Ketching Up

In this post, I talk about food from 5 prior cities. These restaurants range from pub food to some rather upscale dining.

An Amuse Bouche, Hors D’oeuvres

The last time that you received this we were in the city of Hamilton which hosts great affordable dining options. Since then I’ve traveled to 6 different cities, all that have had great deals on both the food and drinks. Within these 6 cities Gabby and I have visited some incredible restaurants and pubs. Each of these restaurants were very different, had great deals, and some outstanding drinks. One of the restaurants that we visited really changed how I view the EKR system, by showing me what it takes to really be a 10.

Cocktail Offerings

For our short stay in Nelson, which was mostly rainy, we saw a cocktail bar and decided to give it a shot. This cocktail bar made me feel right at home by serving some out of this world cocktails. Kismet (10) had the best cocktail menu and taught you how certain alcohols are made. All of the flavor profiles you’re looking for in different types of whiskeys from all of the different regions they come from. I nerded out, and talked to the bartenders after we had finished our drinks on our first of two visits. On the first visit we got a brown butter old fashion and a peach tea old fashion, and on the second visit I got a boysenberry sour (not pictured because I forgot). All of the drinks were perfectly balanced and masterfully crafted.

Soup

While in the lovely city of Napier, Gabby and I stumbled upon a small restaurant serving some outstanding Malaysian food. Faith Hope Love Malaysian Cafe (8.7) was some of the best food I’ve had on this trip and incredibly memorable. I’ve never had Malaysian food before, and to say the least I am in love. I had their spicy beef rendang that was very spicy to say the least, but it didn’t take away from the flavors the short rib had to offer. Gabby had steamed chicken rice because her tummy hurt, even though something that seemed like a boring meal was anything but.

Appetizer

In the capital city of Wellington, Gabby and I started to get a little hangry and stumbled upon a restaurant called Chow Troy (8.1) that had a 2 for 1 deal. Even with the 2 for 1 deal it was a little pricy, which was a bummer, but the food was still delicious. Gabby and I shared these rice paper rolls and their angry edamame, then she got this red curry with lamb and I got a yellow chicken curry. Both were very fresh, but the lamb was a little too fatty for her liking.

We also got these delicious drinks that were shown on the main post, to be completely honest the drinks stole the show and were significantly better than the meals. I would recommend coming here for the drinks and some appetizers, but not necessarily for the main dishes because the pricing is a little steep.

Salad

During our time in the smelly egg city, Rotorua, we went to a restaurant that was a recommendation from the Airbnb host that we stayed with. Atticus Finch (9.3), named after a character from one of my all time favorite books To Kill a Mockingbird, was an outstanding experience. This restaurants menu had drinks named after characters from the book that were to die for, and a killer food menu on top of it. It’s served family style and the food doesn’t come out in courses, the food comes out once it’s ready. Once the line is done cooking each dish it gets ran to the table, cutting out the Karen’s that the service industry hates.

Main Course

The best restaurant that we’ve visited to date was a place in Wellington that was actually accidentally found on a walk on the way to Mount Victoria. Not only did this restaurant change the meaning of a 10, it opened my eyes to a whole new world of culinary genius. Field & Green (10) is a rather upscale restaurant that serves European soul food, and my lord is that food soulful. Field and green was also served family style, it was extremely fresh, had outstanding service, and an amazing ambiance. We split 5 courses and each of them made me recall a memory from my childhood, each bite and course touched my soul and almost brought me to tears. NO LIE. Not only would I say that you should travel just to come to this restaurant, I would go as far as to say that if you are in New Zealand and you don’t come to this restaurant, you should just stop and go home. Make sure that you reserve a table though, or else you won’t be getting a table.

Dessert

Right as Gabby and I stepped off of the bus in Blenheim, we were foaming at the mouths from hunger. Not knowing exactly where to go we just walked into town and went to the first place that had a deck where we could eat outside. This cafe was Dolce (8.3) and it didn’t fail to impress.

We split fries with garlic aioli, Gabby had a Tuscan pizza that was actually up to par for two New Jersey natives and I got the lumberjack speciale. I was craving breakfast food and this delivered by having: 3 pieces of bacon, 2 poached eggs on 2 pieces of ciabatta garlic bread, a potato rosti, 3 pancakes with strawberry compote and powdered sugar, and maple syrup. I was a kid in a candy store, a kid on Christmas, a fat kid with a cake that was left all alone with nobody around. It was slightly pricy, but the food was out of this world.

Mignardise

Another place that we went to in Wellington that was recommended by our Airbnb host, Gordon, was a bakery down an alley called Goods (8.7). Gordon praised this place for having the best almond croissants, and he was right. I got an almond croissant and a ham and cheese croissant, neither of which disappointed. Both were baked to perfection, and we got there early enough for them to just put out the batch so everything was still warm. They both were perfectly flaky, had a great amount of filling, and didn’t break the bank. If you’re in the area I would definitely recommend.

Digestif

Throughout our travels, I have been tasting new foods and have been growing culinarily because of it. Not only did I find inspiration from these new flavors, I found a new passion and desire to cook. Gabby told me that she had been having stomach issues, and that she couldn’t eat certain things that are staples for me in the kitchen. I took the challenge head on in Wellington, and this is what I came up with.

Quinoa salad inspired by Tabouleh

Ingredients

• 1 cup of quinoa

• 2 cups of chicken stock (can use beef or vegetable)

• 1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into thin strips

• 1 medium carrot, peeled, and chopped into 1/4 in pieces

• 1 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped

• 1 bunch of mint, finely chopped

• 1/2 of an avocado, cut into large chunks

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1 or 2 tsp of red pepper flakes

• 2 Tbsp of butter

• 4 Tbsp of good olive oil

• 1 Tbsp of honey

• 5 cloves of garlic, minced

• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Thoroughly rinse your quinoa in water, and then add it to a pot with the chicken stock. Bring it to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover it. Let it do its thing for 15 minutes, but make sure that it doesn’t boil over or else you’ll have a huge mess.

2. While the quinoa is cooking, get a pan hot (on medium heat) and add a tablespoon of olive oil and butter. Add your carrots cook until they are fork tender, but they still have a little snap to them, approximately 5 minutes. Make sure you season them with salt and pepper right as they hit the pan.

3. Take the carrots out of the pan, and set them aside in a large glass bowl. In the same pan, add the onions and another tablespoon of butter. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes*. Then add the red pepper flakes and cook for another 3 minutes, then add the honey and cook for another 5 minutes.

   *By this time in the process take the quinoa off the heat, leave covered and let sit for 10 minutes*

4. Once the onions are caramelized, and the quinoa has sat for 10 minutes, add it all to the glass bowl with the carrots. Add the last of the garlic, and fold everything together. Put the bowl in the fridge to cool until the mixture is cold or room temperature.

5. Once the mixture is cooled down, mix in your herbs, the rest of the olive oil, the lemon juice, and avocado. Now it’s ready to be served.

Indian seasoned Meatballs

Ingredients

• 500g (1 pound) of ground beef

• 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

• 1 or 2 tsp red pepper flake

• 2 egg yolks

• 1.5 to 2 Tbsp Cilantro, roughly chopped

• 1 heaping tsp of turmeric powder

• 2 heaping tsp of curry powder

• Olive oil for cooking the meatballs, and 2 Tbsp butter

Method

1. Mix all of the ingredients into a bowl just until it’s all incorporated together, so you don’t over mix the meat and make it tough. Let the mix sit to room temperature covered.

2. Form the mixture into 8 balls.

3. Put a medium sized pan on medium high heat, and then add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom of the pan. Add all of the meatballs to the pan and sear all sides, about 8 minutes.

4. Once the balls are seared all around, add the butter and baste them for another 4 minutes.

5. Drain off excess oil and butter from the meatballs, and serve.

   

   ** Underneath the meatballs I put lemon garlic hummus, and then topped both the salad and balls with goat cheese. We also had Sauv Blanc w this, although the traditional wine pairing would be red (Syrah or Grenache).