What I’m reading: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead (recommended, as usual, by my big sister) - a novel that weaves together the early history of women in aviation with the modern story of a Hollywood actress. I found it well-researched, elegantly written and remarkably engaging - but very, very long.
What I’m listening to: Jess Murphy of Kai restaurant in Galway on Radio Cherry Bombe. I’m a big fan of everything that Jess does, and this episode felt quite relevant given that Jess moved from New Zealand to Ireland to open her restaurant.
What I’m eating: lots and lots of hot cross buns - both at work and at home. At Mor, we’re making regular ones (with lots of orange zest and dried fruit) and chocolate ones, with spices and milk and dark choc. They’re pretty incredible - toasted, with butter, extra salt and marmalade. I also made another batch of my own HXB recipe and made them into a little pull-apart-monkey-bread situation to take away for the weekend with the girls. Enjoy the last couple days of HXB season and you can find my recipe here if you’re keen!
It’s been a hectic week (both hot-cross-bun-wise and otherwise) so I don’t have a new recipe for you this week - but instead, I’m giving you a list of my top 10 bites of Auckland (so far). I’ve been here for around 6 months, and I’ve eaten a lot of good food: I live in Mount Eden, just off Dominion Road, which has an abundance of great Chinese, Japanese and Korean food, and we’re only a few streets away from Sandringham, which has the best Indian takeaways. I find Ponsonby and K Road have great restaurants, and Britomart is lovely (if a bit fancier). The below list is in no particular order, and ranges from ice-cream to Lebanese food. Save for your next trip to Auckland, or send it to a friend x
(it goes without saying that much of the best food I’ve had has been at Mor, where I work, but it would be too hard to narrow down the exact bites - if I had to pick my fave pastry, though, it would probably be a pain aux raisins, fresh out of the oven, cut into three (for me, Kelsie and Loz) to leave space for future nibnobs)
10 Best Auckland Bites
OOH-FA: incredibly executed pizza on Dominion Road, Mount Eden. It’s hard to pick my fave (I’ve been a couple of times), but highlights definitely include the scampi one, the Italian sausage and the corn-nduja
Gemmayze Street: a Lebanese restaurant just off K Road. Probably my favourite restaurant in Auckland - the hummus is the best I’ve ever tasted, the meat is always impeccably cooked, and the dessert is exceptional.
Forest: I work here part-time (FOH) and have been lucky enough to try some of Plabita’s beautiful food. Highlights include the Witloof corn taco and deep-fried feijoa (life-changingly hot, life-changingly good - please order it if you ever get the chance)
Duck Island: hands-down the best ice-cream in Auckland. My fave is probably pecan butterscotch, though I have also single-handedly put away a lot of coffee chocolate rubble. 10/10
Ragtag: wow. Stunning Mexican food in Westmere - the beef nuggets, the corn quesadilla, the sticky toffee pudding!! Not to mention the gorgeous cocktails. I’m running out of superlative adjectives, but just know that I highly recommend.
Beabea’s: a new bakery in Westmere run by the brilliant Ben and Sarah. A Kiwi onion pastry that blew my mind, and lovely hot cross buns. They also did a pop-up pizza party with Ragtag, and smashed it - see below (I loved the corn one, obvs)
Broke Boy Taco: a shop in Mount Albert that sells mainly birria tacos that are out of this WORLD. The consommé is exceptional to dip your tacos in, and they use it in birria ramen - with noodles, beef, cheese etc. Outstanding work. Be prepared to queue (it’s so worth it)
Baby G: maybe the best burger I’ve ever eaten. The chilli loaded fries are also perfection - would not recommend this as a date spot, however. It gets fairly messy, and you want to be able to get properly stuck into your burger, you know
Alma: beautiful Spanish-inspired food in Britomart. Gorgeous oysters, tostadas - my fave was the chicken with harissa and ajo blanco.
Gloria’s: really yummy sandwiches on focaccia - I had the mortadella one and enjoyed it very much. We all panicked a bit when the shop on K road closed, but I believe they’ve opened again in Britomart!! Fear not.
Shout out to Emma "book recommender extraordinaire" O'Brien ♥️🙌
Loads of brilliant ideas to bring back to Ireland !! I feel like we lack some of those exceptional flavours here xx