Burger & Lobster

Ahh, what a place. A place where the only choice you need to make is between burger and lobster. Indecisive, frantic, panic stricken menu readers like myself thrive in this environment, completely at ease, and smug with a sub 5 minute decision. 

I'll admit, there was a wave of food envy when the burger appeared, only to be heightened by the thought of missing out on a lobster roll too. But then, out comes an impressive grilled lobster - all for me. 

I was out with my team at work - but this was no place for workplace niceties. There was cracking, sucking, and all round messiness (note the bibs...).

The lobster was delicious, and accompanied with a rich boat of garlic butter, which I am ashamed (but also a little bit proud) to say that I completely polished off. The lobster portions aren't huge though- so if you're hungry I would opt for a burger.

Burger and Lobster is a classic London joint - somewhere I had been looking forward to visiting before I had even left New Zealand, and somewhere I will definitely be visiting again!

Depot

Before Al Brown conquered the world (well, at least Auckland) with his fabulous bagels, he captured the Auckland food scene with his flagship restaurant and oyster bar Depot. Suddenly, cheap cuts of steak, wine in tumbler glasses, and fish sliders became the height of fashion.

Depot has been around for a few years, but you'll still find lines out the door on any busy night. But on this Tuesday night James and I lucked in and were granted a seat right away- boo yah!

We started with the complimentary flatbread and a jug of Moa beer to share. We had some tough decisions with the menu, but the one thing we can always agree on are the snapper sliders. These are remarkable delicious, and set off perfectly with a pickled lemon mayo and watercress.

The other dishes that made the cut were the lamb ribs with skordalia (thick puree) and cumin paprika oil, along with the skirt steak with tabacco onions, iceberg wedge and habanero mustard. The rib meat literally falls off the bone as you pick up each piece, and the skirt steak- a notoriously tough cut of meat is beautifully tender and tasty. Although they're delicious, both of the meat dishes we tried were quite rich, so I would recommend grabbing a salad on the side, or mixing it up with some more of the seafood dishes on offer.

The food at Depot is consistently good, and showcases the best of NZ produce and seafood. The service is great, the setting casual and the prices are very reasonable. Unfortunately you can't book at Depot so it's not ideal for large groups, but it's my favourite easy date night haunt and impresses me every single time (I'm sure the sliders are brainwashing me).

Baduzzi

Last Sunday we took Mumma down to Wynyard Quarter for her birthday lunch. Being a big fan of Italian food (well, a fan of most types of food actually), and a HUGE fan of meatballs I was pretty excited to head to the snazzy new Italian meatball restaurant Baduzzi.

The decor is fantastic and subtly retro, however, the outside seating feels a bit slapped together, so if I were you I'd head there for dinner, when you can sit inside and enjoy the atmosphere.

The menu is a fascinating blend of New Zealand and Italy, which we made the most of by starting off the Coromandel crayfish meatballs. Both these, and the wagyu meatballs that followed were incredible. And while I ever so slightly favoured the crayfish, the wagyu was amazing and cooked perfectly pink.

We followed the meatballs with the veal melanzane, the beetroot and paua tagiatelle, and the pulled milk fed goat. The melanzane was from the smaller 'picollo' menu (although all dishes seemed to be the same size), and it was one of my favourites. The beetroot tagiatelle definitely got the prize for being the prettiest, but after the intensity of the other dishes seemed somewhat underwhelming. Last of all was the goat, which was beautifully tender - yes goat can be tender, and sitting on a bed of creamy polenta.

To be honest, the food wasn't quite what I expected- I was imagining rustic, hearty, Italian food; slabs of bread and tables laid with checkered tablecloths, when instead, out comes dish after dish of beautifully refined and intricate dishes.

With a stomach full of meatballs, and a few wines deep, we weren't so keen on walking home. So, in true Auckland style, we put Sammy in Mum's bag and snuck into a taxi, just hoping he wouldn't bark and give himself away.

Baduzzi completely exceeded my expectations; the food is of an incredibly high standard, and the prices are very affordable. If you haven't been already, put Baduzzi at the top of your hit list, and head down there for dinner.

And remember to order the crayfish meatballs!

BYO Lunch at SPQR

SPQR- Call it what you may, but it's an Auckland institution, and a bloody good one at that. Frequented by NZ celebrities (all 3 of them), loud groups of lunchers, every advertising agency in Auckland, and every other Ponsonby dweller in between, SPQR is the place to eat and drink the summer afternoons away.

Suzie, Mum and I were long overdue for a catch up, so over the weekend we decided to grab a few bottles of wine, and head into SPQR for their BYO Sunday Lunch deal, where for $55 each you are treated to a three course meal with BYO wine. Usually after a long afternoon of food and wine at SPQR your wallet might take a bit of a hit (especially if the magnum bottles of Veuve take your fancy), but this sneaky wee deal means you can walk out with your bank account intact.

Between the three of us we made our way through the entire Sunday Lunch menu. For entrees I started off with perfectly cooked crisp asparagus with goats cheese and pine nuts. Suzie went for the delicious oven baked scallops, and Mumma Bear went for the whitebait fritter. We swapped, tasted and happily nibbled our way through the dishes- our appetites perfectly whet for the mains to come.

A few glasses of wine down, and our mains arrived. The duck confit for Suzie, champagne snapper for Mum, and the scotch fillet for myself. The snapper was a lighter meal, and absolutely delicious, as were both the slightly more substantial and perfectly cooked steak and duck dishes.

Finally, we chose our desserts. I couldn't go past the tiramisu which was light, rich, creamy and served with sticky marinated strawberries, while Suzie photo-bombed her amazing chocolate orange tart, and Mum (who is determined to forever dislike desserts) went for the cheese.

All of the dishes were impeccable, and very good value for their money. I think my favourite was the champagne snapper, which was perfectly cooked and almost swimming (ha) in a buttery champagne sauce.

After catching the last rays of afternoon sun, and polishing off the rest of the wine, we nipped across the road to pick up some flowers, and left the remainder of the SPQR patrons to settle into their champagne filled afternoons.

Ladies Lunch at Soul Bar

Soul Bar deserves more than a few snaps on my phone, but I couldn't resist telling everyone about the Ladies @ Lunch deal on there at the moment. So, until I head back when the sun is shining with my camera in hand, here is a quick snapshot of yesterday's lunch at Soul.

In celebration of beautiful Allanah's birthday, a group of us from work braved the storm and headed down to the Viaduct to Soul Bar. An institution on Auckland's waterfront, Soul Bar has a reputation for great seafood, flowing Moet champagne, and being the place to be during the America's Cup (hmph...).

The ladies lunch deal is awesome, we ended up sharing the entrees, so each had a three course meal, a glass of wine, tea and coffee to finish for $29.50 each. Not bad! To make life easier I did some sweet menu copying and pasting below.

MENU
To start
Crushed avocado, jalapeno, warm jou jou bread

Main_Choice of
Skillet seared chicken, broccoli orzo salad, goats' feta, pistachio
OR
Ora King salmon fillet, citrus risotto + new season asparagus

Dessert
Salted caramel ice-cream, dark chocolate ganache and toffee popcorn

Espresso coffee or tea selection

WHEN:  Thursday September 5th to Sunday 6th October
TIME: 11am onwards
PRICE: $29.50 per person
STATUS: Bookings available

The meals were all surprisingly delicious for under $30, but the dessert - oh my the dessert was absolutely amazing (I may have eaten two servings of it).

The deal is on until the 6th of October, so before time runs out, round up your girls and make a booking. Chop chop!