Paddock, Cambridge

M and I headed over to Cambridge for brunch (following a whirlwind pokemon tour of the town centre, of course). M had Baked eggs with Chorizo, which was very tasty, she especially liked the bread, which had the delicious friedness and crispy saltiness one looks for in a not too healthy breakfast.  The baked eggs had been cooked in a nonstick pan though, and served in the same, which seems an odd choice - the eater will damage it cutting things.

I had Ham hock and hollandaise with poached eggs, on waffles. It was amazing. Generous serving of ham hock, perfectly cooked eggs, a nice hollandaise, and plenty of carbohydrate in the waffles to soak it up.

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We both approve and will return.

http://www.paddockcambridge.co.nz/ 

Sous vide pork belly

18 hours at 73c. Damn good.

Knuckle Sandwich

A good confident double IPA, courtesy of Bootleggers Brewery. I approve.

Narrows Landing, Hamilton

The folks who own 2 Birds just took over the Narrows Landing Cafe out by the airport.  They do some tasty food out there, although they have a slight fetish for FOTM food trends. The below is M and I.

This was pumpkin pie hotcakes, gluten free, vegan, no refined sugar etc etc. (No refined sugar, especially, is an incredibly stupid thing to boast about, when your vegan caramel is blended dates and there is more sugar in your dish than you would get from just spooning it straight out of a sugar bowl). The cream/yogurt looking topping is whipped coconut cream, of which I approve. The pumpkin pie taste was delicious and intense, and the vegan caramel topped with nuts was very nice, although, again, so much sugar and no, it doesn't matter that it wasn't *refined* sugar.

This is a protein bowl, salmon, eggs, quinoa, roast veg, on salad greens, with a satayish sauce. Pretty damn good also.

Gifts? For me?

A friend came to visit from the US (California, even). He brought gifts.

Papa Goose, Melbourne

A degustation, matched wines, at Papa Goose, with J & T.

Opened with an amuse bouche, cauliflower & mushroom soup.

Followed by beetroot 3 ways, figs and goats cheese.

Scallops, caviar, radish, cucumber

Pan seared Dory, asparagus, fennel, onion

Palate cleanser sorbet.

Wagyu.

Cheesecake.

Highly enjoyable, good service throughout, well spaced courses, and well balanced meal.

8-bit burgers, Melbourne

Good chunky chips, well made burger, peanut butter milkshake. Totally worth checking out next time you are in Melbourne. We hit up the CBD store.

This happened a while back...

I'm quite proud.

Nū Eatery, Hoi An

We have a winner for best meal of the trip. Modern Vietnamese cuisine, very interesting flavour combinations, western influenced style but localised in the best possible way.

Nū Eatery, 10a Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Hoi An.

Very worth your while. Extravagantly priced by local standards. But the food is to notch, puts many a good restaurant to shame. Total bill for 2 people, starters, main courses, desserts, a drink each, was 400k doing, about 20 US dollars.

Cycling and more ca phe

Spent a few hours cycling around Cam Kim island. Nice to get out of town and always nice to drink more coffee.

Banana pancake

A small child would like to steal Mel's banana pancake. From a street vendor at night market in An Hoi.

The Banh Mi Queen...

Doesn't quite measure up to banh mi phuong. Lacking the sharp lime and/or fish sauce flavour to cut the richness of the meat. Still damn good though.