Coffee, Olives, Cheese, Food & Wine in the Hunter Valley

We started the day with a coffee and loaf at the Bliss Coffee Roasters in the Hunter Valley Gardens.  One thing I continually forget is that skinny lattes (as they’re known here as opposed to trim lattes in NZ) are usually a single shot of coffee and not the double shot I have been accustomed to in Auckland.

The Hunter Olive Centre was packed with people when we arrived, and for good reason, since they have an excellent range of oils, tapenades, vinegars and jams to taste.

Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese (yes, that’s its official name) was our next stop.  This is located in a magnificent complex with Tempus Two and another winery or two.  Here, we enjoyed some more excellent cheeses.

Tempus Two has a very upmarket cellar door presence and some lovely wines to taste.  I particularly enjoyed the Pinot Gris which had a nice passionfruit flavour.  The Chardonnay (50% Hunter Valley Grapes) is big and oaky and whilst it is quite drinkable now I fear it will become too oaky over time for my palate.  Their Shiraz is a very light style that I can imagine being a nice and easy drink on a hot summers day.

We popped into Adina Olives and tasted their small selection on offer.  The Green Olive tapenade was my pick before I was also tempted to taste some of their wines.  Of Adina Vineyard’s wines, I particularly liked their light and crisp Semillon, and found the Verdelho to be nice and dry with lots of flavour.  Jane’s pick was the Dessert Semillon (an ice wine)  that she found was more viscous than a table wine but not as sticky as many dessert wines.

Leaves & Fishes is a beautiful restaurant located nestled back into the trees on Lovedale Road overlooking their pond.  It is a lovely setting, has nice ambience and great service.  I had a beautiful sesame-crusted fish fillet that was done in a Thai style with coriander, fish sauce and a very light chilli, and micro-greens.  Jane had crispy pork belly with a magnificent side salad comprising caper-berries, gherkins, olives, sweet garlic, feta, fennel, pea sprouts, coriander and various lettuces.  We would happily return although the prices are certainly premium.

The Hunter Valley Chocolate Factory was our next stop, and we tasted a number of lovely chocolates and fudges.  Great friendly service.

After a detour via a geocache we had a cheese tasting at Benorrie Dairy.  The Herb & Garlic Fromage Frais is lovely.  I enjoyed the Valencay (white mould goat cheese), although this was too strong for Jane.  The Marinated Fetta Gold Medal was exquisite and very smooth.  The Labna had a nice garlic/rosemary flavour and lots of exciting complexity.  The Brie was a bit mild for me, but the Washed Rind was more to my liking.  The Duetto is a dessert style cheese that they do and I quite enjoyed the sweeter flavour however Jane was not keen on this one (which is not surprising given that it contained gorgonzola).  The Apple & Rosemary paste was also really good.  We were also appreciative of the friendly service of the woman in the store.

In the same complex as the Benorrie Dairy is Arrowfield Estate.  Once I finally got some service I decided to try their Riesling.  This is a citrus-dominated Riesling that is enjoyable.  I also enjoyed their Cabernet Merlot.

Coffee Drinks Illustrated

I just came across this Coffee Drinks Illustration via Lifehacker (an excellent blog) and just had to share it.

Jafa Cafe

We were very happy to hear that Tim and Jon (who previously owned Benediction) had opened up a cafe at the far end of Richmond Road called Jafa. We headed along last weekend to check it out.

The staff set the expectation with us up front that they were ridiculously busy and that food was taking about an hour to come out. This was fine with us, and I really appreciate being told this as we were going into the cafe and not finding out until after we had ordered. Setting expectations is so important, it's easy to do, but so many places fail in this regard.

True to the form of what we came to expect from Benediction, the food, coffee, service and overall vibe were great. There were a number of the old favourites on the menu, but there were also a few new entries or a slight twist onthe old ones. I went for eggs benedict on a kumara mash and this was beautifully done. I can't recall what Jane ordered, but that's not as huge surprise as I tend to focus on my meal... but I recall that she did enjoy it.

I would definitely go back, and in fact Jane has gone back there for brunch today with Trudy. Somehow I think their brunch might be a bit better than what I cobbled together.

Altar Cafe

Altar Cafe in Mt Eden has been one of our more recent finds. We have been here twice within the last month for brunch and had a great experience both times. The menu sports more than the same-old same-old brunch items. On the first occasion I had corned beef hashcakes with the equivalent of eggs benedict on top, and on the second occasion I went for a Nicoise sytle salad. Service was neither slow nor sloppy (and we're very picky when it comes to good service). The quality of the food has also been consistently good as has the coffee (Allpress).

Deve Cafe - Kingsland

We used another of our Entertainment Book vouchers yesterday and had lunch at Deve Cafe in Kingsland. Gorgeous old building complete with photos of 'as it was'. Love the lamp shades - all were prints of nature artwork they had on display, made into lamp shades. Very cool.

As for the food and coffee, we both had open sandwiches - Simon the Moroccan lamb and I had the Cajun Chicken. Simon's seemed to be pretty good, although quite lightly spiced, mine was ok, but a weird variety of flavours. Cajun, jalapeño, gruyere cheese and tomato salsa. Very odd.

Coffee was Allpress, however not what we're used to when we get it from Benediction. It wasn't burnt, but definitely a bitter tang to it and mine (long black) was quite 'thin' on overall flavour.

Nice to receive water at the table without asking, and likewise to have it replaced when we emptied the bottle.

All in all, if we're in the area, and if we've tried all the other yummy looking cafe's on the street, yes, we'd go back. But definitely not on our favourite list.