Seafood Chowder

This was dinner tonight, and it was Deeee-licious!

How I made my seafood chowder - you should know up front that I had no intention of making chowder when I shopped yesterday - so any recipe I referred to (I read 3) in making this was for inspiration only - the result was dictated by what I actually had in the fridge.

1. Chop an onion, fry in a butter/oil mix in a heavy bottomed sauce pan.
2. Add in a peeled and chopped golden kumara (recipes called for potato, but I had surplus kumara, so I used it - and liked the result)
3. add a sprinkle of oreganum
4. add fresh chicken stock, use the whole bag (ha! fresh as in purchased from the fridge at the supermarket!!!)
   
5. add a dash of nutmeg and cayenne pepper to taste (and I used a pinch of mineral salt - a free sample from Sabato the other day)
   
6. boil until the kumara is cooked through
7. while step 6 is in progress, whisk together about 3/4 of the pack (don't ask me the size!) of creme-fraiche and a similar amount of low fat milk, and 4 tablespoons of plain flour (I actually only used 2 here, but then had to add 2 more at the end, better to do it here!)
   
8. add chopped snapper fillets & fresh scallops
9. cook briefly
10. add the cream/milk/flour mixture and stir
11. add a generous handful of chopped fresh parsley
    
12. gently heat until suitably thickened
13. serve, garnish with a touch of fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!
    

Sakanaya Japanese Restaurant, Grafton, Auckland

I went to Sakanaya tonight for the first time and was pleasantly surprised. Jane went here two weeks ago with others and enjoyed it, so we thought we would give it a go again.

It is not located in the best of locations (160 Symonds St, Grafton), but once you get inside the Surf / Japanese decor supports a nice relaxed atmosphere.

We had a variety of dishes (which all arrived reasonably quickly) and they were all good; sesame broccoli, red snapper tempura, oysters with ponzu sauce, california roll and terayaki chicken. There were a number of Sakes on the menu, of which I enjoyed a Cherry Blossum Sake.

The meal was well priced and we will happily return.

Cafe Review: Manuka - Devonport

We've brunched or late-lunched a few times at Manuka over the years, but it's always been a while between visits as we've usually left a little disppointed with the food and decidedly underwhelmed by the service. Not so anymore!

We were greeted politely and pleasantly, shown to a table immediately, had coffee orders taken straight away, and these arrived very quickly afterwards - and were good quality (trim latte for Simon, long black for me).

We ordered a half-and-half pizza (tandoori & mexican) with a side salad. Again, our order was taken in good timing, and arrived remarkably soon after ordering. The salad was lovely, the pizzas were quite frankly absolutely delicious! In particular, the Tandoori was great - great flavours, not too greasy, delicious fresh coriander sprinkled on top, and the yoghurt and mint sauce dotted amongst the chicken and the mango chutney was a really nice balance.

We were sitting right by the kitchen so saw a lot of meals being delivered as well - and they looked really good.

So yes, Manuka is back on the 'happy to go there' list, and I expect we'll be back sometime soon!

The Tasting Room, Wellington

I went to The Tasting Room in Wellington last night for the second time. I had Monk Fish on a potato mash for dinner and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a nice relaxed bar environment which was remarkably busy for a Tuesday night (we were lucky to get a table). The food was also quick to arrive.

Bonjour Cafe, Arrowtown

I had lunch at Bonjour Cafe in Arrowtown on Saturday with several others and it was great and well priced.

I had a Galette (Savoury Crepe) with a lovely Racellete cheese filling which was very tasty and a good coffee.

Others thoroughly enjoyed their meals as we sat outside in what is a lovely setting. I will happily return.

Hansan Vietnamese Restaurant, Glenfield

We went to Hansan Vietnamese Restaurant (Link Drive, Glenfield) tonight for the first time and really enjoyed it. The restaurant was about 3/4 full when we arrived and we were one of two non-Asian tables in the restaurant (which I see as a good sign).

We have had Vietnamese several times before and the menu here was very extensive and this restaurant was significantly cleaner than many we have ventured into previously (in fact it was very clean).

We started with some Vietnamese fresh spring rolls and chicken satay skewers which were both good, although the spring rolls could have done with a little more mint.

For our main dishes we both had slightly different Beef with Vermicelli dishes which were good.

The food was very fast to arrive, well priced (all up for two people it cost us about $28) and we will happily return.

Speights Ale House, Wanaka

I went to the Speights Ale House in Wanaka on Monday night for dinner with a group of eight others and we had an enjoyable experience.

The meals were huge and good solid pub meals. I had a large rib eye steak on the bone which was cooked rare as requested. For dessert I ordered apple pie (or something like that) and it came out as three small pies which was a bit bizarre; it did however taste ok.

The food all arrived in a timely manner and was well priced.