I discovered a
delightful Algerian Date Cake which was recommended to me by Gerben, the school director.
It's unlike anything I have tried before and what I found really unique / quirky about this cake was the fact that it was eaten with yoghurt. Is it just my Punjabi roots that tickle me about eating sour yoghurt with cakes? (It's a very Indian thing to have savoury yoghurt with savoury food).
This was a delicious novelty! It made me look at the world differently - ok, I exaggerate.
After I met Gerben that evening, I returned to the hostel only to be dragged out for beers by Susan (a Kiwi gal I befriended at the hostel) and 2 other blokes.
I told Susan all about Mezze Bar and she started gushing over how delicious the food there was.
And - get this - she made us all abandon our newly bought beers to go over to Mezze Bar for food and wine. So I visited it twice that Sunday night. I guess that's testament to how well known and liked this place is! This was not mentioned in my Lonely Planet book, somehow.
We had yummy herbed and grilled prawns on crusty bread with some Middle Eastern dip (yoghurt and garlic I think), chorizo sausages with mushrooms and some cheesy pita.
The Nice Indian Chap Who SPECIALLY Cooked Me A HOT, HOT CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA on a windy, cold and miserable day in wintry Auckland.
T'was a windy Tuesday. The winds blew at 50 km / hour. And the rain pelted me, in an attempt to weaken my poor Singaporean-tropical-loving soul. My body was aching from all the taut muscles (shivering) and I had long given up on umbrellas to keep me safe from the rain,
The cold made me feel extremely HUNGRY and crave for something HOT, SPICY and SOUPY. I had been up since 6.30am and had a tiring day at school. Didn't have a good lunch either. The only thing that could comfort my weatherbeaten body and soul was some rich, flavourful food that would refresh and energise me.
So it was without much hope, and some resignation that I wandered into this Asian Food Court, located at the basement of this building (Auckland Central Backpackers), just opposite Whitcoulls along Queen Street.
The 1st stall had Indian curries laid out side by side. They looked so rich, were so aromatic, so fragrant that my tummy lurched with excited anticipation.
I thought I'd just try and ask...for the sake of asking. I didn't really think I could get Singaporean spicy or Thai Tom Yum soup with chilli padi floating about type of spicy in New Zealand.
Me : 'Do you have anything spicy?"
Anand Sharma : "Spicy?? Sure, we have spicy. Here, try this."
He scoops up some rogan josh (lamb curry) and hands me the plastic spoon for me to savour the spice. I try it. Milder than what I would have preferred but I could enjoy that too.
Me : "Very nice. How about the chicken tikka masala? I don't eat lamb."
Anand Sharma : 'Oh, that is not so spicy. But no problem, you can try some".
He lets me try the chicken, and asks
Anand Sharma : "Where are you from?"
Me : "I'm from Singapore. I just crave something spicy today so I thought I'd try what you had".
Anand Sharma : 'Oh yah, they eat very spicy food in Singapore. I tell you what, you take a seat, I'll do something very special for you.'
So I take a seat and Mr Anand Sharma busies himself in the kitchen. I smell onions and chillies and other delicious things being fried and I am practically salivating, and dying out of hunger by this time.
He serves me my modified chicken tikka masala - he had added in more spices to suit my palate (bless his soul). And It was AMAZING. It was HOT the way I wanted it, and I teared and my nose ran while eating it because it was hot (heat) and spicy at the same time. I paid about $8.50 for rice and curry. By the way, this is like the normal range of food court prices (like our Singaporean food courts). You can get cheaper food if you are a pie and sandwich person.
This is one of the meals that I will remember for a lifetime. From every country I have ever visited, I have taken away a food memory. This is it for Auckland :-))
I like Mr Anand for other reasons.
I returned the next day and had kebabs. He generously gave me curry over my rice (which was an addition) so that my kebab and rice would not be a 'dry' meal and hurt my throat.
On the 3rd day, I returned to pass him the South Seas prospectus because he mentioned that his son was interested in studying media and film. I was wondering how to tell him politely that I would like to eat from the Middle Eastern food stall, 2 units away, and worried about hurting his feelings...or making him feel like I had 'used' him.
When he asked me what I wanted to eat, I told him sheepishly that I was kinda wondering what the Middle Eastern food was like. He was not offended and couldn't have said it any better :
"Sometimes when I eat Indian food 3 days in a row, I get tired of it too. Our food is too rich and everbody needs to have variety. Go ahead and check out the other stalls around here. It'll be good for you and I won't mind at all."
And sent me off with a huge smile. The night before I returned to Singapore, I went back to the Food COurt just to take a pic of him, and with him - Im scooping up some curry ready to serve YOU!
He offered me a complimentary meal since I was going back, but my tummy was funny and I unfortunately, had to decline.
But what an awesome personality. I told him I would never forget that special curry he did for me. Truly, truly, appreciated Mr Anand Sharma.
Pizza Fresco - next to Foodtown at Customs Street, or near Fort Street
Kebabs Galore
I got the impression that Aucklanders love their kebabs. Along Queen Street and on my way back to the hostel, I encountered these signs. And they are not a complete collection cause I didn't really get to cover the whole CBD area. But yeah...here you have Kebab signboards spanning probably less than 1km of walking distance.
By the way, the kebabs sold in the places above are the sandwich types. If you want skewered kebabs (or shish tawouke types), you could check out this guy from that same Asian food court as Mr Anand Sharma. Generous servings of kebab, salad with pilaf / pasta / fries. And uh, if you ask for hot sauce? Don't count on it actually being hot. It was bland as hell. Saving grace - kebabs were delicious on their own.
I found this shop very exciting because it sold Brazilian, Mexican, steaks and Fish n Chips alongside Middle Eastern. The variety was sooooo mindboggling. And I could salivate a whole ocean just thinking about what I would eat from there. Alas. I settled for kebabs for this reason you would never have thought of - I felt like having kebabs.
Simple.
I am a self-indulgent cow and no, will not try different food for the sake of featuring it on this blog.
Queens Arcade Specialty Shopping
This little "mall" - rather quaint looking actually - housed 2 very interesting places.
Delicatessen Delissimo
I had breakfast here the day I flew back. I wish I had tried more exciting stuff but I really wanted to have a nice English breakfast (as memorable as the one I had in UK at the airport and at Darlington Hotel). Somehow, I managed to get chicken sausages in the UK and US but not in NZ. As I don't take pork, I could not order a traditional English breakfast (modified though I wanted it) and ordered their omelette with mushrooms instead.
Honestly, I was kinda disappointed because I didn't find it very delicious and found it to be rather 'crude' on the taste. It was the plainest way to do a mushroom omelette. I don't think they were very well seasoned at all. I also got kinda sick of the big, generous portions of mushrooms. I paid around $12 for this - which I thought was pricy.
Instead, I wish I had just chosen something from their display inside the shop - quiches, pies, salads etc - very good variety and looking very mouthwatering. Well. You'll just have to do it for me then, won't you?
Customs Coffeehouse
I passed by this place every morning on my way to the bus stop. I really wanted to enter it because I thought I might find a wizened old man with round glasses perched on his nose brewing me coffee. Specialty coffee. Dunno why this place made me think of old men. It looked very old world. Maybe that's why.
So after eating at Delicatessen Delissimo, I hopped over next door for some Cappucino. Very cosy sitting at a wooden table surrounded by all sorts of coffee and tea, and equipment. Plus, the very friendly Kiwi English teacher sitting next to me struck up a conversation and we chatted about the time he visited Singapore and his impressions.
Go here for an un-Starbucks or Coffee Bean (or in Kiwiland, Esquires coffee experience). It's got a very old world charm.
Esquires - the New Zealand Coffeehouse
So...speaking of coffeehouses of the Starbucks type...if you are a fan, then don't forget to try Esquires - a New Zealand franchise. It's open 24 hours and you can sample a wide array of Putumayo World Music collection (which I like). I came here for my Chai Latte, accompanied by a smoke after class and just watched the Auckland world walk by.
So....how did I pay for all this food stuffing in Auckland?? By working as a toilet cleaner...........
