Fergburger, Queenstown

42 Shotover Street
Queenstown
9300

We'd heard good things about Fergburger and it was rated the top eatery in the South Island by urbanspoon, so as we were in Queenstown for lunch, we thought we'd give it a try...

There were queue's outside but everything seemed to be moving pretty quickly...

They have a good range of burgers on offer, including beef, lamb chicken and veggie patties.

After I'd ordered I was told there would be a 20-25 minute wait, oh well, we weren't in a rush... In the end it was over half an hour until the order was ready. This wasn't due to any tardiness from the staff, the pass was a hive of activity...

Once my number was called I headed down to the lakeside park, and we unpacked our bag... The chips were great, as was the aioli.

I had the 'Bun Laden' which was huge, I heard a few people ask for their burgers sliced into to two to share, a sensible idea! There were several dense falafel patties in the bun, along with lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado and cucumber topped with aioli, lemon yoghurt, chipotle chilli sauce. The whole package was great, one of the best veggie burgers I've had, up there along side our favourites from Jerry.

The "Codfather" was a similar size, with a beer battered slab of blue cod, along with salad and dill tartare sauce.

We both managed to finish our huge burgers, while we enjoyed the stunning view across lake Wakatipu. Fergburger certainly deserves its reputation and if you aren't in a hurry its well worth waiting for a burger!

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The Spice Room, Wanaka

43 Helwick Street,
Wanaka
Otago 9305

At the top end of Wanaka's main thoroughfare, The Spice Room 'Indian Kitchen and Lounge' had a fairly modern look.

Inside the glass roof let in plenty of light giving the place an airy feel. Most tables were already taken when we arrived on a Saturday evening.

We had to share some poppadoms which were cone shaped rather than flat... they came with mango chutney, raita and a suitably spicy lime pickle to start.

The mixed grill tandoori platter featured tender boneless chicken tikka, the smoked lamb seekh kebab, fish tikka marinated overnight in lemon and  tandoori chicken on the bone.

The special of vension nawabi showed off the strong flavour in the meat.

The fish malabari, a tangy west coast dish, finished with coconut cream and tamarind was subtle.

The lamb vindaloo was pretty spicy and enjoyable.

The dal makhani wasn't quite able to compete with the version served at Aangaan in West Footscray, but was good none the less.

The roti was fresh and the rice plentiful. We may have ordered a little too much food, but I somehow managed to hoover up the remains after everyone reached capacity.

The dishes were just over $20 each. Our waiter was friendly and a backpacker spending a few weeks in town, rather than a the a native of India, and he was happy to chat. The Spice Room lived up to a reputation that had preceded it!




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Speights Ale House, Wanaka

93 Ardmore Street
Wanaka,
Otago 9305

We popped in to the Speights Ale House Wanaka to grab a late lunch. It's right across the road from the lake with wonderful views across to the surrounding mountains.

We hadn't had our usual fill of seafood chowder on this visit to NZ, so jumped at the opportunity. This version was much more creamy than most previous ones we'd tried, the fishy flavours were still there, but I missed the texture that comes from the potato and corn despite it being "loaded with mussels, shrimps, calamari and smoked fish." It was served with toasted ciabatta.

The fish burger contained a good sized chunk of nicely battered Chatham Island blue cod in a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, red onion and house made tartare sauce. The salad dressing looked a little unappetising but the ingredients were fresh.

The location makes this a great a spot to enjoy some great views while you drink or dine and food isn't bad. The service was fine, although our choice of table apparently made us hard to find!

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Naturally Fiordland, Te Anau

62 Town Centre
Te Anau,
Southland 9600

Naturally Fiordland is on the main street of Te Anau, known logically as Town Centre.

Both inside and out the feel was relaxed and cafe style, with a net over the ceiling and some great photo's hanging on the walls.

It was pretty quiet when we visited with only a few tables occupied.

We perused the menu, which offered Italian style pizza and pasta dishes, and then ordered at the counter, despite how quiet it was there was a reasonable wait before we got our meals.

The penne pasta was served with olives, roasted red peppers, pine nuts, pesto and parmesan. The small sliced olives were the only disappointing aspect of an otherwise good dish.

I had the funghi pizza, which was wood fired but had a very crispy base, which seemed to use a different dough to the more authentic Italian style pizzerias. There was also just a bit too much cheese in the topping mix for my preferences.

While the waitresses were both friendly, they didn't seem particularly focused, with tables left uncleared and a general feel of slight disorganisation. The vibe was relaxed and it was a pleasant place to dine in. Naturally Fiordland is a fair spot to have a casual meal if you are in town.

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The Moose Bar & Restaurant, Te Anau

84 Lakefront Drive
Te Anau
Southland 9600

We decided to eat at the Moose Bar because of its location across the street from the lake with views across to the sun setting over the mountains. It seemed to be the only restaurant in town with these views, and we found ourselves a table outside to enjoy the views. The menu was filled with pub style food options, including a range of $20 meals, orders are taken at the bar.

We both chose the oven baked fish from the $20 selection. It was served in a light white sauce with carrots, spinach and rice. There was plenty of fish which was fresh and cooked perfectly, the carrots perched on top of the dish were dry, but the spinach and rice were fine.

The service was friendly and casual as you'd expect at pub, it's not fine dining, but you don't need that when the views are so special.

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Etrusco At The Savoy, Dunedin

8 Moray Place
Dunedin
Otago 9016

Up on the first floor of the ornate Victorian style Savoy building in central Dunedin, Etrusco seems to be a bit of a local institution.

The interior was as traditional as the exterior, in an almost kitsch way, with stained glass in the windows and chandelier style lighting. It was busy and humming on the Tuesday we visited.

The menu offered plenty of familiar pizza and pasta fayre. We ended up going for the plate of 3 pasta dishes for $45. The penne al verde was tossed in spinach and toasted pinenuts with a dash of cream and fresh parmesan and was the clear winner with the better half. The spaghetti alla marinara combined mussels, and shrimps with tomatoes, garlic and parsley and worked well. We had the puttanesca with penne rather than the standard spaghetti. The black olive, tomato and anchovy sauce was pleasant but didn't have quite the salty punch we'd expected.

The service from our Italian waitress was exuberant and helpful, but our meal did take well over half an hour to arrive and we were definitely ready for it when it arrived. The old school feel including a waiter taking a turn on the piano to provide live accompaniment to our meal made it a memorable experience and Etrusco is certainly worth checking out.

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Plato, Dunedin

2 Birch Street
Dunedin
Otago 9016

Our journey, on foot to Plato was a bit of an adventure, as it is near the waterfront, across the railway lines from the centre of town, and there aren't many ways to cross. We eventually found it by a circuitous route, the return journey was a bit more straightforward, although did involve using a pedestrian part of a freeway style overpass.

The restaurant occupies the ground floor of a concrete seafarers centre.

Inside there was a lot of kitsch decoration livening up the space, despite being a Monday night it was packed when we visited.

The menu can vary daily and we found plenty of tempting items on offer.

The rib-eye fillet with garlic and tarragon mushrooms, on creamy mustard mashed potatoes with a rich beef jus looked great, and went down well. The side of roasted courgettes topped with dukkah was also a winner.

I had the elephant fish curry with okra, eggplant and potatoes. There was lots of great fish, the veggies were great, but the curry was a little heavy on the turmeric and light on spice.

The dish came with a curious set of accompaniments, including a great spicy lime pickle, chopped mango, tasty chopped cucumber and cumin seed, cucumber slices, and banana in desiccated coconut, which I left as a pseudo-desert.

The service was really friendly and despite the number of diners nicely paced. The meal came to $108 with a couple of glasses of wine and a beer. Plato is definitely worth seeking out!

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Thai Container, Christchurch

151 Bealey Avenue
St Albans
Christchurch 8013
021 139 4881

On the corner of busy Bealey Avenue and Caledonian Road the Thai Container is one of a number of fairly permanent food truck style eateries around Christchurch that seem to be filling some gaps in the food scene post earthquake.

The container itself is brightly decorated and forms one side of the establishment, containing the kitchen. An old school caravan houses the counter for orders and several tables provide an area for people to wait for their order and/or eat.

The menu covers most of what you'd expect and a little more.

We made our selections and sat down to wait, and eventually after checking once and a false start, our number was called and we picked up our dishes. It was just a bit to cold and the traffic a bit to heavy to be an ideal spot to loiter and enjoy our food, so we headed back to our motel to eat.

The prawn pad thai was nicely flavoured and well cooked.

I had a great chicken massaman, which balanced the sweat, spicy and nutty combination perfectly.

While it wouldn't be an ideal location for a date, the Thai Container certainly offers some tasty food for reasonable prices.




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