WOAP2015: The Tasting Room

Where? The Tasting Room (Wellington CBD, Wellington, New Zealand) Map Menu

When? Monday August 17, 2015

Who? Juliann, Jordan, Dwayne, David, Reagan

Food Style? Contemporary European

The Tasting Room is known first and foremost for their legendary Beef Wellington, which I've never actually had - partially due to the fact it's got mushrooms. I have brunched here previously, and would recommend their roesti. Their entry for Burger Wellington last year was okay, and this year their ingredient list sounded quite interesting - especially the popcorn shrimp bit. It went down on the list and I gathered a crew to try it out.

Burger: Pimpin Shrimpin Beef

Beef burger with popcorn shrimp, smoked Kapiti cheddar, chipotle BBQ sauce and peanut slaw in a Pandoro bun
It was okay, I guess. Nothing in the burger was particularly outstanding, though the popcorn shrimp was quite nice, but it did give the burger a lot of height which made it a little difficult to eat. There wasn't a strong sauce to bind all the flavours together - my first bite sent a deluge of white sauce onto the wooden board, so maybe that's why it was missing something. It was only until I read the description that I realised that there should have been a chipotle BBQ sauce. I thought the bun was very average. The burger was nice, just not very inspiring. It really lacked a wow factor.

I give this one a six out of ten; the burger's saving grace is the popcorn shrimp.

Posted by Jeremy at 11:27am on Tuesday August 18, 2015 :: 0 comments ::

WOAP2015: The Arborist

Where? The Arborist (Wellington CBD, Wellington, New Zealand) Map Menu

When? Monday August 17, 2015

Who? Jordan, Nic, Tim, Juliann, Sarah

Food Style? Contemporary European

Relatively new to the scene, the Arborist took over from Eclipse at the Trinity Hotel and introduced a bunch of quality burgers and good beer, and have recently opened their rooftop bar which boasts the title of Wellington's tallest rooftop venue. It's so close to our work, and we had a free spot, so we decided to pop in for a hastily organised lunch.

Burger: Ba Ba Baaa Ba Ba Bar Lamb

Two Harringtons hickory-smoked lamb patties with pickled cucumber, secret sauce and double cheese in a Pandoro brioche bun, with fries
Despite its relatively small size, it was full of flavour - dominated by the cheese and medium-rare meat. Any bigger and this would have hurt. The brioche bun was impressive, being soft on the top and toasted perfectly on the underside. Solid effort, and a good time if you like cheese and meat.

I score this an eight out of ten.

Posted by Jeremy at 11:21am on Tuesday August 18, 2015 :: 0 comments ::

WOAP2015: The Doughnut Popup

Where? Georgia Cafe (Wellington CBD, Wellington, New Zealand) Map

Food Style? Glorious Doughnuts

There's a coffee shop called Stories on Cuba Street, down the bottom end towards the Michael Fowler Center. It's in a shipment container renovated to be a cosy little cafe that sits a few people but is mostly there to serve the passers-by with some typical Wellington caffeine. The difference is that this place is run by youth organisation Zeal to give young people the chance to get some hands-on hospitality experience by equipping them with industry skills. It's a wonderful idea and a great cause.

The operation has been so successful that they've very recently opened up another shipping container on the corner of Dixon and Victoria Streets. Though the coffee is much the same, Georgia, the cafe, is serving freshly made limited edition doughnuts for the duration of Wellington on a Plate. Each weekday, a variety of doughnuts with interesting and quirky flavours are provided from various local bakeries.

Monday 17 August Cafe Polo	Raspberry coated in raspberry dust
	Tiramisu
	Glazed American
Tuesday 18 August HOME	Coffee creme patisserie with coffee toffee shard
	Turkish delight with saffron, cardamom and vanilla bean syrup
Wednesday 19 August Leeds St Bakery	Rhubarb and cream
	Salted caramel and bacon
	Chocolate and hazelnut
Thursday 20 August Floyd's Cafe	Custard and raspberry coulis
Friday 21 August Milk Crate	The Ginger Kiss
Monday 24 August Brezelmania	Salted caramel
	Passionfruit cream
	Raspberry jam
Tuesday 25 August HOME	Jelly tip
	Lemon Meringue
Wednesday 26 August Sweet Release	Salted caramel
	Chocolate hazelnut
Thursday 27 August Nikau	Lime Marmalade and Matcha custard
Friday 28 August Coco at the Roxy	Cardamom and Whittakers Dark Chocolate

Day two of this and it's already been insanely popular, selling 400 doughnuts within two hours of opening. Make sure you get there early, because there will probably be a big queue of people wanting their morning coffee and sweet treat. I'll be looking out for Nikau's Lime Marmalade and Matcha Custard - sounds amazing!

Posted by Jeremy at 11:10am on Tuesday August 18, 2015 :: 0 comments ::

WOAP2015: Grill Meats Beer

Where? Grill Meats Beer (Wellington CBD, Wellington, New Zealand) Map Menu

When? Sunday August 16, 2015

Who? Damon, Jordan, Tim, Mana, Reagan

Food Style? Meat. Lots of it.

The name of the restaurant spells it out; this place is known for their meat and beers, serving up ribs, steaks, burgers, grilled things, fried things - it's a carnivore's haven. I've been here several times before and had a great time ripping apart their pork ribs with my bare hands and licking my fingers gleefully. One time I came here, their special was a massive pork hock that was absolutely magnificent - crackling had perfect texture, the meat was falling off the bone. When they announced their Wellington on a Plate burger, I was super keen to give it a try.

Burger: Chook n Swine, Fire n Spice

Char-grilled spice rubbed chicken thigh with bacon aioli, Preston's streaky bacon, gherkins and preserved lemon relish in a Pandoro Turkish roll with chilli fries
The chicken was cooked perfectly, juicy and succulent with that wonderful charred flavour, and nicely spiced that you could feel it tingling your tastebuds but not unpleasantly so. The winner of the burger was the bacon - it was simply sensational. A solid, well-rounded burger that ticked all the boxes - spot on for flavour, texture and presentation; perhaps they could have used more exotic ingredients (like crayfish aioli?!) but thoroughly enjoyable nevertheless.

A well deserved nine out of ten.

Posted by Jeremy at 11:57am on Monday August 17, 2015 :: 0 comments ::

WOAP2015: Beach Babylon

Where? Beach Babylon (Oriental Bay, Wellington, New Zealand) Map Menu

When? Sunday August 16, 2015

Who? James, Navi, Joe, Dianne

Food Style? Classic Wellington Cafe-Style

I've never dined at Beach Babylon before. We tried to once, but they are insanely popular - not just for their food, but their location is prime real estate. The cafe overlooks Wellington's Oriental Bay and the harbour stretching towards Lower Hutt, and on a sunny day like Sunday, the view was spectacular and the sunshine was extremely welcoming. Unfortunately, that day, they were understaffed and, like Charley Noble, had troubles managing the insane popularity of their Wellington on a Plate menu.

Burger: Oriental Bao - Year of the Pig and Duck

Braised Longbush Pork belly with BBQ duck and Asian slaw in a steamed bun, with sesame-salted Asian street fries and sriracha mayonnaise
Had a good time. Solid chunks of meat, good amount of hoisin sauce - not overpowering or dominating at all, hoisin can tend to be too sweet when overused. The bun was okay, not like a cha siu bao but soft enough to at least give you that impression. The slaw, though it added some good crunch, wasn't particularly "Asian", and thought it could have been better with a bit of coriander or sesame seeds. I would have liked the pork to have some crackling or the duck to have crispy skin (or both!) - I think that would have given it the wow factor. The chips were pretty average and not very "street fry"-like, but the sriracha mayonnaise was definitely a winner.

All in all, eight out of ten, would eat again.

Dessert: Leaf T matcha tea sponge pudding

With mango cream and Carrello del Gelato black sesame gelato
The sponge was soft and warm, and had a clear tea flavour to it, which worked really well with all the other elements on the plate. The cream wasn't particularly mangoey enough for my liking, but nevertheless, it was pretty good as a whole and a nice way to finish the meal.

All in all, service took about two hours. The staff were pretty apologetic about the state of the cafe, and we were totally understanding. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and no one was in any rush, so we were happy to chill and chit chat while we waited for our food.

Posted by Jeremy at 11:08am on Monday August 17, 2015 :: 0 comments ::