Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

“Simple, fresh, flavorsome and colorful food that appeal to all five senses”

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Well known restaurateur brings new concept in contemporary Indian fine dining to Epsom Together with Executive Chef Chandan and industry veteran interior designer Milly, the prolific restaurateur, Daya Shanker, is soon to open the doors to his newest culinary concept restaurant here in Auckland. Previously operating as“Raviz” on Manukau Rd, Epsom, Daya and his team have spent the last several months transforming the restaurant into Taj Indian Bistro & Bar for Contemporary Indian Dining.

With his mastery of the cuisine, Daya, together with executive chef Chandan, have created a varied menu of upscale, authentic a la carte dishes.
With the motto; simple, fresh, flavorsome and colorful food that appeal to all five senses, the crew at Taj believe that you should not have to miss out on taste just because you follow a special diet. Taj also caters to special diet groups like vegetarians and vegans. They also serve Halal meat and gluten-free delicacies. The unique and inventive interior design has been kept a closely guarded secret only to be revealed on the grand opening night in early March.
With themed nights planned for the coming weeks, including entertainment from local artists, Taj Bistro offers a ‘destination restaurant’ where people can come and stay for the whole evening enjoying a relaxed, romantic Indo-Chinese atmosphere.
Taj Bistro has a capacity for 40 settings in three separate areas; one relaxed dining area for couples, one Indo-Chinese lounge and an outside tiered decked space. The Taj has something for everyone especially those who delight in new dining experiences in elegant, ambient settings.

TAJ Bistro & Bar is unique in the area as the only Bistro to offer two separate menus; ,Fusion and contemporary Indian cuisine.
The “Lassi Bar” will be worth a visit on its own, with a drink list consisting of more than 20 brands of beer, stouts, brown, pale and light ales and premium lagers from all around the world as well as some of the most exclusive and best selections of vodkas, rums and gins. We bet we have some cocktails on the list that you’ve never tried before.
Contact Daya below to find out more and get your private invitation to the grand opening.
Taj Indian Bistro & Bar

Daya Shanker

Mixed Vegetable Platter - Mixture of vegetable Samosa,Palak Rolls and onion bhajis (Vegan) at Taj Bistro

http://www.menumania.co.nz/restaurants/taj-bistro-auckland

Mt Zion is for anyone who’s ever enjoyed a good hangi

Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Stan Walker rocks in Mt Zion. My excuse for raving about this great new NZ movie on MenuMania, is that if you’ve ever enjoyed a good hangi, you’ll enjoy this movie ;)  I saw it last night, and Stan can act. And the music in it made my soul sing (thanks Shane McLean; and Andy Gibson too).  Anyone who loves good music, and a bit of NZ Maori culture will love this. Go see it when it comes out on 6 February 2013.  Director Tearepa Kahi has done every Kiwi a favour here, with this beautiful piece of storytelling. I absolutely loved it. :) Karen at MenuMania.

Check out the trailer here.

By the way, click here to read a proper review by Scott Kara of NZ Herald, 1 Feb 2013.

Regional towns dominate Café of the Year competition

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

October 30th, 2012

Creative cuisine and home-grown hospitality are the winners in this year’s NZ Café of the Year competition with the top 15 finalists coming from regional New Zealand.

With around 400 cafés involved in the nationwide competition and more than 20,000 public votes, it is Warkworth, Timaru, Te Kuiti, Napier, Greymouth and Gore which host some of the country’s most popular small eateries.

In its inaugural year, the NZ Café of the Year competition pits cafés from the length and breadth of the country against each other.

The top three café finalists in the five regions are:

Upper North Island: Chocolate Brown (Warkworth), Urban Soul (Botany, Auckland) and Paper Moon (Mairangi Bay, Auckland).

Central North Island: Bosco Café (TeKuiti), Capers Café (Rotorua) and Corogate Café (Thames).

Lower North Island: Mega Café (Masterton), Café Ahuriri (Napier) and Macfarlanes Café (Inglewood).

Upper South Island: Maggies Kitchen (Greymouth), Artisan by Rangiora Bakery (Rangiora) and Luciano Espresso Bar (Christchurch).

Lower South Island: The Roost Café (Oamaru), Jagz of Village Green (Invercargill) and The Green Room Café (Gore).

An expert team of judges, organised by the Restaurant Association of NZ, will now begin the judging process and select the overall winner.

The winning café claims the title of NZ Café of the Year 2012 and will feature on the popular primetime TV segment Food in a Minute.

Screening across two weeks, the Food in a Minute episodes will be filmed on-site at the winning café and will showcase their award-winning beans and bacon dish, the creation of which was one of the key entry criteria for the competition.

In addition, the winning café has its recipe emailed to the Food in a Minute database of more than 100,000 fans. The dish also features on recipe cards in-store at supermarkets. It also appears on the Food in a Minute and Café of the Year websites and Facebook pages.

Some rather creative bacon and bean dishes are among the finalists including Warkworth’s Chocolate Brown “Kiwi Special”. It features Wattie’s Baked Beans, crispy Kiwi Bacon, home-made potato rosti, soft poached egg, fresh herb salsa verde and watercress.

Another clever creation comes from Café Ahuriri in Napier with its classic dish with a twist – a filo shell filled with Wattie’s Baked Beans with an egg cracked over the top, finished with a dusting of Grana Padano cheese. It is baked in the oven until crisp and served on a bed of crispy streaky Kiwi Bacon and topped with mascarpone cheese and spring onion curls. The dish is finished with a watercress pesto drizzle.

“We’re delighted with the calibre of the cuisine we are seeing in this competition,” says Kristy Blackman, Kiwi Bacon senior marketing manager. “There are some truly classic dishes coming through and one of them is set to be enshrined as a Kiwi favourite.”

Public voting determined the 15 regional finalists and now the cafés are being judged on appearance, atmosphere, service, meals and overall experience by an expert team of judges.

The overall winner of the 2012 NZ Café of the Year competition will be announced on November 12.

The Food in a Minute segments featuring the winning dish are set to screen on TV1 and TV2 from 26 November.

For more information go to www.nzcafeoftheyear.co.nz.

Source: http://www.foodnews.co.nz/29552/regional-towns-dominate-cafe-of-the-year-competition-2/

Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards 2012 Winners

Monday, August 6th, 2012

 

Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards 2012 Winners:

 

 

 

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR 2012: The Grill Auckland

Equal Runners-Up Best New Restaurant:
Roxy, Auckland
Depot, Auckland

Best Metropolitan Restaurant: The Grove, Auckland
Runner-Up Best Metropolitan Restaurant: The French Cafe, Auckland

Best Regional Restaurant: Palate, Hamilton

Best Specialist Restaurant: Martin Bosley’s Restaurant, Wellington
Runner-Up Best Specialist Restaurant: Cocoro, Auckland

Best Winery Restaurant: Pegasus Bay Restaurant, Waipara
Runner-Up Best Winery Restaurant: Terrôir At Craggy Range, Hastings

Heritage AK Chef Wins NZ Vege Dish Challenge

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Chef Jinu Abraham wins NZ Vegetarian Dish Challenge 2012 – Celebration Dinner 28 July.

To celebrate Jinu’s success, Heritage Auckland is holding a vegan winter celebration dinner at 6.30 PM on Saturday 28 July in Hectors restaurant, lobby level of Heritage Auckland at 35 Hobson Street (http://www.menumania.co.nz/restaurants/hectors-restaurant)

Before the dinner is a brief cooking demonstration of the winning dish by Jinu followed by a three course vegan meal for $55 GST inc. per person including a glass of vegan wine.
Bookings are essential on 09 9797434 or visit www.heritagehotels.co.nz

Jinu Abraham the executive chef of Heritage Auckland has been announced the winner of the inaugural New Zealand Vegetarian Dish Challenge 2012 organised by Vegetables.co.nz

Nationwide, chefs and caterers where invited to submit their favourite recipe featuring fresh New Zealand grown vegetables. Jinu entered a vegan dish from his extensive repertoire to win out over 200 other entries.
The Vegetarian Dish Challenge culinary judges decision was unanimous in awarding Jinu Abraham’s entry of baby vegetables with olive, celeriac, candied walnut and macadamia cheese, the winner. The dish will feature on the Hectors restaurant menu this winter.

“I am truly honoured to receive this prize. It’s great to be rewarded for what I love to do every day. The vegan menu development at Heritage Auckland has been a journey and this win is a very exciting milestone on the way,” says Jinu Abraham executive chef Heritage Auckland.

‘Vegetables.co.nz was delighted with the innovative and inspirational use of fresh New Zealand grown vegetables and will make this award a regular event on the culinary calendar,” says Pip Duncan of Vegetables.co.nz.

Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards 2012 Finalists

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

Cuisine magazine has announced the Top 50 finalists in its 2012 NZ Restaurant of the Year.

The editor of Cuisine, Sarah Nicholson, says determining which restaurants would secure the coveted 50 places was tougher than ever.

“A number of new restaurants have really raised the bar this year – we have eight first-time entrants to the list, including an impressive six in Auckland,” Nicholson says.

The finalists are drawn from throughout the country, from Dunedin to Whangarei, encompassing everything from smart new fine-diners to established neighbourhood favourites.

Now in its eighth year, the highly regarded Cuisine Restaurant of the Year is the only nationwide restaurant competition. Previous supreme winners include Auckland’s Merediths, North Otago’s Riverstone Kitchen and Wellington’s Logan Brown.

Kerry Tyack returns as the head judge for the awards in 2012. Tyack has been writing about and judging food and wine for more than 20 years, making him eminently qualified to oversee the judging panel of food and wine professionals.

Judges from throughout New Zealand have spent the past few months establishing the finalists, judging outside their local regions to ensure impartiality. Pairs of judges will anonymously visit all Top 50 restaurants and the top scoring restaurants will then be revisited to determine category winners.

A number of new categories have been introduced this year, including the Vittoria Coffee Chef of the Year Award.

“New Zealand has some truly world-class chefs and we wanted to recognise their innovation, creativity and skill,” says Nicholson. “I’ve no doubt that it will be a fiercely contested category.”

The full list of categories for the awards are:

  • Cuisine Restaurant of the Year
  • Chef of the Year
  • Best Metropolitan Restaurant
  • Best Regional restaurant
  • Best New Restaurant
  • Best Winery Restaurant
  • Best Specialist Restaurant
  • Restaurant Personality of the Year

The Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year winners will be announced at an industry event on the evening of Monday 6 August at the Auckland Art Gallery.

The following is a list of finalists in the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards 2012

Northland
À Deco

Auckland
Antoine’s Restaurant
Café Hanoi
Cibo
Clooney
Cocoro
Coco’s Cantina
Depot
District Dining
Ebisu
Kitchen at Hotel DeBrett
Merediths
MooChowChow
O’Connell Street Bistro
Ponsonby Road Bistro
Roxy
Sidart
Soul Bar & Bistro
The Engine Room
The French Cafe
The Grill
The Grove
TriBeCa Restaurant & Bar
Vinnies Restaurant

Waikato/Bay of Plenty
Palate Restaurant
Chim-Choo-Ree
Victoria Street Bistro

Hawke’s Bay
Black Barn Bistro
Elephant Hill Estate & Winery
Terrôir at Craggy Range

Wellington
Ambeli
Arbitrageur
Capitol
Hippopotamus
Logan Brown
Martin Bosley’s
Matterhorn
Ortega Fish Shack & Bar
The Larder
The White House Restaurant

Marlborough/ Nelson
Hopgood’s Restaurant & Bar

Canterbury/ Christchurch
Edesia
Pegasus Bay Winery Restaurant
Pescatore

South Canterbury/ Oamaru
Riverstone Kitchen

Central Otago
Amisfield Bistro
Wai Waterfront Restaurant
Wakatipu Grill

Dunedin
Pier 24
Two Chefs Bistro

Al Brown’s Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar supreme winner of Metro / Audi Restaurant of the Year 2012!

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

The Winner of the Metro/Audi Restaurant of the Year Top 50 Restaurants in Auckland have been announced!

Al Brown’s Depot Eatery & Oyster Bar supreme winner of Metro / Audi Restaurant of the Year!

The full list of winners are:

Depot Supreme winner; plus Best new restaurant; plus Best casual bistro; (Runner-up – Coco’s Cantina); plus, Al Brown won “Audi progressive restaurateur of the year” (Runner-up – Sid Sahrawat (Sidart)

Clooney  Best fine dining; Runner-up – The French Café

Cibo Best smart dining; Runner-up – O’Connell Street Bistro

The Engine Room Best upmarket bistro; Runners-up – Ponsonby Road Bistro, Pure

Cocoro Best Asian (Runner-up – Ebisu); Best short drinks list (Runner-up – Molten)

Toto Best Italian; Runner-up – Poderi Crisci

Poderi Crisci Best rural; Runner-up – Casita Miro

Merediths Best chef – Michael Meredith

The French Café Best service (Runner-up – Coco’s Cantina); and Best drinks list (Runner-up – O’Connell Street Bistro)

Roxy Best dish – Fish soup

The Tasting Shed - Ganesh Raj – Restaurant personality of the year

The other Restaurants listed in the Top 50 included:

 

 

 

Metro Top 50 Auckland Restaurants 2012

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

The Metro/Audi Restaurant of the Year Top 50 Restaurants in Auckland have been announced!

Winners will be announced on Monday, April 23 2012.




The Metro Top 50 Auckland Restaurants 2012, in alphabetical order:

MenuMania is Number 1 website in the Experian Hitwise Top Ten Award for July to December 2010

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

From July – December, 2010, MenuMania.co.nz was ranked #1 in the Hitwise New Zealand ‘Food and Beverage – Restaurants and Catering’ industry based on monthly average market share.

Twice a year, Experian Hitwise awards the 10 most popular New Zealand websites across each of 160+ categories, according to the market share of visits a website receives in a six month period.

MenuMania has won the Number 1 website in the Experian Hitwise Top Ten Award for the second time in a row.

Nielsen Market Intelligence have also confirmed MenuMania’s position as the leading eating-out and restaurant review website in New Zealand.

Over 238,000 different diners a month look for places to eat out on MenuMania. Source: Google Analytics May 2011.

Here are yummy macaroons like on MasterChef!

Monday, May 16th, 2011

L'Assiette Macaroons