Taste of Auckland 2013

Over the weekend Victoria Park was transformed into a sea of white tents for the annual Taste of Auckland food festival. Sarah and I moseyed down on Friday afternoon, just as the sun decided to make a much appreciated appearance. Despite almost bursting at the seams after an indulgent afternoon at The Blue Breeze Inn, I had just enough room to fit in a few more dishes.

We started off wandering around the stalls sipping Ranga ginger-beer cocktails, before we bumped into some fellow food loving friends (although they may have been more interested in the wine...)

Our next stop was the Fisher and Paykel 'Perfect Roast' stall, where we were given a little sample of roast, along with a sheet of paper to guess what ingredients were used (pretty sure we nailed it!).

Along with all of the stalls, some of Auckland's best restaurants had food on offer. I started with oysters from Depot (spot Al Brown!), which were being shucked fresh for the hungry crowds of oyster addicts.

Next stop was Toto, where I went for the beautifully tender calamari, while Sarah chose the Porchetta slider. By this stage I was disappointedly full- so much food, so little room- so we went and sat down, listened to the live music, and gave our food time to digest.

For dessert Sarah chose some Petal cupcakes, along with some brownie to take home, while I went to the Fish restaurant stall to try their amazing dish of chocolate popcorn, dark chocolate marquise, popcorn icecream, popcorn milk, and caramel chocolate wafer.

By this time our precious sun had disappeared, our drinks were empty, and our stomachs so full we practically had to roll home.

I hope a lot of you managed to make it down to Taste, it was an awesome event, and I for one will definitely be back in 2014 for another evening of gourmet gluttony.

Taste of Auckland Giveaway

In a few weeks Taste of Auckland will transform Victoria Park into a culinary heaven for Auckland foodies. Chefs from some of my favourite restaurants like Depot, Toto, and NSP, will be serving up some of their best sample dishes, alongside 120 of New Zealand's favourite artisan food and drink producers.

It is running from the 14th-17th November, and based on previous years it is bound to be an awesome day. I will definitely be there with a camera in one hand and a pile of food in the other, and thanks to the team at Taste of Auckland for sending me a few extra tickets, you can be too- woohoo!

I have one double pass to giveaway to a lucky, food loving winner, so, if this event sounds like your cup of tea then please email your name, postal address, and the name of your favourite Auckland eatery to theoysterweekend@gmail.com, with the subject line 'Taste of Auckland'.

Easy enough? I think so. Entries close this Thursday 7th November, and the randomly selected winner will be notified on Friday.

Good luck!


*This giveaway has now ended*