Please note that it is 11 o'clock in the morning.... in the library trying to study, and I'm here procrastinating :) Sorry for any typos or any grammatical errors!
I've neglected my blog for awhile. I haven't posted in such a long time! I was supposed to post an update before New Years but I clearly failed. :( My apologies. Don't worry, many updates will hopefully be on their way soon with exams approaching soon, haha. Strangely enough, I'm feeling rather nostalgic with this post. I haven't really been homesick much, but every now and then I think of something that makes me think of New Zealand and I start missing home. For example, the rugby league season started about four weeks ago and I've been feeling rather mopey about the fact that I can't watch it. (Booo, soccer!)
Anyway, the main reason that I've condensed this update with multiple places as opposed to a whole bunch of separate entries was because of some comments made, pretty much telling me to hurry up and start talking about the places I've been to in London. Heh. Fair enough! New year, new country! I'm rather excited to talk about some of the places I've been to while I've been living here. For example, for about a month or so, all I did during my breaks in between classes was hop from one cafe to another. I have been drinking too much coffee these days. It's safe to say that there's no such thing as a cheap coffee here (or tea). So I really must switch to green tea on a permanent basis. Addictive personality here. Also, I've been exposed to so many new cuisines that I would have never tried back in New Zealand. Within the last month or so, I've tried out Columbian and Polish food for the first time! Gotta love it. :)
Please note that I actually ate at the places mentioned below quite a while ago. So it might not be completely indicative of how it is now. :) I wrote a lot of this in my diary quite a while ago, so that's how I remember everything!
Torchon French Creperie
@ Elliott Stables - 39 Elliott Street, Auckland City [next to Atrium on Elliott]
Writing about crepes makes me want to eat one right now. Seriously. Following my last post about my trip to Orbit (sigh), my friends and I decided to skip dessert there and head off to Elliott Stables instead. We ended up at Torchon, which mainly serves crepes and galettes, but also provide other french options on their menu. I've been to Torchon numerous times and it is a rather safe/reliable option for lunch or if you're ever in the mood for something sweet. I know I've previously talked about Torchon in my Elliott Stables post, so I won't say too much. All our food arrived pretty quickly, and the service was quick and sufficient.
I decided to go with something different and ordered the tarte tatin with vanilla icecream ($8.50). At first I thought the caramelization was way too dark and that there was an over-abundance of cinnamon, but it still tasted good despite the tarte tatin not being as tart as I'm used to. The ice cream complemented the tarte tatin well, though I'm pretty sure it was store-bought. Kapiti, methinks. (Nothing wrong with Kapiti, by the way. Their spicy apple crumble & blueberry muffin ice cream flavours are the biz). I'd be very surprised if it wasn't homemade. My radar is usually on point.
The "newlyweds" shared the fresh fruits and berry crepe ($11.50). From first glance it looked a bit dry, but I was told that it still tasted fine. The sad part (for me and I didn't even eat it) was that they used frozen berries as opposed to fresh ones. Sigh.
The others ordered the banana and chocolate sauce crepe with a scoop of ice cream ($8.50, plus $1.50 for extras - such as the ice cream). Just looking at the photo my friend took, it makes me feel guilt-ridden. I don't know why, it just does. They mopped it up in no time, unsurprisingly.
Unsurprisingly, we had no regrets on skipping dessert at Orbit. On a final note, I really want a crepe now.
Hulu Cat
28 Anzac Avenue, Auckland City
(there's also a branch by the Civic too, but that one is tiiiiiny).
I've never appreciated Hulu Cat that much until I moved to London. It's been sooooo long since I've had a good cold taro milk tea. Bubble tea, well good bubble tea really, is quite hard to find in London. Seems kind of ridiculous considering the metropolis nature of London. I don't think I'll ever have bubble tea again while I'm living in London, but if you actually know of a good place then please let me know!
My last visit to Hulu Cat was indeed this one. Prior to this visit, I ridiculously spent two hours at Les Mills (the gym). Why I decided to include this tidbit, I have no idea, except that Hulu Cat probably, well yes, entirely defeated the purpose of going to the gym. Heh.
I used to have this unhealthy addiction to deal websites, an addiction that I no longer have (my bank account appreciates it). Anyway, I had purchased a Groupon voucher that entitled me to two drinks and two food items off the menu for $9. Ridiculous right?!? I'm surprised they offered such a good deal considering how popular they were before the deal went live. I normally go for my standard taro milk tea – half sugar since Hulu drinks tend to be sweeter than other bubble tea joints – but I decided to go for something different and instead ordered the Japanese Green Milk Tea with pearls ($5.50 without, $6.50 with). I must admit I was a bit skeptical beforehand (and yet I ordered it...must be a crazy person) but it was surprisingly good. Not as good as my good 'ole taro, but a lot better than the chocolate milk tea - which I've found to be kind of uninspiring and bland.
It was actually really cold and windy that day and it would have been more sensible to order a hot milk tea drink, but I find that the cold drinks taste much better. Their drinks menu is rather extensive. The slushies for instance are also really nice, but incredibly huge. I couldn't even finish the first and only one I tried (guess what flavour I tried? Heh). My lovely friend that joined me for our Hulu Cat excursion ordered the oatmeal milk tea (same price as above), which she enjoyed as well.
For food, we decided to opt for one savoury dish and one sweet dish. The savoury dish we ordered was the honey chicken sandwich with wedges ($9).
The sandwich was simple and sufficient - and I don't even like sandwiches that much really. Can you believe that it took me five months to try a sandwich from Pret... even though they're everywhere?! I didn't actually taste any honey on the chicken and the chicken was unevenly placed within the sandwich (it's a pet hate of mine....everything needs to be evenly distributed), but it was tasty. Another good option on their menu is their popcorn chicken ($6.50/7), which is so much better than the crap you can order at KFC.
As for our sweet dish, we initially opted for the chocolate waffles with ice cream, berries (more like strawberries and three little blueberries), whipped cream and chocolate sauce. But they apparently "ran out of chocolate waffles". They didn't have any chocolate waffles left, but still had the plain/original waffles left. This lead me to believe that they don't make their own waffle batter.... unless they truly ran out of cocoa powder. Skeptical. If they did run out of cocoa, then I apologise for my skepticism. I should have asked them upfront really. We ordered the plain waffles instead ($12), and even if they didn't make their own waffle batter (as well as the ice cream), the whole dish was worth diminishing my two hours at the gym. The strawberries, however, were depressingly frozen. Fresh berries would have been better. Frozen berries have their use, but eating them as they are is not one of them.
Service can be really unpredictable. I find that service is typically really fast if you only order drinks. If you order food, it can be a bit slow sometimes. Luckily service was incredibly quick when we visited, but I have been told by friends that they've personally experienced very slow service. I think it's probably because they can't handle the rate of customers coming in and out, but that shouldn't really be an excuse really.
Like I said earlier, I appreciate Hulu's bubble tea more than ever now that I'm not in New Zealand. The size of the drinks and the prices are more reasonable too. Seriously, you can get a larger-sized drink in Auckland for less the price compared to London! But then again everything is expensive in London.....
Teed Street Larder
7 Teed Street, Newmarket, Auckland
Next on the list was Teed Street Larder. A Sunday brunch was planned with two lovely friends of mine. Two of us were leaving New Zealand, so it was a weird feeling to realise that we wouldn't be seeing each other for awhile. Do I have to get older? Why can't I have some kind of Benjamin Button disease happen to me?? (It's kind of like saying why can't money grow on trees? -- Really, why can't they???) Sorry, I'm kind of a dramatic person.
Anyway I decided on this place of venue since I had read some overwhelming positive reviews about the cafe. Metro awarded them as the Best Cafe in Newmarket and Runner Up Best Cafe in Auckland in 2010. NZ Herald awarded them a 5/5 rating....and well the reviewers at the Herald can be rather fussy specimens. But that's kind of a lot to live up to, you know? Their baked goods are done onsite and they have a extensive list on the menu. My brother actually recommended me to try their chocolate espresso doughnuts and I had heard good things about their churros, but I ended up trying neither. (By the time I confronted my non-denial for churros, there were no more left. Sad face. Yep).
I felt for the waiters a bit. We took quite a while trying to figure out what we wanted to eat, and they were certainly attentive and patient when we could not make up our minds at all. Their drinks list is also rather extensive. For example, they offer three kinds of hot chocolate (which is ridiculous if you ask me). One of my friends ordered the standard "Cadbury" hot chocolate (the cheapest at $4.50). The other two options were the Royal 55% ($6.50) and the Valhrona ($7.50). No matter how good Valhrona chocolate is, there is no way I will pay $7.50 for a hot chocolate. Not even if I was rich. I ordered the gunpowder green tea ($4) which didn't really taste like green tea but at least the teapot was cute, and my other friend ordered a flat white ($4). So the drinks are bordering on quite expensive....but it's in Newmarket, so it shouldn't be much of surprise.
After much deliberation ("Pork belly or pancakes? Pork belly? Pancakes? Ahhhh?!?!), I ordered the pork belly sandwich with crackling, cider onions, and apple cashew slaw on the side ($15.50). It's no secret that people order pork belly for mainly one reason: the crackling. Duh. I found little to no crackling and my heart wept. What is up with that? This reminds me of the debacle I had for my graduation dinner at Sunday Painters, I wasn't a major fan of the sides, but the sandwich was still good minus crackling. The dish as a whole was probably too rich for my palate, but still nice nonetheless.
My friends ordered the other gourmet sandwich on the menu - the beef tenderloin with horseradish, cornishons, and provolone ($16.50), and the cauliflower fritters with curry oil, cucumber and dill raita ($16.50). Both of them liked their dishes, but one of them who had been there before had commented that she felt that the menu is rather limited in choice (not in terms of their onsite baked goods, but dishes to order).
TSL pride themselves on delivering an "upmarket yet unpretentious menu" which I don't necessarily agree with 100%. Seems like an unpopular opinion, but I do think three hot chocolates is kind of pretentious. Prices are steep, but as I said earlier it's typical for Newmarket. The food is good, the service is excellent, but not everyone can pay $20 for lunch all the time (unless you live in Switzerland).
Britomart Country Club
31 Galway Street, Britomart, Auckland
My next endeavour was actually my last in Auckland. Truthfully, BCC was never on the cards. I had planned to book high tea at the Langham with a group of girls a couple of days before leaving for London, but on the day I called, I was told that whole day was completely booked. Hmph. Well. Plan B ended up being BCC, a charming, spacious garden bar in the CBD. One of my friends who was very keen on the Langham was initially miffed and thought that it (being BCC) looked terrible. I had always wanted to go there for a drink, but when I found out they did high tea it was like....an aha moment! No, we did not end up drinking unfortunately. I didn't want to be the only one. I have such responsible friends. Sigh. It also helped that it was $10 Mondays for light meals and pizza on the menu. Excellent. (Note: They still have $10 Mondays but it's a bit different now, I think).
The decor of BCC is rather fitting to its name and surprisingly not gimmicky at all. The whole area is rather spacious and if you have the time to unwind, you can play a bit of petanque on the greens. :)
For drinks, I ordered a pitcher of their old fashioned lemonade (now $8; it was $5 at the time). I love the traditional non-fizzy, sour lemonade. It may have taken my friends by surprise. Heehee. Their reactions were priceless. I don't think they enjoyed it – but hey man, it ain't Sprite! I love sour things, so it was right up my alley. I'm pretty sure I drank most of it :)
We ordered a massive amount of food. Between the five of us, we shared two of the Country Club high tea ($30 for the two stands; I think it's now $30 for 2 people), which consisted of scones with cream and jam, savoury bread, salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, savouries, lamingtons, mini berry cheesecakes, and an almond tart.
In addition, my friend and I shared the "flamboro downs" pizza – venison, mushroom, caramelised onion, haloumi, and cranberries (normally $32, but was $10 on the day), two friends shared the open chicken sandwich with fries (normally $17), and my other friend ordered a chicken, bacon and anchovy caesar salad with egg (normally $16).
The high tea was probably the actual letdown of our meal with the exception of a few things (the scones and the the savoury bread come to mind, as they were really good). The sandwiches were a bit dry and so were the sweets on the bottom tier. But our other meals were much better which made our experience a lot more enjoyable.
I don't think it's ever worth paying $32 for pizza unless it's a completely ginormous pizza (sorry, that doesn't include Sals)...or Heston Blumenthal is the one that is making it. But the pizza was very very good. Too bad it no longer appears on the menu. It's funny – on the day that we went, I saw so many people order the same pizza. Probably because it cost $22 less than any other day. :) The mix of ingredients worked really well, though I do have a soft spot for venison... so it might have been a given that I would enjoy it!
Food arrived pretty efficiently, but the service was a bit flightly. Still good, polite service nonetheless. The lady who mostly served us was incredibly helpful with our requests. I get the feeling that BCC has a completely different atmosphere at night/later in the afternoon when everyone's finished work, since it's a bar first and foremost. Must check it out again when I go back :)
And that's an end with regards to all food-related thoughts on New Zealand....for now. I did go to a couple of other places (Grand Harbour, Cima, The Don, Shaky Isles, etc etc) but I either forgot to take photos and/or forgot write notes afterwards! Seriously, it's been months. My memory isn't that great. /modest
I know that it has taken me awhile to update, but my time here in London have been rather hectic! Living in a new city, almost as if I was starting from scratch again has been completely liberating. The main reason for my lack of updates is half procrastination and half school work. Masters is kicking my ass! (Thanks, LSE). But I'm really looking forward to updating you with all of my food adventures in London. I have a feeling that I'll be doing a lot of procrastinating until my exams start! / bad student
Here's a list of some of my future updates coming your way (hopefully):
- Yum Cha Silks & Spice, Chalk Farm
- Wahaca, Covent Garden
- Busabi Eathai, Panton Street
- Ten Ten Tei / Taro, Soho
- Charuwan, Tufnell Park (ayyyy, so excited to actually tell you about authentic thai food for once! It does exist out of Thailand!)
- La Bodeguita, Elephant & Castle
- Some of my cafe hopping adventures - Rose Bakery, J+A Cafe, Bill's, Flat White, Fleet River Bakery, Foxcroft and Ginger, Look Mum No Hands!, Lantana [yes, I've consumed a lot coffee].
- My NY's adventures in Florence (Italy!) + my traditional English Christmas adventure!
- My Old Place, Aldgate
- Cay Tre, Soho
- Burger Fight: GBK v Byrons (nothing compares to good ole' Burgerfuel though!!)
- ....etc etc etc
As a footnote, I should let you guys know that I'll be going to Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in three weeks time!! Excited to let you know my lunch goes. :) Can't afford a la carte, so the set lunch is the way to go! It may not be The Fat Duck, but it's still Heston. Should I order the infamous meat fruit??
