This is an old post but may have changed. They have a website: http://www.cafehanoi.co.nz/
Tried some of the dishes, samples below:
Beef Broth “Pho” ($10.50)
Summer Rolls ($12.50).
Crispy Shrimp ($14.00).
Unfortunately not my type of food, the portions were small (very tapas-style) and flavour-wise – I think Saigonz is better just down the road. My rating is 5/10. Food was sample approximately 5 months ago, so things may have changed…. for the better 🙂
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.
Hokkaido Restaurant & Bar is located in Lunn Ave where all the new shops are. Looking from outside, it is not bad. So, went in and gave it a try.
Sashimi (M) – $25 for 15 pieces.
Chan Chan Yaki – $18.50.
Sukiyaki Pot – $13.90.
Overall, this place is OK. The sashimi and sukiyaki pot was not bad tasting. But very disappointed with the chan chan yaki, which didn’t taste special and practically not much salmon, but a lot of cabbage.
The portion is kinda small for the price, so don’t expect value for money. I won’t be coming back. Rating = 5/10.
Cafe Melba in Ellersie is one of those “Entertainment Book” places to go. Without the book, I wouldn’t even know if the place existed. It also helps that I get some form of discount. Samples below:
Salmon Benedict – $18.70.
Steak Sandwich – $19.00.
First impression, place is good. Parking is easy to find as Ellerslie is not so busy, food taste great, staff friendly and toilet is clean. Personally, I can’t complain about this place, and worth a try if you have the Entertainment book voucher since price-wise, it is kinda on the high side 🙂
Rating = 8.5/10.
This is an old one, but worth posting. Perhaps things might have changed – new owner etc, but here goes. I’m not a frequent Teppanyaki guy so this was a “treat”. This place is very near to Britomart on Quay Street. There was a lunch special, so prices may be different during dinner time. Some samples:
Cooked in real time.
Salmon Sashimi ($15).
Lunch Time Special – beef? ($13.80).
Gourmet Lunch ($23.50).
Salad and Miso Soup.
Overall, pricing is the usual Japanese price. Kinda expensive. But the gourmet lunch (beef) was very nice especially the yum yum sauce. Salmon sashimi is great and the sides are good too. The lunch special (beef) was kinda average but not horrible.
Worth trying to see the “show”. Expect high-ish prices for the food. Rating = 7/10.
Gina’s restaurant is always an all-time favourite in Auckland. My brother told me about this place when I first came here, and I have to admit, the atmosphere is pretty good. I had the ol’ Entertainment Card voucher, so used it up for this particular occasion. For the ladies, they will enjoy the sight of the Italian men. A table at Gina’s is difficult to find, so better book in advance through the online system (if it actually works) or the old fashion way (phone call).
For this particular occasion, a few dishes were sampled below:
Calamari Fritti ($15).
Fettucine Mare e Monti ($19.50).
Massimo Grande ($20).
Lasagna ($20.50).
Personally, all dishes were great and reasonably priced. But I think Italian is no longer a desired item for me. I can find reasonably good dishes, such as pizzas and pastas at many places now. But I guess the reason for Gina’s is the environment. You can tell by the amount of noise, it is quite deafening. I have no bad things to say, everything is reasonable. It may take a while for dishes to arrive, so have many things to say!
My rating 8/10. Have a try.
Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been quite lazy recently but starting to get the mood to post some reviews. Here’s one I recommend if you’re passing by Newmarket and craving for some cafe food. Urban Cafe is located on Carlton Gore Road. Thanks to an online menu, I get details and pricing.
Samples below:
Urban Classics – Corn Beef Hash Cakes, Poached Eggs, Grain Mustard Hollandaise, Spiced Bean & Avocado Salad ($17.50).
Urban Refuel – Urban Burger, Swiss Cheese, Beetroot Relish, Watercress, Chicken Pate & Fries ($17)
To be honest, I quite like both items – tasty and good presentation. The burger is heavy, so not for the light-heated and if you’re not keen on excessive protein. Pricing is reasonable. Environment is good. Coffee is not bad.
Highly recommended. If you’ve got the Entertainment book, you can get discounts. 9/10.
Citron Vert is a cafe that I’ve always wanted to go. During the rainy or lazy days, I use the Link bus to work and I’ve always noticed it because it is just next to to one of the bus stops in Parnell. I can always smell the fresh (good?) coffee and people just reading / relaxing in there.
So, one Sunday morning I decided to go there and experience it. The menu appears to have a good selection and the coffee smells great. We decided to sample the burger and sandwich, pictures below:
Jamaican Chicken Burger.
Steak Sandwich.
The burger is $16 and sandwich $19.50. The coffee was around the usual prices ($3-4). I quite like the environment in there, very nice and cosy especially during a sunny day. Coffee is good. The food is also great and reasonably priced. The sandwich / burger dish had to be “separated” to properly eat it if you know what I mean. 🙂 Funny thing is that the food was made / prepared by Asians.
Anyway, I quite like the place. It’s not overpriced, decent service and good coffee 8.5/10.
When you mix cheese with Japanese food, it’s surprisingly good. The Don is one place I’ve noticed using this technique (there’s probably more of this and people need to tell me!). The Don is located on High Street and has been highly recommended in other blogs. I’ve been here a few times and have taken a fair amount of photos. Here goes:
Chicken Namban Don.
Pork Cheese Katsu Don.
Pork Katsu Don.
Soy Sauce Braised Beef Udon.
Prawn Cheese.
Beef Cheese Roll.
To save writing up prices of the meals that will certainly confuse you all; the meals costs $11 or $11.50, the Pork Katsu Don and Beef Udon at the higher end. The side dishes (tapas) such as the Prawn Cheese and Beef Cheese Roll cost $7 and $6.50 respectively. So expect to pay around that per side dish, which isn’t too bad. Oh, they’re only available after 5pm.
Overall, I’m impressed with the dishes. No disappointment on my visits there and environment is good for a quiet meal. The pricing and quality of the dishes are above average with just the right amount of variety. My rating is 8.5/10. The cheese can be overwhelming (and I believe fattening). A must try though. =)
I have this in my draft for a bit too long, so it’s time I took it out for the world to share.
Kang Nam Station 2 is somewhere near the Auckland City Library and SkyCity Cinema. That probably didn’t help as there’s probably like 3 to 4 Korean restaurants around there. It’s not the one directly opposite Borders or the library, but in between those two, right around the corner. It’s not hard to spot and they apparently have two parkings available.
Kang Nam Station has an original (no. 1) which is quite nearby I believe. Actually, I don’t know where the original one is, but I’m thinking somewhere near the row of Korean shops on Upper Queen St. It’s a weird restaurant because when you enter the place, there’s a pokie machine section on the right hand side. I don’t know why, maybe it’s like some Korean dual business thing. But pokie machines in a restaurant can be a bit weird, and plus, those machines attract a different kind of crowd.
Some samples of the food are shown below:
Steamboat package.
Bulgogi.
Bibimbap.
The price of the Bulgogi and Bibimbap are $12 each, and they were pretty good. I do, however think they’re getting a bit stingy with the side dishes. But otherwise, for the price, they have good meat dishes.
The steamboat package from memory comes in three or four types – I can’t remember what they were. This one above cost $35. For this one, I got everything, vegetables, meat, rice, soup and also noodle. It’s very filling and tastes great on a cold winter night.
My rating is a decent 8/10. The pokie machine section can be easily ignored and the slight stinginess is bearable (as most Korean restaurants are going that way unfortunately). However, the positive is relatively cheap, great tasting Korean food.
I got recommended to this place and heard lots of good things about it. Angie’s Kitchen is located very near to AUT in the CBD. Parking is quite a pain to find, but on the weekend it’s alright. The place is also a halal restaurant which is pretty good.
Samples below:
Kapitan Curry Chicken on Rice.
Braised Beef Noodle Soup.
Teh Tarik less sugar (with a free apricot biscotti).
Kopi less sugar.
I thought the Kapitan Curry Chicken was very good, but the braised beef noodle was plain. The mistake was probably not selecting “traditional” Malaysian food, i.e. Nasi Lemak, Laksa or whatever. The price of the food was above average, I don’t remember it being less than $10, so not a cheap option. The coffee and tea drinks didn’t taste that great.
My rating is average, 6.5/10. The pricing didn’t help.
The Deli and Noodle Bar at the Sky City Casino is always an all-time favourite for me. It opens late, and there’s plenty of pokies and slot machines to keep you entertained for the whole night – that is if you’re a gambler. 🙂
On a late winter night, I was trying to figure out where to go for dinner and decided upon the casino as I haven’t been there for ages. The Deli and Noodle Bar isn’t exactly a quiet place to eat and lighting isn’t that great. Also, your meals don’t get served to you. I decided to try the Noodle Bar since I had fond memories of the beef brisket. Samples below:
Beef Brisket Hor Fun.
Soya Chicken on Rice.
For most of the meals, you have a choices of either rice, rice noodles, egg noodles etc. The soya chicken cost $10.50, while the beef brisket cost $8.50. So, price-wise, it’s standard. Flavour-wise, the soya chicken is tasty, while the beef brisket needed extra flavours from the chilli. Overall, it was quite a good meal for the time frame as well as flavour. My rating is 7/10.
The other thing you could always try is the Deli which has various Western options. But the best way to utilise the Deli is to register for the Action Card (which is free I think). That way you can get discounts on meals.
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