All posts tagged: Taste of Auckland

Taste of New Zealand 2011

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It was a stunning day on Thursday when we visited Taste of New Zealand at Victoria Park, Auckland. The rain the night before had turned the grounds into a moist chocolate cake. I was at this culinary festival with 3 of my favourite people and my trusty camera. We tried a several dishes, several beers and several wines and plenty of free samples in between. I hit 3 out of the 4 dishes I had my eye on. Not too bad. I could have drank less and eaten more, but I wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun. My evening started with a glass rose from Tohu Wines and the lovely lady there shared her tips on the festival including where to find free lamb and which restaurants were the best value. From my experience, for the average diner, Taste is not for a cheap night out. Tickets, plus meals, plus drinks, plus products can quickly add up. It’s a treat and you pay a fraction of the price of what you would pay at some …

Food Porn from Taste of Auckland

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As promised, here is the food porn from Taste of Auckland on Friday. Good times! Euro: Simon Gault Alaskan King crab & prawn in jalapeno crème fraiche sauce topped with tuna wafer – 10 Crowns This was dish number 1 on my Taste of Auckland Bucket List. I’ve always been curious what the Deadliest Catch tastes like. Is Alaskan King crab worth dying for? Possibly. If I concentrated, I could taste the tears of fishermen’s orphans. I couldn’t taste any jalapeno, but kind of glad for it as this was delicious as it was. Tuna wafer was replaced with bonito flakes. A very rich, creamy dish. A taster was enough. Toto: Carpaccio di Polipo – Octopus carpaccio with asparagus, fennel, citrus salad & macadamia crumble – 8 Crowns This was second on my Taste of Auckland Bucket List. Under that greenery is thin slices of octopus. The colour and the patterning of the meat was beautiful. Why they would hide the main event is puzzling to me. The octopus was surprisingly tender and the texture …

Scenes from Taste of Auckland

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Some scenes from Taste of Auckland festival last night. I went to Taste of Auckland with my friends C and A and we bumped into my sister Joey, her boyfriend D and their friend there. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow’s post to see the food porn. Ha! The session times this year are 4 hours each. There is a lot of stuff to try and cram in that time even if you don’t do any of the classes or shows. We didn’t see everything, but more than 4 hours would have been too tiring. The Victoria Park location this year is a great bonus. Victoria Park is such a central location and while it’s no necessarily closer to my house than last year’s location, it’s a lot easier to get to and from. For those are interested, I spent about $54 on 4 dishes, 1 beer, 1 plum sake sake and 1 caipirinha cocktail and my earlybird ticket was $15. Welcome to Auckland’s Big Little City. Me and C being welcoming. Are you convinced? Is this …

The time to Taste is upon us.

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I have been eagerly waiting since August for this day. Well, maybe even longer than that, but that’s when I bought my ticket. This evening, my friends A and C and I will be joining a bunch of food enthusiasts in Victoria Park, Auckland central for Taste of Auckland. There will be food products and booze to sample and buy and we’ll be sampling as many dishes as we please from a range of Auckland’s most prestigious restaurants. I’m not much of a fine diner, so it’s unlikely that I’d get to try these dishes in my day to day food adventures. Excitement!!! The dishes I have my eye on (in order of preference): Euro: Simon Gault Alaskan King crab & prawn in jalapeno crème fraiche sauce topped with tuna wafer – 10 Crowns Toto: Carpaccio di Polipo – Octopus carpaccio with asparagus, fennel, citrus salad & macadamia crumble – 8 Crowns Clooney: Gameford Lodge King Cole Duck Breast, pickled apple, maple & mustard – 12 Crowns Dine by Peter Gordon: Pan-seared scallops with pickled …

Taste of Auckland

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Taste of Auckland is a celebration of Auckland’s top restaurants and local food and wine. This year’s event will be held in Victoria Park, in the city centre from 18 – 21 November. Taste of Auckland is great for eaters like me that would love to eat at fine dining restaurants but don’t have the budget for it. Instead of paying $50 for a meal at Auckland’s top restaurants, try a $10 sample of their top dishes instead. There are also many gourmet food products. I tried Zest ice cream here for the first time. I’m a devoted fan now. I also tried Paraiso Lychee Liqueur for the first time at Taste last year. That stuff is magic. One thing I love about food expos is that you can ask questions to the presenters and the sellers and they all know a lot about their product and can give you advice. You just can’t do that down at your local supermarket chain. The format is a little different this year with set session times instead …