Golden Horse Dinner Sep 29 2009

Date: 29/9/2009
Restaurant: Golden Horse Restaurant
Address: 374 Great South Rd, Greenlane, Auckland
Website: None
Party size: 2

Parking: They have no official parking, but there are a couple across the street which you should be able to park at night
When we get seated: 6:45pm
When we left: 7:45pm


Today's experience:

Food ordered: 3.2 pound Lobster, grouper pot ($124)

Presentation: standard cantonese cuisine

Overall comment: Pretty good. A 3 pound lobster is usually eaten by a whole table (12 people) but we are sharing with just 2 tonight. So we would be able to eat lobster pieces after pieces without reserve. It is cook in standard cantonese style and they did a fine job with it. Lobster, compare to other cantonese food are more forgiving to the kitchen. Meaning if a chinese kitchen make poor lobster, they really sucks. The grouper pot is also good, the size is larger than I expect with only $16.

Environment: Maybe because it is a weekday and it is raining, they only have 2-3 tables in the entire restaurant. Other than that there is no fault to pick on for the environment. Nothing special, but nothing bad.

Final comment: Golden Horse is relatively cheap compare to other restaurant and you can easily spend less than $20 per person if you are not ordering pricy item like lobsters. Their food is decent so it provide good value to the customer

Final grade: B-

Nishiki Lunch Sep 26 2009

Date: 26/9/2009
Restaurant: Nishiki, Rotaba-Yaki Bar Botany
Address: Torrens Rd, Botany Downs, Auckland
Website: http://www.nishiki.co.nz/
Party size: 2

Parking: Very easy. There is a huge parking lot for the shops and restaurants there. Even if that parking lot is full, you can always park on the street
When we get seated: 11:45am
When we left: 1:00pm


Today's experience:

Food ordered: Kaisen Don ($18) and Unatoji + A set ($18)

Presentation: standard

Overall comment: Pretty good. Though the stuff we ordered did not really test the kitchen. The Kaisen Don is chef selected sashimi served on a bowl of sushi rice. The sashimi includes salmon, tuna, snapper, octopus (tako), cooked shrimp (ebi), scallop and salmon roe. The choice is pretty standard so there is not much surprise there. The Unatoji is eel and egg cooked together. You can either order the A set, which includes miso soup, a bowl of rice and pickled vegetables for $3, or the B set which includes a bowl of rice, pickled vegetables and a mini bowl of udon or soba.

Environment: It is a small restaurant. For those who prefer small eatery, this place gives off its unique charm. For those who prefer bigger eatery, you might feel cramped in there.

Final comment: Lunch menu Nishiki offered really did not give a full look on what they are fully capable of. Their dinner menu mainly consists of snack sized items, which mean you might order 10+ dishes to share between your tables and I believe that will truly test their kitchen and how well its value compare to similar restaurant. I cannot give a definite review until I try their dinner. On a side note, although I didn't order any sake since it is only lunch, they carry nice sake with reasonable prices.

Final grade: B (for my lunch experience)

I would love to try their dinner some time in the future.

Ariake dinner Sep 24 2009

Date: 24/9/2009
Restaurant: Ariake Japanese Restaurant
Address: Corner of Albert & Quay Streets, Downtown Auckland
Website: http://www.ariake.co.nz/
Party size: 2
Special note: Dinner Course Ariake need to be ordered 2 days in advance.
Parking: It is difficult to find street parking. However there are plenty carpark in the nearby area.
When we get seated: 7:00pm
When we left: 9:30pm


Tonight's experience:

Food ordered: Dinner Course Ariake ($85 per person)

Highlight: Hors d'oeuvres, with 7 bite size item serve on the same plate. Each tastes differently and yet they compliment with each other.

Presentation: Fantastic for all the dishes. I feel bad eating such beautiful food.

Taste overall: Very good, but not as good as it was couple years ago when I first dined at Ariake. The grilled steak are slightly overcooked to my taste (They served it as medium, close to medium well) but I must admit I like my food relatively raw compare to the general public.

Environment: The restaurant are around 70-80% full. We are seated along the side of the windows and the seat are arranged far apart so diners can have good privacy space. However, tonight there was a group of 7-8 which is unbelievably loud which is kind of annoying. One of the servers had to go to that table and ask them to quiet down.

Disappointment: The sashimi and the sushi are the disappointment for tonight. There is nothing wrong with the taste as the fish served are very fresh. What disappoints me is that the sashimi served the most common (Snapper, Salmon and Tuna) fish in New Zealand's japanese restaurant. I expect restaurant at Ariake's caliber would serve something more interesting. What is even more unforgivable is that they repeat tuna and salmon in the sashimi and sushi dishes. I do not believe that is good practice for a full course dinner as the chef should provide variety to its customers. I don't think they put much thoughts into the sushi and sashimi course.

Final comment: Araike's pace of serving food may be slow considered by some. However, I believe if you spend that much money on a dinner, you should be savoring it and not trying to rush through it.

Final grade: B+

I would definitely go back and hopefully they would do even better next time.