Dinner with Mum and Dad~~

Guess where we went for dinner!

I am sure anyone who knows me well will know we were at One Tree Grill~~

Here is a restaurant review I did earlier!

All the menus are now on iPads.

Now time for some photos!!

Complimentary Cured Salmon from the Chef

For Entrée Mum and I ordered Portabello and Celeriac soup~~ It was SO good and had shaved Black Truffle pieces in it~~~

A piece of Black Truffle

Dad had fresh Bluff Oysters

For Main I had Black Angus eye fillet

Mum had Snapper and scallops

Dad had Grilled market fish which was Hāpuku

Dessert was of course Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée for Mum and I!!

Dad had the house made ice cream and sorbet

We also shared some Manchego (sheep milk) cheese which came from Malagon, Spain

Yum yum!!

Red Elephant Thai Restaurant

We had our Christmas celebration dinner at Red Elephant Thai Restaurant on 195 Khyber Pass Road in Newmarket (Auckland).

The presentation in the restaurant was very good. Everything looked clean and tidy.

We ordered Banquet Menu 2.

First up we enjoyed some assorted appetizers.

Each one of them was wonderfully fried and very crispy~~

The Tom Yam Goong Soup came next.

Spicy Prawn Soup seasonsed with Lime Juice garnished with Hot Chilli, Lemon Grass & Mushroom.

The mushroom and prawn pieces were very sizable!

The main course consisted of five different main dishes.

Kaeng Panaeng – Red Curry of sautéed Beef with Sweet Basil & Coconut Milk, Gai Ob Pu Kao Fai – Sizzling Platter of Baked Whole Chicken marinated in Thai Herbs served with Sweet Chilli Sauce flambéed with Brandy, Pla Krapong Rad Prik – Whole Crispy Snapper with Hot Chilli Sauce, Goong Tod Kratiem Prik Thai – Sautéed Prawns & Calamari with Garlic & Peppers, Pad Pak Look Chin Pla – Pan Fried Mixed Vegetables with Fishballs.

This flamming baby chicken a.k.a. Gai Ob Pu Kao Fai deserves an honourable mention.

It came out engulfed in flames, the view was quite spectacular, however the flames had dampened down by the time it reached the table.

If you look carefully you can still see the bit of orange flame on the top of the chicken~~

My favourite part of a meal is the dessert which was

Hot Banana Fritter served with Coconut Milk Ice Cream.

It was DELICIOUS!!

For Coffee I ordered a Latte, which was very good as well.

Marks: 

Taste: 4.5/5

Price: 4.5/5

Service: 5/5

Overall Mark: 4.7/5

The service was excellent and the restaurant has high hygiene standards, which could be noted by seeing serving staff using a towel, which acts as protection against hand contamination, when handing out clean new plates.

I had a great experience at the restaurant with my family.

Highly recommended!

Dinner @ One Tree Grill

I took my family to One Tree Grill Restaurant for a nice dinner tonight~~ (^-^)

The drink menu is now on an iPad

One Tree Grill Bar

For starter we had Entrée tasting trio

The Entrée consists of Salmon, Venison, and Scallops

We were given some complimentary Thai style snapper from the Chef

Roasted pork belly roulade (free range)

baby vegetables, crackling, mulled wine pear purée

Grilled market fish (Snapper)

citrus kelp crust, herb gnocchi, saffron tomato, edamame

I had wild venison

Wild venison

stonefruit compote, kumara, gingerbread, licorice jus

Dessert menu!!

For dessert I had Vanilla bean crème brûlée

hibiscus glaze, pineapple & mango sorbet

Family Dinner~~

I love a good family dinner!!

Especially after a fun day of shopping~~

We went to a Chinese Seafood Restaurant called Golden Jade. They have a well recommended dish called 全家福 which rougly translates to “The complete happy family”.

Here are some photos of the dishes we had tonight:

Starter Soup with Pork chop and Epiphyllum Flower

The Epiphyllum flower gives the soup a thick and pleasantly mucousy taste. I know! I KNOW!! My description of the soup doesn’t sound very appetizing~~ It actually tastes quite similar to Okra (Ladyfinger) which is a key ingredient in gumbo~~~

Their Black Pepper Beef was very agreeable~~ It had the right amout of savoury taste and sweetness. The beef actually tasted like beef!! For some reason (in recent years) a lot of the beef in stir fried dishes from Chinese restaurants taste like they have been drowned in corn flour/starch before being cooked, resulting in the meat tasting very slippery and gummy in texture.

The sweet and sour chicken was very enjoyable as well. The chicken came in very big, and generous pieces.

Finally! 全家福 ”The complete happy family” arrived!! What a suiting dish name for our wonderful family get together~~

The dish had Pāua (Abalone), Sea Cucumber, Prawns, Scallops, smoked Oysters, and Crispy Pork Belly (The black sheep of the “family”?? For not being a seafood).

Hope I haven’t missed anything out.. OH! And giant Chinese mushrooms~~

Pāua!!

Sea Cucumber!!

Dinner date with my lovely boyfriend ♥

Today was a great day!!!

I love having dinner with my darling boyfriend D~~

We went to a Taiwanese Restaurant which served Bubble Tea, also known as Pearl Milk Tea.

We both enjoyed the Bubble Tea ( which was served in Beer Mugs)

D’s Barbecued Pork on rice dinner set~~

I was already halfway through my Bubble Tea when my dinner set arrived!!

My Braised Pork Chop on rice dinner set~~

It’s Lunch Time!! XD

Yummy yummy!! Today I am trying Jesters Gourmet Delight Pie!!

It has Angus Beef with Blue Vein Cheese Sauce~~ Mmmmm~~~~~

Each Jesters pie has a symbol on top to identify its flavour.

This one has a ♥ (Heart Symbol)~~

Just a quick update!

Good news everyone!! Bo Peep is back by popular demand!!!

AWESOME!!!!!

Teppan Dining Bowz

Teppan Dining Bowz, fully licensed Japanese Teppan-yaki restaurant, is listed as one of the top 50 restaurants selected by Metro magazine 2010.

The restaurant is located at 5 Pah Road, Greenwoods corner, 
Epsom, Auckland. PHONE : 09-630-5413

Taste: 4.5/5

I had the New Zealand Prime Beef Eye Fillet dinner course, which consisted of eda-mame, salad, teppan seafood miso soup, steam rice, teppan beef eye fillet, and ice cream of the day.

The dishes were very well displayed, with an authentic Japanese flavour. (All their staff members are Japanese. )

Price: 4.5/5

I thought the price was pretty good for a high-quality Japanese teppan-yaki meal.

Currently, the course meals cost between NZ$45 -$55 per person.

You can view their menu online:

http://www.bowz.co.nz/menu/

Service: 5/5

The service was wonderful, all staff members were extremely polite, and very attentive.

Overall Mark: 4.7/5

Comment: Definitely highly recommended!! It was a fun dinner experience, especially when you get to witness the dishes being made in front of you. I found the course meal to be very lovely in taste and presentation. (^-^)

Night Talk Steam Pot

Ah~~~~~ Life really doesn’t get any better, than a nice family dinner over a steam pot (aka steamboat).

The other evening, Mary, Joe, and I had a lovely time over dinner at Night Talk Steam Pot Restaurant.

The restaurant’s address is 15 Torrens Road, Burswood, Auckland. Phone number: (09) 2711338

                                                                                                                                           Taste: 4.5/5

The good thing about having a steam pot, is you basically get to decide on the taste.

First of all, you get to choose the soup base you would like, and from there onwards, the different types of meat, seafood, vegetables, noodles, dips, and other goodies you would like in your steam pot (^-^)

The soup always tastes amazing, especially after all the ingredients have been added.

Price: 4/5

I have attached a photo of the menu. (Sorry about the photo quality, it was taken using my mobile phone.)

The items are categorized under different groups, the cost per item varies between NZ$18 – $1

Service: 5/5

The staff members were very friendly, and there was even a TV playing a Taiwanese programme while we were there! (^-^)

Overall Mark: 4.5/5

Comment: The restaurant setting is very modern, and well presented. Definitely recommended for family or social gatherings!! (^-^)

Narita Japanese Restaurant & Sake Bar – Lunch Course

Narita is a Japanese Restaurant I frequent for lunch and dinner (^-^)

It is located at 31 Link Drive, Glenfield, North Shore, Auckland.  Phone number: 09-444 0084

Most Japanese Restaurants in Auckland are comprised of non-Japanese staff members. Narita is one of the few Japanese restaurants which is owned and operated by actual Japanese staff. Therefore, the dishes have an authentic Japanese taste to them.

Okay! Let’s start the lunch course!!

Taste:4.5/5

The course serves two people, it is composed of Salad, Beef Tataki, Harumaki, Sashimi, Tempura, Chicken Teriyaki, Hand roll Sushi, Udon, and dessert!! (Miso soup and Green tea also included.)

Now, I should let the photos speak for themselves.

Salad

Beef Tataki (to share)

Harumaki (to share)

Sashimi

Tempura

Chicken Teriyaki (to share)

Hand roll Sushi (to share)

Udon

Red bean ice cream with Maple syrup and chocolate sprinkles

Price: 4.5/5

The lunch course cost $52.90 for two people. I thought the price was quite good, considering the amount of food served.

Service: 5/5

The service was excellent. The staff members were especially polite (being Japanese), and we were given warm towels to wipe our hands with before the meal started!

Overall Mark: 4.7/5

Comment: Definitely highly recommended, especially if you are looking for value for money! It is a BYO restaurant, which is a big plus for some people!! (^-^)