My Kitchen

Sorry guys – I’ve been lazy. Period. But have been eating a lot as I have gained weight, or probably a combination of being lazy and eating.

My Kitchen is located on 543, Dominion Road. They have a takeaway section, and dine-in section upstairs. Weekends tend to be quite busy. I’ve been here a few times, some samples below:

Wine Chicken.

Dumplings.

Taiwanese Sausage (Spicy).

Tofu with Century Egg.

Beef Brisket on Rice.

Curry Chicken on Rice.

Fried Chicken Chop on Rice.

Japanese Pork Chop on Rice.

I didn’t manage to take note of the price – but the dishes that come with rice are reasonable, hovering around $12 I think. There are plenty of side dishes which are great, I think around $10. Portions are good.

There isn’t much to say but it’s a great place to try out. Do go for the rice dishes, unless you’re really hungry, you can get the side dishes. There’s been many times the food cannot be finished!!

Rating = 8.5/10.

J’s Tea

If you’re a big fan of bubble tea and hanging out late, J’s Tea is the place. It’s right at the end of Dominion Road (in Mt Roskill). The size of the bubble tea is huge and drinks are well-made. They even have the right sweetness, and this I like, because normally all bubble tea are too sweet for me!

Sesame Bubble Tea with Pearl.

They have a range of snacks and food, but bubble tea is the main item here. J’s Tea is often packed, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, so be prepared to go for take away.

Highly recommended, 9/10.

Momo Tea House

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Meadowlands. Maybe my behaviour is now different after not having a company car =). But thanks to a good friend, I’ve paid a visit to this place by recommendation – Momo Tea House. There’s obviously a couple branches, Birkenhead and Mt Albert.

This one at Meadowlands is a former KFC I believe, and it’s got a defunct drive-thru. Parking is easy and free, and environment of the place is great. Maybe it was good old furniture from KFC?

Anyway, I sampled some dishes, see below:

Fried Black Pepper Chicken Chop and Eel on Rice ($12).

Spicy Wonton Noodle Soup ($6).

Deep Fried Salty Chicken ($7).

Taro Pearl Milk Tea ($6).

Overall, food’s taste is great, no disappointment at all. The prices are very reasonable. There is a variety of food and drink (I think there’s a Malaysian section). Also, the place opens very late, I am not sure what time, but from what I remember, after midnight!! So a great place for supper.

Rating = 9/10. Fantastic!

QQ Rice

QQ Rice sells assorted rice rolls. They used to have a shop on Dominion Road, but I think that closed. They now only have one shop in the city (on Wellesley St). It’s quite a good place to experiment with because you’ll be blown away by the choices you have to make. It’s good if you’re a fan of rice. However, sometimes, choices are better left as little as possible, but not for QQ Rice. I wasn’t sure how much the rolls are, maybe $6 each? They also added a few other additional dish types, such as a the lunch box, QQ wrap and dessert.

Assorted Rice Roll.

It’s not a bad place – worth a try. Make sure you don’t spill the filling and rice when eating the rice roll. Just be prepared for the choices!

Taipei Kitchen

Taiper Kitchen is actually quite a familiar place – it was formerly Lai Lai Noodle House.  It looks like the owners changed hands, and first impression, the interior is much better. I was expecting to order the usual stuff (beef noodle soup or something), but it appears the menu’s have changed also.

Some samples below:

Pork Mince Rice with Meat Soup ($10).

Pork Chop on Rice ($9.50).

Atmosphere is much better, price is reasonable, food is quite good, however menu is partly translated into English (only drink items are translated and not food!). This new place also sells drinks such as milk tea, so it appears to do more than before. Perhaps to include more younger people.

My rating is 8.5/10. Not bad at all.

Neighbour’s Restaurant

Neighbour’s Restaurant is not affiliated to the Australian drama – but it’s quite a nice place to go to . I found this restaurant next to Pho Vietnamese Restaurant on Lorne St. They are located “underground” but have a menu just before you go in. The menu with pricing helps differentiate if it’s cheap or expensive compared to places nearby *ahem*. I have to say, it’s kinda cheap, $10 or less unlike some places. =)

A couple of dishes were sampled on a cold winter night:

Pork Chop on Rice.

Sesame Oil Chicken Noodle Soup.

The place serves Taiwanese cuisine and first impression, I like it. In terms of pricing, it’s cheap and flavour-wise, it’s on-par with another one of my favourites, T-Mark. The place is also clean and green (I mean literally).

My rating is a biased 9/10.

Hulu Cat

Hulu Cat.

The last time I’ve been to this place was like 2007. That was a while ago and for a good reason. They’re located on Anzac Ave, near the Beach Road end. First, they seriously need to clean up their toilets cause I can smell pee like 3 metres away from the toilet door. Secondly, the damn place is cursed with no parking. I think they’ve removed like 90% of parking spots on Anzac Ave, so good luck to those who wants to “drive” to Hulu Cat. A couple of sampled drinks:

Wheat Tea with Pearl.

Mango Slush with Pearl.

I have to admit, their drinks are great provided you don’t let them go nuts on the syrup. What I’ve learnt, is that you have to request for less sugar for all these milk tea drinks. The staff just love to pile on the syrup. I wasn’t taking note of the price of these drinks but I think they were around $6. From what I remember, it wasn’t expensive or cheap, so pretty much standard price.

Anyway, they are famous for their pearl tea and quality is good. Environment is great and cosy, as long as you don’t sit near the toilet. Otherwise, a pain in the bum to go for a drink because of lack of parking around the area.

My rating is a favourable 8/10.

ATT Cafe

In between two highly-rated places (Mentatz and Pho Vietnamese) on Lorne Street is the ATT Cafe.  A quick glance at this cafe, it looks more like a canteen. I thought I’d give this place a try, no harm when you’re hungry and sick of going to the same old place. A couple of dishes were sampled as shown below:

Deep Fried Chicken Drumstick Noodle Soup.

Garlic Gravy Pork on Rice.

Both dishes cost $9.50, which is quite cheap. The noodle soup did taste a bit plain, I wish there some kinda sauce that could boost up the flavour. However, the rice wasn’t bad. I can’t really say much, because it was just a meal. Not gourmet or anything at all. Apparently, they do deliveries within the city.

A rating is hard to justify, but it’s average. Not bad but not good, 7/10.

Chalin Tea House

A quick post during Easter. Happy holidays everyone.

Chalin Tea House is on Dominion Road, formerly known as Easy Way. There’s always a Beamer outside the place – most likely the owner who also works there. Anyway, I hardly go to this place because it’s kinda far. I ordered the Honey Dew Milk Tea with Pearl for $5.90.

Honey Dew Pearl Milk Tea.

My rating is 7/10. It’s too powdery for me. No actual “tea” taste. But I know this place is quite a popular one, so didn’t get too biased.

Lai Lai Noodle Cafe

This place is kinda cool. Lai Lai Noodle Cafe is a tiny place hidden among the shops in Remuera. To be exact, it’s right inside Remuera Mall. If you know where the Remuera shops are, it’s on the right hand side coming from Newmarket. I guess the first mission is to find it.

I’ve been to Lai Lai Noodle Cafe many times, often for lunch. It’s quite a refreshing place, especially the noodle soups. Apparently, it’s an establishment, as it is owned by the same person for 11 years (I read this somewhere). So, it’s got history, plus I think the owner is some martial arts expert!

On this particular review, there were two dishes we tried as seen below.

Minced Pork on Noodle.

Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Both dishes were affordable and delicious. I couldn’t remember the exact price but I think the Hainanese Chicken Rice was $9 and the noodle was $7. However, the thing that bugs me is that they have no Eftpos – so you need to bring cash. Also, they close on one of the days during the weekend, which sucks as well.

They also offer other dishes like fried chicken with noodle soup, beef noodle soup etc, as well as side dishes. For a small place, it’s pretty outstanding and I think the reason why it’s still there for 11 years. Personally, I recommend the noodle soup. If you’re on a diet, stay away from the fried dishes.

My rating for this place, a cool 8.5/10. You gotta find the place first though. Good luck!

Momo Tea

Normally this isn’t a place I would go to. But a couple of friends dropped by in Auckland and wanted to meet there. Obviously this place is quite a popular hangout, as it was pretty full when we dropped in at around 11pm on Friday. Momo Tea has three branches in Auckland (that I know of), one in the CBD, North Shore and Mt Albert. This particular review is held in Mt Albert.

In my head, I knew how the milk tea would taste like – frothy and milky. And lo and behold, it is. We ordered the “hot” taro pearl milk tea and cold original pearl milk tea. And to fight the midnight hunger, we ordered the chicken, beef and lamb sticks. Have a look at the pictures below.

Taro Pearl Milk Tea (Warm).

Original Pearl Milk Tea (Cold).

Chicken, Beef and Lamb Sticks.

The milk teas were reasonably priced at $5. You don’t expect to pay more than $6 for the mik tea. But I’m not a big fan of the frothy milky taste (thus recommending Easyway if you prefer less milky and more tea taste). The meat sticks were quite delicious, especially the chicken and beef sticks.  The lamb sticks had quite a bit of fat on it, so I avoided that with a vengeance. For $1 a stick, it’s very reasonable. They had other sticks, like chicken heart, liver etc.

Personally, my milk tea taste is of a unique standard (not too milky) so I wouldn’t drink it here. But the meat dishes is a good recommendation from me. However, for that particular night, there was an ‘aggressive’ waitress and she didn’t really talk politely (bad day perhaps?).

So with all that taken into consideration, I’ll rate the place 6.5/10. Their meat sticks saved them! So, if you’re into kebabs, satay sticks etc, come to Momo Tea.

T Mark

I have great things to say about this place. T Mark is located upstairs, above their chinese supermarket in Newmarket. If you know where East in Newmarket is, then T Mark is right opposite it. I know East (and Wagamama) has a neo-oriental arrangement but I think it’s not authentic enough. You must go for the real thing, the root of it all. There are so many places out there, so get out of your comfort zone! Plus, they’re much cheaper and more delicious!!!

The ladies behind the counters are polite and friendly, even in English (they would speak mainly Chinese Mandarin). T Mark has the home-cooked feel, and personally the soup noodle dishes are great. I’d recommend the fishballs ($6) as an entre or for sharing. They also have a fast food section which I call mixed rice, and those are flavoursome. You get 3 choices for that option. The ones that I usually go for are the herbal-ish noodle soups. The chicken noodle in sesame oil or the lamb soup is great for winter. I have got some pictures below.

Mixed rice – Simmering pork on rice.

Herbal lamb noodle soup.

Oh, the best thing about this place is the parking. It’s free as long as you eat and shop at T-mark. The soup dishes would cost around $10, and the rice dish is about $9. Overall, it’s good value for money and it’s great tasting. If you really can’t make a decision when you’re at T Mark, try the beef noodle soup! I’ll give this place a 9/10. The price is right and they never seem to get it wrong – plus parking is easy.