(AKA Food Porn–Rich)
April and May, 2013
And now for my favorite topic: food and what we ate while we were there! We generally had breakfast and dinner on the boat, but we’d usually go out for lunch. Our favorite spot was Phil’s Place, which happened to be right at the marina. The food was fantastic, the people wonderful, and the atmosphere beautiful. In the summer we enjoyed sitting on the deck or by an open window, and in the late fall we cozied up by the fireplace. We had many wonderful meals at Phil’s, but I think our go-to favorite was the seafood chowder, especially with a cold glass of sauvignon blanc.
Another favorite spot was Yoku Sushi. Real sushi bars, where chefs make your sushi as you order it, are very rare in New Zealand. Sushi here is pre-made and laid out in glass cabinets. You get a tray, pick what you want from the shelves, then pay at the cash register. The downside is it’s generally not as good as sushi made on the spot; the upside is that it’s a lot cheaper. And by choosing carefully we found some really good stuff, like the salmon sushi! We had many happy meals here.
We also had a lot of meals at Turkish To Go (blog post coming). And we enjoyed at few meals at Subway and Mc Donald’s (blog post coming).
Less often, we’d go for meals at the Fresh Fish Market. They have world-class fish and chips and it’s inexpensive, but it also tends to be crowded with a long wait for food. We did enjoy a few meals at the Astrolabe restaurant in Mount Maunganui. It’s a fun place with a cozy atmosphere and pretty good food.
Places we only visited one or two times were the Texas-themed Lone Star, Gengy’s, Mongolian Barbecue, and Bravo for delicious pizza. The food at these places was quite good, but the prices were high so we didn’t visit them very often.
Just before we left we discovered Little India, which has fantastic food and nicely-priced lunch specials. We looked forward to more meals here next year. Comida Spanish restaurant was another last-minute discovery, with great food, live music and a festive atmosphere.
Of course we visited a few coffee houses, including frequent trips to Starbuck’s and Robert Harris, but we also checked out the local roasters at Fixation and Fusion. There’s a lot of good coffee in New Zealand. And we were thrilled to discover The Donut Factory hidden in an business/industrial park. They make donuts for markets but sell extras at their door. It had been a long time since we had good donuts and these were a treat. –Cyndi
