Market Seafood Braisserie

Sorry for the lack of updates.

I’ve been pre-occupied as usual. One of my recent favourite visit is the Auckland Fish Market. It’s now very nicely done up – thanks to the Rugby World Cup. There appears to be lots of eateries there, and Market Seafood Braisserie caught my eye. It was the obvious cafe as it’s smack in the fish market. The menu looks good with easy-to-pick choices. Some samples below:

Crumbed Salmon with Baby Caesar ($14.90).

Crumbed Snapper with Salad Green ($15.90).

Gourmet Fish Burger with house tartare and fries ($14.90).

Great price and great taste! Good variety and love the salmon. They can get quite busy during weekend lunchtime – so try to come early. With the area being done up, it’s a good place to visit, eat and stock up on seafood. 🙂

Rating 9/10. Highly recommended!

Cock and Bull (Newmarket)

I haven’t had a bad stint for a while, so it’s about time I got one.

I decided to pay a visit to a very common pub around the Auckland area – Cock & Bull, this particularly one in Newmarket. It always seems lively in Cock & Bull, with lots of people, probably due to the beer and SkySports. This is a good thing. Obviously, I wasn’t here for the beer. I was here for some good ol’ pub food. An Australian tourist once told me it’s the kind of food that fills you up – I guess the word is hearty? I was going to say wholesome – but things like chips, beer, deep-fried isn’t exactly healthy. =)

Some of the pub food I tried:

Scotch Fillet ($29.95).

Cock & Bull Platter ($19.95).

Caesar Salad ($20.95).

Scotch Fillet wasn’t too bad, and I think a great dish to have when you’re watching a football match etc. However, the Cock & Bull platter and Caesar Salad (with smoked chicken) were quite disappointing The platter was mostly full of the cheap stuff – wedges and onion rings. It wasn’t horrible tasting, it just lacked a lot of creativity and variety. The caeser salad had a pungent smell, maybe because of the parmesan or anchovies. Something wasn’t quite right with this all-time favourite of mine. The pricing was OK, I guess it’s standard price.

I’ve always liked pub food, and it’s everywhere in Auckland. Perhaps if you do pop into Cock & Bull, better stick to the basics like chips or pizza. I wasn’t quite so engrossed with some of the selection above.

My rating =5/10.

Fish Pot Cafe

This is a deviation of dining I would normally have – that is cheap! Fish Pot Cafe is located in Mission Bay, and conveniently near all the fancy cafes and dessert joints!

For them, their corner is a gold mine. So, like any normal business, they hike up the price for fish & chips etc. For me to step into this place was weird and out of character. Just by looking at the menu, you’d probably gauge your eyes off. A dish (for lunch) could set you back $22!!! And that’s just fish & chips! However, I had a sixth sense and (easily) quickly spotted a bargain (the specials) as shown below:

Fish of the Day.

Hoki Fillets.

Generally the dishes come with chips and their special sauce. It’s quite nice and all up, cost about $30 which is not bad. The Fish of the Day was $15.90 and Hoki Fillets was $13.50. As you look clearly at the pictures above, you’ll realise the Hoki Fillets have more portion. That’s because the Hoki Fillets are snap frozen, while the Fish of the Day is fresh.

Both dishes are quite good but you’d really need to spot the specials if you wanna spend below $20 per head. I really see no point buying a burger there, but they look good as well.

My rating for this place is a 7/10. I’m considering their pricing which is a killer! The service is not bad, and I’d suggest coming to this place if there is a special.