A Meal in Brief: Saan

We came here because we had read glowing reviews about this northern Thai (Lanna and Isaan) restaurant in Ponsonby.

The menu was printed on one page, with four sections which the waiter explained were like starters, small sharing plates, larger dishes, and sides. Everything looked different from what we have seen in other Thai restaurants—where were the spring rolls and numerous curry options? Or white jasmine rice for that matter? Is this what it means to eat northern Thai?

The setting was beautifully fitted out, as one would expect from a Cheshire Architects design, with ceramics made in Thailand by an artisan potter. The sun came in through the slats of venetian blinds, illuminating a bit of smoke, giving the room a hazy atmosphere.

Beautiful restaurant fitout.

At the back of the restaurant was an open kitchen area, where you could see the chefs preparing the meals.

Open kitchen area.

The service was flawless, with our water topped up discreetly and regularly. Staff were available when you wanted them, without being overly attentive. When our larger dishes arrived, we were given a little bowl of cucumber, cabbage and crushed ice as a palate cleanser—a nice touch!

Weeping Butterfly cocktail and caramelised pineapple shrub.

What we ate included:

• Theu Kha Kho (deep fried taro cakes and tofu, chilli dipping sauce and peanuts, $12) - while the taro cakes were surprisingly firm and dense (probably more rice flour than taro), the tofu triangles were fried to perfection, crisp on the outside and moist and soft inside.
• Pak Som (house pickled seasonal vegetables, $8) - a mix of stir-fried cabbage, dark greens and pickled vegies, this side dish had a tangy flavour and reminded us of something we've had at Chinese restaurants.
• Somtum Phu Plarah (pickled crab and spicy green papaya salad, tomatoes and snake beans, $14) - this version of a papaya salad came with hard and salty crab legs for sucking on, but was somehow less exciting than the other items we tasted.
• Miang Jin Nuea (semi cured beef on perilla leaves with peanuts, toasted coconut and tamarind chilli jam, $15) - it was good that we could see the fried shallots, fresh chilli slices, coconut flakes and chopped peanuts, because once you wrapped everything in a leaf, it became a more mellow blur of flavours.

Clockwise from left: Theu Kha Kho, Pak Som, Somtum Phu Plarah, and Miang Jin Nuea.

• Sai Ua (Lanna pork sausage with aromatic spices and kaffir lime with young green chilli paste, $15) - unlike any other sausage we'd tried before, the kaffir lime flavour came through clearly in this dish recommended by the waiter. The accompanying Vietnamese mint leaves, chopped shallots and green chilli paste added extra aroma and freshness. Well worth trying.

Sai Ua - Lanna pork sausage.

• Gaem Wua Sarm Ros (twice cooked beef cheeks with spicy pickled chilli and tamarind sauce, $26) - we enjoyed the beef cheeks in its sour and spicy sauce, but there was a lot more meat there and they could easily have cut back on it.

Gaem Wua Sarm Ros - beef cheeks.

• Larb Ped (wok seared spicy duck and mint salad with ground toasted rice and fried kaffir lime leaf, $25) - this was the best larb we have had, with a fatty duck mince complemented by the minty, spicy dressing, and garnished with crunchy fried duck skin.

Partially eaten Larb Ped - warm duck and mint salad.

• Tub Tim Grob (caramelised water chestnuts, palm fruit, jackfruit, and young coconut meat in jasmine and rose syrup, topped with smoked coconut milk, $12) - drizzled with coconut milk at the table, this delicate and floral dessert was thankfully relatively light and a great way to end our meal.

Tub Tim Grob dessert.

Overall, Saan is almost certainly the best Thai restaurant in Auckland today. The food is exquisite, particularly the larger dishes we sampled, playing confidently with flavour, texture and presentation, and making good use of fresh herbs (though we were tempted to pluck some more Vietnamese mint from a pot plant next to our table). We can't wait to come back again.

Restaurant Details

Saan
160 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
(09) 320 4237

Opening hours:
Mondays to Tuesdays 5pm till late
Wednesdays to Sundays 12pm till late

A Meal in Brief: Boy and Bird

We came here because our friends suggested it, and we had been meaning to check out Mike van der Elzen's latest venture (with co-owner Marie Colosimo) anyway.

The menu was chicken-oriented (all free range), but still catered to those who want to eat other meats or vegetarian dishes. Also, while the Food Truck Garage's focus on healthy eating meant that you could only have baked chips, Mike has brought back the deep-fried options here, clearly marked with a little red devil on the menu.

The setting was delightful. The bright colours and cartoonified food art reminded me of a theme park.

Seating area.

The service was as you would expect in a fun, casual environment.

What we ate included:

• chicken flavoured popcorn ($4) - the waitress made sure we understood that this was something completely different from popcorn chicken.

Chicken flavoured popcorn.

• son in law eggs with sticky pork, crunchy sprouts & seaweed ($16) - this unusual dish included a deep-fried whole egg which still had a viscous yolk.

Son in law eggs with sticky pork, crunchy sprouts & seaweed; chicken roll with pickled slaw.

• half bird, citrus brined, spice rubbed, rotisseried and chopped, served on chunkies with gravy ($19) - a fancier hot chicken dinner, with crunchy potato and plenty of sauce, so you can forgive the somewhat reheated feel.

Half chicken with served with chunkies and gravy.

• hot roll with chickpea cauliflower fritters, bombay mayo, crunchy sprouts, feta ($12) - you wonder why the bun is so buttery and delicious, until you re-read the menu and realise it's a steamed purple wholemeal brioche roll. The filling was also great, though you might want to remove most of the large feta cubes to prevent it from being too salty.

Vegetarian hot roll; hot carrots with seeds and truffle.

• hot carrots with seeds & truffle ($5.50) - this side dish tasted mostly like boiled carrots (albeit sprinkled with black and white sesame) to me, though our friends assured us that when they ordered it last time, it had a much more liberal dose of truffle oil.
• juices and sodas ($5) - these refreshing drinks felt healthier than you would get elsewhere, not very sugary. I am keen to come back to try their chocolate milk too, which is apparently made from almond milk, dates and cocoa.

Fresh carrot & coconut; cola.

Overall, Boy and Bird is a place that you can bring your entire family to, and it just makes you feel good. The decor is cheerful, the menu inviting, and you can rest assured that their chickens grew up free range at a Waikato poultry farm. Despite some touches of decadence, and a lack of variety in the vegetable department, the food is generally wholesome and satisfying. Unlike many other casual eateries, this chicken kitchen lets you book online for small groups too.

More good design: their business card folds out into the takeaway menu on the other side.

Restaurant Details

Boy and Bird
222 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby
(09) 361 3222

Review: Burger Burger, Ponsonby

You may remember a post I wrote last year about medium-rare burgers in Auckland. Well, that's old news. A week or two ago, Burger Burger opened in Ponsonby Central, and blew the competition out of the water. Not surprisingly, it has become enormously popular already, with queues forming outside at peak times.

Vibrant decor inside the little eatery.

Situated next to Maldito Mendez, where Wang Thong Thai Fusion used to be, this little place really knows their burgers. The bun is sweet and soft, and grilled to perfection with lightly charred edges. The meat, whichever form you choose, is fresh, and most importantly, the beef is served medium-rare by default. The chefs, five or so of them in the narrow kitchen, move like clockwork, assembling burger after burger to order, so that your rumbly tummy is satisfied as soon as possible.

The beef burger we had (after much umm-ing and ahh-ing, we also added aged cheddar cheese) was by far the best we have eaten in Auckland. Not only a pleasure for the tastebuds, it was also easy on the pocket, costing only $10 for the burger and $2 for any additions. If we were forced to critique, the only improvements we would like to see are a) giving a processed cheese option, and b) maybe replacing some of the pickle (there was a lot of it) with lettuce.

Beef burger with cheese.

The chicken burger was excellent as well, with the meat expertly chargrilled, and deliciously paired with rocket aioli and a capsicum salsa. The fish burger was also beautifully cooked, with a freshly fried crumbed coating. In fact, pretty much all the burgers were fantastic, the highest quality we have encountered, and great value at BurgerFuel pricing.

Burger lovers who are vegetarian or gluten intolerant are also catered for, with a falafel patty version, as well as the option of swapping the traditional bun for "bunnuce", a.k.a. cos lettuce leaves.

Vege bunnace for a greener fix.

The sides are great too. The shoestring fries we ordered were fresh and crispy, not at all oily-feeling, and came with a generous portion of aioli.

House honey cola and shoestring fries with aioli.

The charred broccoli is healthier but also very tasty, with garlic butter and toasted almonds adding to the flavour.

Charred broccoli with garlic butter and toasted almonds.

If we weren't already so full, we would have loved to have tried the milkshakes, made with organic milk from Lewis Road Creamery and ice cream from Little Paddock. Like the house-made honey cola pictured with the fries above, these came in thin glasses shaped like soft drink cans, and had syrup drizzled down the sides. There is also a large selection of alcoholic drinks. Oh, and dessert.

It's not just the food which is great at Burger Burger. We love the thought and design that has gone into the brand, the friendly and talented young staff members who informed us all the sauces and things were made in-house (though service can be hit-and-miss), and the reasonable pricing despite quality ingredients.

Panda Recommends

You are having burgers for your mains, no question of that. We like the classic beef burger ($10, optional cheese for an extra $2), but really, practically everything is good.

Vegie Pandas
Well, maybe the vege burger isn't as great as all the hype would lead you to hope for, but at least you haven't been forgotten about. Plus, you have sides and desserts to try too.

Menu - page 1

Menu - page 2

Restaurant Details

[Added 1 April 2015: Burger Burger now has a larger branch in Newmarket.]

Burger Burger
The Lane, Ponsonby Central, 4 Brown Street, Ponsonby

Opening hours:
Sundays to Wednesdays 11:30am – 10:30pm
Thursdays to Saturdays 11:30am – 12am

Entrance to the little eatery.

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Review: Cocoro

Do you have a bucket list of things to eat?  We've only had dinner at Cocoro twice, and it's already crossed two items off ours (freshly grated wasabi root and restaurant-cooked wagyu beef).  It's also given us an opportunity to try things we had not even considered (such as the piko piko and "mountain caviar" in my previous post), as well as other delicious dishes (high quality seafood and noodles, including the fatty cut of toro).

A 50kg 100% farmed sustainable Bluefin tuna, flown in from Japan.

Tucked away into a quiet little side street off Ponsonby Road, we would probably never have found this "new style Japanese" restaurant, had it not immediately gained fame by winning the Best Specialist Restaurant award in Cuisine NZ Restaurant of The Year 2011 (it has also just been announced today as being on the Metro/Audi Restaurant of the Year Top 50 list for2012, though we don't agree with everything on the list).  This little space was not as full as it deserves to be when we turned up one weeknight, and we wondered if it was because you cannot book unless you are planning to have the degustation.

The degustation menu changes regularly, and is great value at $80 for 6 courses (far too much food, especially if you go for the optional soba course).  It's definitely a good choice for that special ocassion, not just for the variety of highlights, but also because of the delightful presentation of the dishes.  However, it also leaves you too full to try anything off the specials menu, which we just had to come back for.

We were happy to see seasonal ingredients being offered.  The man at Depot was right: Bluff oysters are not as delicate as Tio Point oysters, but we enjoyed eating them all the same.  We also had fresh bamboo shoots, which we have not seen at a restaurant before, and they were tender and flavourful.

New season bluff oysters.

Charcoal-grilled new season bamboo shoots.

The pleasure of eating beautiful fish with freshly grated wasabi root does not come cheap, but we have been meaning to try this ever since discovering that most "wasabi" served with your sushi is actually horseradish and mustard with green food colouring.  Real wasabi definitely has a distinctive taste, what you could call lighter and sweeter than its cheaper substitute.  You have to grate it at the table, because it loses flavour in 15 minutes.

Farmed bluefin tuna - akami and toro sashimi with fresh wasabi root.

Contrary to what we've read about cooking wagyu at least medium to ensure the fat in the meat fully melts, the wagyu at Cocoro still looked well pink inside, though it arrived on a sizzling plate at the table, on a bed of
at least five different kinds of marinated fungi, including snow fungus, shiitake mushrooms, enokitake or golden needles mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and white button mushrooms.

Charcoal finished premium grain-fed wagyu, with at least five different types of fungi.

While special dishes like these can seem pricey, they are justified by the gourmet ingredients, and other items on the menu seem downright inexpensive.  The noodle side dishes are only $6 or $7. We particularly liked the udon, though the cold soba noodles were also nice.

A side of soba, with soup for dipping.  Large sushi platter in the background.

The desserts were delicious and very reasonably priced as well.  We had the black sesame creme brulee and were surprised you could actually taste the sesame flavour in it.  This came with a shortbread biscuit and a selection of fruit for only $7.

Black sesame creme brulee, with a sesame shortbread and fresh fruit.

You can certainly spend a lot of money at Cocoro if you want to, but you will be guaranteed a great experience, with unique dishes, expert kitchen creations, and attentive service.  Oh, and they even give you a hot handtowel and bowl of lotus root chips to begin.  No need to book, just turn up and you can choose off all the menus.

Panda Recommends

The degustation is great for a special ocassion, but we like to pick and choose.  We prefer the more traditional dishes than the more fusion ones.

Small Plates: Charcoal grilled new season bamboo shoots ($12), Farmed blue fin tuna sushi or sashimi ($8-$10/piece)
Sides: Udon warm broth noodles ($6), "Zaru soba" chilled buckwheat noodles ($7), South Island fresh wasabi ($4)

Vegie Pandas
The shiki-tofu (made using water from Mount Fuji) is delicious and silky smooth.  They will also make a vegetarian version of the chawanmushi.  In fact, you can have a whole degustation's worth of vegie dishes.  Just advise the chef not to use fish stock, as this is one ingredient that often makes visibly vegetarian dishes non-vegetarian.

Restaurant Details

Cocoro
56a Brown Street, Ponsonby, Auckland
(09) 360 0927

Opening hours:
Tuesdays to Saturdays 12 - 2pm, 5:30 - 10pm

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