aliciasfoodreviews-blog

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Rain Bar Visit 1 BBQ Pork Ribs

My Dad and I have recently been visiting the Rain Bar and Restaurant located in Papamoa just down the road from where we live. We have dined there in total 4 times in a row. It has become one of our favourite places to go for a bite to eat. The food is impeccable and great value and the service is excellent!

Visit 1: BBQ Pork Ribs

The very first visit we tried Rain Bar due to the Wednesday night special for 1kg of BBQ Pork Spare Ribs for $15. We are both a fan of ribs, I fell in love with them on my second visit to Rye and Dad is also a fan. This deal enticed as we saw the signs as we drove past on our way back from work one evening. We made the decision to visit and try it out, we have been wanting to try the food for a while. 

The food and experience: The serving size was massive! 1 kg worth of beautiful smokey BBQ ribs which was enough for both of us! They were quite sticky so we have been provided with a small bowl with lemon to wash our hands with between mouthfuls. Another plus is that it is Happy Hour from 5 pm so all drinks are half price - the beers are huge and the Lemon lime and bitters is authentic and not from a Bundaberg bottle which are gross! The wait staff and the  maître d' were very friendly and helpful, the prices were very good value and the food definitely left a lasting impression on us - we knew we would be returning soon :)

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Cafe Versailles

We visited this place quite a few months ago but it needed a review due to its great food and atmosphere.

Ambience: Smallish but very welcoming restaurant which is also a cafe during the daytime (from 3:30pm onward) Evenly spaced tables indoors and outdoors. The candle holder made from an old wine bottle with wax dripped all over it was a very creative piece. The restaurant was pretty empty apart from us and one other couple.

Menu: Pretty reasonable. The menu was pretty traditionally french cusine with a fine selection of authentic/well known favourites. Starters include: French cheese platters, garlic bread, scallops, snails, croquettes and french onion soup to name a few. Mains on offer are: Beef Burgundy, Chicken Provencal, beef eye fillet, the absolutely delicious Pork belly roulade that I ordered, chicken fillet cannelloni, fish, stuffed chicken and duck leg in an orange liqueur sauce.  Desserts are: Petit Choux (Profiteroles) served with a creme patisserie (refined custard) crepes mikado, chocolate mousse, creme brulee, roasted pineapple, melting chocolate cake with vanilla icecream and  Frangelico or Drambruie or Galliano Affogato (icecream with an espresso shot and liqueur) mixed at your table to your liking.

Pricing: Ranges from $13.50-19.50 for starters, $22.50-35.00 for mains the $35 being the eye fillet and $34.50 for the fresh fish. 

Service: Very friendly and attentive wait staff. We were greeted very quickly and then ordered our food. The waiter checked on the quality of the food, I loved it immensely. The service time was pretty quick would’ve been about 15-20 minutes wait, very efficient. 

Food: I ordered the Pork Belly roulade which I took a chance with as I had never eaten it before and Seamus ordered the terrine and a pastry type dish. I loved my pork belly it was so tender and flavoursome!! As it was my first time eating pork belly I didn’t have any expectations however it was incredible and definitely worth it. It was served in a cylinder shaped roll (Roulade) stuffed with cranberries and a cider apple syrup sauce accompanied with tender roasted potatoes. The menu specified “Melt in the mouth” to describe this perfect dish and it definitely lives up to this criteria. I have since regarded pork belly as one of my favourite meats. Seamus had the special terrine which is minced meat ground into a pate the meat used was a mixture of minced duck, beef and veal served with a pastry of some kind, he unfortunately didn’t know what he was eating and felt quite sick afterwards which was rather a shame. Being quite a fan of Masterchef and having seen these made multiple times  I had been dying to try Creme Patisserie and Authentic French Profiteroles (Chocolate eclairs) so I was slightly naughty and gave into temptation. I received three large eclairs filled generously with creme patisserie (refined french custard which is rather thick compared to regular custard) and drizzled with Belgian chocolate which was a beautiful touch on top of the already masterful eclairs. It was one of the best desserts I have had in my dining experiences so far, an absolute decadent delight - savour every mouthful! 

Final Thoughts: Well worth your while to visit, it was a small but impressive restaurant in many aspects, the pricing was rather reasonable and the quality of food excellent! I have finally discovered a new meal that I will be ordering in future and the environment in this place was beautiful and very romantic.

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Thai Thani Takeaway

We love Thai Thani so much that we have had takeaway 3-4 times since our initial visit and my first review. We would like to mention our two favourite curries and dishes at Thai Thani in a quick opinion piece.

Alicia’s take on the Panang Curry - my absolute favourite of the moment. Panang curry is a peanut and chilli based red curry served with coconut cream, green beans, carrots, capsicum and courgettes and comes with either chicken, beef, pork or lamb as the meat choice, I always get chicken though. It packs a mighty flavour punch and even the mild is hot and spicy - so if you don’t like particularly spicy or hot food then the Panang curry probably isn’t for you. The peanut and chilli flavours alongside the other components of the dish - the chopped veges make it like heaven in your mouth! My favourite curries tend to be the thai over the indian variety I just feel that the flavours are far superior to the ones that the Indian curries offer. Another plus to these curries is that there is enough for two meals either one meal between two people or enough for lunch the next day, which makes it more enjoyable and convenient. Highly recommended! 

Seamus’ take on Yellow Curry

A very delicious meal, the least spicy and mildest curry of all the thai curries yet the most underrated. Made with banana, potato and pineapple as the key ingredients, the sweet tones don’t overpower the spices but add a real fresh touch to what is usually a dish reserved for those with a spicy appetite. Do try it. 

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Our drinks at Postbank - Mine was the Treasure Island Mocktail quite yum :)

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Post Bank

Ambience: A compact-sized restaurant with a book-ends theme bookshelves decorated the walls with literature. It was like a cosy little nook we were sitting in and honesty didn’t feel the best. The space was quite small for a personal dining area.

Menu: Set out into book chapter sections very confusing we had to ask the waitress how to decipher which course was which. Chapter 1 and 2 - Entrees include: Whipped ricotta with compressed cucumber, kalamata olives and toasted sourdough, pancetta croquettes and roasted capsicum relish, seafood bouillabaisse and garlic toast and poached chicken roulade with crispy potato skin and pecorino cheese foam. Chapter 3 and 4 - Mains include: Pan-fried market fish with saffron potatoes, green peas and fennel, prosciutto wrapped pork fillet with sweet and sour cauliflower, angus beef like seamus had and hazelnut crusted venison.

Pricing: Entrees ranged from $12-18 each and mains ranged from $28-39 which we felt were very overpriced for the amount and what we received, pretty pricey restaurant. You can order sides as well and add to any meal for $8 each. Desserts are very overpriced we felt at $16 a pop.

Food: The food was rather nice. Seamus ordered the eye fillet steak with garlic cream, pickled radish, onion jus and lentils he said it was the best he had ever tasted and it was cooked perfectly! I had the beef cheek ragu in red wine jus with pappardelle pasta it was beautiful in flavour and quite filling - the red wine gave it a rich taste. We then shouldn’t have ordered a dessert but course we did! It was a huge let-down. We ordered icecream sundaes with peanut butter and caramel icecream and caramel popcorn throughout, it was the weirdest taste combination ever and I don’t mean that in a good way. 

Service: The service was under par. The waitress was admittedly new - however when I asked her what beef cheek was and what it tasted like she couldn’t tell me and didn’t offer to ask. The serve time was incredibly long after ordering, our food didn’t arrive for over an hour which was the longest wait time so far and the restaurant was near on empty! We were not impressed and very hungry by this stage. I think it was very unacceptable and not somewhere to recommend as service matters a lot.

Final Thoughts: The pricing was quite expensive for what we received, the service was lacking and the wait time was just plain unacceptable. The good food doesn’t save this place, we will not be returning any time soon. The menu was quite limited and very confusing to work out due to the letter and book format and the environment didn’t feel homely at all. The food was of good quality if you don’t mind waiting an eon for it. To us it doesn’t worth it.

Overall Rating: 2/5

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Lone Star Revisit

Ambience: Very spacious and filling fast restaurant, this time we attended earlier so we got a table straight away. It was a relaxed and homely type atmosphere making you feel very comfortable in your surroundings.

Food: We ordered the Honky Tonk Chicken which was chicken marinated in Dijon mustard, dill, honey and olive oil served with a tasty and beautifully balanced ginger orange and cranberry salsa. In true Lone Star style the finishing touches were the delicious signature coleslaw and buffalo chips, the taste was exceptional! The many elements of the dish made it an absolute delight! You got the sweetness and sourness from the lime, one of my favourite meals so far. Seamus ordered the Kiwi Joker steak which he really liked it was sirloin and cooked well, however he said it was slightly chewier than he had anticipated - his also came with the coleslaw and chips. We ordered banoffee pie for dessert and took it away with us for later, it was super sweet and very average tasting, not something to rave about unfortunately. They definitely do one of the best Lemon lime and bitters my favourite drink when we go out as it is not one out of a bottle which I’m noticing that the restaurants with bars make them so much better!

Final Thoughts: Was a very enjoyable time, happy that we gave it a revisit, pricing is incredibly reasonable and massive servings are fantastic with great service and delicious food. It was also a bonus that w got a great table which was coincidentally the same table we had last time we visited. The chicken was definitely one of the finest ones I have had except for Le Marie, it was very top notch. They earned their 1/2 point lost on our last visit, it was just a great place to visit and is so consistently good! 

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Volare

The Strand, Tauranga Central

Ambience: A few tables were located on the bottom level of the two storey restaurant and most of the tables were situated on the spacious upper level with outstanding views overlooking the water. The tables were evenly spaced and have a very romantic feel. The restaurant wasn’t very busy when we arrived but we were instructed that to have the table by the window we would have to leave before 7:30 as it was pre-booked, the view was definitely worth it.

Menu:  Entrees: Bruschetta Classica (Ciabatta with roasted garlic puree) Sicilian Bruschetta with veges and feta, Eggplant with tomato sauce and mozzarella, Misto di Antipasti (Arancini Meat balls, provolone, salami, prosciutto with bread and olives) Salads: Insalata Greca con Pollo(Chicken, feta, olives and mesclun) and Insalata Mare e Monte(Scallops, bacon, duck meatballs, pecorino with orange and roasted red onion) Pasta: Orange linguine with shredded duck in a tomato sauce, Chicken with sundried tomato and garlic in a creamy tomato sauce, Tortelli Piccante(Spinach and Ricotta tortelli with chorizo and capsicum in a tomato sauce) Other mains include eye fillet steak, veal, half duck in an orange sauce with cheese and polenta, lamb rack and chicken thighs with bacon, broccoli and cream. Some desserts on offer are: Tiramisu, Canoli with either almond biscuit and ricotta or chocolate filling with berries, Chocolate lava cake, caramel lava cake, affogato and gelato are just a few among the sumptuous desserts.

Pricing: Quite reasonably priced for the quality of food, medium-sized meals so suitably proportioned for the money. Entrees start from $8 and range to $37 for the Aranchini Meatballs, Pasta ranges from $21-28, and risotto is price on application. For the steaks and other mains they range from $30-36 each. If you are in the mood for dessert these are roughly around the $8-15 mark and for a truly luxurious second course $25 for the Formaggi variety of cheeses, bread and fruit including: Blue cheese-provolone, -mascarpone and pecorino.

Service: The Italian waiters were very pleasant and attentive and served us immediately. We ordered our drinks first I got an Italian Limonata and Seamus a tonic water, we ordered our mains a few minutes later. No long wait times at all and our waiter was very informative with explaining the menu and called us “the Lady” and “The Sir” which was very professional and nice to hear. The interval between mains and desserts wasn’t long either, very reasonable time between courses. The attentive service and short wait times for food were admirable and they really took great care of us.

Food: We ordered the special risotto which was chicken and mushroom risotto with bacon and mascarpone cheese which was incredibly creamy and delicious - it looked like such a high quality dish, the risotti flavour changes every day. I had the spinach and ricotta tortellini which was very tender, authentic homemade italian pasta with a strong tomato sauce, I am a huge fan of pasta so this dish was very up my alley. The delicate balance of flavours really complimented this dish and the addition of parmesan cheese on the top of this dish made it so tasty and topped off a very beautiful dish, highly recommended!! We ordered dessert as well, the melting chocolate and caramel cakes sounded too good to pass up. I ordered the caramel melting cake with caramel and a oozy centre that was supersweet and complimented with the freshness of the green apple gelato that came with it that cut through the sweetness of the caramel and tasted so refreshing. This was my first experience with gelato but I highly suggest that you try if you haven’t already. All in all a perfect dessert and the gelato was a perfect accompaniment to a dessert that really appealed to my sweet tooth! Seamus said that his chocolate melting cake was nice and tasty for his first time eating a melting cake, his didn’t come with gelato though.

Final Thoughts: Overall, a top quality restaurant which I am very happy we went to. The service was excellent, food top-notch and great size portions not too big. The desserts were one of the best that I have had since we started dining out they don’t quite top the Longhorn cheesecake with Mars bars and Kahlua from Lone Star but come very close. No long wait times, not noisy or too busy and with a beautiful outlook, we couldn’t really ask for more.

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Le Marie - Revisit

Ambience:  Very peaceful environment with a lovely table on the side of the small restaurant seating area accented by mood lighting, very nice.

Food: We ordered an impeccable scotch fillet steak which had a beautiful char-grilled flavour. Mine was cooked medium-well done which I now know will be my steak cooking preference, this was the same steak that Seamus ordered the last time we visited here. As in my previous review; the Bearnaise sauce and the chips were fantastic and super filling - they really tied the dish together. It was the best steak I have ever tasted and eaten!! Highly recommended!!  So delicious! We didn’t have dessert this time as we were going to the movies and I was going to treat myself to a Choc-top Icecream

Pricing: Not too expensive, the steaks were in the early thirties which I feel was very reasonable for the portion sizes

Service: Very efficient and professional, no long wait times with very pleasant staff

Final Thoughts: Well worth revisiting, sizes weren’t too big so that you felt overstuffed, they were the size that after eating you felt comfortably full. Definitely visit if you like artisan cuisine as I mentioned in my initial review. No needed improvement from us, we had a great time again.

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Dixie Browns

Marine Parade, Mount Maunganui

Ambience: The restaurant/Cafe as it is open for breakfast,lunch and dinner was in a fantastic location at the mount directly on Marine Parade between the apartment complexes and The Coffee Club with wonderful views of the beach. It was a very spacious environment with leather seats and nice sized tables. There were tealights on the table and a bottle of water with lemon waiting for us to start with. The rotating dessert display was also a pleasant sight and cool feature. The restaurant was pretty empty when we arrived at 6pm but got a lot busier and was quickly filling up as time went on. It was a rather flash place in appearance and seems like it was a fairly new place.

Menu: There are a variety of breads and platters on offer to start including garlic bread, rosemary and feta, baked brie with ciabatta and cheese platters. Entrees include soups, seafood chowder, prawn cocktail, eggplant parmigiana, grilled prawns, barbeque wings and lambs fry. Mains are grouped into categories including: House Specials, pasta, steak, pizzas, burgers and salads. House Specials include Tequila lime chicken, butter chicken, lamb shanks, pork belly with mango and orange glaze, beef cheek with garlic and onion potato, 7 types of steak, 7 types of sauce for $2.50 extra all served with fries or veges potato and onion rings. Three types of pasta - chicken fettuccine, spaghetti and meatballs and chilli chicken noodles. Salads include the walnut club and cajun chicken salad, 5 types of burger including a vegetarian one and 13 types of pizza. A few vegetarian options are also available. Dessert looked divine even though we didn’t try it- Lemon Meringue pie, banana split, Belgian waffles, affogato, creme caramel, warm chocolate mud and caramel pecan fudge sundae are among the choices for dessert.

Pricing: Entrees start from $6.90 (Garlic Bread) and $32 for a cheese platter, other entrees are between $10-22. The House specials range from $25.90-38.00. Steaks are priced from $26.90-$39.90, pasta and salads are around the $25 mark, burgers roughly $20 each and pizzas up to $28 but incredibly reasonable pricing for the serving sizes, very good value.

Service: Our waitress was extremely pleasant and helpful. She possessed the nothing is too much trouble attitude which was very refreshing. Our drinks order was taken immediately, the only slight issue was that she was rather quick to return to the table and didn’t really give us enough time to choose what to order. I inquired about the size of the walnut club salad as it looked interesting and I wasn’t very hungry and wanted a slightly lighter meal. She was very helpful in this regard and our orders were taken in a quick and efficient manner.

Food: We ordered the lumberjack pizza (Meatlovers) was massive and was loaded with the regular toppings which Seamus said was a great pizza and so tasty!!. I ordered the walnut club salad which comprised of marinated chicken, walnuts, avocado, smoky bacon, croutons and salad greens with beautiful flavour combinations, absolute taste sensation the chicken was very tender and the rest of the elements worked beautifully together and incredibly filling not a boring salad at all! So inspired!! We took them home and we couldn’t finish. The highlight was (as in the above picture) my peanut butter double thickshake which was soooo yum! I love peanut butter and captured the flavour excellently. 

Final Thoughts: Impressive selection on the extensive menu so much to choose from - left us spoilt for choice!! Very generous serving sizes, great service and incredibly tasty and filling meals and shakes. Definitely worth a checking out if you want somewhere new to try that isn’t overly expensive ad in a beautiful location. We had a fantastic time overall and will no doubt be returning soon!

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Le Marie

Pacific Apartments building, Maunganui Road, Mt Maunganui

Ambience:  Little Restaurant/Café divided into two sections located at the bottom of the Pacific Apartments complex in Mt Maunganui. Very stylish and swanky interior, good seating and dim lighting complimented with tealights lit on the table to create a tranquil environment.

Menu: French Restaurant but a lot of western food with a French twist on the menu. Scotch fillet steak with Béarnaise sauce and chips (a traditional occurrence in French haute cuisine) chicken cordon Bleu stuffed with smoked ham & Camembert served with a side of roast Veges and a mustard sauce, braised duck, Poisson de jour (Fish of the day) served in a creamy lemon sauce, mussels and tiger prawns in a white wine sauce with French fries, roast pork belly and eye filet steak served with potatoes and leek gratin and garlic emulsion with jus sauce are a few of the mains. The entrees include: Baked Camembert, breads and dips including garlic, French onion soup, duck pate, prawns and bread, and scallops in a creamy vermouth and mushroom sauce with Gruyere cheese. Desserts include Crème brûlée with lavender, sorbet, chocolate mousse, strawberry crepes and profiteroles.

Pricing: Le Marie was the most expensive restaurant that we have visited so far, a little bit expensive than Rye but the quality was worth the price. The food was a lot more artisan and Masterchef in quality, dishes ranged from early $16 to late $30’s especially the steak which I felt was a little overpriced. The value for money as with all the restaurants we have visited so far was of a very high standard and not a rip-off by any means.

Service: The very service was very formal – the French waitress was professional, not overly-friendly but pleasant enough. The waitress gave us a bottle of water for the table before we got our main drinks. Our orders were taken promptly and carefully, Seamus had made a reservation beforehand, the restaurant part was empty when we arrived but quickly filled up as the evening went on. We had previously had a glance at the menu to get an idea of what we wanted which made a difference in getting our orders placed quicker.

Food: Absolutely outstanding and worth raving about!!! We ordered the chicken cordon Bleu and sirloin steak with chips and Béarnaise sauce. The food was beautiful and in a different league to any of the restaurants we have visited so far. The chicken cordon Bleu was tender but cooked perfectly, the breast was stuffed with smoked ham and Camembert which didn’t overpower with flavour as it is usually quite a strong cheese; it was served with a selection of roast Veges including pumpkin, roast and baked potato so incredibly fluffy and light, broccoli and cauliflower, the hero of the dish was the Dijon mustard sauce which really tied every component together and was incredibly amazing! Seamus had the sirloin steak which he said was yum, however he should’ve asked for rare not blue as it was a lot rarer than he expected. His steak came with chips and béarnaise sauce with Veges, it looked great but was rather expensive. General consensus was that it was beautiful food! The serving sizes were great and filling, no more than I would eat usually which was good. I decided to try a dessert and got the Lavender Crème brûlée, it was very tasty, however quite sweet – the vanilla custard and caramelised sugar tasted really nice together. I had seen the caramelised sugar done with a blow torch on Masterchef and it was awesome to taste!

Final Thoughts: Le Marie rates very highly with me and with Seamus as well, I definitely would suggest to look at the menu first and decide what you would like first, you can also make bookings as well. The food is definitely of a higher calibre than our previous visits, the service was quite good and efficient, however the pricing was slightly higher but worth it. The surrounding atmosphere and environment of the restaurant are definitely worth your time and a great place to check out. There was nothing to fault, we had a very enjoyable time.

Overall Rating 5/5

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Pizzeria Imperfetto

1176 Pukaki Street, Rotorua

Ambience: The Environment was very relaxed and balanced with soft mood music which was pretty inaudible- just loud enough to be very pleasant. Evenly spaced tables even though the restaurant was rather small it wasn’t claustrophobic at all. Perfect for if you want to go with your partner for an authentic Italian Pizza/Calzone experience. We attended on a Saturday night around 6:30pm, we made a prior reservation as we were visiting Rotorua for the day.

Menu: As it is an Italian Pizzeria, pizza is the main commodity on the menu. The pizzas are huge about twice the size of a regular size pizza and were served on a massive plate, traditional with minimal toppings but with maximum flavour. Most pizza options were vegetarian and there were a few with meat on them for example one with pork sausage which I had and it was delicious. There are also Calzones which are like a filled pizza folded in half like an apple turnover – filled with things like ham cheese, onion & mushrooms among other things. There are also a few options for dessert but we didn’t order any due to the huge size of the main courses, they include traditional Italian desserts like Tiramisu, Chocolate Salami and Affogato (Vanilla Ice-cream with a shot of espresso coffee added)

Pricing: Is quite reasonable, most pizzas are around the $20+ mark but are absolutely massive! I struggled to get through mine and I usually don’t eat a whole pizza. Seamus saved half of his calzone to later as it was rather large and filling, like most of my reviews so far you get a massive helping but you may want to skip dessert!

Service: The waitress was very friendly and took our order pretty quickly, no long wait times as we made a reservation prior to arriving. The other staff were very pleasant and friendly and Authentically Italian. The waitress checked with us about the quality of our meal as well and there wasn’t a lot of wait time for our meals either.

Food: The food was absolutely delicious! Very authentic Italian pizza with minimal toppings and tasty flavours very understated and not overpowering, not too heavy on cheese but just the right amount! My pizza had pork sausage, onion, mushrooms, jalapenos, oregano and a tomato sauce base it was so delicious! Seamus had a Calzone (As mentioned above it is a pizza folded in half like an apple turnover filled with ham, cheese, onions or mushrooms and other ingredients, it looked amazing and apparently had very strong flavours, he got it to take away to finish later due to the size of the portion.

Final Thoughts: Pizzeria Imperfetto was a lovely place, you should definitely visit if you are in Rotorua and would like the authentic Italian pizza experience. We enjoyed it very much, the environment was calming and the tables were spaced out well, the variety of food was fantastic and the service was very good. Definitely recommended!

Overall Rating 5/5

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Thai Thani 2

Wharf Street, Tauranga Central

Ambience: Very calming and very authentic Thai décor decorated the walls and restaurant space. Evenly spaced tables laid out in a small-medium sized space but didn’t feel cramped or anything, soft music playing quiet enough so that we could talk and not have to shout. Pleasant mood lighting and no background noise from any other diners therefore not disturbing the mood.

Menu: Quite comprehensive selection of traditional Thai dishes for mains for example Thai Curries – Green, Red, Panang, yellow, massuman and tropical jungle curry. All curries can be served with either chicken, pork, beef, lamb or tofu. You can also get Prawns, duck or seafood for an extra cost.  The other mains include your choice of either salad with different options of meat to choose from, sizzling dishes like pork chops or lamb racks. There are also vegetarian options available and noodle dishes like Pad Thai are on offer. Variety of entrees including Spring rolls, money bags, chicken Satay and Goong Sabai (King Prawns in Thai Herbs and Vermicelli) Soups also like Tom Yum with your choice for it to be with chicken or with seafood and prawns. All meals come in either mild, medium or hot strengths.

Pricing: Entrees start at $8-10.50. Mains pricing started at around $19 and went up to the high twenties. The servings were rather large and if you get a curry it comes in a dish rather like a gravy boat and the rice is served separately so you need to add what you like to the rice portion, there is usually some left over, again quite a reasonable serving size.

Service: Unfortunately, our reservation was overlooked so we didn’t get served immediately or have a pre-set table. Very pleasant waitress when she did come to us, slightly a little bit slow to begin with and then we were served reasonably quickly after placing our initial order. The wait staff came to us half-way through our respective meals to enquire about our meals which were delicious and very worth it.

Food: We ordered the chicken cashew nuts which Seamus did not like at all, he said that it had a very strong black bean sauce taste that was incredibly overpowering and not nice at all. He didn’t eat much of it so I let him share some of mine as it was a rather portion. I ordered the Thai Green Curry which was absolutely delicious I could’ve probably ordered the mild version though as the medium was rather hot compared to what I am used to heat-wise. It was a lovely Thai Green Curry with chicken as the meat base, very flagrant and Thai spiced, very authentic and complimented beautifully by the jasmine rice which was served separately to the curry so that you could put some rice on your plate and gather the Thai Curry out of a gravy boat type dish – I feel this was a good idea so that you only eat what you can and if you had any leftovers you could get it to takeaway. In the end though we ended up eating it all between us, incredibly generous serving and well worth the price of early $20’s.

Final Thoughts: It was great night, we really enjoyed the atmosphere and the vibe of the restaurant, the wait staff were friendly if not a little inefficient to start with what with being a little slow to take our order (Probably would’ve been a little faster if our reservation had been taken and not overlooked) The variety of food available was definitely commendable you are definitely spoiled for choice if you are a fan of Thai Food that is quite reasonably priced for the portion size like about 95% of the restaurants that we have visited so far. Pricing is pretty decent as well, I generally have a rule with foreign food that I haven’t had a lot of experience eating to order what you know first and then branch out. It was a great place and I definitely would recommend it for a night out. Slightly lower rating due to the service being slightly slower than I anticipated but overall apart from that there was nothing else that I could fault.

Overall Rating 4/5

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At Rye American Kitchen - Revisit

Very satisfying and a plate of awesome food polished off every mouthful with beautiful club soda beside me :)

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Rye American Kitchen Revisit

Ambience: Was very chill, awesome environment like the last time we visited. The restaurant wasn’t that busy - we went earlier than last time. There wasn’t any excess noise; only quiet music and the lamp on the table shaped like a soft drink can was really nice and created a calming mood.

Food: We ordered the St Louis cut pork ribs and the special which in honour of the American election was two hot dogs stylized “The Trump” and “The Clinton” both with different fillings, pulled pork & chili cheese and bacon. The hot dogs were delicious, perfectly proportioned to be filling and inspired with the true taste of Americana. The pork ribs may seem like a tall order for a girl to eat but I tried them and they were massive and coated in a beautiful barbeque sauce - the meat was so tender and flavoursome, it just fell off the bone. The iceberg lettuce coleslaw was delicious and it also came with french fries, however, I was too full to eat them. I also ordered a club soda which was Lemon, orange and vanilla and tasted so sweet and sour at the same time, a brilliant combination!! 

Service: The service was excellent, very quick and efficient as it was last time. 

Final Thoughts: Was definitely a great place, so glad that we revisited, the food was still really top notch and good value for money and the restaurant itself is just such a great place with an awesome laid back and homely environment which is very accommodating. Felt a lot better this time, didn’t need any improvement :)

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Little India

The Strand, Tauranga Central (Just before Starbucks)

Ambience: Quiet atmosphere, we were the only people there to begin with. No music or loud noise which was a refreshing change as we could talk to each other freely without interruption. Large booth style seating and ample table space, very pleasant seating, evenly spaced and not jammed together, smallish restaurant. 

Menu: Mains: Chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, korma and vindaloo in three different varieties – Lamb Chicken or Prawn and a large variety of others. For entrees there is the option of Tandoori Prawns, Malai Tikka, Onion Bhaji, Paneer tikka, vegetarian samosas and either large or small tandoori chicken. Sides include traditional naan bread including: Lamb stuffed naan, garlic naan, paneer kulcha and the option of rotis and a lot more. There are also vegetarian options for people that don’t eat meat as well like Aloo Gobi, Tarka Daal, Malai Kofta and Subzi Bhaji. The choice for drinks was quite interesting as well, the usual wines and alcohol are served as well as soft drinks and an Indian mango & yoghurt drink which I tried and the ingredients worked really well together and it tasted great!! 

Pricing: Entrees start from $6.50-20.00 and mains range from $19-25. The pricing was reasonable for the amount of food that we got, they didn’t skimp on the food and it was definitely worth it. 

Service: I had made an online reservation the day before which was super-easy, you just had to fill in your contact details online and they ring you to confirm within 24 hours. Due to our reservation we were greeted by the friendly staff and shown to our table, we decided on what to drink – the waitress pointed out to me that the indian mango and yoghurt drink was very delicious so I ordered that to give it a go. She was extremely friendly and helpful. We then ordered our meals and they didn’t take hardly any time to arrive. In the case of all professional restaurants our waitress checked on the quality of our food and we really liked them. 

Food: We ordered the chicken korma and chicken tikka Masala (which was a new experience for me as I hadn’t tried it before) The flavours were amazing, so mouthwatering to the taste! The Indian spices and overall dishes were incredibly rich and filling. We also tried some of each other’s to get a feel of each meal, in the end we felt that my chicken tikka was hands-down the best one of the two, the chicken korma although nice was lacking in flavour which mine had in spades. The serving convention was the same as the thai restaurant that we visited a couple of weeks ago with the curry part served in separate bowls to the rice portion so that you could take how much you wanted. I loved my meal so much that I ate a little bit more than I should’ve as I should’ve taken some away with me due to the large and filling serving we received. The food was super-tasty all in all. 

Final Thoughts: We had a fabulous time at Little India, it was probably the most comfortable seating arrangement we have been in so far. The food was great value for money, it tasted excellent with authentic Indian flavours, good portions, the service was very good with no long waiting times. The variety and large menu left us spoilt for choice, however, we had made a bit of a shortlist prior to arriving. It could also work as a takeaway place as well, but in doing so it would be slightly pricier. We would certainly recommend visiting Little India if you typically like Indian cuisine as we feel it portrayed it very well. 

Overall Rating 5/5

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Barrio Brothers

Ambience: The environment was very busy and noisy. The tables were evenly spaced though. There were a few double-setting tables and a few booth-style seats on the other side of the restaurant. There was a lot  of chatter and background noise, we couldn’t really hear each other, slight drawback on a quite nice setting and authentic Mexican Food, which was an interesting change and really tasty. 

Menu: Authentic Mexican food in every way, split up into categories – Appetizers/Starters (Bocaditos) Tacos,Mains (Los Preferidos) and Desserts (Algo Dulce) Variety of choices starting with Ceviche, Pepitas, Guacamole, Calamari, Nachos (Served in a serving bowl with surrounding chips) Tacos 8 varieties and the option to have a platter of Tacos for two.Mains are traditional Burritos, Enchiladas which come in three varieties: Mole Poblano (Chili andChocolate Sauce with 28 ingredients Verde with tomatillos, Chilies, Coriander and onions andChipotle with Tomato Chipotle sauce with chilies. Your choice of either Shredded Chicken or Pulled Pork as the meat component. Chimichangas (Chicken, Beef or Vegetarian), Quesadillas, Steak and Salads – all mains are served with salsa and salad (Of which was very generous and a delicious dressing on it also)

Pricing: Appetizers start from $6-14 and Mains from $21-30 Desserts range from $10-12 which is quite good value due to the meals all being a considerable size like quite a few of the other restaurants we have visited so far.

Service: We were seated immediately, no waiting for tables or anything. However, when our order was taken the waitress was foreign and had trouble understanding what we were asking for, we had to repeat our order twice in order for her to catch on. Also she forgot one of our drinks. There wasn’t a wait on the meals either, when they arrived they looked fantastic. So the service wasn’t really up to par but the food more than made up for that.

Food: We ordered the Enchilada Mole Poblano Variety which I thought would be incredibly interesting as I once saw Jamie Oliver make a Mole Sauce (Chocolate and Chili are the main ingredients among other things) and it really interested me and the Nachos appetizer which was incredibly unique in the serving presentation like any other dish I have seen before – the nachos were in a little ramekin with chips and salsa surrounding it on a large plate, it was very good and tasty by all accounts. My Enchiladas were very delicious and stimulating to the taste buds, unlike anything I had tasted before, it was a great feeling! We had Churros (Spanish long donuts) for dessert sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and served with chocolate & caramel Sauce plus cream and berries there were about 6 long Churros that we shared, definitely well worth it if you haven’t tried Churros if you love them and want to try a different take. The Dessert was $12 which was very worth for 6 Churros.

Final Thoughts: It was a really nice place, the only drawback was the background noise - the food more than made up for that, I just think maybe another night other than Friday may not be so busy and noisy, I will probably experiment on another day next time. The pricing was good and reasonable, there was quite a lot of variety and authenticity to the Mexican Cuisine and Culture. Lower rating due to background noise and the service wasn’t really up to par. 

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

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Osteria Da Gino

Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui

Ambience: Quite small restaurant with tables quite close together, so was a little bit jammed in, opera music playing was a little distracting, however it wasn’t that loud or noisy which was a bonus. Neighbouring tables seemed a little too interested in watching us eat which was a bit off-putting as well. The mood wasn’t that bad but a little bit uncomfortable.

Menu: Quite a good variety of Italian dishes, was quite impressive the amount of things to choose from. Starters include quite a few seafood options including Mussels, Shrimp Cocktail and appetizers, pizza breads either garlic or cheese. Mains are traditional with Pasta Galore – Carbonara, Cannelloni, Spaghetti Bolognese, Risotto different varieties, 8 types of pizza (Quite large size)

Pricing: For some dishes it was quite a small size for the money as my Cannelloni was $28 and it wasn’t that big served in a small cast-iron dish. The pizza however was rather large and we got the rest to take away with us. We didn't have a dessert as we were full and didn't feel that comfortable in the restaurant to stay.

Service: The Waitress was quite friendly and seated us straight away as we had made a prior reservation. The service for the taking of our orders and the waiting time wasn't that long, we had a starter first and the time frames between each course wasn't long.

Food: We ordered the Meat lovers pizza and the Chicken Cannelloni. The pizza was apparently very tasty and incredibly filling with quite a large amount, however the price was quite expensive for what it was and there was way too much mozzarella making it quite difficult to eat. I had the chicken cannelloni which was very little serving for the price and incredibly hard to eat due to the massive amount of mozzarella and it was far too rich in flavour, making you feel quite sick after having a lot, I didn't feel like finishing it but did in the end.

Final Thoughts: Was very disappointing, the food didn't live up to my expectation and the pricing was quite steep for serving size and the overall vibe of the place was very ordinary, nothing special. I have had quite a lot of Italian food in my lifetime and this definitely wasn't a place that I will be revisiting in the future.

Overall Rating 2.5/5