All posts tagged: Restaurant

Fig and Gorgonzola Rounds

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage us to try new food related things. Phuong from My Kitchen of Love is the host for this month’s event. If you have a blog and you are eating or cooking something new this month, click below to join.   Orleans I’ve been obsessed with New Orleans since I was an angsty teenager. Long, long before I had any interest in food, I fell in love with the people, the French influence, the mystery  and the vampires. I blame Anne Rice novels. I’ve yet to visit New Orleans but it is number 100 on my bucket list. When I “grew up” and my interest for food developed, my obsession with New Orleans deepened. At the start of March, on Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras celebration day in New Orleans) my friends and I converged on the newish Auckland restaurant, bar, speakeasy, smoky blues and jazz club called Orleans, in Britomart. Traditionally the day of debauchery before Lent starts, Fat Tuesday is all about living large with …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …