I'll Saig On your Van in a minute

I swear it hasn't stopped raining since we got back to Auckland. It is a miserable day outside and all I can think about is the food at Saigon Van. 

Located somewhere in Dunedin (we didn't walk there so I didn't pay attention to where we were) Saigon Van, I am told, is the best Vietnamese restaurant uncle Donald has ever had. 

Saigon Van -somewhere in Dunedin..

Now I've had my fair share of Vietnamese cuisine before, but nothing like this. This seemed more authentic -but as I type this, I realise that I have no idea what AUTHENTIC Vietnamese food is like (note to self: go to Vietnam).

The atmosphere inside was warm, the staff very friendly and there was nice music in the background. The only downside was the noisy children at the next table being allowed, by their parents, to roam the restaurant. We are reminded that Grace hates kids. 

There was so much food we wanted to try so we got a little of everything and shared it around.

Saigon Van Salad

 The Saigon Van salad was strongly recommended by Kate and was full of strange ingredients that Grace and Ben had never seen before. I, being Asian, have eaten these on many occasions and took it upon myself to educate them.

Deconstructed salad

The dish consisted of: shredded chicken, prawn, cloud ear fungus (don't let the "fungus" part scare you), cabbage (green and red), carrot and peanuts covered in a light tamarind sauce. The result was a lovely crunchy salad with just the right amount of sauce.

Transparent Spring Rolls

The Transparent Spring Rolls were filled with shredded pork, rice noodles and fresh veggies which complimented each other quite well. I was very glad that I was on the end of the table where I only had to share with one other person.

Crispy Spring Rolls

Food is nice. But deep fried food is better. Always.
The spring rolls were coated in tempura batter and lightly fried. I, being the polite guest, didn't have the last one (even though I really really wanted to!)

Braised Chicken with Ginger

Even though I don't like onion, this, out of the mains, was my favourite. The chicken was very tender and cooked in a sweet, peppery sauce. The added rice wine complimented the flavours really well and I went about drowning my rice in the delicious sauce. 

Crispy Fried Fillet of Fish with Tamarind Sauce (Grace's favourite)

I come from a family of seafood eaters and I have been taught, from a very early age, to tell the difference between good quality fish and fish that's been in the freezer for a few days. This was good quality fish. Each bite was melt in your mouth and had just the right amount of batter to fish meat ratio.

Braised Pork and Egg -Vietnamese Style

This was served to the opposite end of the table first. This photograph is a testament to how appealing it was -by the time I even made it to the opposite side, half of it had disappeared! Again, the meat was very tender and I found myself wishing the portion sizes were a little bigger.



I'm not going to lie. Dessert came as a surprise. 

When I think banana cake, I think: 

Banana Cake

Not:

Steamed Banana Cake with Coconut Cream

I love trying new food but this was a little too weird for my taste. The dessert resembled a pudding rather than a cake and tasted very "banana-ry" (which, I suppose is to be expected). The coconut cream was a nice accompaniment to the banana flavour but I couldn't get past the slimy texture of the "cake." Luckily, I had enough foresight to share it with Grace but we couldn't even finish it between the two of us. 


As I looked around the table, I noticed that everyone else's plates were empty so I quickly gobble up the rest so we don't look ungrateful.


Verdict? I love Vietnamese food. I love it even more now. But maybe I'll stick to the vanilla ice cream next time..

All grown up

Today is a Wednesday. Grace and I are proud mothers today. Seriously.

Not because it's a Wednesday. Not because we're pregnant. But because it's Kate's graduation day! To celebrate, we went to a special brekky at "Capers" and later on to "Saigon Van" for dinner with her family.

As we went inside, we were greeted by trendy salsa music, a warm atmosphere and really pretty photos of New Zealand for sale. 

Photos up for sale

Overly excited about the "Make your own breakfast"

We had originally decided to go to another cafe up the road for breakfast but their menu was very much lacking in variety so Kate suggested Capers which had a large selection. Am very satisfied. 

Kate's "Miner's Special" ($16.50)

Blueberry Smoothie ($6)

Kate's "Miner's Special" arrived first. It came with bacon, breakfast sausages and a hash brown all sitting on top of 2 MASSIVE pancakes. We did not anticipate the meal to be so large and she had to take half of it home. She is actually eating the leftovers right now.. The breakfast sausages tasted quite floury but, other than that, it was delish!

Grace's French Toast ($14)

The french toast was, originally, meant to come with fruit salad and yoghurt but, wanting a proper breakfast, Grace asked for bacon instead. Look at all the bacon she got! I forgot to ask her how her meal was. I was just excited by the shipload of bacon on her plate (with no extra charge!).

My Eggs Benedict ($15.50)

This was the best eggs benedict I've ever had. Hands down. The hollandaise sauce was creamy with only a hint of lemon. It was served on top of lightly toasted ciabatta bread (MUCH better accompaniment than boring old toast) with a side of bacon and a hash brown. I found the hash brown to be quite oily but Kate didn't mind the super deep-fried-ness though.

I love lamp.

Their lunch menu also looked quite amazing and, again, we were surprised at how reasonable the prices were. I found myself wishing we could spend more time in Dunedin so we could come back for lunch..

Also very impressed by the giant bottle of maple syrup on our table. Unfortunately, I couldn't persuade anyone to drink it..

We were very satisfied with our meals and had to sit down for about half an hour afterwards because we ate too much. It was OK though, there was plenty of art to look at and a map where you could mark where you were from.

Where are you from?

Will post about our dinner at Saigon Van when I get home. 

Night at the Museum.. But in the day time

As I am typing this, Grace is reading Mills and Boon. Out loud. 

We have had a very long morning. 


Kate is only working a half day so Grace and I entertained ourselves at the Otago Museum before meeting her for lunch. Now this is entirely non-food related, but the museum's butterfly exhibit is amazing! They are allowed to fly freely within the enclosure so you can touch them and I was deathly scared of accidentally stepping on one. This is a permanent exhibit and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Dunedin.

Monarchs and some other butterflies at the feeding station

 Anyway.. Back to the food. 

Menu at the Museum Cafe

After we sanitised our hands, we met Kate downstairs for lunch at the museum cafe. Again, Grace and I were surprised at the very reasonable prices (especially at a museum). She ordered corn fritters, Kate ordered a smoked chicken panini and I got kumara hashcake with bacon and a bowl of fries to share.

Grace's Corn Fritters ($12)

We found the dishes here to be, overall, quite average. Grace found that the dish came with too much relish which masked the taste of the corn fritters. The fact that the salad wasn't on the side also made it hard to eat -once the fritters crumbled, it was difficult to make out the difference between fritter and salad which was just plain confusing!

Kumara Hashcakes with Bacon ($12)

Unfortunately, my dish wasn't much better. Although perfectly edible, I found it dry, crumbly and, frankly, quite lacking in any flavour. I looked around for the missing relish and settled on putting a lot of ground pepper on my dish. About 2 minutes into my meal, an embarrassed waitress came out carrying a dish of what we thought was salad dressing. It turned out to be maple syrup..

My meal with the addition of maple syrup

I fully appreciate that maple syrup and bacon go together like sunshine and lollipops but when paired with the remaining kumara cakes and salad, it became that awkward cousin you bring to parties because your parents insisted that you show him around -your friends don't really make an effort because he obviously doesn't have the same interests and none of your friends make an effort to talk to him.

Smoked Chicken Panini ($8.50)

Kate's was the only dish that came with the salad on the side which, I'm told, made life a lot easier. No complaints except that it was a little dry and could have used a little more flavour (Ok, so I guess that's a complaint or two..)

Fries with Aoli and Tomato Sauce ($7.70)

The fries were good though =)


Verdict? Quite average. Not too bad for an afternoon lunch -but ask for your salad on the side, not this weird "undersalad" business

Student Life

So it's a lovely, sunny day outside and what am I doing? Sitting in the lounge with the curtains drawn, trying to read tiny writing as I try to type this out on my iPhone. I'm actually waiting for Grace to wake up.

Let me explain. Grace and I flew down to the student town of Dunedin (NZ) for our friend Kate's graduation.

Since Kate works everyday, we've been forced to entertain ourselves. Despite being told there's not much here in the way of tourism, we manage to find a range of activities like VISITING CADBURY WORLD!!

Me standing in front of a Cadbury Crunchie mountain. Jealous?

Unfortunately cameras weren't allowed on the tour so I had to leave my most Asian accessory in our tour guide's locker..

We were taken through the working factory and shown chocolate through its processing and packing stages. It was almost like walking through Willy Wonka's factory -but instead of Oopma Loompas, there were about 10 white clothed people per assembly line putting together boxes and packing chocolate. It's hard to imagine that this was once a prestigious job to have.

Throughout the tour, we were given lots of free chocolate and reward for answering quizzes. We were, at last, taken to the Jaffa room where we got to see them being made and even taste melted, creamy dairy milk chocolate. Verdict? A+ tour, would partake again. Great value for only $16!

My awesome goodie bag (The mint drinking chocolate and rolly things were from the gift shop)

Our tour ended at the gift shop where every single Cadbury product was on sale. I can't help but feel a little disappointed when I realise that it's not much cheaper than Cadbury products at the supermarket. I do, however, leave with a few mint related goodies as they are my boyfriend's favourites. Also.. Earrings made by the Otago Miniaturists Society! (You have NO idea how much this excites me!)

Every king sized chocolate available

Made by the Otago Miniaturist Society Awesome.

Another thing Grace and I were particularly taken aback by was the price of good quality cafe food in Dunedin. We come from Auckland where a cup of decent coffee costs $5 and cafe meals are almost unaffordable.

The cheap menu make us suspicious..

We stopped off at "The Art of Craft of Fine Beer and Food" which is right in the heart of the city centre. I was a bit skeptical when I saw the prices -$15 gets you next to nothing in Auckland cafes (both in quality and quantity) but we were both pleasantly surprised when our dishes were served.

I ordered the craft hotpot ($15) which had bits of beef steak that had been stewed with veggies and served on the fluffiest potato mash I've ever had! The beef was very tender and the tomato based sauce that came with it complimented the mash quite well, although it was lacking muchly in vegetables (I think I counted 4 bits of cauliflower in total).

Craft Hotpot "Tender seared chunky beef steak slowly braised with a medly of vegetables; served with seasoned mash"

Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Sandwich

Grace ordered the chicken, bacon and avocado sandwich ($14). Pretty self explanatory. You know it's a good deal when you end up with more chicken than bread!

Things learned:

• I probably could have saved around $1000 in my 3 years of uni had I dined at Dunedin cafes instead of Auckland. (I will do the math when I get home)
• Kate's is the only non-gross flat in Dunedin
• New Zealanders eat, on average, 4kgs of chocolate per year; Australians eat 8kgs and Erupeans eat 12kgs -fatties..
• Cadbury makes easter eggs nonstop from June to January which is all eaten in the space of one week