Auckland Food Review

2012-07-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hokkaido Restaurant & Sake Bar

Address

4A/2, 71 Lunn Ave

Mt Wellington

Auckland

09 527 6688

Hokkaido is Japanese restaurant with a mix of yakitori and sushi dishes. The staff are nice and try to be customer focused, however, because they are so buys sometimes it might take them a long time to attend the tables and customers. To me the whole concept of yakitori restaurant is that you constantly order small portions dishes while you drink your sake but to place your 2^nd or 3^rd order in Hokkaido can be a mission if it is a busy night, so be prepared to wait for a while before someone takes your order(s).

I personally love Japanese yakitori style food but in Hokkaido restaurant they serve sushi and stir fry rice meals too.

Food and Drinks

Tuna Kushiage $7.90

On this plate, you get two pieces of bread crumbed tuna fish meat on sticks which are deep fried (they look deep fried to me anyhow). They taste brilliant and the price is very good for what you get on this dish.

Prawn Tempura $19.00 for 5pcs

We ordered these as our entrée but they are pretty filling. We nice, crunchy and well cooked.

Squid Karage $12.50

The squid was nice and crunchy and came with some Japanese mayonnaise. It certainly goes well with the Asahi beer.

Mix Sushi Roll 6 pieces $9.00

You can chose your sushi from a range of sushi rolls. We chose Teriyaki Chicken sushi. One of the best sushis I have ever had.

Eggplant $9.90

The eggplants were grilled, topped with Miso and cheese and chopped parsley. It is very well balanced dish.

Chicken Katsu $11.50

The Chicken Katsu is similar to the German Chicken schnitzel (at least to me) with a drizzle of Japanese BBQ sauce and some salad (tiny amount). It has to be tried as it is a signature dish.

Chicken Karage $8.50

Deep fried chicken. I want to say “bread crumbed” but it looked more like corn flacked. Bread crumbed or corn flacked, it was beautiful. Well seasoned and crispy. Japanese mayonnaise is served with this dish to complement the crispy, crunchy chickens.

Dessert

Green Tea Ice Cream $4.90

At first I didn’t think much of this ice cream when it was ordered. However, when I tried it was a one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had. The first think that came into my mind when we ordered this ice cream was the tasteless green tea, but the ice cream was very nice.

Banana Tempura $10

This dessert is a mix of hot and cold. Battered and Deep fried banana’s with icy cold vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce. It’s a great mix and was my favourite dessert

Over all I enjoyed Hokkaido’s food and will go back again.

2012-06-24T00:29:00.000-07:00

Piccolo Cafe

Address

320 Remuera Rd
Remuera
Auckland City

09 520 5997

Piccolo Café is located in the first floor of REMUERA plaza. I have been to Piccolo four times so far am have no intention of returning there again.

I had two breakfast vouchers from Piccolo Café and the very first time I intended to have breakfast there was on Sunday morning but the whole plaza was closed. The second time we got there after 11:00am and were told by the staff that breakfast is only served till 11:00am although on their menu it clearly said “Breakfast is served till 3:00pm”. The third time, we managed to get there on time for breakfast and no matter how hard the staff tried to be nice, but it seemed they are not truly believe in customers satisfaction or good customer service. This time we noticed that they have crossed out the note about the 3:00pm breakfast service after our complaint about it.

Food and Drinks

Eggs Benedict $16.50

The eggs benedict portion was decent and it eggs were done nicely. However, although we asked for spinach, but it came with mesclun salad which was a disappointment.

Bacon & Eggs on toast $14.50

The eggs and bacon on toast was nothing special at all. I could made the exact same thing at home (may be even better than that). The two pieces of toast were just two pieces of toast. Nothing special at all about this breakfast.

Some time we go out and although the food is average, but the experience of eating out is pleasant, for example, the staff are very nice and kind, the coffee is good or even there is a nice view, but in case of Piccolo, the food was nothing “WOW”, although the staff tried to put a nice face but their attitudes were not good at all and the view was nothing spectacular either.

2012-06-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

Carpe Diem Restaurant

Address

2/154 Harbour Village Drive
Gulf Harbour
Rodney

09 424 6250

Carpe Diem Restaurant is in Golf Harbour village with a nice relax atmosphere. There is a warm feel to the whole place, very tidy and clean too. The weekend we were there, a few families were dining in Carpe Diem Restaurant too.

The staff are very polite and helpful. They were quick to get our orders and the food came out in a very reasonable time.

The only thing I should point out in regards to Carpe Diem Restaurant and their dishes is that they are overpriced.

Food and Drinks

Garlic Bread and dips $9.50

The garlic bread was a pizza base like garlic bread served with three different types of dip. Mayo and garlic, hummus and crushed capers were the dips. You couldn’t go wrong with the garlic bread and any of the dips as they all went well with the garlic bread. (no photos)

Meat Lovers Pizza $13.00 (Small)

Beautiful, thin pizza base, with a homemade feel to it. What is really like about the meat lovers pizza was that it had nice pieces of lean beef not mince meat. Other topping on Meat lovers pizza included, bacon, salami, ham, mozzarella cheese and I picked aioli as the sauce of my choice which I thought went with the pizza pretty well.

Hawaiian Pizza $10.00 (Small)

The Hawaiian pizza topping (like any other Hawaiian pizza) includes Ham cubes and chunks of pineapple and of course mozzarella cheese. Then again the pizza base was thin and crisp, nicely done.

Fish & Chips $12.00

The fish n Chips came out steaming hot (the way it should be). Batter Terakihi, crispy, crunchy chips, lemon wedges, tart sauce with some green salad on the side.

One of the problems with fish n chips is saltiness. A lot of fish n chips that I have tied, were too salty, but Carpe Diem’s fish n chips was perfect and not too salty at all.

Eggs Benedict $16.50

The eggs Benedict comes on crunchy toasted English muffins. The eggs where cooked perfectly. By that I mean, the egg whites were nice and firm and the eggs yolks were runny (the way I like my eggs Benedict to be). The hollandaise sauce was made to perfection.

2012-06-09T07:20:00.001-07:00

Pizza Fresco

Address

Cnr Tahgihua St & Countdown Access Lane

AKL CBD

Auckland

09 368 1818

I’ve been to this pizzeria a few time so far. You can dine in or take away pizzas and they serve wine and beer too, that is not all, they are even BYO. For those who are looking for Halal food (Muslims), Pizza Fresco offers halal food too.

The staff are very nice and helpful there and you have the convenience of buying soft drinks and/or your garlic bread from the supermarket right opposite the pizza shop if you are taking it your pizzas away.

Food and Drinks

Spudletts $6.50 (Side dish)

The Spudletts are like round bite size hash browns served with citrus garlic aioli. If you are dining in and want to try the Spudletts, be careful because they will be very very hot (I burnt my mouth a couple of times with them). They taste beautiful with the aioli.

Potato Wedges $6.50 (side dish)

Nice crisp potato wedges served with sour cream and sweet chili sauce. Then again, be very careful if you are ordering them while dinning in, they are very hot.

Paris Chicken Cranberry and Brie (Large side) $18.50

Thin and crispy pizza base with real pieces of chicken breast, cranberry sauce with fresh cranberry topped with brie cheese. This pizza have a sweet taste and I really like it because of that since I like sweet food. Paris Chicken and Cranberry is one of my favorite pizzas.

Jordan (Large) $18.50

As per the menu, it has Middle Eastern spiced sausage, roasted peppers, jalapenos, hot Thai Chili sauce, topped with basil pesto sauce and black pepper. This is one of the spiciest pizzas I have ever had and although it burns when eaten, but still is very tasty. However, if you can’t handle hot/spicy food, I don’t recommend you having this pizza.

2012-06-08T21:54:00.001-07:00

Icon Cafe

Address

236 Orakei Rd
Remuera
Auckland City

09 524 5847

We went to Icon Café on the weekend (Sunday 29 of April 2012) for breakfast. I enjoyed the outside tables, specially the timber bench and seats. It has a view of the sea and the Sky Tower. There was on one to great up when we walked in and we could pick any available table inside or outside. The food came out in a reasonable time and we enjoyed the whole atmosphere there.

Food and Drinks

Chicken and tomato omelette $6.00

You can have up to three choices to go into your omelette. We picked: Chicken, tomato and capsicum which I thought was a good combination. The size of the omelette was huge and was accompanied with some salad. I found the omelette a bit tasteless (no salt or pepper) but I guess not having any salt is better than been too salty as salt can always be added later.

French toast $6.00

The portion of the French Toast dish was ginormous too. Big pieces of French baguette and a whole fried banana with bacon. The bacon was cooked very well and it was no too salty. I thought not only the size of this dish was decent, but also the taste was great too.

Eggs Benedict $

The Eggs Benedicts were served on big plats, but the amount of food on the plat was not that big. In fact the plate looked half empty. The eggs were so small, however, it tasted good. The egg yolks we golden yellow, yellower than other eggs and I thought maybe they are free-range eggs, but there was nothing on the menu indicating that the eggs are free-range. All and all, apart from the portion of this dish the rest was great.

2012-05-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

Sawadee Restaurant

Address

42a Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby
Auckland

09 376 0320

Sawadee is a Thai restaurant located in Ponsonby, Auckland. I was there for lunch on Friday 4^th of May 2012. Sawadee is a B.Y.O. and they do take away too. The staff are very nice and accommodating and the restaurant has an interesting environment with the sound of water from the water feature.

There were seven of us and we had only 45min to spare for lunch and we explained that to the waitress, she made sure that our food was served as quickly as possible. It took about 10 minutes only from when we all placed our orders till the food appeared on our table, which I thought was great knowing our circumstance.

What’s interesting in Sawadee is that, you pay only $3.00 for rice, but you will be served as much rice as you can eat. The waitresses come around as you finish you rice and top up your rice if you want more.

Food and Drinks

Panang Neau $21.70 Rice $3.00

As you may know, I like spicy food and for me this dish would leave a nice tingling feel on your tongue.

This dish is a very nice creamy beef curry made of, beef (obviously), coconut milk, bamboo shoots, Panang curry sauce, potatoes and peanuts. I loved the creamy rich texture of this curry and the taste was wonderful. I truly enjoyed this dish.

TOM YAM GOONG – Hot $8.50

Traditional hot and sour soup served with prawns and mushrooms. If you are not use to hot food, I don’t suggest you ordering this soup but if you are up for a bit of spice then this soup is great for cold winter days and nights and to open blocked nostrils.

GAI LEUNG - Warm $17.90

Chicken breast stir fried with yellow curry, onion, capsicum and cashew nuts. This dish is one of the best Thai curries I have ever tried. It is a nice creamy curry and the roasted cashew nuts are the highlight of this dish for me.

GAI PAD PUG - Mild $17.20

Stir fried chicken with seasonal vegetables which is served with rice. It is curry those ever one can take since it is not hot but I personally would like it to be more spicy. I like the fact that this curry was not runny.

NEAU NAM MAN HOI - Mild $17.20

Strips of scotch fillet with fresh vegetables in an oyster sauce. This beef dish goes well with either rice or noodles. Well cooked scotch fillet striped are even nice on their own. I love Thai food and Sawadee’s one of the best.

2012-05-20T03:43:00.001-07:00

Coffee Club (Manauka City Shopping Center)

Address

Westfield Manukau City

Cnr Great South and Wiri Station Road

Manukau City

09 262 0261

Went for shopping in Westfield Manukau Shopping Centre and ended up having breakfast in Coffee Club there.

Coffee Club is a chain store/coffee shop which I found a bit overpriced.

Food and Drinks

Eggs Benedict $16.50

The eggs benedict portion was decent and it eggs were done perfectly. By that I mean, the egg yolks were runny but at the same time not too runny. The hollandaise souse was very tasty. The bacon was cooked well, not too dry and not too soft.

French toast $9.00 extra Bacon and Banana $6.70

The portion of the French toast dish was good. However, pieces of toast dipped in eggs and fried were used, which I found very average and nothing fancy about them. The bacon was cooked very well and it was no too salty. The bananas were just two pieces of banana, then again, nothing fancy about them, but some effort had gone to sprinkling some icing sugar on the dish as a mean of decoration. Overall, there was nothing special about Coffee Club’s French Toast.

Beef Burger $15.50 extra chips $4.10

Coffee Club’s burgers are different from all the fast food burgers I’ve had and it is not only the taste but also the look and presentation of the burger. The bread buns are not round like the normal burger buns, instead they are square shaped. Everything on the burger tasted very nice and fresh.

The chips was very tasty too, I like thick and crispy chips that came with the burger. However the burger does not come with aioli or tomato sauce, but when I asked the staff for some tomato sauce they gave me plenty.

The nice thick, juicy beef paddy and the salad plus the bread buns makes it a bit hard to take bites off the burger so I recommend to have some cutlery handy.

2012-05-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

Cornwall Park Restaurant and Café

Address

Greenlane Road West
Cornwall Park
Greenlane

09 630 2888

Cornwall Park Restaurant and Café is one of my favourite dining places. I love the fact that you get a spectacular view of the Cornwall Park through the windows while having your food and that, if the weather is good and the sun is shining, you can go for a short or long walk in the park after you breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The staff are all professionals and this time round we had a waiter who although was a New Zealander but was tossing some French words here and there and not only he was very polite but also quite funny too.

The service was great. It included the timing of serving our food and beverages as well as the presentation; the whole lot was a nice experience.

If you are checking the menu and the food prices on Cornwall Park Restaurant website, be mindful that the website prices are out of date, as the price for full breakfast on their website is $18.50 where it is actually $19.50.

Food and Drinks

Free Range Eggs Benedict with bacon $17.50 Large Mocha $5.00

The hollandaise sauce was one of the best I’ve ever had. It seemed that a dash of saffron was added to the sauce ingredients, which made a huge difference.

The look and taste of the eggs benedict was perfect. I loved everything about this dish, from the colour of the eggs and the hollandaise sauce to the taste of the spinach.

Full Breakfast $19.50 Orange Juice $4.00

The portion of the full breakfast was just right, not too much or too little. The sausage was cooked well and the potato chunks which were in replacement of hash brown(s) and rather interesting to me. The premium bacon added the necessary zing to the whole dish. Apart from the potato chunks which was something new as well as the good quality bacon, this full breakfast seemed very average.

Free Range eggs Royal $18.50 Flat white $4.50

The Free Range Eggs Royal, is pretty much like the Eggs Benedict but instead of bacon it was served with smoked salmon. The salmon was smoked very nicely and it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever tasted.

Open face Omelette $16.50 Ice Coffee $5.00

The Omelette ingredients were: eggs (of course), tomatoes, onion, feta cheese and some herbs. The omelette looked, somewhat over cooked and I was not sure if it was brown because of all the herbs or it was not taken off the fire soon enough. I found this dish average too.

2012-05-04T21:42:00.001-07:00

Der Metz Restaurant

Address

5-11 Averill Avenue

Kohimarama
Auckland

09 528 8012

Dre Metz is a German restaurant and although it was a Thursday night, but the place was full of people. It was not my first time in Der Metz, but I can go and dine at this restaurant every night. I love the whole atmosphere as I feel I am in Germany. The beer jugs, the flags, the music and even the waitresses were German.

It is a B.Y.O. as well but they charge you for the corkage of course.

We were greeted as we walked in through the doors and directed to a nice table. The waitresses were very kind and friendly and were dressed in the traditional German dirndl, which made the restaurant even more authentic German restaurant. The service was great and the food came out in a reasonable time.

(will include the photos soon)

Food and Drinks

Garlic Bread $ 8.00

Garlic Bread was our entrée. It was about 10 pieces of French Baguette slices, toasted in the oven with batter, garlic and herbs, simple but delicious.

Chicken Schnitzel “Wiener Art” $28.00

Chicken Schnitzel Wiener Art was ordered to have salad instead of mash potato or chips. The schnitzels were pan fried, bread crumbed chicken breasts served with a bawl of salad. There is a choice of one or two pieces of schnitzel (two pieces will cast $5 extra) so we went for two pieces. The schnitzels were beautiful, but the salad was not as fresh as expected. Over all it was a great dish.

Wiener Schnitzel $27.00

Wiener Schnitzel is pan fried, bread crumbed pork which could be served with mash potato or chips. You can order one piece or two pieces (for an extra $5.00). This dish had two pieces of schnitzel and I have to say it was huge. I have a feeling that this dish came out with more than two pieces of schnitzel on it. For the Wiener Schnitzel we order mash potato which was very nice and creamy with generous amounts.

Pork Spare Ribs $26.00

The Pork Spare ribs were the highlight of the night for me. Three huge pieces of pork ribs, cooked to perfection, served in sweet chilli-honey sauce and chips. The pork ribs were huge and the taste amazing. I loved the sweet chilli-honey sauce combination as well since it was not too hot for me (mind you I do love hot food).

2012-04-30T02:11:00.000-07:00

Il Buco

Address

113 Ponsonby Rd

Ponsonby

Auckland

09 360 4414

I went for lunch on Friday 27^th April 2012. It felt like I was in a genuine Italian pizza paille. Il buco’s pizzas are not round but they were square which was interesting and something different from what is normally seen elsewhere. There is only one table to sit in Il buco (if I remember correctly) but there are many seats outside that can be used.

The staff are very friendly and helpful. Although they were so busy but the food came out shortly after my orders.

Food and Drinks

Ortolana Pizza $6.00 per slice

Apart from mozzarella cheese on Ortolana pizza you can find capsicums, tomato, courgette, oregano and a lot of onions. It is one of the most colourful pizzas I was behind the display at il buco. Although Ortolana was a tasty pizza but I think a little bit more cheese and salt on the toppings would have made it even tastier.

(the pizzas on the right hand side of this photo)

Ripiena pizza $6.00 per slice

Ripiena pizza was simple but tasty. It has mozzarella cheese, spinach, ham and mushrooms as toppings. Something I liked about il buco pizzas is that the pizza base is thin and crispy and decent amount of toppings.

(the pizzas on the left hand side of this photo)

2012-04-26T03:31:00.000-07:00

Ivory Lounge

Address

421 Parnell Road,

Parnell,

Auckland 1052

09 373 3328

Ivory Lounge is a very nice cosy place, especially with the fireplace going and the pianist playing the piano. The staff are very warm, friendly and accommodating. It was only the seats that were uncomfortable. They might be good seats for a bar to have drinks, but they are certainly not comfy to relax and have dinner. We asked for “Smoked Chicken Pizza” but it turned out that the kitchen had ran out of chicken. I had their smoked chicken pizzas before and I have to say that I was very disappointed when I was informed that it was not available at the time.

While waiting for our food to come out of the kitchen, the barman was making drinks with sager blocks and some blue liquor with flames and found it very entertaining to just watch him doing so.

Something I would like to point out is that, unlike the below photos, the pizzas came out as whole and I remembered to take photos after we have a few slices, so my apologies for that.

Food and Drinks

Prawn Twist $12.50 Orange Juice $5.00

Although the prawn twists were tasty, they seemed not so fresh. They were like frozen prawn twists that were deep fried. This appetizers was served with sweet chilli sauce.

Mushroom Pizza $20.00 Diet Coke $4.50

The mushrooms on the pizza were fresh big flat mushrooms with parmigiano cheese. I like the pizza bases as they were just like homemade pizza bases, thin and crispy.

Half and half Spicy Pepperoni/Tomato Boccocini pizza $20.00 Lemonade $4.50

At Ivory Lounge half and half pizzas were not part of their menu. However, when I asked the lady at the counter, she was more than happy to get the chef to make us a half and half pizza. I loved the Spicy Pepperoni pizza. It was no too spicy that you don’t taste anything after having a bite. Instead, the spiciness had given the pizza a nice tingling feel and taste on the tongue.

Tomato Boccocini pizza was made of chapped sundried tomatoes and pesto sauce on top. It was another great pizza from Ivory Lounge.

The pizzas at ivory Lounge are defiantly worth trying and I will go back again.

2012-04-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

Goode Brothers Bar & Restaurant

Address

36 Town Centre Drive

Botany Town Centre

Auckland

09 272 4516

On Sunday 15^th of April 2012 in the afternoon, we had lunch in Goode Brothers. We picked an outside table since the weather was nice. As we were going through the menu a band turned up and started to set up the stage. I have to say that the band was great and added a whole new dimension to our dining experience at Goode Brothers.

The waitress did not take any note of us who were ready to order our food and waited about 10-15min till I managed to catch one of the waitress’ eye. Although she was smiling and was trying to be nice but you could tell that it was not a genuine smile as a nice gesture and it was only because she had to smile as part of her job description. In a way, she even throw the cutlery and napkins on the table and left, unlike other café and restaurants where they put the time and the effort to set them up for each customer at their table.

Food and Drinks

Pollo Pamazano $22.90

The chicken breast fillets were breadcrumbed and pan fried topped with a thick tomato sauce served with some salad. It was a chicken dish cooked to perfection. I loved the thick tomato sauce and the melted parmigiano cheese.

Beef Burger $18.90

The beef paddy is the first thing that catches your eye. It was a nice, thick, juicy beef paddy, served on fresh, soft bread buns with beetroot and fresh salad. The chips with aioli was a complement to the burger. For some reason every time I go to Goode Brothers, I end up ordering a burger.

Ceasar Salad $17.50

The salad was very nice, fresh and crisp. It had anchovies, chunks of ham, boiled eggs and the croutons gave the Ceasar Salad the edge. Couldn’t tell what the salad dressing was, but it was very nice and light.

Overall, the food was very nice but the service and the attitude of some of the staff were not good at all.

2012-04-15T03:11:00.001-07:00

Birdie Cafe

Address

5 Anita Avenue

Mt Roskill

Auckland

09 621 0090

Although Birdie Café is located in Maungakiekie Golf Club, but it is open to none-golf club members too. They are open from 9:00am (as the club opens) till 2:30pm everyday. In addition they serve dinner on Wednesdays and Fridays. If you would like to have dinner on any of these two nights you need to book in advanced.

Wednesday and Friday menus are not fixed menus. They change for each night and it is a two course meal menu. For a fix price of $25.00 you get a main course and desert. I personally think the food is well worth the money.

The staff were very nice and friendly and the view of the golf course from through the windows of the café is spectacular. Another big plus for Birdie Café is that, there are plenty of car parks.

Food and Drinks

Fish of the day $25.00

The fish of the day was pan fried John Dory served with chips, backed tomatoes with parmigiano cheese on top and white sauce. The fish was cooked perfectly and the white sauce gave it the final finish it needed. The portion of the food was very generous.

Beef scotch fillet steak $25.00

The Beef scotch fillet steak came with chips and flat mushrooms. The balsamic vinegar based sauce was given the steak that edge. The presentation was great and the food came out in a decent time after we ordered. The amount of food on the plate was decent.

For desert we had the choice of Fruit salad & frangipaine tart or a piece of chocolate mud cake. The Fruit Salad & frangipaine tart was one of the best deserts I have ever had. It was very light and tasty.

2012-04-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Savoureux Café

Address

401 Mr Eden Rd
Mt Eden
Auckland City

09 630 0250

Savoureus Café is in the heart of Mt Eden village. The place looks great with its nice interior. When I was taking photos of the café from across the street the Staff were waving at me (can’t be seen in the photos though) but I found the staff were fun and charming.

The white interior colour gives the café a nice clean look and although there seem to be a limited number of tables in the front section of the café, but there is a backyard with a lot of tables too.

The staff are really friendly and helpful. The young lady who was serving us was always smiling. I like the fact that, even before we ask for water, she poured us water (not something you see everyday). Another interesting thing about Savoureux Café is that they serve porridge for breakfast too, then again, not something I have seen every often. There was a nice jazz music playing in the background which really added some character to the place.

Food and Drinks

Eggs Benedict with bacon and spinach $16.50 Large Mocha $4.70

The amount of food was great; the eggs were cooked perfectly served on fresh pieces of bread. The highlight of this dish was the hollandaise souse. However, the bacon was a bit salty and to dry.

The Mocha was great. It looked like they use locally brewed coffee beans which I support 100%.

Egg and Bacon $15.50

Then again everything on this dish was perfect, but my comments about the bacon above is still valid. Loved the poached eggs.

Savoureux Big Breakfast $19.00 Orange Juice $4.00

Grilled tomatoes were the highlights of breakfast. The sausages were great too. More than anything I enjoyed the atmosphere and the whole experience. I believe that one of the component elements of this dish was Black Pudding. It was my first time trying Black Pudding and I like the taste of it (after I got over the mental barriers of what is in Black Pudding).

Pork Belly $17.00

This dish is served for lunch and the menu said that the Pork Belly was cooked in Spanish Style. It was served with chick peas on sourdough. It was cooked perfectly and there was no need for extra seasoning. It looked great on the plate and was very filling too.

2012-04-08T01:21:00.001-07:00

Papa Tasty Kebab

Address

6/106 Ponsonby International Food Court

Ponsonby Rd
Freemans Bay
Auckland

021 161 9351

Papa Tasty Kebab is in Paonsonby International Food court. It is a Meddle Eastern Takeaway which offers a good selection of meat and vegetarian dishes. The staffs are very helpful, nice and friendly. When we asked to exclude the rice from one of the dishes, the chef, suggested to add more salad instead which I thought nice it was nice of him.

The food we ordered were two Iranian kebab dishes. We had lunch there on Thursday 5th of April 2012.

Food and Drinks

Kobideh Kebab with Salad $12.00

Kobibeh kebab is mincemeat on skewers. Traditionally it is cooked on charcoal BBQ and served with rice. In this case, the kebabs were well cooked, nice and juicy. It tasted like the authentic Iranian kebab. The salad was very fresh and was a good complement to the kebab. I enjoyed the Hummus very much and the portions were generous.

Chicken Kebab with extra kobideh and rice $17.00

Chicken kebab is made of boneless chicken breast pieces marinated in lemon juice, onion, salt and saffron. Chicken kebabs were cooked well and were very tasty. The rice was fluffy and very nice combined with somack (a Middle Eastern spice which has a sour taste). I truly enjoyed the BBQed tomato too.

Overall I like the food and the attitude of the staff and will go back there again (for sure).

2012-03-30T19:33:00.002-07:00

Devonport Connection Café

Address

57 Victoria Rd
Devonport
North Shore City

09 445 8290

This local café is in Devonport has the looks and the space. It can be a place to be enjoyed for families. The only issue I had was Customer Service. When we got there the girls behind the counter were busy doing what they were doing and it took them a while to notice us.

After we were directed to a table we liked, the lady handed us out the menus and said that someone will come and take our order when we are ready. We waited and waited but no one came to take our order so I had to go to the counter to place our orders. The reply to my question, if someone is coming to take our orders, was: “No, you have to order at the counter”. So there is no consistency in the advice customers get about how they should placing their orders.

Food and Drinks

Eggs Benedict with bacon $13.90 Large Mocha $4.60

Although the amount of food on the plate was decent but the bread was not fresh at all.

A bawl of large Mocha ordered came before the eggs benedict and it was a great coffee, I must say.

Kiwi Burger $14.90 Orange Juice $4.00

The portion again was good, but the meat paddy looked like one of those precooked, frozen meat paddies which I’ve never been a fan of. We I go to a local café or burger joint, I would like to see real handmade/homemade style meat paddy.

So over all, I was not satisfied with the service nor with the food.

2012-03-23T18:49:00.002-07:00

Lone Star

Address

Lone Star Cafe & Bar - Newmarket

8 Kent Street, Newmarket
Auckland 1023

09 522 4004 ‎

Lone Star is a New Zealand iconic Restaurant & Bar. Its whole concept is around fun dinning and value for money. I have to say, the food is really good value for money from the point of view of quality as well as portion of the dishes.

I was in Lone Star Newmarket on 21^st of March 2012 for dinner. Although it was Wednesday night, but place was almost full. I like the fact that it was busy, noisy and full of life. When I looked around the restaurant, it brought the old Wild West saloons into my mind with the dimmed yellow lights, cool back and with wallpapers and the combination of dark wooden decor as well as the pictures all around.

When we arrived we were directed to our table. I found it very interesting that the waitress introduced herself and looked after us the whole night. The only complaint I have is that she missed on one of the dishes that we orders and we had to wait an extra 15min for it to come out when all the other dishes were out already.

Food and Drinks

Johnny Cash Stash (Classic) $34.50

This dish is a chicken one, chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes and spinach. Beautifully cooked and presented.

The side dishes were, half cut and beautifully fried potatoes plus coleslaw.

Big John the sirloin (Classic) $34.50 Large Coke $5.20

A decent size piece of steak with chunky mushroom sauce, accompanied with the half cut fried potatoes plus coleslaw. The steak was orders to be medium and it could not be better than this. The steak was nicely cooked on the outside and had a very nice pink colour in the middle and the best part was that it was not raw at all with no blood (just how I like my steak).

Rockin’ Ribeye $35.00

The highlight of this dish was the New Zealand blue cheese & Vodka sauce. I thought it went very well with the aged ribeye. I loved the taste, the smell and the creaminess of the sauce. It was the best plate of the night for me.

Shank Williams (two) $28.50

The two lamb shanks on the plate were cooked to perfection, but still on the bone and not falling off it. The amount of meat on the plate was well over sufficient. It was simply perfect.

Over all, I really enjoyed the food, the service and the environment in Lone Star Newmarket. I will surely go back again and recommend it to everyone to go to.

2012-03-17T01:35:00.001-07:00

Wagamama

Address

Sylvia Park dining lane
Mt Wellington Highway
Auckland

09 579 1949

Wagamama is a modern Asian (to me Japanese) diner. For some reason I can’t call it a restaurant, maybe it’s because of the benches or their setup where you may be sitting right next total strangers without any space between you, but don’t get me wrong it doesn’t mean I didn’t like the whole atmosphere. It is like when cooking style of East meets the contemporary style of West.

We had dinner there on Friday16^th of March 2012 and found the place very nice and clean. I enjoyed the fact that although Wagamama is an Asian diner but people from the four corners of the glob work and dine there. The waitresses who served us were very nice, friendly and polite. As soon as we walked through the doors, they greeted us and directed us to a table that we liked.

Something that I found really interesting was their baby seats. They are pockets that will be attached (screwed) to the table (see the photo). It was something I had never seen before and thought was very clever.

Entrée

Ebi Katsu $11.90

Ebi Katsu is fried, bread crumbed prawns served with a very nice sweet chilli souse. The presentation of the dish was simple but stylish. Just make sure that you squeeze the lemon veg all over the prawns and then dip it the souse. It was fantastic.

Food and Drinks

Chicken Katsu Curry $18.00

I have had chicken katsu curry in other Japanese restaurants before and compared to those Wagamama’s was just average. It was the presentation of the dish that I enjoyed the most. The rice was like the body of a bird and the two pieces of fried chicken breasts filets looked like the wings of the bird. It was a very clever arrangement. I thought, if the rice had a bit of salt while cooking would have made a huge difference.

Teriyaki soba with sirloin steak $23.20 Large Coke $5.20

The steak was very nice and tender, so good it would melt in your mouth. I liked the whole dish and its presentation. The vegetables where cooked to perfection, not too soft and not to raw either.

Over all, I enjoyed the whole experience and the customer service was great but I think it was over priced.

2012-03-09T02:22:00.004-08:00

Me Ne Frego

Address

301 Manukau Rd
Epsom
Auckland City

09-630 6141

Me Ne Frego (I do not care) is a fully licensed & B.Y.O. Italian restaurant. On Friday 9^th of March 2012 me and three others went to there to have dinner. It was my second time there and I have to say, I love the place. The Menus are hand written, the food has genuine Italian flavour to it and everything around you has a hand/homemade feel to it. There are a lot of photos of old Italian movies, actors and actresses which have hand written notes underneath them. The “Reserved” table sign is stuck into a cork cut in half and I liked the idea of making the best use of what you’ve got. Everything feels HOMELY here.

When you go to have dinner in Me Ne Frego, you need to keep in mind that it is a small place (fits about 25 people) and most probably you’ll be sitting very close to other people. On the other hand, there is only the chef and one kitchen hand and between them they do everything. That includes taking the orders, cooking the food, serving the customers, etc. So be prepared to be served after a while.

Starters

Chicken Liver $8.00

This plate is not what you might have in mind. The chicken liver is in the form of pate spread on pieces of bread. All I can say is that it tasted great.

Garlic Bread $8.00

Nothing spectacular, pieces of toast with herbs, garlic and olive oil. (I liked the Chicken liver better).

Food and Drinks

Scotch fillet with $35.00 Orange Juice $4.50

The medium Scotch fillet was with served with some homemade chips and a bowl of salad on the side. The fillet was perfect; the way it was cooked, portion, taste and the presentation was great. The other interesting thing for me was the chips, which looked and tasted just like homemade chips and nothing like that frozen pre-cooked chips.

Ragu $20.00

Another great dish, it looked and tasted nothing like all the pasta that I had before.

Squid pasta with back sauce $20.00

This dish was not that great for my taste. I believe that was because, the black sauce was made of squid ink which has given the spaghetti a strong seafood smell and flavor. Not my cope of tea.

We ordered some house wine as well which I thought that it went great with the food. Don’t remember the price (surprise, surprise).

The whole experience was great. I can dine in Me Ne Frego any time.

2012-03-03T17:49:00.000-08:00

Fiori Café

Address

99 Hurstmere Rd, Takapuna

Auckland

Ph: 09 489 5098

Fiori Café is a fully licensed & B.Y.O. café. I was there on Sunday 4^th of March 2012 for breakfast with two others. It is a nice cosy, clean cafe with friendly staff.

Food and Drinks

Sausage and Eggs $15.00 Orange Juice $4.50

(No Photos)

There was nothing special about this dish. The sausages were over cooked and they had this strong smell. I did not enjoy the dish much.

Vegetarian Big Breakfast $18.50 Soy Mocha $4.80

The nice fresh and ripened avocado slices were the highlight of this dish. They were smooth and creamy with a beautiful green colour of a ripened avocado.

Soy Mocha was very nice too with the right amount of sweetness and a great taste.

Eggs Benedict with Bacon and Spinach $17.00 Trim Mocha $4.80

The amount of sauce was just right, not too much or too little. The bacon was nice, crisp and well-cooked, not too oily or dry either so I say “just right”.

Trim Mocha was as good as Soy Mocha.

Service

The service was great. The girls took our orders pretty quickly. Coffees and food were served with in a few minutes which I thought was great. Over all the customer service is good.

2012-03-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Hi,
I know there are a lot of food critics around who analyze different restaurants and take aways in great details but I just wanted to let everyone know the point of view of someone who just enjoys food as a consumer and not as professional food critic.

I am still learning in how to maintain my Blog so please be patient with me and I welcome your constructive criticism and feedback so please email me your idea on masseeh1234@yahoo.com

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