Wynyard Quarter Part I: Jack Tar

Hey everyone! Thought you wouldn't hear from me for a while, right? I thought so too. But I'm currently sitting in a very obscure corner in Geneva International Airport, waiting for my flight back to London. Long story short, I have some time on my hands and I'm bored. I've just completed my seven day road trip around parts of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, in addition to my three nights in Paris (I did the ultimate tourist cliche and ate escargot too). Like I expected, I'm missing home a weee bit. I'm absolutely annoyed that I'm missing the NRL Finals Series (go the Warriors!) and from now on I'll have to wake up really early to find a pub in London that will show the All Blacks matches from the RWC....there will be a pub open at 7am, I just know it!!!

With the Rugby World Cup in mind, this blog is dedicated to the North Wharf area in Wynyard Quarter, the new restaurant/bar/dining area that was recently developed for the Rugby World Cup in mind and had opened in early August. I had wanted to visit the area before my departure, knowing that I wouldn't have the chance to do so during the World Cup. It was not intended for me to visit twice – once on a weekday, once on a weekend – and it was full of people. Madness, like I expected.

Jack Tar

34-47 Jellicoe Street, North Wharf

Catching up for a weekday lunch and saying goodbye to my friend was the order of the day with my first visit to Wynyard Quarter. My friend and I had taken a leisurely stroll among the line of restaurants and bars, acting indecisively (as you do) about where to go for lunch. Indecisive behaviour is not ideal though, when: a) it's rather busy everywhere, with minimal tables; and b) when one is on her lunch break from work and has to be back at work at a certain time. Was it to be indian cuisine? Japanese? Spanish tapas? We ultimately ended up choosing Jack Tar, a gastrobar that is pretty much located in the middle of the line of restaurants in North Wharf (the shed is a giveaway). Jack Tar operates on a no reservation basis for tables or/and events, which is no surprise when they're constantly busy like they were when I was there. We were lucky in fact, in securing one of the last tables available too.

Jack Tar's menu is almost standard pub food fare, but has slightly more sophisticated dishes (and therefore more expensive) than your normal pub. When we were seated, we were asked prior to ordering whether we wanted to "pay as we (you) go" or start a tab, where they take your debit/credit card as security and return it back to you when you pay for your meal. I had read an article about this in the NZ Herald a few days before going there actually, as a lot of restaurants and bars had been experiencing the problem of people eating and then running off without paying for their meal. Completely understandable, although tourists traveling for the World Cup might find this completely odd and unnecessary.

My friend and I ended up sharing a pizza, probably the weirdest combination option of the lot – anchovies, goats cheese, spinach, pine nuts, red capsicum and basil ($22). Unfortunately, Jack Tar refuse to do half-half pizzas for the reason being that it's "easier for them." Making a pizza isn't that hard. Seriously. Add a extra surcharge if you have to – although charging more than $22 for a pizza is ridiculous enough anyway.

The pizza arrived at our table in a timely manner (well timely enough for a busy lunch service). The pizza was almost too big to fit in between our plates and our drinks on our table (methinks the tables need to be a bit bigger if you're gonna serve pizza). The mix of ingredients on our pizza were interesting to say the least. Some of the ingredients didn't mesh too well together, therefore the balance of flavours was kind of lacking. The pizza was more on the salty side with the mix of anchovies and goats cheese, and it needed something more robust and punchy on the pizza to balance the saltiness out (the capsicums weren't enough). There was a lack of spinach, and the pine nuts would've been a great addition for texture had the pine nuts been toasted. The pizza had promise, but some tweaking would ultimately be ideal.

The service was pretty straight to the point. No problems, but their paying area – which is located in the middle of the shed – needs to be improved and become better organised.

Verdict - Jack Tar wasn't terrible nor brilliant, and maybe next time I'll have to try something else from their menu to make a more informed decision (although my next visit will have to be sometime later in the future when I'm actually in the country...). Pork belly anyone? I imagine though, that it would be a good place to go for a drink and share food amongst your friend (they have a section in their menu dedicated to meals that you can share with friends).

NB: This is Part I of my two part special on Wynyard Quarter. The next blog will be Part II - Marvel Grill, and hopefully that will be up sometime within the next two to three weeks...

Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar

Some days there aren't enough hours in the day. Today is not one of those days.

In about six hours time I'll be heading off to London, which will be my home away from home for at least the next twelve months. I have finished packing, I have cleaned my room, I have sorted everything that I've needed to sort out (hopefully), and I'm officially bored. I thought I'd use some of my remaining time left to blog, since I've got so many places to blog about!

The last two to three weeks have been quite hectic. I've tried my very best to catch up with people, and most of the time it's been through a friendly drink or a quick (or not-so-quick) bite to eat. Some of the food that I've eaten has been great, some hasn't been so great. But the company I've been dining with with has been priceless. I thought I'd start off with one of the great today – Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar, owned by kiwi chef/tv presenter/fisherman/food writer Al Brown. Al Brown also co-owns Logan Brown Restaurant & Bar in Wellington, a fine dining restaurant which has won numerous awards, and is one place I must try if I ever decide to visit Wellington....

Depot Eatery and Oyster Bar

86 Federal St, Auckland City

Depot is one of the new eateries that have recently opened as part of SKYCITY Auckland, located next to the SKYCITY Convention Centre and Hotel, and adjacent to Peter Gordon's Bellota. Prior to my night out at Depot, I was aware of the amount of hype about the place. Rave reviews left and right, I almost thought that I'd feel nothing but disappointment. That usually happens when something gets hyped up so much. Depot prides themselves on being "not overly precious or pretentious - just fun, fast, and fresh" and operates on a no reservations system. My two friends and I arrived early at Depot at 5pm on the dot and it was 90% full. Okay, we went on a Friday and most likely people had left work early for a drink and a quick bite to eat, but nevertheless it was still impressive! The longer we stayed there, the busier it was.

As we followed the waitress to our table, Al Brown, who happens to be chatting to people at one of the front tables, says hello to us. Awesome. Cutlery can be located in mackerel cans at each table and the menus are a bit different from the norm – coloured + folded A3 pieces of paper – each person with a different coloured menu. I'm pretty sure that you're allowed to take the menus away with you (if not...then um, oops?) While we were trying to deliberate on what to share, a small complimentary plate of pita bread triangles with a side of hummus was given to us to share, which was a nice, yet unexpected touch. Delicious by all accounts. My friends both ordered lemon, lime and bitters ($4.50) to drink and it tasted pretty good too (I had a weeee sip).

After much deliberation, we decided to share one dish from the 'small' menu, one dish from the 'a bit bigger', and one from 'on the side'. Unfortunately, one of my friends and I had eaten a late lunch not too long from eating at Depot, so we only limited ourselves to three dishes (okay four, including dessert). My one regret from my Depot experience was not ordering a side of oysters – after all, it's an oyster bar... in case you forgot what the place is called. My regret is more to do with not establishing from the start whether the others were keen on oysters too. I'm so used to dining with people that cannot stand the taste of a raw oyster, I just assumed that they wouldn't want to order it! It wasn't until after we ordered that I found out that they could eat raw oysters too! D'oh!

The first dish that arrived was from the "small" menu: battered snapper tortillas with slaw, coriander, and green tomato salsa ($18). The tortillas were refreshing, light, and absolutely tasty. The batter on the snapper was just right, as the dish would have easily been ruined had the snapper been too greasy. I'm not a big fan of slaw either, but it was really delicious! I would definitely order this again if I ever get the chance to go back (most likely not for awhile, sigh).

The second dish we shared was from the "a bit bigger" menu: 12 hour smoked brisket with red beans and rice ($24). The brisket was deliciously tender and was surprisingly more spicier than I had anticipated, but in a good way. However, the little side of sour cream is a handy addition if you don't want it to be too spicy. One minor quibble would have to be the rice though – that definitely needs a bit of improvement.

The third dish was from the "on the side" menu: potato skins with manchego and porcini salt ($10). I think I was expecting them to be a lot more thinner than they actually were, but seriously, any potato is a good potato in my book! I think melting the shaved manchego on top of the potato skins would have made the dish even better to be honest, as opposed to just shaving the manchego cheese only. For texture and for taste purposes. The potato skins were a bit greasy, but I wouldn't hesitate with ordering it again.

Last of all....dessert. The menu doesn't actually provide any dessert options, but I've read about Al Brown's sugar pie and I had to ask. I asked the waiter about their dessert options and there were two options – one of them being sugar pie, and the other being a warm gingerbread with stewed tamarillos. While ordering both was tempting, I asked the waiter to recommend which one he'd choose. (Although I'm pretty sure that I was going to order sugar pie regardless of his answer...even though it sounds like OR is pretty much a heart attack waiting to happen). He initially said both, but resigned to choosing sugar pie ($9) in the end! I was so eager to try it, I forgot to take a picture of it. So the picture below is a version of a seriously demented piece of sugar pie with some whipped cream on the side, post-numerous bites. Whilst a bit small to share between three people, it didn't disappoint. We took our time eating this too. For something that sounds rather sweet, it wasn't overly sweet. Actually the first bite seemed a bit sweet, but after a few more bites, the level of sweetness was fine (this coming from someone who's not really into sweeeeeeeet desserts). Luscious, morish, and caramel-y. I think I enjoyed it so much that I probably scared the waiter into oblivion.

Overall verdict: For a quick bite to eat and share with friends, I wholeheartedly recommend Depot. Al Brown has got a good thing going on at the moment. Great food, great service (who happen to know what they're talking about), great atmosphere. Go! To avoid waiting time, try and go early rather than going at peak times. You might have to wait for a table and who knows how long that will take!

Next update will be once things have settled down in London: Jack Tar & Marvel Grill (A Trip to Wynyard Quarter: North Wharf).