eatingout – Love.Life.Daley

Black Frog Cafe, Kingsland

July 13, 2018July 14, 2018by lovelifedaleyLeave a Comment

Anyone who knows me well, knows that my favourite meal of the day is breakfast. Eggs and bacon make my heart explode with joy.. I kid you not! I make a mean fry-up – if I do say so myself – and so we most often eat breakfast at home in our free time. Occasionally though, to spare my husband doing dishes, we venture out in search of the best eggs around.

Black Frog Cafe is situated in the lovely suburb of Kingsland, on the ever expanding New North Road. It has a rather inconspicuous entrance that you would miss if you weren’t paying attention, as there is not much space to sit out on the sidewalk. Look out for the French flag and head on inside as it has an awesomely lit sun room at the back of the shop overlooking the train station and Sandringham road.

The cafe boasts french cuisine with a hint of Kiwi and is run by owner Guillaume and his team. It is in many ways authentically french as most of the pastries, croissants and breads are actually regularly imported from France. Guillaume is not only a good cook but clearly has green fingers too as there are a number of beautiful plants spread around the room.

Processed with VSCO with hb1 preset

Processed with VSCO with hb2 preset

We kicked the morning off with some orange juice and delicious coffee, then settled on Eggs Benedict (NZD 23) and a Kiwi breakfast in a Galettes (NZD 19.5). Our waiter was really friendly and the dishes we received were as pretty as a picture. Best of all though, it was all delicious with perfectly poached, soft eggs! Eggs Benedict is always a surprise, as no one chef makes it taste the same and so I am happy to report that this one got my full nod of approval! The Galettes was an interesting twist on a regular breakfast and was really filling – definitely worth a try.

And then in case we hadn’t stuffed ourselves enough.. We settled on a french pudding made of blended croissants and a dollop of cream, just to try out something new. Yum!

They are open for breakfast and lunch every day of the week and serve dinner Thursday through to Sunday. A lovely spot to just hang out and enjoy good food!

food – 4/5

price – 3.5/5

service – 4/5

atmosphere – 3.5/5

Reviews

Chinoiserie, Mt Albert

June 17, 2018by lovelifedaleyLeave a Comment

I am telling everyone I know in Auckland about this delicious food. What a fantastic recommendation for dinner (they are only open in the evenings every day of the week)!

Do not let its rather quiet location, next to a filling station fool you. It was packed by 7pm and they don’t take bookings, so we got ourselves a drink and settled in for a 15 minute wait. It was totally worth it!

Edit1
Edit3

Their specialty is bao’s – Chinese steamed buns. The menu is small and inexpensive with the majority of dishes priced at NZD 10 or less (absolute bargain for Auckland). The atmosphere is cool and far from fancy with décor that is rather out there – luminescent lighting and a large dragon across the back of the service bar.

Edit5

We tried 4 dishes and they were all delicious. Coconut crusted squid rings (NZD 14) which was great to share as the portion size was really generous. Then for mains we ordered a Pork Belly with crushed peanuts bao (NZD 8) and Japanese Karaage Chicken (Deep-fried chicken) with sesame mayo, ginger and cabbage bao (NZD 9). The bao’s were not short of fillings and left us feeling very satisfied.

I am a huge fan of pork belly bao’s but in saying that I think the chicken bao is inspired as the combination of flavours was mouth-wateringly amazing! The pork was tender and really tasty but to get a 5/5 from me I would have liked crispier crackling.

Edit6 Edit7a Edit7

For dessert we had to go with our second choice of deep-fried, black sesame ice-cream bao (NZD 8) as they had sold out of their matcha ice-cream, condensed milk bao (NZD 8). Carbs and sugar overload but a rather tasty ice-cream sandwich!

Edit8

food – 4.5/5

price – 5/5

service – 3.5/5

atmosphere – 3.5/5

Reviews

Chuffed, CBD

March 4, 2018June 24, 2018by lovelifedaleyLeave a Comment

Tucked away from street view, we were really chuffed to have found this little ‘back alley’ hangout.

The atmosphere is laid back and was perfect for a Sunday outing and quick bite to eat. This café is only open during the day making it a good option for breakfast or lunch. The menu isn’t huge but has a wide enough variety for breakfast (starting from $11) and a few interesting options for lunch with a number of pre-made foods, if time isn’t on your side.

We opted for a toasted, Poached Chicken sandwich to share ($11) which was a generous portion size and absolutely delicious. The smoked feta and a hint of chilly which I wasn’t expecting, gave it just the kick it needed.

The house chardonnay ($8) was full of flavor and the Pale Ale ($10) was spot on! They also have a range of sodas, brews, tonics and coffees to choose from too. I liked that the jug of complimentary water brought to the table was sparkling, it is a small detail but it didn’t go unnoticed.

It was pretty full and is clearly quite popular. The only downside was that the service was pretty average. The staff were friendly but our food arrived before our drinks which is never ideal.