Sawadee Restaurant 

Address

42a Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby
Auckland

09 376 0320

Sawadee is a Thai restaurant located in Ponsonby, Auckland.  I was there for lunch on Friday 4^th of May 2012.  Sawadee is a B.Y.O. and they do take away too.  The staff are very nice and accommodating and the restaurant has an interesting environment with the sound of water from the water feature.  

There were seven of us and we had only 45min to spare for lunch and we explained that to the waitress, she made sure that our food was served as quickly as possible. It took about 10 minutes only from when we all placed our orders till the food appeared on our table, which I thought was great knowing our circumstance.  

What’s interesting in Sawadee is that, you pay only $3.00 for rice, but you will be served as much rice as you can eat.  The waitresses come around as you finish you rice and top up your rice if you want more. 

Food and Drinks

Panang Neau $21.70 Rice $3.00

As you may know, I like spicy food and for me this dish would leave a nice tingling feel on your tongue.

This dish is a very nice creamy beef curry made of, beef (obviously), coconut milk, bamboo shoots, Panang curry sauce, potatoes and peanuts.  I loved the creamy rich texture of this curry and the taste was wonderful.  I truly enjoyed this dish. 

TOM YAM GOONG – Hot $8.50

Traditional hot and sour soup served with prawns and mushrooms.  If you are not use to hot food, I don’t suggest you ordering this soup but if you are up for a bit of spice then this soup is great for cold winter days and nights and to open blocked nostrils.

GAI LEUNG - Warm $17.90

Chicken breast stir fried with yellow curry, onion, capsicum and cashew nuts.  This dish is one of the best Thai curries I have ever tried.  It is a nice creamy curry and the roasted cashew nuts are the highlight of this dish for me. 

GAI PAD PUG - Mild $17.20

Stir fried chicken with seasonal vegetables which is served with rice.  It is curry those ever one can take since it is not hot but I personally would like it to be more spicy.  I like the fact that this curry was not runny.

NEAU NAM MAN HOI - Mild $17.20

Strips of scotch fillet with fresh vegetables in an oyster sauce.  This beef dish goes well with either rice or noodles.  Well cooked scotch fillet striped are even nice on their own.  I love Thai food and Sawadee’s one of the best.

Coffee Club (Manauka City Shopping Center)

Address

Westfield Manukau City

Cnr Great South and Wiri Station Road

Manukau City

09 262 0261

Went for shopping in Westfield Manukau Shopping Centre and ended up having breakfast in Coffee Club there.

Coffee Club is a chain store/coffee shop which I found a bit overpriced.   

Food and Drinks

Eggs Benedict $16.50

The eggs benedict portion was decent and it eggs were done perfectly. By that I mean, the egg yolks were runny but at the same time not too runny.  The hollandaise souse was very tasty.  The bacon was cooked well, not too dry and not too soft. 

French toast $9.00 extra Bacon and Banana $6.70

The portion of the French toast dish was good.  However, pieces of toast dipped in eggs and fried were used, which I found very average and nothing fancy about them.   The bacon was cooked very well and it was no too salty.  The bananas were just two pieces of banana, then again, nothing fancy about them, but some effort had gone to sprinkling some icing sugar on the dish as a mean of decoration.  Overall, there was nothing special about Coffee Club’s French Toast.

Beef Burger $15.50 extra chips $4.10

Coffee Club’s burgers are different from all the fast food burgers I’ve had and it is not only the taste but also the look and presentation of the burger.   The bread buns are not round like the normal burger buns, instead they are square shaped.  Everything on the burger tasted very nice and fresh.  

The chips was very tasty too, I like thick and crispy chips that came with the burger.  However the burger does not come with aioli or tomato sauce, but when I asked the staff for some tomato sauce they gave me plenty.  

The nice thick, juicy beef paddy and the salad plus the bread buns makes it a bit hard to take bites off the burger so I recommend to have some cutlery handy.    

Cornwall Park Restaurant and Café  

Address

Greenlane Road West
Cornwall Park
Greenlane

09 630 2888

Cornwall Park Restaurant and Café is one of my favourite dining places.  I love the fact that you get a spectacular view of the Cornwall Park through the windows while having your food and that, if the weather is good and the sun is shining, you can go for a short or long walk in the park after you breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

The staff are all professionals and this time round we had a waiter who although was a New Zealander but was tossing some French words here and there and not only he was very polite but also quite funny too.

The service was great. It included the timing of serving our food and beverages as well as the presentation; the whole lot was a nice experience.   

If you are checking the menu and the food prices on Cornwall Park Restaurant website, be mindful that the website prices are out of date, as the price for full breakfast on their website is $18.50 where it is actually $19.50.

Food and Drinks

Free Range Eggs Benedict with bacon $17.50 Large Mocha $5.00

The hollandaise sauce was one of the best I’ve ever had.  It seemed that a dash of saffron was added to the sauce ingredients, which made a huge difference. 

The look and taste of the eggs benedict was perfect.  I loved everything about this dish, from the colour of the eggs and the hollandaise sauce to the taste of the spinach. 

Full Breakfast $19.50 Orange Juice $4.00

The portion of the full breakfast was just right, not too much or too little.  The sausage was cooked well and the potato chunks which were in replacement of hash brown(s) and rather interesting to me.  The premium bacon added the necessary zing to the whole dish.  Apart from the potato chunks which was something new as well as the good quality bacon, this full breakfast seemed very average.   

Free Range eggs Royal $18.50 Flat white $4.50

The Free Range Eggs Royal, is pretty much like the Eggs Benedict but instead of bacon it was served with smoked salmon.  The salmon was smoked very nicely and it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever tasted.

Open face Omelette $16.50 Ice Coffee $5.00

The Omelette ingredients were: eggs (of course), tomatoes, onion, feta cheese and some herbs.  The omelette looked, somewhat over cooked and I was not sure if it was brown because of all the herbs or it was not taken off the fire soon enough.  I found this dish average too.  

Der Metz Restaurant

Address

5-11 Averill Avenue

Kohimarama
Auckland

09 528 8012

Dre Metz is a German restaurant and although it was a Thursday night, but the place was full of people.  It was not my first time in Der Metz, but I can go and dine at this restaurant every night.  I love the whole atmosphere as I feel I am in Germany.  The beer jugs, the flags, the music and even the waitresses were German. 

It is a B.Y.O. as well but they charge you for the corkage of course.  

We were greeted as we walked in through the doors and directed to a nice table.   The waitresses were very kind and friendly and were dressed in the traditional German dirndl, which made the restaurant even more authentic German restaurant.   The service was great and the food came out in a reasonable time. 

(will include the photos soon)

Food and Drinks

Garlic Bread $ 8.00

Garlic Bread was our entrée.  It was about 10 pieces of French Baguette slices, toasted in the oven with batter, garlic and herbs, simple but delicious. 

Chicken Schnitzel “Wiener Art” $28.00

Chicken Schnitzel Wiener Art was ordered to have salad instead of mash potato or chips.   The schnitzels were pan fried, bread crumbed chicken breasts served with a bawl of salad.  There is a choice of one or two pieces of schnitzel (two pieces will cast $5 extra) so we went for two pieces.  The schnitzels were beautiful, but the salad was not as fresh as expected.  Over all it was a great dish.

Wiener Schnitzel $27.00

Wiener Schnitzel is pan fried, bread crumbed pork which could be served with mash potato or chips.  You can order one piece or two pieces (for an extra $5.00).  This dish had two pieces of schnitzel and I have to say it was huge.  I have a feeling that this dish came out with more than two pieces of schnitzel on it.  For the Wiener Schnitzel we order mash potato which was very nice and creamy with generous amounts. 

Pork Spare Ribs $26.00

The Pork Spare ribs were the highlight of the night for me.  Three huge pieces of pork ribs, cooked to perfection, served in sweet chilli-honey sauce and chips.  The pork ribs were huge and the taste amazing.  I loved the sweet chilli-honey sauce combination as well since it was not too hot for me (mind you I do love hot food).