Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Lunch At EASTBOURNE, New Zealand

Lazy Monday, we are still going through the "Silly Season" in New Zealand; we got up late and my wife suggested that we take a drive to Eastbourne for lunch... and why not, the last time we were at this "retirement town" was TEN years ago! When I was the wedding photographer for Sam and Lei on their big day!

Sam, Lei and entourage at the Eastbourne sea front in 2003.

Eastbourne is a suburb of Lower Hutt city, it is 5 kilometres south of the main Lower Hutt urban area, and directly across the harbour from the Miramar Peninsula in Wellington city. - Wikipedia


Wellington city looking from Eastbourne's Days Bay, we arrived there in 30 minutes.

So where did we have our late lunch?

Chocolate Dayz Cafe at Days Bay.  Why?

Because Le General said "somebody" told her that cafe serves great food!

I usually take that kind of hear say with a grain of salt.. but anything once ;)



This was what I ordered, Big, thick juicy portobello mushroom, salad and halloumi in toasted bread.

I never had halloumi before and I like it! 

I discovered from Wiki that halloumi is a Cypriot semi-hard, unripened brined cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled.

 At NZD 18.50, my order was tasty, healthy and good value for money; our other order was a different story though!


That was the Tandoori chicken salad, yes; that is all you get for NZD 18.50 and the "salad" came sitting on a popadom! My Home Minister remarked that she can bake a WHOLE tandoori chicken for less ;)

Anyway, the "small" chicken breast fillets were a bit dry and not particularly tasty like the tandoori chicken we know!

Why?

After looking at my post in Facebook, Martin, my colleague and ex "Master Chef" reckoned...

"Common mistake done Tandoori chicken in cafe's is they do not soak the chicken in the tandoori for at least 48hrs in the fridge.. At home we can leave it for 4 hrs at room temp but in the commercial world it has to be done in the fridge and takes a lot longer. This + dry chicken because it is cooked to high temp to serve; the coating falls off as it has not cured to the chicken!"

Oh well.... like I say, anything ONCE; consolation, the Flat White were really good :)

Lunch over, time to exercise my creative juice and work out the Lumix GM1!

Family having quality time at Days Bay beach, the beach is nothing to shout about; like most NZ beaches there are no white sand.

Properties in Eastbourne that overlook the bay and harbour view command a high value! Take a look at the for sale poster below!

Actually, looking at the poster again; it is not that bad... that kind of house will easily fetch 2 Million bucks in Karori!

An "arty shot" of the only "high rise" apartment in sleepy Eastbourne. I was told the top level apartment was sold for a whopping NZD $800,000! Notice the arrow pointing at my car? Hee hee...



I wonder how much this one cost!

Life in Eastbourne is slow and idyllic :)


We had a peek at The Corner Shop, there are plenty of interesting stuff in the shop and that is Gary Johnston; the very friendly shop keeper :)

Surprise, surprise; I even find a video of the Corner Shop in Youtube!



As we drove out of Eastbourne, the sky opened up and pour...

We had a good time!

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