About the blog

I’m a fifty-something English bloke who’s lived in Auckland for 13 years.  One of my pleasures in life is cheap Asian eating, and I lunch more or less every day at eateries in and around Auckland.  I try to eat only what I term “authentic” food.  Bit of a toughy this but I rely on my 35 years of globetrotting to help me define the term.  In my opinion more or less ALL High Street Indian, Chinese and Thai restaurants are very far from authentic (or even good!), they are majorly tailored to meet what the owners think is the Kiwi-palate.  I would suggest that as each day goes by these places are becoming more and more misguided as Kiwis travel more and become increasingly adventurous in their tastes.  Another good example is the Shopping Mall food hall.  I occasionally find myself, due to marito-political expediency, having to eat in these places and the food is more or less always bland and unexciting when compared to a similar offering from the local Asian food court.  Why is it bland?  Don’t really know, but it is!

Having said that, just ‘cos it’s a Food Court don’t necessarily make it good.  You have to choose carefully to weed out the crap in these places but trust me it does exist.  Try the Laotian place in Ponsonby Food Court…..just cynical nonsense, and there are many others.

So what my blog tries to do is point my fellow diners in the direction of dishes (with a $10 limit wherever possible) that are consistently good.  Dishes, not establishments.  Too often we define an eaterie’s quality on the basis of one visit and one dish…..what I’m doing is telling you about my favourite dishes and where you can buy them.  I do not guarantee the establishment to be consistent throughout its menu, although this often is the case.

Just to round off I thought I’d mention that I haven’t eaten in McD, KFC, BK, Subway, any of the pizza chains etc etc for the past 8 years and that I am the only person I know who has never even entered a Starbucks!  Why give your hard earned dosh to a chain’s bland offerings when independent gustatory delights are generally available just around the corner?

I hope you’ll find the site helpful – please let me know what you think of my jabberings and, more importantly, what you think of the food!