Lunch with The Boss today.. no not Springsteen, although that would be pretty freaking epic I must say.. Given I have only just turned 30 - I can appreciate what the Boss has done for music in his era & find that people of all ages know who he is.. even if you don't like his music you will probably know one of his songs if you heard it. Anyway moving on - I have always passed this place on my way to see a client who has their business located near by & their $12.50 Lunch Special was just the perfect excuse to come in with the boss and check this place out. What stroke me first was the awesome decor of the place, light bulbs inside upturned various house hold items, a wooden masterpiece at the back and lots and lots of natural light by the windows. The staff here are warming and friendly and not afraid to joke around with you. I find this as a good way of breaking the wall down between customer & barman / women. We chose to sit in the outdoor area which really isn't outdoor as its protected by plastic wall which seem to come away if you wanted. The sun is shining the people are coming in and quite rightly so it's 12:30pm on a Friday.. Liquid Lunches all round I say.. except for my boss who says.. don't you have work to get back to afterwards? .. he's right.. bastard... how did he know.. The waitress presents the menu & asks what drinks would we like today.. going by my bosses previous comments I'm inclined to say just water but since they chose to go with a wine, I decide to go with a beer.. but the waitress asks if I would like to try their new apple mojito.. that's winning in my books. For food wise, I thought I would do something differently and order a pizza. Pulled Pork with spiced apple & cashew nuts. Part of the experience of going out to places to eat is to watch people come & go. I love people watching and sitting there and observing what is happening. It's always good to get out of the office and away from the internal politics that goes on. Rarely does one get to spend one-on-one time with their boss and thus is a perfect opportunity to further your career ambitions. A good fifteen minutes has passed after our drinks order and I noticed a table of young ladies seated after us have all got their drinks before us. At last our drinks turn up with a slight apology about the wait. The drinks arrived it tasted pretty good - would be quite happy to have few more of these! after all it is Friday.. but once again paperwork is calling my name. Our pizza's arrived and even tho they are only 8 inches they are of decent size where you could almost share with someone if you weren't looking for a big meal. But this is all to my self. As you can see a pretty decent pizza that tasted really good. The only comment I would make is that, it was a bit light on the "pulled pork" a key ingredient I wouldn't have thought. Have a count for how many piece of pork there are, I have counted 8. Fine dining experience this is not - But for $12.50 I guess you get what you pay for. The rest of the lunch went uneventful, for $23.50 for one pizza & a mojito this represents pretty good value. A certain other pizza place in Newmarket charges $14.00 for their pizza with $12-15 for a glass of wine & you always feel crammed in like a sardine. read more

Nuffield Street Trading Co. Brewbar - Auckland, AUK

I went to Nuffield St Trading Co on a Friday night with a group of friends as we had vouchers from the Entertainment Guide. Our drinks order was lost, however they did give us a free cocktail to make up for it. We ordered the lamb burger, vege burger, fish and chips and rib eye and a side of onion rings. The portions were all very generous, especially the fish however a few ingredients were missing, like the gouda from the vege burger and capers from the iceberg and caper side salad. Overall the food was tasty and reasonably priced. read more