My favourite hikes in the Waitakere Ranges

I have been doing quite a bit of hiking in the Waitakere Ranges over the past year and was recently asked what my favourite hikes were.

1. Whatipu Road at top of Omanawanui Track --> Omanawanui Track --> Whatipu (Lunch on the beach) --> Kura Track (it is long and steep near the end). This is a very scenic track and there are some challenging portions.
   
2. Scenic Drive --> Waitakere Reservoir --> Fence Line Track --> Long Road Track --> Upper Kauri Track --> Cascade Track --> Anderson Track --> Waitakere Tramline Track back to the Reservoir. This is a decent walk and from recollection took about 4 hours.
   
3. Arataki Vistor Centre (on Scenic Drive) --> Slip Track --> Pipeline Track --> Lower Nihotupu Dam Road --> Hamilton Track --> Huia Dam Road --> Huia Store for lunch and then the return trip.
   
4. Constable Road --> Goldie Bush Walkway --> Mokoroa Falls Track and then back via the Mokora Stream Track (if you want a technically challenging walk that you _will_ get wet feet on.
   
5. Piha Road --> Kauri Grove Track --> Kitakita Falls --> Kitekite Track --> Piha for lunch and then back by whatever mixture of tracks.

Flatter tracks that have something vaguely interesting that come to mind:

1. Beach walk from Karekare to Whatipu (or Pararaha) and back. There is a small tunnel along the way you can go through too.
   
2. Auckland City Walk in the Cascades portion of the Waitakere's is apparently a good introductory walk. I haven't done it. It is only 1.5km so is very short.
3. Walk around Lake Wainamu near Bethells Beach. There are also huge dunes here. Don't attempt Houghton Gully Track (if you're after a flat track) since it goes up and up and feels like it will never end. The walk around the lake isn't huge.
   

Food Truck Garage, Auckland.... Disappointing

I recently went to the Food Truck Garage for dinner in Wellesley Street. I had previously had an excellent meal from the truck so was looking forward to another excellent meal.

The garage itself looks like an upmarket garage and had a nice vibe. I had a Beefroot burger and the baked chips. The burger itself was quite bland and nothing special at all. The chips were okay and included potato, swede, beetroot and some lime.

Maybe I ordered badly, but I won't be rushing back and am hopeful to see some better meals emerging from the truck.

Kokako Cafe & Roastery, Grey Lynn

We had brunch today at Kokako Cafe & Roastery in Grey Lynn and had two excellent meals and two different types of cold coffee (because we could). Kokako's menu features organic vegetarian cuisine and is located in an old post office that has lots of character.

I had the Organic Potato Hash which consisted of organic free range eggs, hollandaise, a smoked eggplant relish and some braised greens. It was a superb dish that I would definitely order again.

Jane had the Organic Free Range Omelet that was filled with organic pumpkin, feta, red onion jam and more. It was also accompanied by a thick piece of ciabatta. The omelet itself was a decent size and the flavours complemented each other nicely.

For coffee, I had Kokako's Cold Brew Coffee which is soft brewed for 8 hours and very mellow to taste. Served with ice in a beautiful glass that accentuated its aroma, it was a very different flavour to what I expect from an iced coffee. It also came with the remainder of the coffee in a jar that made it look like medicine (which coffee obviously is). I started off really not sure if I liked it or not but by the end was enjoying it a lot more but still not 100%.

Jane had Kokako's Cold Drip Coffee which had been filtered for 4 hours through a cold drip. I found the taste of it to be quite bizarre but Jane in fact preferred it over mine.

The food arrived in a timely manner but the staff could learn how to smile and actually engage with their customers.

Barilla Dumplings, Dominion Road, Auckland

Today I had the best dumplings I have ever had. We decided to try out Barilla Dumplings on Dominion Road, and were lucky to get a table. This is one busy place, with people eating in and lots getting takeaways too.

We had two dishes and this was more than enough for two people. In fact a couple of times I stopped and said I'd had enough, but because the food was so good I ended up having some more.

We ordered the Lamb and Cabbage dumplings (20 for $12), and had these steamed (we had the option of boiled, steamed ($1 more) or fried). The casing was beautifully soft and there was no doubt these dumplings had been very freshly made. The dumplings were very flavourful, particularly when accompanied with the chilli and soy sauce that was on the table. Jane also enjoyed having them with a bit of vinegar in addition to the chilli and soy sauce too.

Based on a few recommendations on Foursquare, we ordered the Fried French Beans with Spicy Salt ($14). The beans were beautifully cooked, still had a bit of a crunch, and the salt, cumin and chilli added a nice flavour. 

In terms of service, the food arrived quickly but the staff weren't exactly friendly. They were efficient at taking orders and bringing out food but that was about it.

The decor is very basic, in fact the tables even had a plastic cloth on them.

I'm looking forward to going back and sampling some of the other dishes on the menu.

Chihuahua, Takapuna, Auckland

Chihuahua is a reasonable mexican restaurant located in Takapuna. Jane had come across it in Channel magazine (a local magazine for Takapuna) and we decided to give it a go.

We started with the rattlesnake salsa that was absolutely superb. It is thoroughly recommended.

I had a burrito for my main and was a bit disappointed. It was smaller than I expected and I found it to be lacking in flavour. I did spice it up with the chilli sauces that were available on the table but I was still underwhelmed.

Jane enjoyed the half short ribs she had which was accompanied by corn encrusted in parmesan and chilli that she also really enjoyed.

We also had some buffalo wings, that were nicely cooked but I thought lacked anything special. I would however order them again.

For dessert Jane had the soft centred chocolate pudding with chilli that was perfectly cooked and the chilli had a decent kick to it. A magnificent dish that I obviously needed to help her with.

The service was good and the food arrived in a timely manner. We would return, but I will order differently.

Pakwan Indian Restaurant, Devonport, Auckland

We had a superb curry out with friends last week at Pakwan Indian Restaurant in Lake Road in Devonport (well actually it's more Bayswater). This is a very small restaurant in which the vast majority of people were Indian and they were more-so set up for takeaways. It is not a flash restaurant by any means (in fact it's quite the opposite) but the curries were very flavoursome and enough for two people. I did however find that my hot curry wasn't hot at all and was in fact closer to mild; maybe specifying Indian hot may have been a better idea.

The service was very genuine. It's definitely not trying to be anything special and the dishes are delivered when they're ready and if that means the rice comes out 5 minutes after the other dishes come out then so be it.

It is worth noting that they are BYO and do not sell liquor.

Spicy Joint, Dominion Road

After attempting to go to Clip ‘n Climb without a booking we decided to go and eat instead. With a name of “Spicy Joint” and an A-rating (yes we checked) it sounded like it would be a good adventure.

We were the only non-asians in the restaurant, and the waitress needed to get the people on the table next to us to translate what we wanted; that is a sign of an authentic restaurant. The style of food here apparently comes from central China, according to the table next to us.

I went with a ridiculous chilli and chicken dish that was reminiscent of a dish I ordered years ago at another restaurant. The chicken was deep fried, which I assume is authentic, and the chilli’s altered between mild and crazy. At one point I had to wait before I could eat again.

We also had some dumplings that were lovely and covered with chilli oil and garlic.

There were other good dishes too.

I was also amused by the bill, and the only English on it being “GST”.

A great afternoon adventure that came to $58 for 4 people.

Mikano, Mechanics Bay, Auckland

We had a good (but lacklustre) meal out tonight at Mikano in Mechanics Bay with service that didn’t feel natural and lacked finesse.

I last went to Mikano several years ago and it was Jane’s first time. The setting overlooking the harbour through the floor to ceiling glass windows is lovely but the restaurant itself almost feels like you’re in a barn with poor lighting (at least it was in the corner we were seated). It was disappointing to see that the glassware was of a rugged variety as opposed to good quality glasses.

For my entree I had the clams. These were done in a chardonnay sauce with herbs. There were different types of clams and I enjoyed the dish.

Jane had a smoked fish platter for her entree and thoroughly enjoyed it. The fish had a beautifully light smoked flavour and was very moist.

I had Yellowfin tuna for my main pan-fried with fennel puree, orange, pink grapefruit, capers, croutons & burnt orange vinaigrette. This was cooked nicely in a rare/blue style and I particularly enjoyed the puree. I did however find the tuna was a bit too salty and not helped by the capers. I did still enjoy the dish.

Jane had the grilled milk-fed veal scotch with lemon & basil, zucchini, pinenuts, raisins
& ricotta gnocchi for her main, which was nice but lacked any wow factor.

I finished with a lovely Blue Cheese (Bleu d’Auvergne) and crackers and Jane had the Chocolate & mandarin ‘Delice’ (hazelnut crust, chocolate mousse and mandarin jelly) which she enjoyed.

Our meals arrived in a timely manner and were well presented, but even though we were asked a few times whether we would like another drink our empty wine glasses were not taken away. Similarly, our water was topped up while we had our entree but the glasses remained empty thereafter.

Daikoku, Takapuna

We dined out at the Daikoku Teppan-yaki restaurant in Takapuna this evening. This was our first time to this particular restaurant but we are familiar with Teppan-yaki.

The restaurant was about a third full and had a nice vibe,

I had the Scotch Fillet set and Jane had the Aged Scotch Fillet set. Our chef prepared the meals in front of us, made a volcano out of onion rings, oil and some flame and did several other tricks to entertain.

We had a variety of entree dishes that arrived prior to the main that were all beautifully fresh and flavoursome, particularly when using the accompanying sauces.

Jane’s aged scotch fillet was slightly more tender than my steak, however I don’t think it really warranted the extra $10 (or thereabouts). The steak really needed the sauces to be anything more than a steak cooked on the grill.

An enjoyable evening out.

Deep Creek Brewing Company, Browns Bay

I had heard that there was a microbrewery in Browns Bay so having tracked down the Deep Creek Brewing Company had to give it a go. The bar had a nice vibe when we entered, and half the bar is setup for casual drinks and the other half for eating. There is also a lovely outdoor area with great views out to the sea.

I started with their 309 New Zealand Pale Ale, which I found to be a nice slightly bitter drop with a touch of orange. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

For my meal I had the ribs and these were the best ribs I have had in a long time. They were a good sized portion and beautifully tender to the extent they were falling off the bone, and covered in a nice Jack Daniels-based BBQ sauce. The meal was accompanied with beautifully cooked kumara chips and a salad. I would very happily order this dish again.

Jane had a perfectly cooked Angus steak with a biltong and aged cheddar crust, although it did taste like it needed more salt prior to cooking to better extract the flavour of the meat. Jane chose the slap chips as an accompaniment that were not as strong in vinegar as the waitress suggested, but were still nice.

Our waitress was good and the food arrived in a timely manner.

We will happily return.

The Engine Room, Northcote Point

Last night we went to The Engine Room at Northcote Point for the first time in about a year and had yet another pleasurable experience. Over the years we have been many times, and they are consistently good in terms of quality and service and last night was no different. Admittedly the service was slower once the restaurant got busier but it was consistently friendly, professional and not stuffy.

The menu is still small, but everything is done to perfection.

I started with the goats cheese souflee. This was lovely and light with chives for added flavour. Jane started with the mushroom soup with barley and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For my main I had the chicken which was done in a middle eastern style with lentils. It was a well executed dish. Jane had the pork belly and enjoyed it.

Jane enjoyed a pavlova for dessert and I had the black doris plum and almond tart that was a nice balance of tart and smooth flavours.

An enjoyable evening out and we will definitely be back.

District Dining, Britomart, Auckland

As a group of 5 we walked in off the street with no booking to District Dining on Thursday. The restaurant was busy, but they were able to sit us in the bar area where they where happy to serve us. This was the first time any of us had been to District Dining so it was a new experience for us all.

After our eyes adjusted to the low light we looked over the interesting range of tapas-style dishes and, after finding out the portion size from the waitress and the specials, proceeded to order 2-3 dishes each. The verdict (or more-so my verdict) on the dishes:

• Prawn toast, soy mayonnaise - these were very good and one of my favourite choices
• Smoked fish croquette, dill mayonnaise - I didn't expect much with croquette's but these were very good.
• Crispy pigs ears, Szechuan salt - these were done like fries and enjoyed by many.
• Spiced lamb briq roll, Tzatsiki - quite enjoyable.
• Chicken wings, chilli caramel - ok, but the caramel just didn't seem like a good match.
• Crispy squid, cauliflower puree, chorizo, Pedro Ximenez - the squid itself was ok, the Pedro Ximenez (a spanish white grape) was a new experience that I don't think any of us liked, the puree was nice, the chorizo flavoursome and good.
• Veal tongue, pickled turnips, salsa verde - this was a lovely dish. I'm not usually a fan of tongue, but done is this style you wouldn't know it was tongue.
• Chicken liver parfait, Port jelly, Toast, red grape - beautifully smooth and full of flavour. There was however not another toast and we had to order more.
• Steak tartare, Aioli, French Fries, Sourdough - this was my of my favourite dishes of the evening and even those of our group that had never had steak tartare enjoyed it.
• Herbed gnocchi, broccoli, pecorino, pangratto - very nice.
• Duck confit, Kumara, Pomegranate, Ra el hanout - a little dry in parts but otherwise I actually enjoyed this.
• 12 hour lamb shoulder, egg plant, olive, tomato - beautifully tender but lacked any wow factor.

The service was slow. The first items arrived reasonably quickly but then there was a long wait of about 20 mins before the next lot and then a similar wait time until more turned up. The wait staff were however friendly but professional.

The restaurant had a nice vibe and was nicely decorated (albeit dark), although it was too hot.

In retrospect we probably didn't need quite as many dishes, but we did manage to get through them all anyway. From a cost perspective, the food bill was just under $50 a head. There was also a good selection of wine and beer to choose from.

Flavour Deli, Birkenhead Point

After an hour of gardening I decided to head out for brunch at one of our local cafes. This was only the second I had been to Flavour Deli and I was impressed with our last visit which must have been about 6 months ago. This time however wasn’t as impressive, but it still rates as one of the best cafes in the Birkenhead area.

I was happily able to get one of the few outside tables, and on a lovely day like today sitting under the shade of the large veranda, which covers the whole footpath, was a superb place to relax and read through the paper whilst I awaited my meal.

I noticed that they had a Coffee and Eggs special for $11.50 Monday-Friday so decided to give this a go since I just wanted something light. I went with scrambled eggs and a trim latte.

	The scrambled eggs were done in what I will call old-style, being soft and fluffy, but unfortunately they were lacking a bit in flavour. They were however accompanied with a lovely relish which when combined with the eggs and some seasoning of salt and pepper the eggs were improved although all-in-all it was a bit disappointing, however for the price it was still good value for money.
My trim latte (a Roasted addiction blend) finally arrived after I had just finished my meal, despite being ordered at the same time; they did however apologise for the wait. Surprisingly it was also actually delivered in a cup and not a glass. It was however good. I will return, but will order something different.

Shore Rd Cafe, Remuera

Simon saw a tweet earlier this week that Tim & John of Benediction and more recently Jafa fame, had opened a new cafe on Shore Road, called Shore Rd Cafe.  So we headed along there this morning to show our support and say hi to Tim again. They always do a great job and it's nice to see how they've tweaked things in their latest ventures.

The environment was great, quite spacious and a good outdoor area (although squally showers today meant we chose to seat inside). We did notice it got really noisy once the place filled up and I ended up moving to sit beside Simon rather than opposite him as I really couldn't hear him anymore!

Simon had the French Toast, which he said was good. I forgot to ask him how his trim latte was (my Americano was really good).

I tried the green fritters - which was a fritter stack of spinach fritters, bacon, hollandaise and a poached egg, all on a bed of rocket leaves. It was nice, although I'd probably not order it again.  Not because there was anything wrong with it, just the fritters were pretty basic, and they've got enough other stuff on the menu that appeals.

Tim was ever the excellent host, giving us the coffees on the house because 'we haven't seen you for ages'.  It's nice to be recognised, and to be rewarded for loyalty.

All in all a good meal, just as we have come to expect, we will return, we will recommend to others and we will take friends along.

Jack Tar - Bar & Restaurant Review

Today was such a glorious day that we decided it was high time we checked out the newly redeveloped Wynyard Quarter.  Simon had a quick look for recent reviews of the various restaurants down there before we went, and fortuitously also saw a note from a colleague who had eaten there this morning.  The comments seemed to all be of the nature of 'expect teething problems'.  So we went with the expectation of probably needing to wait and maybe not having the most polished of service.

We spent an absolute age trying to find a carpark, and in hindsight we probably should have just gone straight to Simon's work carpark, or, had we have realised earlier, we could have used the Wilson's carparks for $5 - their signs didn't make it terribly obvious that they had a seperate weekend rate.  Next time though!

We wandered around for a bit and commented with relief that finally there is more of the waterfront being made use of in Auckland. The whole area was absolutely heaving with people, and rightly so - it's a beautiful place for a day out in the sunshine, right along the waterfront with loads of access through to the viaduct, a huge kids playground and paddle pool, and some oversized deck chairs further along for the adults.

After browsing through all of the insanely busy restaurants and bars, we headed back to Jack Tar and lurked near a table that looked like it was soon to vacate, and headed off other hopeful patrons!  We ordered a seafood platter to share, a small salad of tomato, olives & feta and Simon had a garlic pizza bread.

The seafood platter had prawns and freshly grilled fish in a garlic butter - both absolutely delicious, shaved smoked salmon and seared tuna, a couple of fresh oysters, mussels and some lemon curry seasoned smoked fish.  It was all really good, and a great size for 2 people to share.  The salad was good, although quite small.  Simon enjoyed his garlic pizza bread, commenting that the thickness and cookedness was really good, but that it was a little light on the garlic.

Our wait time was possibly a little extended and it did take some time to actually get someones attention to take our order, but the service was certainly pleasant, and hopefully these are simply symptoms of it being new and insanely busy.  Hopefully they'll improve over the next couple of weeks in the lead up to RWC.  That said, we certainly didn't have a negative experience and we would definitely return.  All of the food we saw being delivered to other tables looked really good.

Teed Street Larder, Newmarket

We popped into the Teed Street Larder for lunch today in Newmarket and I had one of the best hot chocolates I’ve had for a while. There were three options of hot chocolate; Cadbury, 55% Belgian chocolate, and 72% Valrhona. I went for the 55% option and thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Max Brenner in Australia whereby the chocolate was chocolate pellets that were put into a glass of milk which then needed a decent stir. It also came with a chocolate sprat and a lovely little macaroon wafer.

Before Stirring	After Stirring

Jane had a decaf long black that had a lovely crema and tasted nice.

For lunch I had a Venison, Mushroom and Goat Curd pie that was lovely. The pastry was solid, the filling full of flavour and the goat curd on top tasted great.

Jane had a dish of snapper, that was accompanied with caperberries and olives that she enjoyed.

The food arrived in a timely manner and the service in general was okay. We will happily return.

Chilean Red Crab is HUGE - Our meal out at Jervois Steak House (Herne Bay)

We decided on the spur of the moment to go out for dinner mid-week and ended up at Jervois Steak House (after a quick phone reservation and consequently delaying our departure by 45min). The restaurant was full, with a great vibe and we were seated upstairs.

We have always found the service at Jervois Steak House to be outstanding and tonight was no exception. Our waiter was superb and very knowledgeable about the menu. We also noted how we had a story to tell to every table and made everybody feel very welcome.

To start Jane ordered the steamed Chilean Red Crab that came with three different butters (garlic, ginger and spicy). When this arrived, this was definitely a Wow moment. This was a huge (and I mean HUGE) crab leg that must have been about 60cm long, that had lots of meat within and was already cut along it’s length to make extraction easier. It tasted great on its own and we thought the butters all tasted similar; our conclusion was that they were really just there so that the crab didn’t look lonely.

I had the Sirloin steak for my main with a Porcini Jus. It was a lovely tender steak with lots of flavour, although it was rarer than I was expecting for a rare steak (which I’m okay with). I didn’t get a Wow that’s an awesome steak feeling that I’d had on a previous occasion when we got the T-bone for two.

Jane had another entree for her main, Lamb Wellington, that she was a bit disappointed with; the accompanying green chimichurri sauce was not to her liking and the dish didn’t meet her expectations as a delicious dish.

We accompanied our main meals with a Peanut Slaw and a Rocket lettuce salad w aged manchego cheese. Both were good although the slaw stood out as being an excellent accompaniment that is quite different than normal.

For dessert I had the Nougatine semifreddo “sandwich” w honey wafers & hot chocolate. The homemade marshmallow was lovely and the ice-cream beautiful and creamy. As for the hot chocolate, it was an odd accompaniment.

Jane had the Spanish chocolate fudge figs for dessert. The figs were perfectly ripe and the chocolate rich. A nice and simple dessert although you couldn’t eat too much of it, so I helped Jane out.

It is not a cheap meal out and there other other places around that I think are better value for money, but the nice ambience, superb service and a couple of different items on the menu will drag us back.

Full Moon, Fire, Dance and Drum Circle - Mt Eden

For something different we headed out to an event that is held monthly at Tahaki Reserve in Mt Eden this evening.  There were about 70 people watching fire dancing and drums and an excellent vibe.  Further details can be found at http://www.drumcircle.co.nz

Full Moon, Fire, Dance and Drum Circle - Mt Eden Video clip

Sidart, Ponsonby

I hadn't heard about Sidart until I saw them receive the accolade of Metro's Best New Restaurant in Auckland for 2010, early in the year.  Since then, they had been on my To Do list and for my birthday Jane booked us in for what was to be a superb meal.

Located upstairs in the dated Three Lamps Plaza in Ponsonby overlooking Auckland city, Sidart has seating for ~34 people.  Seating is not as private as some other top restaurants in Auckland, however this did not detract from the meal.

A 7 course tasting menu was on offer, of which we could order any items as entrees or mains if we desired, but we opted to go for the 7 course degustation; I also decided to go with the accompanying wines.

Each dish was prepared with love and a lot of thought.  The accompanying wines also worked well, and were generously poured.  From manuka & coffee-smoked dishes where there was a glass over the meat and the smoke released at the table to creative morsels such as crab ice-cream, soy & mirin whip and inky black parsnip puree, each dish was something special.  I was expecting a bit more molecular gastronomy but was not at all disappointed in each of the fine dishes I was presented with.

We thought there may have been an amuse bouche and possibly a palette cleanser such as a sorbet but this was not to be.

From a service perspective the wait staff were exceptional and explained each dish in immense detail including being able to answer any probing questions we had along the way.  In terms of the wine, our waiter explained the characteristics of each wine and why it was a good match.  The food arrived in a timely manner and the wait between courses was quite appropriate.

It was a magnificent meal and we will very happily return.

Pane & Vino - Italian Trattoria

I'd planned to make pasta for dinner the last 2 nights running, however, in classic post-christmas recovery mode, we've managed to fail to buy eggs on both days.  So we just figured we'd pop out for whatever we could find, with a couple of options high on our list of intentions - bearing in mind that Auckland has both emptied out and seeminly shut down for the christmas period.  Sure enough, the first 3 restaurants we had in mind were all shut.  And then we fortuitously did a u-turn near Pane & Vino.  Simon had this traditional little Italian trattoria on his 'must try' list, so try we did.

Pane & Vino (warning - you'll need to mute your volume or pause the track if you don't like streaming wav while browsing!!!)

20 Williamson Ave

Ponsonby

BYO

Firstly, let me just say that Tito is one of those amazing individuals who defines the term 'larger than life'.  He is a force of a nature, a bundle of energy, a caricature of Italian-ness, and while I'm fairly confident that almost every time he spoke to us it was in Italian, his accent is so very present, that even his english was fairly Italian!  I love to see any business owner with his level of passion and utter love for what he does!  He is never short of a heartfelt smile, and regularly sings along with whatever modern or classic Italian track is being played, while he easily moves from waiting, to cooking, to serving, to barista, to convivial host!  I could go on all night, but I really ought to get to the food!

We decided to share the special starter of the evening - a classic bruschetta with garlic, buffalo mozzarella, tomato & fresh basil. This was absolutely delicious.  Loads of garlic, but beautifully balanced, the mozarrella was lovely, and the tomato full of flavour.  The bread itself was a smidgen burnt on the edges, but every mouthful was so good, I almost forgot about that.

Next, Simon had the special ravioli of the evening - a carrot & parmesan ravioli with a tomato & beef ragu and parmigiano reggiano - this was rich, hearty and packed with flavour.  Oh - I should also mention that we ordered a 1/2 litre carafe of their house-red-wine - a montepulciano.  This was served classic trattoria style from a jug, in standard table glasses. I did mention this was traditional trattoria style didn't I?!

Ok, back to the main course - I decided to NOT order pasta, seeing as I really do enjoy making my own, and would rather try something that I'm not planning on doing at home.  So I settled on Calamari ripieni alla viestana - whole squid stuffed with bread, egg, parmesan, garlic, and cooked in a tomato & white wine sauce.  The sauce, like Simon's, was rich and bursting with flavour.  The squid was unexpectedly tender, and very good. I would order this again.  It was served with a small salad and a basket of bread - which was perfect for mopping up the last of the sauce. We also had the steamed green veges with garlic, which was a bowl of green beans this evening.

As we were finishing our meal we saw a pizza at another table and it looked absolutely amazing - we may yet be back later this week for pizza!

I overheard another diner ordering tartufo for dessert.  We weren't planning on having dessert, however I can never find tartufo on menus in New Zealand and it was one of my favourite dining memories from our time in Italy, so we did decide to share one of these this evening.  It was really very good, but we are glad we shared a single dessert rather than both ordering something!

For something a bit different to end on, I ordered a Maretto - an espresso shot with lemoncello.  I'm not sure, but it tasted like it was almost a half & half ratio of coffee to lemoncello!  Good thing Simon was driving methinks!  I'd never thought of pairing coffee & lemoncello - it was surprisingly good!

Prices were generally lower than I'm used to paying for Italian in Auckland - we paid about $90 for a shared entree, a pasta main and a non-pasta main plus a side of veges, a shared dessert, alcoholic coffee & 1/2 litre of wine. Their corkage for BYO is also very reasonable at $5.

Yes, we will be back, we will take others with us and we will recommend Pane & Vino to friends.