Hard News: Where are the foreigners?!
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Twisted Straw Dogs...
Bouchon is average on a good day but the service is aweful.
Now aweful looks like a compliment to me, full of awe and wonder...
..and Bouchon is a word I'd have to see rather than hear in case it was, well, y'know, dog tucker - à la Bichon Fries! - Ok, ok, Frise then - cold dog tucker anyone? :- ) -
BenWilson, in reply to
Now aweful looks like a compliment to me, full of awe and wonder...
I have heard it used that way. "Almighty and aweful creator, we beseech you..". I don't think they were trying to say God did a shit job.
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I don't think the hotels expected anything more than being full - they know their business - some may actually be hurting because they're not full right nowbecause non-rugby people are currently avoiding NZ.
It was the various politicians trying to talk up the RWC's supposed financial bonanza who made a big deal about how much money they though the hotel industry would make
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Any fool know that Morningside is the place ;Tiffin for curry , Sake bar for excellent Japanese and then round it off at Winehot for drinks, cheese and/or oysters.
Tabou was the only place I considered to be special in Kingsland and is now sadly gone, all the rest can be quite variable. -
izogi, in reply to
I tried the new fast kebab shop in Kingsland a month before the cup. The guy did that fucking annoying thing of rolling the tin foil into the kebab so it makes a fucking mess if you try to eat it in your hands.
I've had more than a few kebabs from random places that get very messy, but Abrakebabra in Wellington always do what you describe and I've rarely had a problem eating theirs. The foil's folded in but it slides out very easily. Maybe it's an artefact of precisely how they're doing it that doesn't match your eating style.
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BenWilson, in reply to
The foil's folded in but it slides out very easily.
Why does it need to be folded in at all? You should be able to just unwind the kebab, nibbling your way down, without every circuit involving the need to stick your fingers into the kebab to dig the foil out, which has often been double folded, so tearing it creates a rupture the entire length of the kebab, the sauces then leaking out of the bottom. I can't think of any rationale, other than something about the process of making it that makes it more convenient for the chef that way - they seem to use the foil to roll the kebab. But the places that don't do this seem to have no troubles at all, rolling the kebab up first, and then rolling the foil around the outside afterward. The foil doesn't even get sauce on it at all, so the discarded pieces can be crushed into a little ball as you go, if you're a tidy kiwi.
ETA: It smacks of a product that is never consumed by its own creators, the problem is so obvious. Or perhaps, as you say, I've got different eating habits and don't really relish licking sauce off my hands and forearms constantly.
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
I love Soul. Love, love, love it. If you 're going to go to Dominion Rd, though, I would always head to Tasca. I love it there. They're friendly, and efficient ( I can't speak for the Newmarket one. I was there once with some fine fellows from this parish, and it was a bit, um, lacksadaisical), and the food is great.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
aweful
Bah I hate that word I always get it wrong :). Awful, bad, terrible even, condescending, oblivious, ignorant of their own menu. The best staff make you feel like you are in their own home and most welcome to be there.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
I would always head to Tasca
Been there twice and not managed to find what they are really good at on the menu. I've from several people they love it but I've only had average food. Service is fine. So what do you recommend Jackie?
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James Butler, in reply to
Been there [Tasca, Dominion Rd] twice and not managed to find what they are really good at on the menu. I’ve from several people they love it but I’ve only had average food. Service is fine. So what do you recommend Jackie?
*jumps in, uninvited* I like the tapas there, but the mains have always underwhelmed me a bit. Plus I find the usual waiter a bit... overly ingratiating.
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
Get the tapas every time. That's what they do best. And quickly. The calamari, the haloumi, the little fritters are all lovely.
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Lucy Stewart, in reply to
Bah I hate that word I always get it wrong :).Awful, bad, terrible even
It inspired terror in you? ;) (English is, er, terrible for relatively recent word-meaning changes like that. It's like people are trying to make it difficult, or at least wilfully mis-interpretable.)
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Quite – and as I’ve said elsewhere, Soul on the Viaduct might be a tad chi-chi for my taste, but the times I’ve been there it is obvious Judith Tabron puts a lot of effort into getting the front of house staff right.
+1
I had a pretty average meal there early on once, but in a couple of subsequent visits got what I thought might be the best wait-service I've ever experienced.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
It inspired terror in you?
:P
Given that my English haz fail
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JacksonP, in reply to
( I can't speak for the Newmarket one. I was there once with some fine fellows from this parish, and it was a bit, um, lacksadaisical)
Perhaps coping with the lack of daisy [sic] at the allotted time? True, their lunch staff seem to handle numbers better. That going from prime to even did seem to throw them.
The Kumru Burger ain't bad for lunch, but I tend to order the rest off the Tapas menu. Then again the Moorish Eggs is a great protein loader. It could all be spicier though, which I guess goes with the territory.
Incidentally, as we seem to be in food blogging mode, Sal Rose in Alberton Ave Mt Albert changed hands a while back , and it has improved. If you're one for the mallard, their Duck Confit entrée was excellent. But I don't recommend up-sizing it to a main. Too much duck to truck.
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
Funnily enough, I was having a conversation today about places that change hands and go to shit. (We were specifically speaking of the cafe that is still in where the "New Art Gallery" was/remains/whatever.) It seems to be the way. So how great to hear about a place that's gotten better. Incidentally, I've been wanting to try that Sal Rose for ages, but the menu always seemed a bit pedestrian. So I'll have to try it now.
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Sacha, in reply to
lacksadaisical
I thought it was fine.
but good company distracts -
JacksonP, in reply to
So I'll have to try it now.
A note of caution. We may also measure the quality of our experience on the box of drawing pencils and colouring in pages each of our three children received with their reasonably priced set menu.
They do seem to have a good after 8 crowd, it's just not something we have recently had a lot of experience with.
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I've only been out for dinner in Auckland twice this year (Wellington is another story), but one of them is a place worth mentioning.
I took a visiting friend at SkyCity across to the Midnight Express cafe across the road. The food was absolutely wonderful, Turkish done very well, service at a high level. Slightly more than the low-end we've come to expect, but it's worth it. And their Turkish coffee is of course exceptional.
Keith also took me to dumplings at Barilla on Dominion Rd. The food is hardly groundbreaking, but if you get more than a single plate of dumplings ($8) you'll be stuffed. So much food.
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Just a small point, being in Thailand I resent being called a fulang, foreigner, and tell the locals when you visit my country we will call you a guest. And treat you as such. Sawadee Krup
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I have to recommend a little place on the south side of Sandringham, Prague, definitely a meat lovers place. Good hearty Eastern European dishes just like Mum used to make. If your Mum happened to be Czechoslovakian that is, nice atmosphere too.
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
The Thai is decent but has bad nights. Little india is OK but can't claim to be cuisine.
I rate Little India. Not a fine dining experience at all and atmosphere nil but wonderful complex flavours that are almost unmatched in Auckland in my experience.
I also rate Mekong Neua - perhaps the closest thing to authentic Isaan food I've had in Auckland and not dowsed in decidedly non-Thai ingredients like peas, capsicum and carrot to cover up the non-availability of various unavailable spices and vegetables. Or drowned in coconut cream.
Their Gung Chae Num Pla is pretty close to the real deal.
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
Just a small point, being in Thailand I resent being called a fulang
Why? On its own it's not a term of derision. A farang is simply a westerner- it's not making any qualitative statement.
We talk of Asians and Europeans in New Zealand and the word is roughly similar in its sweep.
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In Korea I was the owner of an "Alien" registration card. We all wanted to keep them as a memento of being Aliens but we had to hand them in on departure.
Sucks not being able to use my ray-gun anymore.
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
A solution may be at hand
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