Paihia

If you ever think about visiting Paihia, there isn't many places to eat as it is a small town. So if you stay there for a few days or go there quite often you'll end up eating at the same places all the time. We often eat out at the fish and chip shop but because it was our anniversary we decided to try 35 Degrees South Aqaurium Restaurant which is beautifully located in the heart of Paihia over the water and you won't miss it. It provides a unique dining experience over the water with a central 60 000 litre salt water aquarium filled with local fish.


The food is good, with the serving size quite small for the price it is at:


Paihia is a great place for culture, fine dining, adverture, and beaches. It is definately one of my favourite places to visit which is not too far to drive to.

35 Degrees South Aqaurium

Location:
69 Marsden Road
Paihia, Northland 0200
(09) 402 6281
Open daily: 7.30am-11pm

Iguacu

I thought i'll just post some more places that I've tried for those that may have come across decisions to make on where to eat.

Iguacu is located along Parnell Road and you will know where it is because of the outdoor and indoor setting. It is voted as Best New Zealand and Auckland restaurant of year 2007 & 2008 in hospitality magazines. They do breakfast, brunch, lunch, cocktails, dinner, tapas and yummy desserts. There is a cost to all the good location, good food and presentation and that is the price!!!

We hardly dine out in Western restaurants because it simply is quite expensive with a main costing about $30 and when you are in that atmosphere you will tend to order some entree, wine, and dessert. Thank God Marcus won a voucher and we used it on Valentines day and happily indulged ourselves!

I had the fish of the day with some sort of tomato puree with grilled vegetables. The fish was delicious and it felt like I was eating some pasta sauce though.


Beneath those spinach leaves is the HUGE fish and vegetables:


Marcus had confit of pork belly on a fennel and cumin seed mash:


Iguacu

Location:
269 Parnell Road, Parnell

Price: Medium to High
Food: 9.5/10 for presentation and taste (it's worth the price for that special occasion)
Atmosphere: 9/10
Service: 9/10 although they do tend to clear your plates fast after you finish

Karin Japanese Restaurant

Karin is another Japanese restaurant tucked in the side street of Parnell. I wanted to try another Japanese restaurant without going back to RENKON.

I wanted to try something different so I had grilled tofu steaks with home made terinaki sauce served with vegetables on a hot plate. This is a highly recommended dish if you feel like eating tofu obviously or vegetarian! The sauce is nice and the lightly crispy coating of the tofu as you bite into it is all worth it.


Karin compared to Renkon has more variety. They serve the usual side dishes, tempuras, hot pots, udon, rice dishes, sushi, sashimi, fried rice, dinner courses which includes soup, salad, rice, meat, dessert and prices depends on the type of course.

Karin Japanese Restaurant

2F 237 Parnell Road, Parnell

Price: reasonable
Food: 9/10 for taste and variety to choose from
Atmosphere: 9/10 - quiet and you have to go upstairs to the restaurant
Service: 9.5/10

You can check thier website for menu and pricing: www.karin.co.nz

Renkon Parnell

One of my favourite places to eat is Renkon in Parnell because of the simplicity of the food. If you want to quick Japanese fix Renkon is great because all main dish cost $10 and the portion is just right - not too big not too small. Renkon Parnell used to do two sizes for 2 prices, small and large. I would normally order some chicken or salmon dish but I felt like trying thier eel and it was quite nice.

Grilled eel on udon:


Karaage fried chicken on rice:


I also enjoy the side dishes such as Takoyaki (baked/fried octopus balls), and their tofu.

Renkon Parnell Japanese Eat in & Takeaway

Location:
211 Parnell Road, Parnell

Price: Reasonable $10 per dish
Food: 9/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Small restaurant that often gets busy during weekend nights. They do many takeaway orders. This is a great place that I come here after evening church service because it's quick and simple!

"Yum" Char at Sunworld!

Sun World in New Market did not used to have dim sum served but only within the last few months they started doing yum char which was definately good news for me!

Today, went to have yum char with Hui Cheng and Steven after an early morning service (still tired). I finally took some pictures of some of the food to help with my blogging ;P
There is nothing different about the food here but nothing bad so that's good.
However, when we thought we had enough something caught my eye.....I thought I eyed ma lai koh (malay sponge cake) and stopped the waitress to put it on our table! I had to have it regardless and am glad I did because it was a special malay sponge cake with some custard layer in between the cake which made it taste rather different. You won't find this dish anywhere else in Auckland or at least not that I know of!

Cha Siew Bao:


Sparibs:


Siu Long Bao:


Octopus:


Fried meat dumplings:


Siew Mais:


Har Gaos:


Lo mai Baos: It's something new I don't see in other yum char places. It's like lor mai gai but wrapped in bao bread:


My favourite part of yum char/dim sum are the "sweet" food!!!
Polo Baos:


Custard type paste inside the polo bao:


The polo bao was a little salty...I still prefer the ones at Grand Park

Lotus paste buns:

Lotus paste creaming out...yum!: The lotus baos reminds me of the ones in Singapore small and the filling is packed inside steaming hot and creamy!


Malay sponge cake: There are layers of some yellow custard in between which made the cake very special. I would order this again anytime!


Banana cream pancakes:


Egg tarts:


Overall I think this is a nice dim sum place to go to. It's central and parking upstairs is discounted if eating in Sunworld. You can also park upstairs of Rialto and get 2 hour free parking by purchasing something from the shops below. Also, they are not so strict in kicking you out like in Grand Park and thier food is reasonably nice and have the usual dim sum favorites.

SunWorld New Millenuim

Location:
2 York St
New Market

I rate it 8/10 overall. You probably need to book because it does get very crowded!

Chinese bakeries in Auckland

For those that are into sweets, bakeries and the like I've decided to post some of the asian bakeries here in Auckland. I remember googling asian bakeries in Auckland but there isn't much of a description on the type of food sold there. Hence here is little extract of what is available especially if you crave for something back home.

There are a few asian bakeries around in Auckland that has grown over the last few years. Classic Bake house would be my favorite because of the varieties and thier soft bread. There are 3 of these located in Greenlane, Northcote and Highland Park. My favourite there would be Pork floss roll, banana cake with a sponge layer outside, taro and pudding bread, Tuna bun and thier other speciality cakes. Thier bread is soft and the cakes are not too sweet. They also sell kuays, cream puffs, sponge cake, cheese cakes and the usual polo, red bean, taro buns. This bakery is owned by a Malaysian and reminds me of the bakeries like Bread Talk and Bread Story back home in Singapore/Malaysia. I really like it and it's quite bad because I would use to go there everyday just for the pork floss bun..now it's probably once a week because it's not on the way!

Rio bakery in Meadowlands has nice taro pork floss bun and otherwise they have similar cakes and bread with Classic Bakery. I think this is a taiwanese type bakery.

New Market Choice bakery has nice chestnut sponge cake which has a layer of chestnut paste in the middle and cost $2.10 for a piece. Thier Japanese cheesecake is also not bad although it's not sweet for me. They sell mooncakes and sometimes in the morning steam buns and siew mais. I like thier red bean paste bun because it is not full of "beans". They also have cute little chicken and tuna pies. This bakery is more towards the Hong Kong style bread.

Dominion Road Well done bakery is also not bad too, I use to buy thier taro pork floss bomb everyday before work just to satisfy my greed...when you bite into the bun the taro paste n pork floss goes together so well. Other than that, i think thier other bread is too hard not as soft and smooth as Classic Bakery. This is a taiwanese bakery. Well done bakery sells thier bread in some Star Mart located in the city as well. The costs of their bread is higher than other bakeries.

Along the same road but further away from the city is Focus Bakery which I seldom visit because it's quite far and I guess there is nothing there that stands out that I can't get from another bakery. However, it's good to know so many bakeries exists and are everywhere.

1 and a half years ago, I found a new bakery near my place called Good Luck Bakery which looked very run down and catered to the locals selling the usual sandwiches and pies. I went in and was surprised to see they sell asian breads too! Here I reckon they are good for their wife/lo por beng and mooncakes. This is owned by a taiwanese. It is just located along Manukau Road opposite Pak n save. I come here often during mooncake festival because they sell freshly made mooncakes and thier wife biscuit is not very sweet. (This is no longer there and is now a normal bakery)

There are also bakeries that are located within chinese supermarkets such as Silver Bell in Dominion Road, Tai Ping on Dominion Road, T Mart in New Market and Tofu Shop which sells Ma lai Ko (Malay sponge cake) and other kuays.

And today I found a new bakery:
Went for dinner at Meadowlands and noticed there was a new cafe opened there. It's called Baking Castle and they basically sold the same bread as other asian bakeries with one or two "different" bread. Other than that it did not stand out as much as Classic Bakery which is my favourite Asian Bakery. It was very quiet because the lady at the counter was sleeping with her head down on the table and when I walked in the ding dong sound went off and I suppose that was her que to wake up ;)



I bought a red bean pastry thing and the pastry tasted like it was left out for ages. Really disappointed.

The number of asian bakeries have grown over the years. I remember the times when Classic Bakery was the only asian bakery I knew in Auckland but now it's everywhere! You really don't have to go back home to satisfy alot of cravings now.

Classic Bakehouse:
1 Marewa Road, Greenlane
1-33 Pearn Road, Northcote
329 Aviemore Road, Highland Park

Well Done Bakery:
283 Dominion Road, Mt Eden

Choice Bakery:
8 Teed St, New Market

Rio Kitchen
B5-125 Meadowland Drive, Howick

Good Luck Bakery:
774 Manukau Road, Royal Oak

Bakers Castle:
Meadowland Drive, Howick

Focus Bakery:
867-875 Dominion Road, Mt Roskill

Craving for pancakes

I had cravings for pancakes every weekend, not the ones at macdonalds and not wafers...I wanted pancakes drizzled with maple syrup and topped with bananas. So we googled pancakes in Auckland and couldnt find anything so decided just go to Parnell and check out the cafes.

I've always wanted to try Dunk cafe when I go to the post office while working at Euroasia...and so we did! And guess what???? There were pancakes!!!! Blueberry pancakes, banana and bacon pancakes....yum yum. I had the berry pancakes and it was hmmm nice but it felt a little strange having warm pancakes with COLD berries...it just didnt go for me. However, it satisfied my craving for pancakes. The hot chocolate was creamy and SWEET! As you can see I had a very "sweet" time.




Marcus had hash brown tower which has baked beans (which causes gas by the way), mushrooms, hash brown, bacon topped with an egg. It wasn't that tall of a tower though.


So...I would definately go back again and try other food. They have cabinet food and lots of slices as well and DATE SCONES!!! Now i know where to go for pancake cravings...and i'll try the banana and bacon next time! Coffee is great too because it's allpress coffee which is always good!


Dunk Cafe

Location:
297 Parnell Road

7/10 for food because they served me COLD (more like frozen) berries on my pancakes
7/10 for service
7/10 for atmosphere, can be abit noisy as the cafe is not that big

Carol and Paul's wedding day

Carol's wedding was amazing! Her wedding was held at Huia beach which is about 40 mins drive from the city. The weather was part raining part sunny like a typical Auckland weather. It was beautiful as because gathered around to witness the union of the lovely couple Carol and Paul. The wedding started off with harps playing, ceremony,tea ceremony, photo taking and lots of fruits to munch on before lunch at the Huia Hall.



Her wedding gown was beautifully made by her sister Charis within less than a month! I know...they are all really talented hats off to them!
All the bridesmaid made thier own dresses.

Carol made her own wedding cake and I think her friends helped decorate it with icing. The cake was yum!! I think it was fruit cake and chocolate cake. I had the chocolate cake which was moist and delicious..


I did't have battery left on my camera so I couldn't take the food that people contributed. There were curry chicken, curry lamb, salads, chickn nibbles, wild rice, pasta salad, lots of fruits, bee hoon, and big prawns followed by slices and the wedding cake.


Carol left with Paul on his motobike.....broom brooom..quite a nice picture actually with the bride on the motobike taking off!!!

Dim sum in Auckland

Different dim sum places serve different things and hence if you have a certain craving you will have to drive all the way to that place just to eat it!

Here are some dim sum places that have thier own specialty besides the usual Siew Mai, Har gau, sar siew pao, rice rolls, etc etc. There are other interesting dishes that I wouldnt have tried because I am more interested in the sweet stuff...so you wont really find any thing about chicken feet, pig stomach etc etc...

China in city : Durian and cream mochi

Grand Harbour in city : vanilla ice cream mochi

Grand Park in Greenlane: Polo Bao with custard inside : one of the best polo buns in Auckland, Pastry roll with taro paste topped with almond flakes

Star cafe in Dannemora : Ma Lai Koh : a brown sponge cake

Sunworld in New Market: Still one of the best Lotus (ling yong) Bao

Sichuan in Remuera: Red bean bao (not that great but if you are craving for red bean baos they have them here), Char Siew baos here are small and juicier than others

Crown at Papatoetoe : Dorin says got Durian egg tarts which I'm still yet to try!!

Overall, I think most of these dim sum places have thier own good points. However, Grand Habour and Grand Park has more variety but very very busy...

Many dim sum places closed such as KK in Ellerslie and Lotto in New Market and perhaps more have closed and I'm unaware of.

Would love to know more places that serves good dim sums! Any suggestions please let me know ;)

Now I have to remember to take pictures so that I can show you how they look like!

Dreamers Cafe

This morning I met up with Carol and my cousins LE and Dan at this cafe just along Great South Road. The first time that I went was with LE and I was happy! Why? 1) They had date scone. 2) they had banana cake, both of which falls in my favourite bakery items and 3) The cafe was not a normal cafe as I expected.

Thier food cabinet which consist mainly of sweet food:


Ok, so I've tried the date scone and it was alright. Banana cake was quite nice but there was this strong taste and LE thought it was chocolate but I think it was just the black bits of the banana when cooked.

Soy hot chocolate:


It is basically part cafe part jewellery shop that sells bags, gifts, books, hand made jewelleries. It seems like the smaller and hidden away the cafe is, the better the coffee and the ambience. As you can see, the tables are right next to the items. Actually it reminds me of the chocolate boutique in Parnell where we sit next to the chocolate gifts, dairies etc etc.




Dan and LE posing:


The cafe was part indoor and also outside in the patio which is great for SUMMER!

This is us girls outside the cafe which if you never go in, you will never know what goes beyond: It's a little bit like knowing God haha I know it's random...well if we don't allow God to come into our hearts, we will never know how GREAT he is and what is install for us!


Btw, this catch up was to hear the happy story of carol's engagement! SO so so HAPPY for her!!!! It's so romantic....you should hear thier story and thank God Paul didn't get any injury on his feet while hiding the ring box in his sock the whole time!

Dreamers Cafe

Location:
148 Great South Road, Remuera (next to post office)

Ratings:
7/10 for food
9/10 for service
9/10 for atmosphere for being outdoors and indoors