Nickie's Thai - Newmarket

06-Oct-2005 8:00pm and 11-Nov-2005 7:30pm

Thai Mmmmmmm. I'm a big fan of Thai food and Nickie's is a pleasant place to enjoy a good meal. I've never been to Thailand so am not qualified to comment on the authenticity of the various restaurants in Auckland but I do know that this place ranks highly on my Thai-o-meter.

If you like your food hot (spicy), make sure that you know exactly what the Thai version of hot means. I enjoy a strong curry, eat jalapenos whole and generally like a little burn. At Nickie's Thai, I've learnt to stick to the "Medium" side of the menu. Even their Tom Yum Gong, a soup for those not familiar, is a Medium and this stuff will clear any nasal congestion within 10 meters.

Last night I went to Nickie's on a spur of the moment kind of thing; I was going to a movie at Newmarket and needed dinner inside me first.

One minor downer I've noticed at Thai restaurants is that their drinks list is never the most extensive. There were only 4 different red wines available at Nickie's but there were very reasonably priced. If you're after a cocktail, then you're probably ok as Nickie's does have a bar with the usual selection of mixers, spirits and beers.

Only one glass of wine last night since I didn't want to fall asleep in the movie and we didn't have long before it started anyway. Which nicely segues into the fact that service at Nickie's is prompt. From the guy outside who convinces passers by to come in to the checkout dude who takes your credit card, everything was pleasantly efficient. If a water glass was almost empty, it'd be under a minute before someone came by to refill it. We were asked 3 times if we'd like more rice with the meal which may sound pushy but didn't come across that way at all. Perhaps it's the outfits that the hostesses dress in; Asian Flight Attendants is what I was reminded of. Anyway, extra rice if free so it's not like they were working on commission or anything.

I've almost always stuck to either the Nickie's Ocean dish or the Nuclear Beef - find what you like and stick to it I say. They do offer everything from vegetarian meals to, well, Nuclear Beef and you won't leave feeling like you've been ripped off. I like a plate where I don't leave anything behind but couldn't fit any more in. Ahhhhh, perfect.

Not only was the food good but I learnt the difference between Ganesh and Vishnu. See, eating out can teach you about religion as well.


Oh, if you've not seen it yet, go and watch the movie Serenity. You won't be disappointed.

The Occidental Belgian Beer Cafe

No posts in 2 months. Gee, what a one shot wonder. Since it's about time for the annual clean out of the wallet, I think I may go through my food receipts before biffing them. Something may spring up and remind me of something noteworthy.


Anyway ... The Occidental. 8 Vulcan Lane. 09-Nov-2005
I don't recall ever having had food here before. I do enjoy a nice Belgian beer though.

Lunchtime on a Wednesday. Busy but still lots of tables free. Noisy but not loud; still able to hold a conversation. Fast service.

I'm a big fan of De Post in Mt Eden, another Belgian Beer place with what appears to be exactly the same menu as The Occidental. That made it easy to order; Pot of Garlic and Celery Mussels with a Glass of Dark Beer please. My comrade in culinary cuisine had some Roast Chicken type thing with vegetables and rice, oh and a latte.

Whenever anyone orders coffee in a pub type setting I'm always reminded of The Young Ones episode where Vivian tells Rick that they are in a pub and "pubs don't do coffee". Maybe it's because we don't live in Britain or because it's not 1980 anymore but a lot of pubs round here actually do have big fat espresso machines on counters surrounded by bottles containing colored liquids. I'm not one to go into a pub for a coffee but I guess lots of people are.

A bowl of chips arrived as well, which may actually have been part of my order but I don't remember, I was too hungry to care.

I'm not actually a big fan of the humble mussel, more of a Bluff Oyster guy really, but a big pot of Garlic Mussels isn't something I can just let slide on by. At The Occidental your mussels arrive at the table in a big black pot, still in the shell. Discarding the shells into the pot lid as you make your way to the bottom of the pot becomes something of a balancing act since the body of the pot is a lot deeper than the lid.

I was a little surprised to find a couple of shells that didn't open during cooking. A good cook would have discarded those before they made it to the plate. I didn't actually have a plate and the pot on my table would be the same pot they were cooked in but I'd never had a closed shell at De Post before and getting two in one sitting was unexpected. I wasn't feeling ripped off or anything; you get so many of the little buggers I was unsure I'd be able to empty the pot.

Places like this make me sometimes wish I worked closer to the heart of the city.


For fanciers of good seafood, the $17 pot of mussels from The Occidental on Vulcan Lane gets my thumbs up.

Orbit - Sky City

Friday night, 21:30 reservation.

I like Orbit. The view of Auckland city, especially at night, can't be beat and for an up-market kind of place, the prices are pretty reasonable. A place that has a wine list 6 times larger than their menu can't be all bad either. The waiters are there when you need them and don't hover around when you're trying to have a conversation.

The fact they have an online reservation system is a plus in their favor also. Only a small plus mind you. Orbit's reservation system appeared to require human intervention to actually confirm a booking. They state that they'll email you back "within 2 hours" with an actual confirmation although it only took about 30 minutes for mine to come through.


Mine:
Crayfish Soup ($18). Not bad. Personally I'd have preferred it a tad more crayfishy.
Market Fish ($29) - Snapper. Nothing to write home about (but I am!) yet managed to please. A nice strong sauce really offset this dish.

Hers:
Mussels ($17) - These were very good but if you're someone who likes tasting your friends food, don't mix and match mussels and the crayfish soup.
Chicken ($28.50) - One word, Delicious.

Booze:
Pegasus Bay Merlot Cabernet 2002 ($48) - Yes, we ordered a bottle of red wine with a seafood and chicken dinner. I like a nice red and this was thoroughly enjoyed so keep your wine snob comments to yourself :)

Desert:
Brulee ($13.50) - It's a brulee, you either like them or you don't. This one was at nice treat.


Orbit really do need to sort out their air conditioning system. My guest came away with quite the chill from periodic cold gusts that would assault our table on an all too frequent basis.


Will we be likely to go back? Oh yeah, for sure. We just need to remember to keep the jackets on while dining. Remembering to avoid the Blackjack and Caribbean Stud Poker tables on the way to the car might also be a good idea.