Torchon | Hulu Cat | Teed St Larder | BCC: Thank goodness for the gym

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??

Wynyard Quarter Part II: Marvel Grill

Hey everyone! This is Part II of my Wynyard Quarter/North Wharf series, and at this very moment I'm procrastinating from writing an essay that's due on Monday. I'm terrible. Tomorrow morning (for me) is the big day. No exaggeration. The All Blacks are playing the Wallabies in the semifinal of the Rugby World Cup (...if you live under a rock and didn't already know) and the entire nation is counting on the All Blacks to win. It's a win/win situation for me. If they win it's not only great for me, but also for the entire country. However if they lose, I won't be there when everyone suffers because of it (win for me!). I still remember the 2003 and 2007 RWC's and it was downright depressing.

Anyway....

Marvel Grill

34-47 Jellicoe Street, North Wharf (Auckland City)

Following from my trip to Jack Tar, my next excursion to Wynyard Quarter was on the weekend before my departure at Marvel Grill. Six of my friends and I celebrated my farewell (okay, celebrated is clearly the wrong world, but it was essentially the main reason as to why we were there). I had actually heard some not so good things about the new Marvel Grill, such as their service not being up to scratch, despite the food being okay. Their flagship restaurants is in Takapuna, and they specialise in grilling and cooking/grilling prime cuts of meat.

The reason as to why I chose Marvel Grill was more to do with one of my friends. We were at the Observatory Deck at the Skytower and I was looking at the list of restaurants/bars available at Wynyard Quarter on my iPhone. I wanted to go to to Wynyard Quarter before leaving and this was before knowing that I was eventually going to go to Jack Tar the very next day. I said to my friend, "Pick one," and she did.

I was pretty unorganised that week. So many things to organise, so little time. I have to say though that their booking system is flawed. They have two phone numbers – one for their booking system and one direct line to the restaurant. I called the booking system line the day before and all I got was an auto-reply message that stated that [they] check their phones for reservations "in the morning and in the afternoon." How vague. I called at lunch time and I never back from them the whole day. After my night out at Depot, I was not happy. So I called their direct line and officially made a booking through them (though the phone call conversation was a comedy in itself, who knew it would take so long?)

"Could we get your last name please?" (No first name? Okaaaaay...).

...a few minutes later after spelling out my last name...

"T for Thomas?"

"No, no. P. P for Plum."

"Huh? T for Thomas?"

"No. P."

"P for Phillip?"

"Yes, yes. P for Philip."

"Okay, next letter...."

....

The next morning I went to the gym just about an hour and half before my booking, and as I was on the cross-trainer I received a phone call. "Hi Jessica, you called for a booking – a table for seven today at 1 o'clock?" Sigh. Despite all of the hassle (karma for me booking the day before), I'm glad that I made a reservation (...or two). Most of us were actually a bit late, but it was extremely packed when I got there and while we were there for lunch.

We asked the waiter assigned to our table if we could wait and order until everyone arrived, and they kindly obliged. While it was convenient to have all of the menu on one page (see above), logistically it was not that great. Three of my friends had ordered the steak options (two eye fillets - $26/32 depending on its size; one sirloin - $28). Each steak option came with an extremely small watercress salad, one vine roasted tomato, and with a sauce of your choice (all three ordered the creamy mushroom sauce). The one thing that bothered me from looking at their dishes was the little portions of watercress and tomato. The menu did say tomato, rather than tomatoes, but it's just a bit ridiculous really. Two of the three had ordered the steak dish at Orbit a few days before, and they both agreed that their steak dishes were cooked and tasted much better than the ones at Orbit.

I had ordered the steak dish at Orbit too (sigh), so I wanted to try something different. I ordered two of the smaller hot skillets – the lamb fillets with squashed peas, roast tomatoes, and crispy onions ($14), and the veal schnitzel on a warm potato salad ($14). I enjoyed the veal immensely, and while I thought the potato salad was okay, the gherkin flavour was too predominant. But that's just me, I don't like gherkins or pickles of any kind. The lamb dish was my preferred skillet overall, despite the tomato being slightly overpowering. But the textures and flavours mostly worked well together. I shared a side of onion rings with my friend ($7), which was also another thing that happened to taste a million times better than Orbit.

One of my friends ordered the organic roasted chicken breast ($26), with a side of wilted spinach, with bacon and onion in a creamy garlic sauce ($7.50-$8...I didn't capture the price on my photo). I forgot to ask him whether he liked it or not, but I'm pretty sure he did. Although I vaguely remember him saying that organic chicken tasted pretty much the same as "normal" (non-organic) chicken. Heh. I lost the photo that he took of his dishes too...whoops...

My last two guests shared two smaller skillets and a side of fries ($6) after I frowned at one of them for thinking about ordering the burger. In no right, sane mind should you pay over $20 for a burger, unless Heston Blumental is the chef that is making it for you. The skillets and fries weren't enough for the two of them, and he was curising me for not letting him order the burger, ha. (He could've ordered it, I'm not the boss of him!) They ordered the maple chili glazed pork belly with an apple slaw ($14) and the Southern style chicken tenderloins with ranch dressing ($14). Both dishes looked pretty appetising and apparently they tasted pretty good too.

The major letdown of all the meals was probably the easiest thing that they could've stuffed up. The side of fries. Seriously. How hard is it to stuff up fries? They tasted (and looked) like they were overcooked, dry – as if they had fried them in advance, and left them out of fryer for such a long time before serving. Very disappointing.

The wait for food was a bit long – although to be fair, they were extremely busy. They were very attentive towards us when they wanted to be (especially during the beginning). There was one thing however that almost ruined the experience and almost spoiled a good lunch. I queried the waiter as to whether we could pay separately for our meals, since the menu did not specify their bill preference. Most restaurants tend to operate on the one bill per table policy, but the waiter had specified that we could pay however we wanted. Big trouble there. Yes, it might seem like my friends and I are really annoying, but if you had a choice you'd pay separately too! If they said one bill per table, we would've complied. :) It actually seemed rather easy paying separately since the bill had separated all the orders by guest on our table. We went to the cashier and we all paid for what we had ordered. Or so we thought. Long story short, the last person to pay was overcharged and was charged more for her steak than was required. When the owner/manager came around to deal with the situation, she was not exactly polite with my friends and did not handle the situation very well at all.

Overall comments: It was a shame that the aforementioned incident had happened, because we actually had a good time while we were there. Both the service and the food had mostly been good up until that point. Although, I still can't believe they managed to stuff up fries... It's been over a month since we were there, so hopefully things have turned around in terms of the owner/manager's behaviour.

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).

The French Cafe: RIP My Bank Account

It hasn't rained since Saturday! Thank goodness!

I've got one word for you: degustation. For those that don't know, a degustation is to sample several tasting dishes, which are served one after the other at a moderate pace. With most restaurants that offer a degustation menu, the amount of courses served can range from 5-10. Experiencing a degustation menu was on my list of things to do before I leave (countdown at this stage is 50 days!). But ever since I had dinner at Sunday Painters, I had been worrying about whether I could handle a six course menu. I knew that the six courses were going to be smaller than normal a la carte dishes, but I want to enjoy my food experience and I don't enjoy eating when I'm particularly full!

The French Cafe

210 Symonds St, Newton (Auckland City)

I've never really experienced fine dining before. Smart casual dining? Oh yeah, sure. But fine dining? Unknown territory. Fine dining also implies that it ain't gonna be an affordable meal. The French Cafe has a big reputation in Auckland for being one of the best restaurants in Auckland, and if I was going to spend some money, might as well go to The French Cafe, right? I booked about a fortnight in advance and was pretty lucky to get a reservation. So it probably pays to book a reservation a lot earlier than that. I was told that it was the last table available for that night and had to be finished before a stipulated time, which was fine by me. What was weird though was that the table next to ours was vacant while we were there (last minute cancellation?).

A few years ago I bought The French Cafe cookbook for my brother as a Christmas present, which was bloody expensive in hindsight. Honestly, I had no idea about The French Cafe when I bought it. So much has changed since then.... From what my mind can recall, my brother had just gone there for the first time and it seemed like he somewhat implied at the time that eating there was kind of a big deal. I guess it was/is a big deal, because it's not like people choose to eat at fine dining restaurants all the time (...unless you're massively loaded). He has been there a few more times since then and I was recommended to try the tasting menu (6 courses, $110/$175) as opposed to the chef's tasting menu (10 courses, $145/$230), because in his words [after eating ten courses], "You don't feel so good afterwards." Duly noted, thank you. With the tasting menus, you can opt to do it with or without matching wines, but we chose to do it without. That didn't stop me from ordering a glass of wine though. :) Vegetarians are in for a treat, because they've also got a six course vegetarian tasting menu on offer too.

I forgot to take proper photos of the decor/interior of the restaurant, but the interior is amazing. Very classy. Strangely enough, if you know what The French Cafe's cookbook cover looks like, you'll have some kind of idea of what it looks like. The first photo you see when you browse the website is pretty much close to where my table was.

The waiting staff are extremely thorough. They pretty much go through the menu with you and provide estimated timeframes of how long the degustation menus take. The six course menu takes two to two and a half hours, and the ten course menu takes approximately three and a half hours. The waiting staff also take the time to explain what each course is once they present it to your table. I can completely understand why they were awarded Best Service in the Metro Restaurant of the Year Awards.

Before starting with the first course, a complimentary bread roll is offered. On the side, there's a small dish of thyme butter and truffle olive oil. The thyme butter was pretty good, but the truffle olive oil was a winner. Strangely enough, the most disappointing part of my two hour meal was the bread roll. It was rather tough –very hard to cut or tear into. I shamefully used my hands to tear the roll apart due to my impatience. How can you stuff up a bread roll???

I was pleasantly surprised to see an amuse bouche being delivered to our table. So it wasn't exactly a six course menu. Excellent. I was so surprised about the amuse bouche, I sort of forgot what the waiter said when he was talking about what it was. All I can remember him saying that it was a mushroom soup. Now, I had a look at my brother's French Cafe cookbook and I'm pretty sure that this dish was a mushroom cappuccino with a truffle foam. On the side (behind the soup) were potato-ish beignets (I swear I heard someone say goats cheese, but that could've been my imagination...I'm pretty certain it was potato). Good golly whatever it was, the soup and the beignets were fantastic. Even Rapper T liked it, and he detests mushrooms! To detest mushrooms is a complete and utter crime. Silky smooth mushroom soup and the beignets were fantastically warm.

The first course was a marinated snapper with crab, avocado, chilli, pomelo, coriander, and fresh coconut. The top of the dish was described by the waiter to be a "thai salad". Yeaaah, wasn't exactly 'thai' but it was a nice salad. The whole dish tasted extremely fresh and light, as it should be for a first course. The avocado at the base of the glass actually made it a bit heavier, which is kind of strange since avocado isn't exactly heavy in taste. Rather than eliminating it from the dish, less avocado would suffice.

The second course on the menu was a butter-poached Moreton Bay bug, with braised oxtail, artichoke puree and a parsley oil. I forgot to take a photo at the beginning, sorry! I took one subsequent to a few bites (pretty much a third of it was already consumed in my mouth) and it didn't really do the dish justice, so no photo to show you! Again, sorry. When I first saw the menu online about a month before going to the restaurant, I was kind of scared. Why? I saw the word 'bug'. I'm so silly sometimes. I did some research and found out that it is part of the lobster family, therefore my initial hesitance was ridiculous. The butter-poached bug was perfectly cooked and really worked well with the hearty braised oxtail. The puree and the parsley oil really balanced out the whole dish magically well.

The third course was a roasted french goats cheese with an onion, fig and beetroot tart and a red wine syrup around the tart. Little blobs of balsamic around the tart too. Oh, and there's an edible flower on top! The whole dish is pretty as a picture. I saw a picture of it during my "research" and the uniformity is amazing. This is one of their staple dishes that they seem to keep on their degustation menus all year round. Now if Rapper T's food fear is mushrooms, mine is beetroot. Ughh. When I was reaching the end of the dish, I was so aware that I was eating beetroot that my mind was thinking, "Ohmygod. Beetroot. I'm eating beetroot." Never do that. It tasted better when I wasn't freaking myself out. Surprisingly, I really liked this dish. Simon Wright and his team are really good with balancing different flavours together, as the goats cheese worked well with the sweetness of the tart. The pastry was thin and extremely delicate too.

For the fourth course, you're given the option of either duck or fish. Seeing as I already ate fish in a previous course, I chose the seared duck breast with sweet spices, asian greens (bok choy), mandarin puree, and kumara. The sauce is a mix of duck jus and orange syrup. I chose duck for a couple of reasons. One, I love duck. Two, I saw Simon Wright cook the larger version of this dish (a 'main' size) on a Masterclass episode of Masterchef New Zealand and it looked fantastic. If I ate from the a la carte menu, I would have definitely chosen this dish.

This was my favourite savoury dish by a landslide. It didn't disappoint. Everything was perfectly cooked and all of it worked well together. I loved the different colours on the plate too. I'm usually not a fan of incorporating fruits into savoury meals, but the mandarin really worked well with the duck and kumara.

Ah, now on to dessert. The fifth course was a feijoa sorbet, with an apple compote, butterscotch foam, and a sprinkling of pain d'epices (a french gingerbread). Just thinking about it right now, yummmm! The butterscotch foam really makes the dish spectacular, because otherwise the dish is rather tart from the warm compote and cold sorbet.

The sixth and final course was a baked chocolate souffle tart with double cream ice-cream, cappuccino foam, a bit of chocolate sauce smeared on the side, chestnut puree (I think), and a caramel crisp on top of the ice-cream. I really thought the previous dessert couldn't be topped, but I was wrong. That chocolate souffle tart was so bloody good, I wanted another one to take home. The creamy and chocolatey flavours made me feel really happy. Surprisingly, it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet nor heavy. The cappuccino foam was splendid too. Mmmm coffee! I was feeling pretty full after the savoury courses, but I definitely could've eaten another souffle tart and more of that ice cream too!

In the envelope above is a copy of the tasting menu. Why they give it to their customers... I do not know, but I love the effort. The dark brown pouch? Inside it is the receipt. Is it weird that I thought the whole thing was adorable? As I said earlier, the service is excellent. Waiters were professional with concise explanations/descriptions for every course, receiving the bill really quickly after asking, clearing our dishes and filling our glasses of water promptly. Efficient, yet not overbearing.

Verdict: Yes, it's an expensive meal. But definitely worth it if you want to celebrate a special occasion or experience an enjoyable and sophisticated degustation. The French Cafe is definitely a good place to start. The service is sublime, and the food definitely doesn't disappoint. (Yep, still thinking about that souffle tart and that duck).