Matakana Farmers Market

It’s been a while since we last visited a market and with winter drawing near it’ll be even harder to get up and out of bed early in the morning to make it to them. Matakana is a good hour drive north from Auckland Central – potential Easter revisit?

The crepes are a little on the salty side but still delicious regardless. The smoothies are a necessity for accompanying you whilst you flit between stalls. The handmade chocolate is the definite ‘souvenir’ back to Auckland. And the oysters are fresh and delightful.

Our best advice to you would be to go early – parking is mad during market opening hours, and bring enough cash – there’s one ATM (BNZ) that comes with a crazy long line. Matakana Farmers Market.
2 Matakana Valley Road, Matakana.
8am – 1pm

The Roaming Dive @Silo Park

We finally made it to The Roaming Dive. Having been told they were at Silo Park, we did a quick detour on Friday and stopped just long enough to grab a combo deal: two sliders + crispy crunchy fries ($11).

The line to order was small but the waiting crowd was large.

The sliders were brilliant. The buns were soft, sweet and delicious. Our favourite was the Chicken slider. It was juicy and flavourful covered in buffalo sauce. They were so good we went back for more but sadly they were sold out already (around 8pm).

The Crispy crunchy fries were sprinkled with parmesan cheese and parsley. Though they were neither crispy nor crunchy. All three items were $4 each by themselves so I would suggest skipping out on the combo and going with just the sliders. (Prawn Po’Boy was $8.)

Only half their menu was on offer this time but they’re at Silo Park this coming Friday too (17 Jan), thank goodness. Hopefully they’re coming armed with more items, more quantity, and actually crispy and crunchy fries.

Our GIVEAWAY is live on our Facebook page right now! A restaurant voucher and froyo up for grabs! Ends 28/01/2014.

Check out also our Silo Park post last week and last summer.

Silo Park.
Corner Jellicoe & Beaumont Streets, Wynyard Quarter.

Silo Park 2013/4

Silo Park is a brilliant way to spend Friday night, there’s everything you need – food, drinks, shopping, music and movies.

Our go-to truck would be, no surprise, The Lucky Taco. We managed to get in before the queue (there’s always a queue and it’s always worth the wait) and ordered the Pulled Pork, Turkey and Beef Tongue. Our favourite of the three was definitely the Beef Tongue, our friends enjoyed the Pulled Pork. Is it too extreme to say we refrain from ordering tacos anywhere else now? (More Lucky love here and here.) Sarah and Otis also have the most organised food truck around, their Facebook page is updated regularly and so is their schedule on the website (can anyone tell me where The Roaming Dive is right now?).

We had the chance to try The Beverage Boy who was conveniently parked up next door. Matt sells fresh and healthy smoothies for $5.50 (small) and $7.00 (large). Our favourites were the Green Machine with kale and the Berry Mint. There’s no schedule to be found for this green truck – we wish there was, but Facebook tells us that Matt is down in Tauranga till the end of January so be sure to visit him if you’re vacationing at the Mount EDIT: seems like The Beverage Boy is at Silo Park this Friday (10th) too!

We were lured in by the delicious smell wafting in the air but found these Takoyaki lacking in flavour.

It’s best to get to Silo Park early to snazz up a parking spot at the Jellicoe Street carpark which comes with the first hour for free. Also bring cushions/bean bags/chairs if you’re planning to stay for the movie. Look at the amount of people you have to compete with for a spot on the grass!

This Friday the movie is Spirited Away by Miyazaki.The crazy pigs totally freaked me out when I was little. Can’t wait for Lion King on 24th of January!

Our GIVEAWAY is live on our Facebook page right now! A restaurant voucher and froyo up for grabs! Ends 28/01/2014.

You can also find us on Instagram, Zomato, and Yelp.

Read our post about Silo Park last summer here.

Silo Park.
Corner Jellicoe & Beaumont Streets, Wynyard Quarter.

Hobsonville Point Farmers Market: Velvet Delight

We visited the Hobsonville Point Farmers Market last Saturday with the main goal of the 40-minute drive being to pick up these beautiful cupcakes from Velvet Delight. Being terribly lazy we only just made it to the market at 12:30. It was surprisingly empty with nothing much to see or do. The cupcakes are super adorable and are great both in looks and taste. We especially enjoyed the salted caramel popcorn one, and also the vanilla cream on top of the red velvet. The cupcakes are super soft. If you’re over the shore we highly recommend getting some of these delights and visiting on Sundays for a greater range. Don’t worry though, Brooke tells us they will soon be moving to the City Centre! There’s so many more that we want to try, namely the lemon, ice-cream sundae and banoffee. (Cupcakes are $4 each or $20 for 6). We also bought some fresh European-style sausages from Salash Delicatessen at the market and spotted a vege garden grown by the cafe next door.

In case you haven’t noticed, we have rearranged our rating categories on the right sidebar so you can now browse through reviews easily based on how much we rated them (like 16.5 to 20/20 for our top restaurants). Remember these are our personal opinions and are totaled to give an idea on what the overall dining experience was like.
Velvet Delight (Saturday & Sunday 9-1pm).
Hobsonville Farmers Market
Cnr Buckley Avenue and Hastings Cresent, Hobsonville.

La Cigale Market- Parnell

La Cigale Market is pretty much pastry heaven. On my visit, the place was bustling with people with the delicious smell of freshly baked buttery goodness wafting through the air – making me hungry, instantly. After a quick walkthrough to get an idea on what was available, my friend and I settled for a seafood paella ($8) to share. It was rich in flavour with generous helpings of seafood. We accompanied it with some refreshing freshly squeezed juice ($6).

Tarts and chocolate croissants were popping out of the ovens by the second it seemed, a joyful sight indeed. The Paris Brest ($5.50) was amazing, I especially enjoyed the roasted almond flakes sprinkled on the pastry. We couldn’t resist trying the lemon tart ($4.50) and chocolate croissant also.

On top of all this the market offers a wide range of other products ranging from homegrown fruit and veggies to homemade jam, kitchen utensils to handmade french soap, as well as sauces, pasta, wine and seafood.

If you’re stuck on what to do on a Saturday morning, head down to Parnell and soak in some sun (or rain I guess with the unpredictable Auckland weather) while munching your way round the market. Bear in mind – finding seats can be hard work.

Silo Park – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

(Be prepared for a long post!) Friday night we headed down to the Silo Park for its last outdoor movie screening for the season and we had an amazing time. They played Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which although was already a good movie in itself, had added atmosphere when you watched it projected onto a massive silo, with millions of other people on a cool summer/autumn night (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit on the numbers there but the place was brimming with people). The Silo Markets were in full operation from 5pm selling everything from woodfire pizzas to beer to escargots. So where to start…

Firstly we tried the taco truck. We ordered one chicken and one beef taco with the beef winning both our hearts. Next up was the woodfire pizza. What was extremely impressive was all this came on a mini truck, and was made right in front of you to order. Of course this meant a longer waiting time – we waited 35 minutes for ours. The pizza base was extremely delicious, it was crispy and was the perfect thickness, the filling however we thought was a little too salty. You would think we should be content by now, but when you find mini food trucks surrounding you at every corner with people lining up everywhere you convince yourself you must try everything till you aptly feel like you resemble an oompa loompa and can fit no more. Naturally we visited the next stall, ordering a Mega Dog and a blueberry smoothie. I’m not sure whether it was because we were both so thirsty at this stage or whether the chef had mastered the golden smoothie ingredient proportion, but it was incredibly tasty. The mega dog was juicy and was well complemented by the ciabatta. We also contemplated about trying the handmade pies and the Spanish paella but decided we should give our stomachs a rest and settled for White’s & Co Willy Wonka Berry Tub and a popcorn. White’s & Co’s frozen yoghurt never fails to satisfy and their special tonight had a lovely surprise with jumping candy involved. Music played when the movie wasn’t on and a giant connect 4 and wooden building blocks were available for children entertainment or for those a child at heart.

After the movie finished we took a stroll through the market with vintage clothing and contemporary artists showcasing their pieces. We found everything from hand knitted winter cardigans, famous superstar spray painted discs, old Enid Blyton books, ‘It’s so fluffy I’m gonna diiiiie!’ artwork and a ring resembling the head of a wookie.

It was most definitely a spectacular way to end the summer.