Thirteen is an unlucky number?
Friday September 13, 2013
I was rather tired on Monday morning, having had an action packed weekend celebrating birthdays at Dragonfly and the Larder, and watching an improvisation show. As usual, my radio alarm clock went off at 7.50am to More FM's Breakfast Show with Marc Ellis, Hayley Holt and Stu Tolan. I was drifting in and out of consciousness when suddenly a mention of "Malaysia" snapped me awake - it turned out that they were running a competition to give away free flights to Malaysia. The idea is that each day, a question about Malaysia is asked and one person who correctly answers the question goes into a draw at the end of the week to win free flights, making the odds 1 in 5 if you manage to get said answer. Furthermore, the winner must be able to provide the answers for all five questions of that week if they get drawn on the Friday. Fortunately the answers are posted on the More FM website and on their Facebook page, so it boils down to mostly luck, and it would so happen that my answer to "Which reptile has a temple dedicated to it in Penang" of "Snake" enabled me to get this 1 in 5 chance of winning flights to Malaysia.
Throughout the week, I was meticulously noting down each answer, and last night I was so excited I had trouble sleeping. I got into work at 8.15am and immediately tuned into the More FM live streaming on their website, getting increasingly agitated and nervous and excited as time ticked down to 8.45am.
Then, my phone rang.
A garbled mess of words blurted out of my mouth as I leapt out of my chair. I answered but they hung up. Dejected, I returned to my chair, only to have the phone ring again. Even more nonsense spouted from my mouth. My workmates began gathering around my computer, listening to the radio broadcast through my speakers as I systematically chanted through the five magic answers. As the radio hosts let out the final confirmation of the win, I fist pumped and victoriously pointed at nothing in particular. The guys listening to the radio cheered as I babbled nervously on air, in complete disbelief at what was going on. I was so stoked, the biggest grin erupting from my face as I thanked Marc, Hayley and Stu and began spreading the news.
I went to sit down and everyone on the floor clapped and congratulated me. It was quite the moment. I was completely jittery and every time I tried to calm down, I'd get a Facebook notification and I'd get all excited again. It was a magical day, and no one could wipe the smile off my face. To top it off, the announcement of my promotion went public today, so there was cause for much celebration - four tequila shots later and I am feeling like this:
Posted by Jeremy at 11:00am on Friday September 13, 2013 :: 0 comments :: 
Wellington on a Plate 2013 Wrap-up
Sunday September 8, 2013
Yes, I realise that Wellington on a Plate finished two weeks ago, but I've been busy and/or tired and lazy! So to recap, Wellington on a Plate runs for 17 days in August, and is a celebration of Wellington's finest food establishments and the amazing produce and ingredients that they source from around the region. Restaurants and cafes join in by offering a special set meal or degustation during this festival, or they may opt to enter the burger competition with an exquisite burger of their creation, and a Garage Project beer to match. I have been to a few Wellington on a Plate meals in previous years, but this year I decided to hit it hard. Here are some quick fire stats:
Number of Burgers Consumed: 11
Number of Oysters Consumed: 18
Dined with: 19 different people in total
Best Burger: Hummingbird's Craydaddy Crayfish Burger
Best Meal: Logan Brown
Worst Burger: Crazy Horse's Kimchi Burger
Worst Meal: Martin Bosley
Total Money Spent: $635.60
Level of Happiness: Highest it's ever been
A full set of photographic documentation and verdicts on each dish can be found on my Wellington on a Plate album on Facebook. Many thanks to each of my friends who shared these delicious experiences with me; good food must always be matched with good company!
I was impressed by the dinners I had at Ortega and Logan Brown. It was my second time at Ortega and first time at Logan Brown, and though several people had extolled the quality of the food at Logan Brown, my own dining experience there exceeded my expectations. Definitely the most outstanding meal I've had this year - on par with the amazing degustation I had at Tatsumi in Newmarket, Auckland last Labour Weekend. I knew what to expect from Ortega so there were no surprises that the quality of the meal and the freshness of the seafood were top notch. The biggest disappointment was Martin Bosley's - small portions, average quality, and unreasonably expensive - everything I find frustrating about fine dining. For such a celebrated chef, I think he could do much, much better.
Burger Rating List (Mouseover for burger descriptions!):
- Hummingbird's Craydaddy Burger: 10/10
- Duke Carvell's Flocking to the Duke's Harem Burger: 9.5/10
- The Grill at the Amora's Classic Sunday Roast Lamb Burger: 9/10
- Ti Kouka's All About Longbush Pork Burger: 8.5/10
- The Larder's Dough and Deer Burger: 8.5/10
- El Matador's Che's Chevito Burger: 8/10
- Little Beer Quarter's Burg-As Bro Burger: 8/10
- Vivant!'s Elementary, My Deer Watson Burger: 8/10
- Atlanta's Ring of Fire Burger: 6.5/10
- Crazy Horse's Kimchi Burger: 2/10
Apart from the meals and burgers, there was also the Oyster Saloon, a caravan in the carpark right by Duke Carvell's on Cuba Street and Swan Lane, where they served freshly shucked oysters on a quaint egg carton - au naturel or beer battered to your liking. I love oysters so much, and hands down the winner of the five varieties I got to try were the sumptuous Stewart Island variety - gorgeously large and creamy, and all the characteristic sweet and salty flavours of the sea that every fresh oyster should have. Also, there was the Moore Wilson's Taste Street Night Market, filled with stalls selling bisques, chowders, sliders, sandwiches, grilled meats, ice cream, chocolates and more. It was fantastically busy, with thousands of people crammed into the upper level carpark at Moore Wilson's. Winner on the night was the Zany Zeus Grilled Haloumi Sandwich, hot off the barbeque and drizzled with fresh lemon juice - yummo!
A thoroughly enjoyable 17 days of decadence.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:42am on Sunday September 8, 2013 :: 0 comments ::