Iguacu Restaurant

I am back in Auckland for a 2 week trip. It's the only week-end in Auckland this trip. Today being a Saturday would normally be a day of relaxation but work has been hectic so my colleague and I have spent the entire day at work.

The weather has been grey, wet and windy. We felt it would be nice to have a warm and hearty meal for dinner. We so deserved it after a hard day's work on a non working day. We browsed the internet and checked out a few restaurants and chose to go to Iguacu. Iguacu is located in the suburb of Parnell. Parnell is known for its charming village atmosphere. There are lots of boutiques and trendy shops located in Parnell. So we rocked up to Iguacu (we called half an hour before to check if there was room for two and booked at the last minute).

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner. The service was good and the meal was very good. We ordered Artisan bread as a shared entree. It was a hand made cob loaf served with extra virgin olive oil, herb butter and sea salt. The bread was warm and tasted freshly baked. I liked the flavour of the herb butter. Unfortunately the image I took wasn't too great but here it is.

Artisan bread

For mains I ordered Aged Eye Fillet cooked medium rare and served with maple whipped kumara, braised field musrooms and quince jus. It was delicious, the kumara tasted sweet and had a lovely smooth texture. The mushrooms were delicious and I throroughly enjoyed the eye fillet. It was perfectly cooked and so tender. My friend DD ordered the chef's special. It was beef cheeks braised with Guinness beer and served with Irish style potato mash. He enjoyed his meal too. He could not believe how tender the meat was.

Aged eye fillet

Guinness braised beef cheeks

We had planned to order dessert but we were so full from the bread and the main. So the dessert plans had to be postponed for the next visit. We were eyeing the fig steamed pudding. That will have to be for another day.

The white wine I ordered was the Mt Difficulty Pinot Gris. I had the taster. It was quite nice, not too dry and it had quite a round flavour for a pinot gris. I know a white should not go with a red meat but I am a white wine drinker so it didn't bother me. DD ordered a glass of the Jim Barry 'Lodge Hill' shiraz and his comment was 'this is a good shiraz, very nice!'.

I would definitely recommend Iguacu to anyone who would like a nice meal out in Auckland.

Iguacu
269 Parnell Road,
Parnell, Auckland
Website: http://www.iguacu.co.nz/

Try It Out Vietnamese Restaurant, Auckland

This is another retrospective post when I was last in Auckland. We decided to try out a Vietnamese restaurant that has the reputation of being one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in Auckland. It is also very affordable.

The restaurant is located in the suburb of Otahuhu and we ventured there one Saturday night. The suburb of Otahuhu seems to have a eclectic mix of Pacific Islanders,Vietnamese, Indian, Middle Eastern and Sri Lankan stores. I felt I was somewhere else and not in Auckland. Interesting....

Believe it or not, the Vietnamese restaurant we were recommended was called Try It Out. The name was intriguing and it did catch my attention.

Bright signs

Entree - Pork Rolls

Entree - Prawn and Pork Fresh Spring Rolls

Grilled pork chops with tomato rice

Vermicelli with grilled pork and spring rolls

This may be the best Vietnamese restaurant in Auckland but I personally cannot verify that as I have yet to try out more Vietnamese restaurants in the Auckland area. However I do feel that we have better quality Vietnamese restaurants in Australia. The food was alright but certainly not the best that I have had.

If you happen to be in Auckland, you should 'try it out'!

Try It Out Restaurant
79 Atkinson Ave
Otahuhu
Auckland

Little and Friday, Takapuna

This is one of my catch up postings from the time I was in Auckland in March/April of this year. This time I decided to talk about the brunch we had at a little quaint cafe called Little and Friday. I liked the quirky and charming deco and their range of baked goods was quite stunning. The coffee was alright but not the best.
I ordered a bacon and egg pie and DD had a berry tart. DD found it a little 'tart' and thought the pastry was a little too home made for his liking. As for me I really liked the look of my bacon and egg pie and it did taste very nice.

Bacon and egg pie

Berry tart

Range of baked goodies

Some more baked goodies

Quirky shelves

 

Clocks on retro glass plates

Little and Friday

42 Eversleigh Rd,

Takapuna, Auckland

New Zealand