Driving Creek Cafe, Coromandel

Located very close to the Driving Creek Railway in the Coromandel township, the Driving Creek Cafe looks rustic from the outside and delivers superb organic food, smoothies and juices in a relaxed environment.

We had a couple of meals here with friends over a two day period.

On our first visit, I thoroughly enjoyed the button mushrooms with a blue cheese creamy sauce. I accompanied this with a berry fruit smoothie that was full of flavour.

Jane had the poached eggs on rye with spinach and avocado that she enjoyed. Her eggs were slightly overcooked.

For my second visit I enjoyed the pancakes that were accompanied by berries, mango and a jug of maple syrup.

Jane enjoyed the lentil and pumpkin soup.

We would very happily return.

Calliope Road Cafe, Devonport

For brunch today we headed along to Calliope Road Cafe in Devonport. This was our second time here and I decided to have the Colcannon Brunch with house cured salmon; essentially eggs benedict on a potato mash with leek and cabbage. It was a nice dish, although I would have liked to have the option of using freshly cracked pepper instead of the precracked pepper on the table.
Jane had the Bang Bang Chicken, a sichuan satay chicken where the satay was the predominant flavour, and enjoyed it.
We both also thoroughly enjoyed an Ice coffee.
From a service perspective the food arrived quickly although the lack of table service for ordering I do find frustrating.

Raupo, Blenheim

Breakfast alongside the river in Blenheim is a lovely way to start the day, and Raupo is perfectly positioned with a good quantity of outside seating to do it justice.

We were one of two tables in the cafe when we first arrived, so were able to chose an outside table with great views along the river. The decor inside, although we only briefly passed through, looked to be very stylish.

I had the Eggs Raupo for breakfast, which consisted of Poached eggs on Brioche with a Tomato Hollandaise with Smoked Salmon and Greens. I did wonder if it would be a bit too busy in terms of flavour, and it was slightly, although in general I enjoyed my meal. It was apparent that Raupo takes pride in the quality of their meals and the ingredients they use. The accompanying trim latte on the other hand was a bit burnt.

Jane had the big breakfast done with gluten free bread and found it to also be good, although the scrambled eggs weren’t great.

The service was pleasantly friendly and the food arrived in a timely manner.

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.

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.

Taylor Street Coffee Shop,Union Square area, San Francisco

From the outside it doesn’t look great, but this little cafe does some excellent breakfasts. The generous portion of quality fruit accompanying the well priced breakfast combos is excellent.

I thoroughly enjoyed the French Toast; it was a good thickness and perfectly cooked. It came with a dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon, and I then added Maple syrup (which was on the table).

Jane had the scrambled eggs and found them to be okay, but they were a little oily.

A good place for breakfast I would happily return to.

Wonderful Eatery in Amsterdam - La Place

After our rather long and wet walk on Wednesday morning, we doubled back to one of the shopping centers we had passed and had lunch in the ground floor cafeteria called La Place (link in dutch only).  I've never seen a food hall quite like this and I do rather hope I have the opportunity to see more of these in the future.  Basically it was a large food hall with all manner of freshly cooked or prepared items at various counters.  You helped yourself and paid at a central kiosk.  So the layout itself it not especially unfamiliar, but the array of food on offer was absolutely outstanding.  There were freshly backed items - bread, muffins, croissants, cakes and hot savouries; myriad cold salads; freshly squeezed juices - including a fruit salad in a glass topped up with fresh juice, or a lemon and mint juice, or strawberry juice; an asian section where you choose your various items and handed them to the attendant to cook in a wok as you watched; a stand of hot soup - white asparagus, fresh vegetable or fresh tomato and basil; pizza; grilled items - again you choose your meat or fish and have it cooked while you wait.  Fantastic!  We shared a selection of salads, a bowl of white asparagus soup and one of those fruit salads in a glass with juice.  Simon managed to take a few photos before he had finger waggled at him advising there were no photos allowed!  Actually, the finger was waggled at ME once the woman realised I was with the guy taking the photos!

Shaky Isles - Kingsland, Auckland

We were planning on meeting friends for brunch on Sunday morning, and wanted to go somewhere that had an entertainment book coupon.  We both remembered enjoying coffee at Shaky Isles previously so figured we'd give it a go.

Shaky Isles
492 New North Rd
Kingsland
(parking out the back!)


I do like the environment, and particularly the big outdoor benches.  We sat inside on Sunday - it was reasonbly busy when we arrived, although got progressively busier and noisier during our brunch!  You certainly couldn't say the place has no vibe!


Their menu is a little different to the norm (a good thing!), but delightfully flexible, so if you like your traditional eggs bennie, or scrambled eggs with bacon, you can build pretty much whatever you desire.  Simon and I both had the Bruschetta with scrambled eggs, tomatoes, feta, spinach & basil pesto, Simon also had a side of spicy kransky.  We'd both definitely order this again.  One of our brunch companions had the Crumpet with dates, poached pear & orange ricotta - and a side of poached egg because that's what she felt like! I love that this was no hassle - I do get frustrated with cafes that are unwillingly or incapable of deviating from the exact menu.  And the final meal at our table was the aptly named 'Isle have it all' - aka the big breakfast!  It's safe to say we all enjoyed our meals and would more than happily return.

Simon also had a kiwifruit, mint, lychee, banana smoothie - this was really good and very refreshing.  My long black was great, as was my cappuccino.  Simon wasn't sure about the blend used for his trim latte.  I really appreciated that they use different beans for their different coffees - and you can swap and change here as well if you like.  I'm tempted to order 3 long blacks one day - 1 of each blend, and do a vertical tasting!

In summary:
Love the flexibility of this cafe, the food is great, fresh & delicious, and the coffees seem dependable.  We will return and we will recommend to others.    

Cafe Review - Brunch at Lulu's Cafe - Ponsonby Road

We used Google Places on my phone recently to find somewhere new to try for brunch. We chose Lulu's Cafe on Ponsonby Road.

The cafe is quite small, homely and perhaps a little Italian and cosy in atmosphere - the cafe as a nice feel to it and I can imagine myself sipping coffee there and people-watching. They don't take credit cards - I mention this only because I think it's the first place I've come across in Auckland that doesn't!

Our meals were very generously sized, and the coffees were pretty good as I recall, although perhaps a litle weak (it was a few weeks ago I must confess!)

Simon had the pancakes with lashings of Maple Syrup and I went for an Omelette with fresh garden salad.  I'm always a little dubious about ordering salads as they're often the ubiquitous mesclun mix plopped on the plate and served.  This however was fresh, generous and absolutely delicious. The omelette was also great, and very filling!

Would we return? Yes, although we wouldn't call it a favourite.  But if you were thinking of visiting Lulu's, we'd certainly encourage you to give it a go.

Brunch at Mello Cafe, Grey Lynn

I'm feeling a little guilty about calling this 'our' blog when I have only written 2 out of 25 posts in the last 3 months!  Hopefully this is my first of several in the near future!

This morning we headed to Mello Cafe in Grey Lynn for brunch - apparently because Simon had seen a couple of people sign-in here on Foursquare and one of them had recommended the coffee. I asked him who, he said it was no-one he knew. My how times have changed.

Well, regardless of how we got on to Mello, we're both really pleased we did!  The staff were friendly and helpful, the coffees were great (long black for me, trim latte for Simon) and it was so nice to look at a brunch menu and see a raft of items we'd never seen before - such as small veal sausages with white beans, mustard and crumbed smoked fish ball....

...and Potato Roesti with bacon and aged cheddar and sour-cream....

...along with items like Coddled eggs with a salad of salmon, and ciabatta (I think, sketchy memory kicking in at this point). I can't remember any more specifics, but we did both have a hard job choosing and had to ask for more time - and then we found out about the specials!!!  The cabinet food also looked really good, and we noticed a sign advertising a Ginger Latte as we left, one of us will try it next time.

Mello is on a stretch of Richmond Road that is endowed with a generously wide footpath, so there are several tables out the front, and they also have seating inside out the back, with a little terrace that was closed today, but I expect is open in summer.

Pop next door and enjoy the beautiful old memory-rich items at Flotsam and Jetsam while you're in the area.  What a delightful little place!

In Summary:
Yes, we will absolutely return to Mello and we're more than happy recommending them to friends, family and faithful readers alike. (And unfaithful for that matter, we don't discriminate.) Enjoy!

Sals Authentic New York Pizza

We did a quick Google search for 'best pizza auckland' today to find somewhere for a late and leisurely lunch. We had 3 results, the first 2 of which weren't open until 5pm on a Sunday. Sals Authentic New York Pizza however opened at 2pm, which gave us time to get into town, find a carpark and be there just on opening.

Let me just say for a start, we were both really surprised to have never heard of Sals before - they're on Twitter, they have a fairly active Facebook presence, and from all accounts, they seem to be a bit of 'go to' spot - reminded me a little of Giapo's culture (although no-one does 'creating a place' as well as Giapo!). I'd love to see Sals and Giapo next door to each other, it would be quite something!

Anyways, for a first visit we decided to order a full size pizza rather than choose slices to have reheated from the cabinet. Little did we realise just how enormous an 18" pizza is! (We brought slices home). We chose a half-and-half - pepperoni for one half, meatball for the other. It took about 15 minutes and was served on top of a stand (like a cake stand, but for pizza) - Simon has seen this before in the US, but it was a new experience for me. They had jars of parmesan, herb & chilli flakes available to help yourself to as well. The pizza was great. Simple, tasty, and did I mention enormous? The experience was a hit for both of us as well - the place was already full bar one booth when we arrived (2 minutes after opening time) and there was a constant stream of customers the whole time we were there, plus we saw one delivery go out as well.

I love the passion that Sals is clearly executed with - they import their mozarrella and tomato, they have a secret recipe pizza dough, minimal pizza flavour choices and just one size pizza (which of course you can also buy by the slice). Plus they do 2 specialty products - garlic knots (which we bought and enjoyed) and pepperoni wheels. And they deliver on Segways. Love it!

We will definitely return - although to be fair, we don't often have pizza, but next time we have a hankering for it, Sals will be high on the list of options. We will absolutely be recommending them to others. And I've already 'liked' their Facebook page. Give them a go, I'm confident you too will plan to return!

Launceston to Devonport, the magnificent Hawley beach and the Cataract Gorge

The drive from Launceston to Devonport in Tasmania up the Bass Highway passes through a few stops that foodies are likely to enjoy.

Our first stop was at the Christmas Hill Raspberry Farm a few kilometres south east of Elizabeth Town where we had a very enjoyable experience.  The farm is well setup with an outdoor area for kids and they have made good use of showcasing raspberries,  including the excellent Raspberry Latte that I ordered, Jane’s fizzy Raspberry drink she thought tasted like sea water but I enjoyed, a sweet but excellent Raspberry Crepe with Raspberry Ice cream, and Damper (okay it has nothing to do with  Raspberries, but we  ordered it).  They also had jams, a raspberry vinegar and a lovely chocolate dipped raspberry.  The service was great and the cafe had a nice vibe.  This place was our favourite cafe experience of the trip.

We then drove a little further up the road, just  north of Elizabeth Town and went to the Ashgrove Cheese Factory.  They had many cheeses available for tasting and you could watch the cheese being made.

The House of Anvers Chocolate Shop near Latrobe had some chocolates to taste and to buy however I can’t say I thought much of the chocolate I had there.

Devonport is where a number of people enter Tasmania (via the boats that come in), so we were a little shocked to find that the first restaurant we decided to go to for lunch was closed and that the cafe we then tried to go to thereafter was closed until mid January.  I would have thought this would be their busy season.

We subsequently continued on to Hawley Beach and Port Sorell to the East of Devonport.  Hawley Beach has one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever come across and is somewhere that we are very glad we decided to go to.  In addition to rock pools there are beautiful white sand beaches and the colour of the water was akin to what you would normally associate with the tropics.

After a good burger at Port Sorell and a quick drive-by of Hawley House we headed back down towards Launceston via Exeter past many poppy fields, that are throughout Tasmania and a key part of the landscape.

The Tamar Valley is one of the key wine growing areas of Tasmania and the Tamar River flows through the valley looking magnificent.

We then had a short stop at the Grindelwald Tamar Resort Hotel that is modelled on a Swiss Village and has mini-golf, a 9 hole golf course, lake, kayaks, a games room and lots of other fun stuff that seems well equipped for families with kids.

Back in Launceston we went back to the Cataract Gorge and I walked along from the Gorge Restaurant to the Kings Bridge and was taken in by the beauty of the gorge.

Eastern side of the Tamar Valley

We drove up the East Tamar Highway from Launceston today.

Our first stop was at Hillwood at the Strawberry Farm which was a waste of time.  It was however very close to the Batman Bridge that spans across the Tamar River.

We then continued up to the Low Head Lighthouse at Bass Strait and then backtracked down to some of the vineyards in the Tamar Valley.

Jansz in Pipers Brook was our first vineyard stop for the day where we sampled some lovely sparkling wines.

Literally around the corner we went to Pipers Brook Vineyard where I particularly enjoyed their Sparkling wine, Pinot Noirs and Blends.  We also stopped here for lunch and I had an excellent Prawn Salad and Jane had an antipasto platter.  Both meals were great.

Battery Point, An awesome bakery / cafe and Hobart CBD

This morning I went for a walk through the streets of Battery Point and came across “Jackman & McRoss”, an excellent bakery / cafe located in Hampden Road just across from Waterloo Crescent.  They have lots of indoor seating and a small amount of outdoor seating out the front. 

I had a cafe style meal that consisted of scrambled eggs encased in Tasmanian Smoked Salmon on a brioche (Hmmm, maybe I wrong here) base.  It was excellent as was the Skinny Latte I had with it.  I’m slowly getting used to ordering Skinny Latte’s as opposed to Trim Latte’s, which are often met with a confused look in Australia.

I then wandered through Princes Park that had what looked like a pretty cool kids play area.  Well, I thought it was cool anyway and noted that it had sand as its protective landing for kids.

 

From Princes Park I walked along the Esplanade (which didn’t have a lot going for it) to Salamanca Place and cooled down in Parliament Square and watched people on a trapeze setup for the New Years celebrations this evening.

Elizabeth Mall was one of the many places I ventured to in the CBD.  The shopping area felt quite relaxed although I found that some of the malls were a bit outdated.  There are however some beautiful character buildings located in the vicinity of the CBD.

I then met up with Jane and got some Garlic Mussels and a nice Bruny Island Cheese Platter from the Taste festival.  I also tried a “Two Metre Tall” Tasmanian Bitter Ale, that was not to my liking; I thought it actually tasted a bit like a dirty homebrew.  I followed this with a really nice Extra Zingy Ginger Beer from Gillespie’s Ginger Beer.

The temperature today kept creeping up higher and is apparently quite abnormal for Hobart; I noticed at one point it was 36.5˚ Celsius.  Thankfully it is looking cooler for tomorrow.

mini-Tweetup at The Falls

After the soggiest Friday we've seen in a while, Auckland turned on the weather all weekend - it seems a shame to go back to work tomorrow to be honest. We were fortunate to have a brunch planned with a bunch of Twitter-ites out at The Falls this morning, so could make the most of the sunshine and fresh summer air in their gorgeous outdoor area.

We've been meaning to head out to The Falls for quite a while now, and after this morning, we're looking forward to returning and thinking about who else we can introduce to this fabulous location, and wonderful hosts.

Simon had the vegetarian breakfast (with a side of Bratwurst!) - this was delicious by all accounts, and I absolutely love the way the avocado was presented (ooh, and the crusted mushrooms were scrumptious - I did steal a wee morsel!).


I had the corn beef hash cakes with poached egg and pesto hollandaise - which was really good. Coffees were great - long black for me, trim latte for Simon. And then we both had a chai latte later - which I always find a bit hit or miss - these were most definitely a hit!

Thanks Alan and team, we look forward to seeing you again soon.

PS: if you want to find any of those mentioned here on Twitter:
Me - nztebs
Simon - gianouts
Alan/The Falls - @thefallsnz

Cafe Review: Manuka - Devonport

We've brunched or late-lunched a few times at Manuka over the years, but it's always been a while between visits as we've usually left a little disppointed with the food and decidedly underwhelmed by the service. Not so anymore!

We were greeted politely and pleasantly, shown to a table immediately, had coffee orders taken straight away, and these arrived very quickly afterwards - and were good quality (trim latte for Simon, long black for me).

We ordered a half-and-half pizza (tandoori & mexican) with a side salad. Again, our order was taken in good timing, and arrived remarkably soon after ordering. The salad was lovely, the pizzas were quite frankly absolutely delicious! In particular, the Tandoori was great - great flavours, not too greasy, delicious fresh coriander sprinkled on top, and the yoghurt and mint sauce dotted amongst the chicken and the mango chutney was a really nice balance.

We were sitting right by the kitchen so saw a lot of meals being delivered as well - and they looked really good.

So yes, Manuka is back on the 'happy to go there' list, and I expect we'll be back sometime soon!

Bonjour Cafe, Arrowtown

I had lunch at Bonjour Cafe in Arrowtown on Saturday with several others and it was great and well priced.

I had a Galette (Savoury Crepe) with a lovely Racellete cheese filling which was very tasty and a good coffee.

Others thoroughly enjoyed their meals as we sat outside in what is a lovely setting. I will happily return.

Surprisingly good cafe on the North Shore - Solstice

We have had so many 'average' cafe experiences on the North Shore that we have all but given up on brunching in this area and tend to end up in Grey Lynn, Ponsonby or Herne Bay. Today we wanted to swing by the ice-breaker outlet store and as I had wasted the morning recovering from a hateful migraine that graced my head upon waking, we figured we'd risk somewhere new on the shore.

So we headed to Solstice - 30 Kell drive, Albany - little alley way right in the village, beside the library. I knew about it as I was on the mailing list from Mosaik - I'm not entirely sure about the history here, but I believe Solstice was set up by the owner (ex?) of Mosaik.

The setting was lovely, the service friendly and there was definitely some consistent staff training evident.

Coffee
We both had trim lattes (and I then also had a long black). Coffee was strong and good quality.

Food
Simon had the Tuscan beef stack - this was nicely presented, had a gorgeous char-grilled flavour, the salad was nice, overall a great dish. (Personally I thought the beef a little too cold, but Simon thought it was fine, although he did comment it was closer to blue than the requested rare).
I had the Seafood Chowder. This was really nice, appropriately rich, without being unpleasantly so, full of good size chunks of seafood. My only comment on this though, I would have liked to have seen it served with a piece of ciabatta or similar - this would have taken it from being a lovely chowder to being a great lunch. It just seemed a little incomplete - and I do find chowder benefits from having a piece of bread to break up the creamy richness.
We kind of shared an Apple Tarte Tatin - this was quite sweet (mostly due to the butterscotch sauce I think), but very nice, and the vanilla bean ice cream with it was delicious.

We would order all of these dishes again.

Other observations
Attention to detail was pretty good - we had lovely stemmed water glasses, and we wondered whether these would get refilled, and yes they did, with a small, but excusable delay. The menu was laid out beautifully, and unlike so many places we seem to visit on the shore, it was clean! Prices were also very reasonable.

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.