Food Review: Sautee Cafe Bistro & Bar

Cuisine: Middle Eastern/Turkish
Price: Around $20 per main
Location: 27/2 Nuffield Street, Newmarket, Auckland

Website: http://www.sautee.co.nz/


My interest in Sautee was peaked when a friend mentioned it served great Middle Eastern food and belly dancing. I love Turkish cuisine, but rarely eat it, due to it being hard to find quality restaurants. So off I went to Sautee with three friends.

The restaurant was extremely spacious, to the point I wondered why they didn't fit more seating into the place. Still, it was to our benefit as we had a bit of privacy and the large glass windows let in plenty of light. The menu was expansive with many smaller and large option including seafood, meat and vegetable focused dishes. If you are a vegetarian, you could easily cope at Sautee.

Food Review: Orleans

Cuisine: American/Southern
Price: <$20 per portion
Location: 48 Customs Street East, Britomart, Auckland

Website: http://www.orleans.co.nz/

Orleans is a popular place, especially on Friday nights. I arrived well in advance of my friends, in order to secure a table for us. Unfortunately Orleans doesn't take reservations, unless it’s over ten people! The waitress was helpful though, and we had our table when we needed it (however after I arrived and waiting forty minutes earlier).
The restaurant itself strikes a tasteful balance between bar and restaurant, with high tables, bar stools and cushy benches, creating a laid back vibe. The wall's wooden panelling was another detail that I appreciated, adding to the character and originality of Orleans. Few restaurants in Auckland capture this elusive mix of sophisticated casual.
Sitting down at our table, I was also overjoyed by another sight; three bottles of hot sauce for the taking! I love hot sauce and apply it generously, so I love it when a restaurant provides it to use at your liberty.

We decided to order a couple of sides to start with; the curly fries and cornbread. The service was swift and the items arrived quickly. I enjoyed the mealy cornbread, though one friend thought it quite average. The curly fries were crispy outside, airy and fluffy inside. The chipotle mayonnaise had a slight smoky taste, which made it all the better. The final touch of light seasoning on the fries, created an incredible morish dish.
For mains we decided to share several dishes, which seems like the Orleans way. So we went for the chicken waffle, crispy NZ pork belly, low country gumbo, southern swine plate and sweet potato gnocchi.
Some of the items arrived promptly and others...not so promptly. Two of our dishes arrived fifteen minutes apart. Isn't it restaurant 101 to serve everyone their food within a few minutes of each other? In both cases I had to ask the waitress where our food was, as it was taking so long. The staff were otherwise pleasant and jovial, but they whizzing around so fast, that I had to make effort to get their attention, otherwise they would just ignore us. Not ideal.

Organised Chaos (A Trip To Thailand): Part One

Thailand is a country I’d heard colleagues and friends rave about, and a country I'd desperately wanted to visit for years. I’d been to South East Asia before, it represented a bare element of humanity; dirty and chaotic, yet passionate and beautiful. I'd treasured those past trips to Asia, and I expected something similar in Thailand. I’d also had a love for Muay Thai for a while, so Thailand was on my 'bucket list' of countries to visit. 
My attitude to travelling was to do as little planning as possible, and go with the flow. My travelling companion had also visited Bangkok before, so I figured it would be a winning formula.
In hindsight it wasn't a winning formula, but I don't regret the attitude I employed.

I arrived to a busy, small and run down airport. After standing in a long taxi queue, I was ushered into a car with a driver who barely spoke English. He told me it would cost 500 Baht (around $20 NZD/SGD) to go to my hotel. I had been warned about unmetered taxis, and the scamming of tourists, so I told him 400 Baht. I figured fixed sums are smarter, since the drivers incentive is then to get you as fast as possible to your destination. This opposed to a meter, were his incentive is to take the longest route possible.

The driver agreed to my price, but not without much (what I took to be) cursing. He then starting talking on his phone in an angry voice. As I was driven passed signs written only in Thai, dark and unlit streets and with my ignorance of the city, I realised how vulnerable I was. If the driver decided to drive me down a deserted alley and introduce me to some 'friends', I would have had no forewarning or defence. “Shit” I thought to myself, “I may be about to start my Thai holiday passport less, moneyless and perhaps dead.”.

Luckily my fears  never came to fruition and with much relief, we arrived at my hotel.

Food Review: Number One BBQ Restaurant

Cuisine: Chinese
Price: Around $15 most mains
Location: 1 Commerce Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland

Website: NA

Greasy, tasty…greasy. Three words (yes, one repeated twice) to describe Number One BBQ Restaurant. One of the many Chinese/Cantonese restaurants in Auckland city, this one serves above average fair which is best shared between three or more people. The service is fast, the waitresses abrupt, the portions large. If you go with friends, you’ll enjoy a hearty meal for less than $20 each.

As highlighted at the start, a lot of the items on the menu are slathered in fat. Don’t kid yourself that the bee hoon (vermicelli) is healthy because its gluten free! Many of these dishes will leave you with that slick, oil coated mouth feel, which isn't altogether unpleasant at times. Overall the food is cooked well, and if you choose wisely you can have a nice mix of dishes. The roast meat is always good, as is the congee (rice porridge). I wouldn't bother with the noodle or fried rice dishes though, unless you really like vegetable oil.

If you want a fast, cheap, extremely sinful meal, then Number One BBQ Restaurant will do you right.

6/10

Blog Posts In 2015

It’s been a while!

I went on a three week vacation in South East Asia. Was a great trip, ate lots of amazing food. Seem to have come back in superior health.

So over the next few weeks I’ll be writing brief summations of the different parts of my journey, a few of which will be focused solely on the food I ate in South East Asia.

At some point I will get back to writing regular food reviews in my current home city, Auckland!

Food Review: Chop Chop

Cuisine: Asian
Price: $18 for ramen
Location: 140 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
Website: http://www.ponsonbychopchop.co.nz/

Ponsonby Central is a one of Auckland's more luxurious hubs, hosting a variety of refined restaurants. Chop Chop is one of those eateries, serving what could be described as Asian-Asian fusion. Seating is on stools only, which with the unassuming menu and staff's cowboy hats, encourages a relaxed atmosphere. There are a variety of Asian flavoured dishes, such as ramen and Korean fried chicken, as well as plenty of alcoholic cocktails. As hinted at before, the food owes its inspiration to no, one Asian cuisine. The roast belly ramen for instance, is a blend of Chinese and Japanese cooking. So while not authentic ramen, the unami rich broth and the incredibly crunch, fatty belly pork create something fantastical. In fact all the ramen dishes are delicious and filling. Other options like the egg net add diversity, being light and refreshing with the Thai style dressing and delicate egg net.

While ordering at Chop Chop the host will most likely push you to order some drinks. The coconut milkshake is sumptuous, with a strong coconut flavour and thick creaminess. Though it doesn't taste much better with the additional shot of bourbon . Many of the cocktails sound tantalising, and are worth a try such as the colourful Black Dragon. The cheesecake was presented beautifully, but tasted rather bland. Don't bother with it. 
Overall the food and drinks make for a stand out, if non traditional Asian meal.

Chop Chop makes for a casual, yet well crafted, mish mash of Asian dining. It’s in no way authentic to any one Asian cuisine, but then Chop Chop doesn't try to be. The cocktails are definitely worth the addition to your meal, with some colourful mixes and flavours. Lovely spot for lunch!

8/10

Food Review: Rice Noodle Lover

Cuisine: Chinese/Rice Noodle
Price: $6-9 a dish
Location: 350 Queen Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland
Website: NA

A friend had mentioned a tasty place serving spicy Chinese noodles “opposite the Civic”. Curiously, despite walking up Queen Street several times a week, I had missed it every time. It was only after a careful combing that I found this almost literal hole in the wall; the eatery being a counter scarcely bigger than a window. How the poor chef copes cooking in her hot cubby hole all day, I don’t know!

The simple menu is almost entirely rice noodle based (hence the name), which is great for gluten free eaters and not so great for those that don’t like rice noodles. Though the rice noodles are always the bulk of the dish, there is enough variety that each option is unique. The dishes are best enjoyed spicy, with a medium heat my ideal level. Chilli daredevils will find joy in anything above medium, which is where I’d undoubtedly start to cry. So far the beef rice noodle (served in soup) is my favourite, the succulent beef and oily soup leaving me very satisfied. Unfortunately the ‘restaurant’ is take away only, but this is partially pardoned the absurdly good prices. $6 for fulfilling meal? I could cry!

Great spicy rice noodle dishes, great price, shame that there isn’t more choice or tables to sit. But then, you can’t have it all!

7/10