London - Wahaca

So there I was; bags packed, cameras in tow and ready to set off on two painstakingly long flights as I embarked on my OE.

While it felt like I was about to explore unseen places and make my mark on the world I was hardly breaking the mould, I was following a path to London worn in by many Kiwis before me. Just another bag pushing the 23kg weight limit, another wallet stuffed full of pounds...just another farewell on the well trodden red carpet at the Auckland International Airport departures gate.

Knowing many have gone before me doesn't make it any easier though; a long few weeks of goodbyes, many tears, and about 4 garbage bags full of things I couldn't take with me later, I was absolutely shattered and looking forward to the 24 hours of confined movie watching and sleeping ahead.

So finally, after two flights, one train, and two tubes later I emerged from the depths of the London Underground to a blaze of sunshine (don't worry, I won't get used to it), and a flurry of almost laughably cliched red double-decker buses and black cabs. I had most definitely arrived.

Of course one of the appeals of London is the food. While the NZ food scene is in it's prime with trendy new places opening each week, I greedily wanted more, and more I will certainly get. With it's never ending stream of new openings, pop-ups, and what seems like an ridiculous amount of burger restaurants, I had arrived in my very own foodie-heaven.

My first meal out, and the eventual point of this post is Wahaca; a trendy Mexican restaurant chain in Soho. Tat and I visited for lunch, and immediately I was impressed by the cool decor. Admittedly I was (and still am) wide-eyed and impressionable after less that 24 hours in the city, but I think anyone would agree that this place had nailed it.

We eased in with guacamole to start, with corn chips and fennel dusted pork scratchings as our dipping vessels.

Photo-shy Tat (or maybe she just doesn't like me taking photos while she had a mouth full of guac) and I shared a few dishes from the main menu, but they do do an epic weekday lunch special for 10 pounds which looked pretty damn good too.

We weren't too hungry so only ordered a few things - the prawn and scallop ceviche tostada, and the fiery pork tacos to share.

We were told this wouldn't be enough food but were both left groaning in our seats, thankful that we had a walk home to relieve us.

The food was quick, delicious and reasonably cheap (even with me converting everything to NZD in my head), and I left buzzing after my first gastronomic adventure in the city that will soon be my home (well, second home).

Mexico

Not Mexico the country (I wish), but Mexico the restaurant.

But hey, it's as close to Mexico as you can get living in the middle of Auckland, and I'm not about to complain. In fact, I'm going to do just the opposite and tell you how great this restaurant is.

Mexico opened it's first store in Britomart a few years ago, and started off with a roaring trade. I ate there regularly, and watched in wonder to see if like many new restaurants, people would get sick of it as soon as the next best thing came along. But no, the customers remained, the restaurant only got better, and then franchised out to became one of Auckland's favourite eateries.

I had been meaning to check out Mexico's newest addition for a while, so, after being away for a long weekend with the girls, I thought I'd drag James along to Mexico Ponsonby for dinner, where we sat outside under colourful blankets, and ate our way through the delicious menu.

I started off with my favourite of their cocktails- the black plum margarita, while James went with a good ol' Corona. The margaritas are to die for, but if you don't fancy alcohol then the Jarritos are pretty damn good too, and a great alternative.

The food at Mexico is designed to be shared, so what I usually do is chose a taco each and a whole lot of other dishes for the table. After a small argument about the merits of coriander (come on who doesn't like coriander!) we went with chickpea patatas, octopus and chorzo pinchos, and Mexico's famous fried chicken to share, along with the fish taco for James, and the blackened duck taco for myself.

The fried chicken was, and always is delicious, and won dish of the night, followed in a close second by my delicious blackened duck taco.

Apart from the fried chicken, one of my favourite things about Mexico is that the menu changes fairly frequently, meaning you can go back time and time again trying new concoctions, creations and flavours that never disappoint (not that I need an excuse to go!).

Whether you go to Mexico in Hamilton, Takapuna, Ponsonby, Ellerslie, Britomart, or wherever they open up next, the food is always fantastic, it's good value, and is definitely worth a visit.

Pop Dining - Chilli Dilly's Yo!

Chilli Dilly's is the brainchild of Allanah Tatana a.k.a The Girl with the Rhyming Name. She's a Kiwi born, London bred foodie who likes it HOT.

Inspired by the awesome pop-up dining scene in London, and the lack of a damn good chilli in NZ (correct me if you know of a good one, please) she decided to team up with Pop Dining, and give us Kiwi's a chilli wake up call.

Chilli Dilly's last event took over Verona on K'Road on a chilly (mind the pun) Wednesday night. Feeling a bit sniffly and sore throaty and sorry for myself, I figured a dose of chilli was probably what the doctor would order. Not entirely sure if the doctor would have ordered the margaritas, but you never know.

We got there almost bang on start time at 6pm and the place was already packed, the Mariachi band was in full swing, and the chilli was flowing. In respect for the un-carnivorous among us, the menu had vegan options all the way through, and they sounded so good that I uncharacteristically ordered a vegan entree (also ordered the pulled pork entree obviously. Overkill? I think not).

The food came quickly and it was amazing- I'm not just being nice here, Allanah's cool but I dunno if I would lie about food for her. The hero of the night was aptly named 'The Bum Burner'; hot, tender and rich chilli with a pang of freshness. Despite the name though, there was more than just chilli on offer. I also tried the vegan pumpkin mole, the succulent pulled pork and the chilli chocolate mousse, all of which packed a punch and gave the chilli a run for it's money.

Chilli Dilly's have a pretty snazzy website here so you can keep an eye on when their next event will be, and while you're at it check out Pop Dining here for the latest, hippest makeshift restaurants around Auckland.

NB: If you're a 'mild butter chicken' kind of person then maybe sneak a milk carton into the restaurant. You've been warned...

Spicy Steak Tacos

I love chilli. I love it so much that I'm leading a one man battle campaigning to sneak chilli into every dinner (shh, don't tell).

Luckily, Mexican food and chilli are best friends. So join my campaign and grab a few friends, a few margaritas, your sombrero (compulsory) and cook up my Spicy Steak Tacos- Ole!

There are quite a few processes here so as with any recipe feel free to chop and change it where you like. If you're short of time or just plain can't be bothered you don't have to pickle your onions, or on the other hand if you want to be a hero you could make your own soft tacos. Up to you!

Pickled Pink Onions

• 1 red onion sliced finely
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

Put all of the above ingredients into a small saucepan and cook for a few minutes until the onion softens. Cool, and put the onions with the liquid into a jar. First step complete!

Salsa Verde

Don't be scared off by the tomatillos in this, they're just green tomatoes! You can buy the tins from specialty Mexican food stores or places like Farro- and it's worth the effort.

• 1 tin of tomatillos (approx 380 grams)
• 3 green chillies
• 3 pickled chillies
• 1 Garlic clove
• Handful of coriander (leave some over to garnish your tacos though)
• Juice of 1 lime

Also don't be scared off by the amount of chilli, I would recommend starting with less and adding them as you go depending on how hot you like it and also how hot the chillies are. 

Put all of the above ingredients into a food processor and give it a good whiz. Taste it, add more chilli if needed and a sprinkle of sea salt to taste. Step 2 done! (You can have a sip of your margarita now, you've earned it).

Lime Crema

• 1 tub of creme fraiche (approx 250 grams)
• 2 Limes
• 1 Garlic clove, crushed
• sea salt

Using a fork, whip together the creme fraiche with the zest and juice of one of the limes. Add in the garlic and sea salt to taste. Put the creme fraiche into your serving bowl and grate the zest of the second lime over the top to garnish.  Well ain't that pretty.

The Rest

• Rump steak
• Cajun seasoning
• Ground cumin
• Veges to serve
• Lime wedges
• Small soft tacos

Rub the beef in an even quantity of cajun and cumin. If you have a griddle pan or a BBQ handy that would be perfect but any pan will do. Either way, get it smoking hot and cook the steaks rare to medium rare. Let them rest for 5 minutes.

While your beef is resting get your veges sorted. I chose red cabbage, carrot, and coriander with  lime wedges to serve and it was deeeelish, but this bit is totally up to you. Whatever you choose, slice it, dice it and chuck 'em on a big plate with your warm tortillas so everyone can help themselves.

Sadly we didn't have margaritas, but aside from that the meal was pretty damn good. You can prep the condiments well in advance, and because of that it's perfect for feeding a hungry crowd without having to resort to sausages in white bread.

Load up your taco with a bit of everything, and with a tip of your sombrero and a twirl of your Mexican moustache take a huge bite and let the Mexi deliciousness sink in.