All posts tagged: review

Tequila Joe’s

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Tequila Joe’s had only been open for a couple of days when we happened upon it. They don’t get heaps of foot traffic over on Vivian Street, but we passed this place twice a day on our walk in and out of town. The Koala has had a yearning to open a tequila bar in Auckland for the last little while. No such thing exists in Auckland (yet) so when we saw this tequila spot we had to try it out. Come here for… California-style Mexican food and top shelf tequilas. Unexpectedly wonderful… Caramba Pink Reposado sipped with a sangrita. A delcious tequila with caramel flavours. If you have ever had tequila treat you bad, this is the one to make you fall in love all over again. The most interesting thing on the menu… Churros and the Mexican hot chocolate. I would come back to try… The snacks and a cocktail or two. The atmosphere is… Still working itself out. It’s in a funny part of town and the word hasn’t got around yet. …

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen

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Thanks to our friend Elijah for this recommendation. I am obsessed with New Orleans cuisine so I was already biased. We ate a breakfast and a dinner shift and would have eaten a lunch too if they were open on Queen’s Birthday. Sweet Mother’s Kitchen stole our hearts (arteries and all). Photos are only of breakfast because night time photography is rubbish. Is it self righteous to say they play really, really good music when really, I just mean they play all my favourite bands? Maybe. I was stoked to be able to try chicken and waffles. We don’t eat chicken for breakfast in New Zealand. It’s just not a thing. So for those who have never heard of chicken and waffles, it’s deep fried chicken served with waffles and syrup. Sounds crazy right? Come here for… Cajun and Creole dishes from Louisiana and a smattering of Mex snacks. Unexpectedly wonderful… Curly fries with Creole mayo. The most interesting thing on the menu… Gumbo, jambalaya, chowder and hush puppies are obvious classics. But I was …

Big Bad Wolf – Gourmet Charcuterie

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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. Chandler from The Chef With Red Shoes is the host for month’s event. If you have a blog and have cooked, eaten or experienced a new food this month, come and join this event. I can’t remember where I read about Big Bad Wolf, but the idea of eating at a gourmet charcuterie (sha-koo-te-ree) had me swooning. Charcuterie refers to (mostly cured) meat products such as bacon (pancetta, prosciutto), ham, sausages and salamis, terrines and pâtés. Ham is one of my favourite things in the world and though I made bacon once I prefer to leave my small goods to the pros. We visited Wellington last week and when I divulged this place with The Koala he was just as excited as me. It wasn’t our intention to eat alpaca, but it just turned out that way. We dropped in for a nibble and beers on Sunday and Big Bad Wolf did not disappoint. We would have come again …

The Crab Shack

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The Koala and I had a gluttonous jolly good time eating our way around Wellington city last week. One thing that struck me with Wellington is that they are super conscious of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diners. The Koala and I don’t fall into either of these categories, but I normally get the feeling that anything meat-gluten-whatever-free is a pale version of the original. Not so in Wellington. Some of the vegetarian dishes looked so good that I ordered them instead of my regular omni choices. That’s not usually a thing. Many of the menus we saw had plenty of selection for even the most discerning eater. Over the weekend, I will be posting my reviews of the places we ate and loved, from the perspective of an out of towner. The Crab Shack First up, the place I had my eye on – due to a severe lack of crab eating in this country – was the newly opened restaurant on the waterfront: The Crab Shack. New Zealanders don’t eat crabs. It’s just not …

Officially ruined

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Let me get something straight. I’ve always been an instant coffee girl. Quite happily. Yes, espresso is lovely, but without an espresso maker, who can afford to buy a daily espresso? Not I. Espresso was a once a fortnight treat. Until now. The Koala and I were very spoilt and received a ROK manual espresso maker from my parents for Christmas. I’ve been enjoying a lot of espresso lately. The ROK is a breeze to use and best of all, it’s FUN. Make something fun to use and it will practically run itself. Why we love the ROK: Great tasting espresso Easy to use Easy to clean Fun 10 year warranty Does not require electricity (just add boiling water) Beautifully designed Comes with spoon/tamper (spamper) Makes a double shot espresso by default I’ve been avoiding coffee at work because I fear instant coffee wont live up to espresso, but after a couple of weeks of espresso, I had my first instant coffee and I found it tasted like ass. What have you ruined for yourself …

Everything is too delicious – Taste 2012

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It’s my birthday week and I’ll go to a bunch of awesome foodie events if I want to. I love this shiz. Food, wine, good music and the best company. Yes please! My friends Coco and Livvy went with me to opening night tonight. Taste of Auckland started today at Victoria Park, Auckland City and boy what a treat. Coco is a seasoned Taste veteran like me and it was Livvy’s first time. We are all pretty adventurous eaters so it was fun to share our dishes. We arrived keen as beans, just after 5.30pm and stayed until the 9.30pm closing. I would recommend the full 4 hours to get a well paced walk through and a class or two of your choice. The weather was perfect with only a the tiniest hint of drizzle later in the evening. Not enough for us to head to shelter or pull out umbrellas. From the 11 restaurants represented, we tried 9 dishes from 9 restaurants. Not bad, maybe with an extra person we could have made it to …

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 …

Eating Borneo #1 – Rainforest Cafe, Kota Kinabalu

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The second stop on our trip was Kota Kinabalu in the Malaysian part of Borneo. Malaysia is pretty cheap in terms of food and booze, though not the cheapest on our trip. So cheap in fact, that when we saw the price of the dishes, we stupidly assumed the portions were tiny. So we ordered 2 dishes each. 3 people. 6 meals. http://www.rainforestlodgekk.com/rainforest_cafe2.cfm Here, at Rainforest Cafe we stuffed ourselves until we couldn’t see straight. Unfortunately, all the food was good. We couldn’t sacrifice any dishes and with no fridge in our room, we didn’t chance taking a few boxes of food home. We were rendered completely useless after this feast. Lesson to self, order a meal. If you are still hungry, have a snack later. Asia is full of snacks. There is no need to eat yourself senseless. A couple of weeks later, our second visit was much more dignified. Rainforest Cafe offer a range of lunch sets for 6.90RM / $3.10NZ / $2.30US. Your choice of main comes with a drink and a …