal Killa 360 Dominion Road, Mt Eden Open 7 days http://www.cerealkilla.co.nz  

9. Bolaven

Published by

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… Simple, light, warm, inviting with Laotian inspired touches. Love the floor to ceiling display of dried ingredients. Come here for… Laos food and regular cafe food by day. Laos food only by night. The most interesting thing on the menu… Sticky rice with fried egg and Jeow Mak Len (Laotian style salsa) Unexpectedly wonderful… Their hand drawn, hand written menu (swoon) Sticky rice in baskets (just like in Laos) Eclairs I would come back to try… Pho with all the trimmings Pork belly with sticky caramel, anise, braised egg, crackling & watercress Catering to… South East Asian food lovers, but also a couple of regular cafe dishes and plenty of pastries and baked goodies at the counter. A couple of options for vegetarians and gluten free, marked on menu. Expect to spend… $20-$30 per person The service is… Friendly and warm. Avoid if… You are in a tight …

Love Your Mountain Day – Pics

Published by

I made it to Love Your Mountain Day a couple of weekends ago. It was a sweltering summer day, not really idea for a mountain ascent. I wanted to go, but I didn’t fancy being a sweaty mess so I left it a little later in the day hoping it would cool down in the afternoon. It didn’t. It took about 2 hours to visit Government House, Eden Garden and the mountain itself including the walk to/from my house. All were free entry and there were guided tours for those that were interested. Government House The tour at Government House was led by a gardener. It was quite cool to listen to someone so knowledgeable and passionate about plants. When someone asked what species of grass it was, I thought it was a joke, but the gardener knew the answer in a heartbeat. This is the secondary residence of our Governor General. A big old Redwood Sequoia and 2 Nikau Palms. The lawns were really beautiful and I thought about our brown, sad looking lawn …