Oct 27, 2023 Metro Eats
Hi all –
I’m in the middle of packing up my house in preparation for a move, so cooking less, adventuring less, and eating at reliable family favourites more. When everything else is in chaos (or in boxes), familiar food can be a source of not just comfort but stability.
For me and my family, that comes down to about four or five restaurants, and within those restaurants only two or three dishes. So I’ve eaten a lot of xiaolongbao and spicy wonton soup at Sue Hsiao Liu on Lorne St; a lot (a lot) of fried chicken of all flavours at Nene Chicken; the sweet, spicy spinach salad, chicken wings, and pork belly skewers at Maya BBQ ; and all kinds of things from Kiin Thai Kitchen (the current special — crab fried rice — is particularly delicious).
But new food experiences call! When I move there’ll be new neighbourhoods to explore. And before then, Metro Eats judging. We’ll be out, looking for the best places you can eat for $25 and under per person. Please send tips to contact@metromagazine.co.nz
Have a great weekend!
– Henry
Metro x Veuve Clicquot
— The Veuve Clicquot Burger Challenge is on now!
Classic
Until the 12th of November select restaurants around the country are putting on special pairings of the greatest of all food and beverage pairings, Champagne and burgers. This is in honour of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label and inspired by their iconic 1964 ad in the New Yorker which introduced the world to the high/low Champagne/Burger match.
Notable Auckland participants include: Bivacco, Bar Céleste , Milenta , Non Solo, Oyster Inn and Oyster and Chop — a full list is available here.
Bar Céleste appears to be upgrading the Filet’o’Fish for the occasion which seems as good a place to start as any.
Enjoy!
What’s
Happening
At Roses, they’re going back to the guest chef model now owners Ophelia and Karl are back from one of those seemingly-never-ending European trips. Tonight (Friday 27 October) is Yutak Son, who will soon be the executive chef at Tobi (the forthcoming restaurant from David Lee and Eat Lit Cho). Amy of Amoise Wines (a Metro favourite) will be pouring her latest wines. Next week Katie Riley (who was the semi-permanent chef while Ophelia and Karl were away) will be back for three nights before she leaves for the States. Go while you can.
There’s a pretty enticing aperitivo hour happening at Candela on K Rd: Wednesday – Saturday, 5-6pm – $2 oysters, $5 tapas, $12 cocktails and $10 pet nat and Estrella Damm. Damn!
What’s NOT happening: Does anyone know what is happening with the Sando shopfront on Dominion Rd across from the Capitol? It has been ‘coming soon’ for almost a year. If you know anything, let us know?
What’s
Good
In celebration of the new NBA season, we went to Schapiro’s for lunch. First the cons: when we arrived, the game (Nuggets vs Lakers) wasn’t on the screen, and there was loud Spotify-core music playing where the obnoxious American commentators should have been. To our dismay, the best the bar could do was turn the TV sound on over the bar and leave the music on over the rest of the place (still pretty loud). Now, it’s not my business to tell anyone else how to run theirs, but… surely you own and operate a sports bar because you want to make sports front and centre. You can go anywhere for a cheeseburger and fries while watching the game silently on your phone, but you’re here for the big screens and the commentary — to enjoy watching a group of full-grown adults trying to put a ball in a hoop, and to listen to the pontifications of even older adults, (some of whom used to be paid to try and put a ball in a hoop). Anyway, while the sports aspect was not up to the standards we’ve come to expect from such an establishment, the food was. The regular cheeseburger remains delicious and one of the best available from a non-specialist restaurant and the fries were super salty and addictive. No complaints there.
Meanwhile, Tiffany went to Gloria’s for the first time and enjoyed their excellent mushroom melt. As with all things toasted at Gloria’s, you can’t order this in a rush (get something fresh in that case).
Metro x The Curve
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What’s
New
One of Auckland’s most cursed spaces, the old Hollywood Bakery building at the corner K Rd and Mercury Lane has a new South East Asian place which looks like it’s called Desa Corner going in. Best of luck to them and I hope they burn a lot of sage in there before they open up.
A new dessert restaurant going into the old barbershop near Sashimi of Japan on Dominion Rd called Le Musang. If you’re looking for it, it is extremely yellow. Also in desserts – a new place in Newmarket close to Katsu Katsu, Perky’s Coffee and Desserts Diner. And a new bakery – Beabea’s – coming soon to 160 Garnet Rd in Westmere.
Henry went to a dinner at the Hotel Britomart celebrating the release of a collaboration chopping board from Kingi and Critical, a recycling start-up that, using proprietary technology, takes post-consumer plastics and recycles it in a faster, more direct way than traditional plastics recycling (much of which gets shipped overseas — not exactly sustainable by any stretch of the imagination). Anyway, together they’ve made a cool chopping board of 100% recycled plastics, including 5% fishnet. Proceeds go to LegaSea, a non-profit organisation dedicated to restoring the abundance, biodiversity and health of New Zealand’s marine environment. They come in three colours, depending on the fishing net content, and are available here.
Champagne house GH Mumm has been making sparkling wines in New Zealand with winemaker Jamie Marfell for a couple of years now. We have previously enjoyed the Mumm Marlborough Brut (a predominantly pinot noir and chardonnay blend), so were excited about the release of the new 100% pinot noir Central Otago blanc de noir (red grapes made in a white grape style). It’s softer and more rounded than the Marlborough. Think biscuits, stone fruit, outside in the late afternoon fading sun when it’s still warm but maybe you put your lightest sweater on — that kind of thing. Highly recommended!
Osteria Uno, a new pasta joint next to Duo on Hinemoa St in Birkenhead, is now open for realsies. We went there for a pre-opening Stella Artois event that paired famous food from movies with the famous Belgian pilsner and particularly enjoyed the crayfish rigatoni from Flashdance. We can’t wait to try the real thing.
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