Fifteen Pickles

The White House

Just a taking a little break from my usual meatridden spiels to reflect on a moment of finer dining a couple of months ago. It was our last night at home in Wellington and we were looking for a convenient excuse to convince my parents to allow us to take them out for a bit of a blow out at a nice restaurant. As it turned out it was their wedding anniversary so off we went to The White House.

The White House is one of Wellington’s swishier restaurants, situated in the prime location of Oriental Bay, looking out onto beautiful views of Wellington Harbour.

As we very rarely go out for such meals, we decided to go the whole hog and ordered the Menu Degustation all round. The meal was wonderful. Each dish a delight. Beautiful to look at and beautiful to eat. Little nods to molecular gastronomy here and there. Explosions of exciting and complimentary flavours and textures left, right and centre. Ten courses of heaven. (more…)

At last we reach my final post in the “My New Zealand Holiday” series and I’m glad we end on a good note.  Classier than the name suggests I had been looking forward to visiting Ortega Fish Shack ever since a friend recommended it to me at the start of my holiday.  It wasn’t until the end that I managed to get round to booking it.  One of the most memorable things about our visit here was the near perfect service.  The other memorable thing about this visit was the food – absolutely gorgeous!

Roasted Snapper, parisienne potatoes & crayfish butter

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Restaurant 88 has been one of my family’s favourite restaurants in Wellington for the past several years.  With the owner coming from Vietnamese origins the food they serve is Vietnamese with a Kiwi metropolitan twist.

The evening we arrived seemed relatively busy and vibrant for a weekday evening with as the clientèle happily chatted away while tucking into what looked like rather large and impressive dishes.  I was rather keen to sample their caramelised sticky baby back ribs and my Dad was looking forward to their famous rib steak.  Disappointingly they were out of both.

We shared a couple of starters and they were both presented very well.  The griddle grilled beef and bacon skewers (NZ$13.50) sounded rather odd to me but tasted lovely and not unlike beef and pork satay with an excellent chargrilled flavour.

Griddle Grilled Beef and Bacon Skewers

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Brunch is a common and popular pastime for us kiwis and something I think we do quite well.  Eggs scrambled, fried, poached, Benedict and all it’s variations (Florentine, Benetine, Royale… etc.), french toast, pancakes, hash browns, sausages, grilled tomatoes, grilled mushrooms, corn fritters… we do it all!  And with a fabulous cup of coffee on the side.  Love it!

The Grand Parade Breakfast (essentially a Full English but in NZ it's called anything but!)

Parade Cafe is a known and loved brunch time favourite in the scenic oceanside location of Oriental Bay in Wellington.  After being kicked out of their former location to make way for upmarket apartments, they moved across the road to former restaurant The Tugboat.

Parade Cafe at The Tugboat

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It’s a lazy, grey Sunday in London and I’m feeling slightly ropey from a party last night.  Coffee is a big theme for today so what could be a better time to look back at the lovely coffee I drank in New Zealand than now?

I like coffee.  I can distinguish good coffee from bad coffee.  But when it comes to describing all the nuances of various coffee fragrances I must admit I don’t possess a cultured enough palate.

However in London there are 2 particular flavours which are seem to be most prevalent to me when it comes to coffee… burnt or watery.  Sorry London, I love you but your coffee is terrible!  How so many Londoners are happy to drink such bad coffee I shall never understand! *cough* Any large coffee chain in London *cough*

Of course there are also many amazing independent cafes in London that do make excellent coffee, but you really have to know where they are – I have maps to these fine establishments burned into my mind.

I’ve been particularly spoilt, being raised amongst the famous cafe culture of New Zealand’s capital city.  It’s generally pretty difficult to find a bad coffee there.  I certainly made the most of our wonderful cafes during my holiday and it really is too good to pass by without a mention, so here is my little tribute to all the coffee I enjoyed at various locations around Wellington.

Maranui Cafe

Flat White

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