I thought it would be fun to talk about the places we discover on date nights and so this post will be playing catch up (and then hopefully I'll get to where I am posting things that happen more recently and won't have to play catch up so much!) So, here are date nights from this past winter/beginning of spring (i.e. July-Aug-Sept). Not necessarily in the correct order.
First, a little info on dining out in New Zealand. Unless you are going to a take-away type place (which sometimes will have a table or two for you to sit out but not always) you pretty much are expected to have a "booking" for everywhere. Some places will seat you without one, but not always. Also, they plan on your dining experience to be a few hours. However, we are usually done withing 30-60 minutes (depending on the speed of service) I think mostly because we don't drink. We made a booking for 6 and they told us we'd have to be done by 8. I was like - no problem, unless you're telling me you have horribly slow service. But, apparently we are the exception. Another thing to note - most restaurants will have a pile of silverware and napkins at the table. Some will have an area where you can fill up your own water bottle, others will bring you a pitcher/container of water to fill up your glasses yourself. Some places a waitress will take your order and bring you your food, but usually will not check on you to see if you need anything or want dessert. You have to find them if you do - which I don't mind at all, I love it and prefer the dining out experience in NZ to that in America. When you're ready to go, you go pay your bill. No waiting around for the waiter to verify you are done, then bring you the bill, then bring you back your card. Also, no tipping (which is part of why I think they don't come check on you throughout the evening). Whatever the price on the menu is, that's the price you pay at the end of the night. All right, now to the restaurants.
First up is Joe's Garage. (Note to self, take pictures of the outside of the restaurants for future blog posts/memories) For this date night we invited James to join us. It was a few days before he would be going to the temple to take out his endowments and we thought it would be nice to have some time to chat with him and talk about how he is feeling about everything. I found a place that was supposed to have good burgers (James loves hamburgers) and Joe's Garage seemed to fit the bill.
View from our table, with a close up of the bar. This place was nice that we were able to get a (paid) parking spot right in front of the restaurant. Nice to not have to park a ways away or drive around forever trying to find an open spot.
True to form, James ordered the burger. For reference, James' burger was $23.50, getting the fries with it added an extra $5.50 on top of that. He said the burger was delicious.
Brad ordered the Autobahn ($28.50), crumbed beef schnitzel with chips & gravy. It was good, but not our favorite. It had rosemary or some herb that we aren't big fans of.
I ordered the Handsome Bob salad ($27). Came with boiled egg, tomato, grilled chicken, bacon, charred corn, pickled red onions, feta and vinaigrette. I loved it and actually wish it had had ore greens, there were so many other toppings I could have easily made it into two salads.
We got a dessert to share - chocolate mousse ($15). Unfortunately, it had some berries with it - I do not like berries with my chocolate. However, I was able to get some of the mousse sans berries and oh my goodness, it was amazing! So rich, creamy and decadent. Wow! Probably my favorite dessert I've had at a restaurant here.
It was a great night with James, in case you didn't know, I love and am proud of this son of mine! Oh and he wasn't grumpy, he just doesn't know how to smile for posed pictures.
Next up is The Keg Room. Side note: I want to go back to this place soon, apparently they go all out for Christmas, decorate everywhere they can. For this date night Brad ordered the Butter Chicken pie ($26) and I went for the Korean Fried Chicken sandwich ($26.50) but they both included the side at no extra charge, so that was nice. Also, if you used their app to order (while sitting at the table) there was like a 5% discount. So we totally did that. We had planned on trying a dessert (a s'mores cookie for $15) but it wouldn't go through on the app and so we just decided to skip it.
Brad doesn't love Indian food, so he thought his butter chicken pie was okay (very tasty crust, though) and I was also a little disappointed in my chicken sandwich (the chicken was a bit tough). But, as I said, I would be willing to give The Keg Room a second try, even if just for the Christmas vibe.
Next up with Avalon Pizza. This was a takeaway type of place, but they did have two little tables so we were able to dine in. We had planned on going to a different place in this little strip mall type of setting, but after getting there decided to try the pizza place.
Here's the view looking out from our table. Oops, I guess I lied there were actually three little tables there.
And the view looking the other direction.
I have to apologize, I do not recall exactly what pizza we got. I think it was Peri Peri Chicken, but maybe it was Paneer. Oh wait, I remember it was Spicy Paneer ($15) and we also got some jalapeno bites to try. The pizza was fine - it was pizza. The jalapeno bites were tasty.
Oh, this post reminds me that I want to go back to this place. The Bushfire Bar & Grill. A South African restaurant. We both really liked this place. Also, they said on Thursdays they have half price burgers, so we'll have to go back on a Thursday. It was a pretty small place, but had a little bit of a nicer feel.
They had a $5 appetizer special - garlic cheese bread. Oh my, so amazing.
Brad ordered the Best of Both - Two marinated, grilled quarter chickens - Peri Peri & BBQ Char ($26) and I ordered the Surf & Turf - 200g sirloin steak and calamari rings ($35). Sides were included here and I upgraded (for $2) my side to their bushfire green salad. It was different, I wish I could remember now what it all was, but I liked it. For dessert we shared a Malva Pudding ($12). I guess we didn't get a picture of it but it was also very tasty. Hmmm, I may have to make a booking for here tonight. Though I guess I should wait and go on a Thursday to save some money on their burgers. But, I highly recommend trying this place if you come to Hamilton!
This picture was just from another takeaway we went to. It was close to where Brad lived when he was here alone, but I don't recall the name. I ordered a chicken sandwich (no price or pic, sorry) and Brad ordered a crumbed fish sandwich with egg. It wasn't bad, just a bit different.
The local college had a musical performance that was free - Broadway through the Ages - and I thought Brynn might enjoy it so we had another date night with a child. We did enjoy the songs, some more than others. There was a lady (they were all college students) who sang at the end that was phenomenal, I would gladly attend a concert featuring just her.
Afterwards we found a place that had a table available for 3 - The Lyonaise Fern. Brad and I shared a hamburger with chips ($26). We shared an appetizer of Arancini ($19 and quite tasty). Brynn also had a burger. Apparenlty I only took a picture of the appetizer, but we liked everything, especially the chips.
All right, there's a little glimpse into our date nights here in New Zealand! Is it lunchtime, yet?
With love from New Zealand,
Lyndsay
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