Kreuzberg Summer Cafe

Aside from a brief (4-day!) stint in the capital city in February, my Summer Away From Wellington has been carrying on steadily. If you follow me on Twitter you might have read about my travels to the States and Brazil*, but I haven't been as good about posting updates from the road here on the blog. But! Worry not, dear readers (if there are any of you left!) - in less than two weeks I make my return to Wellington. And with Florence back from Vietnam, for the first time in months, both of this blog's co-authors will be in the same place at the same time, so coverage of our favourite eating experiences should resume as per usual!

As much as I've enjoyed travelling around, I can't wait to get back to my own kitchen, my favourite haunts and, fingers crossed, the tail end of the summer sunshine. OK, so technically it's autumn, but Metservice tells me there's still plenty of sun left in the forecast. Before it runs out, I want to share one of my new favourite places to bask in the sun, Kreuzberg Summer Cafe.

I've only been there a handful of times, but this outdoor cafe, located at the top of Cuba St in a former car yard, has that perfect Wellington-summer laid-back vibe that made me fall in love instantly.

Food and drinks are served out of a caravan, the cafe seating is on brightly painted picnic tables (a second caravan provides "indoor" seating), and the coffee comes in colourfully mismatched vintage cups and saucers.

The flat white ($3.50) was superb - the flavour and strength of the People's Coffee espresso held its own against the almost sweet creaminess of the milk - this is one coffee that definitely doesn't need added sugar, folks.

I had the yellow sunshine burger ($9.50): haloumi, caramelised onion, mayonnaise and fresh veggies in between tender Turkish bread. I'm such a fan of haloumi that I might be a bit biased, but this may well rank among the top 3 burgers I've had over the past year. The salty greasiness of the cheese was well-matched by the onions and mayo, but the bit that pulled it all together, in my opinion, was the cool crunch of the cucumber. Outstanding.

Wanting to try some of the sweeter options, I chose a mini caramel slice ($1). This bite-sized portion is a genius idea; I mean, way to break down the barriers to temptation (it's only a little slice...)! The slice itself was tasty but I found the caramel filling more russian fudge-y than caramelly. I'm still undecided as to whether that really detracts from its quality, though.

The blueberry muffin ($3.50) teetered on the oily side, but I'd take that over an over-dry muffin any day. It was soft, sweet and had that characteristic blueberry-muffin-batter vanilla-y taste - a definite plus.

Kreuzberg is the kind of place that I expect will come to define "Wellington on a good day" over the years. It seems to be actively becoming part of the eclectic Cuba St scene, hosting live music and the Cuba St Night Market on Fridays. It's vegetarian-friendly, the coffee is fair trade and much of the food & drink come from local and/or organic suppliers. On a sunny afternoon in Wellington, Kreuzberg may just well be the place to be.

Kreuzberg Summer Cafe
Cnr Cuba & Webb St
Te Aro
Wellington
(021) 119-6257
Open 7 days, 7:30am-sunset


*For those of you who are interested, I'm posting photo highlights from Brazil, NYC and Chicago here

Caffe Astoria, Lambton Quay

Thanks everyone for putting up with the very infrequent updates this summer. Florence is still in Southeast Asia, but my stint in Christchurch is drawing to a close and I'll be returning to Wellington before I know it... Sunday morning to be precise, and I couldn't be more excited! That said, I've really enjoyed being in another city, exploring and discovering new favourite spots tucked away in little nooks and crannies, and best of all, getting out and about on a borrowed bicycle which I've fallen in love with. I'm determined to get a bike when I get back to Wellington, even if the hills make it a bit less appealing.

The subject of this post, like the last, dates back to a couple of visits I made to Caffe Astoria before going away in December. It's conveniently located at the Lambton end of town, so I sometimes stop by there in the mornings for a coffee and a quick bite to eat.

On one such morning, I had a flat white ($3.50). Astoria roasts its own blend, which I usually find decently strong, though it can sometimes be a little on the bitter side.

The dainty blueberry friand ($2.5) was the perfect size for morning tea - less substantial than a muffin, but rich in flavour and texture.

Inside, the blueberry filling paired well with the dense, moist, almond-y cake. Both the cake and the filling were delicately sweet rather than overbearingly sugary.

On another morning, I changed things up from my usual flat white and had a latte ($3.5). This is probably because I'm used to drinking flat whites, but it tasted mostly of milk with a hint of coffee (note to self: drink a wider range of coffee to get rid of my skewed palate!).

Lately I've been on a bit of a pain aux raisins kick and seem to be getting them from Moore Wilson's bread counter pretty frequently. Astoria's version ($4) was pretty good, but it didn't quite reach the near-perfection I've had from some of the French bakeries in town. This one was quite good in flavour and generously sized, but texture lacked a little. Perhaps it was a teensy bit undercooked; it was pretty soft in the centre.

As Astoria's a convenient spot for lunch (as long as you get in quick - the place fills up in a flash around lunchtime, especially the coveted outdoor seating) I stopped by one day for something from behind the counter. A pasta salad ($7) with pesto, pine nuts, parmesan, green beans and broccoli was delicious; the veggies cooked just long enough to retain some of their crunch (nothing irks me more than overcooked broccoli!) and the toasted pine nuts adding well, nuttiness. I'd have this again.

Astoria also has a menu with offerings for breakfast and lunch which are a bit more elegant than their counter food... and I often look enviously upon people enjoying splendid-looking fare with a glass of wine in the midday sun (though who's stopping me, really?). I always try to get a seat outside if I can, or by the window; the interior's kind of dark and cavernous. That said, it does have a sort of broody European feel which some people might enjoy. Service is prompt; tables are cleared quickly and staff are generally attentive. You will have to wait at the counter for your coffee but that aspect of ordering isn't too difficult to master. With its prime location right on Midland Park, plus caffeine and good food, it's not hard to see why Astoria gets packed with Wellington's office-going crowd.

RATING: 3.75/5



Caffe Astoria
159 Lambton Quay
Wellington
(04) 473-8500

Time to chow down...

Well! How quickly a month goes by. Apologies for the lack of updates on this blog - both Florence and I are currently away from Wellington* and therefore haven't had much Wellington food stories to report. Luckily I had saved some photos from before I left for a couple of posts, so now that I'm back from my holiday (I use "back" loosely here - I'm in the South Island for a few weeks**, but I'm back to work*** and regular internet access), I guess the time is ripe to post them.

So, without further ado, Chow.

This is probably one of my favourite restaurants in Wellington (well there are 2 locations in central Wellington, 1 in Petone and they've expanded to Auckland too). The theme is "Fresh Asian" - which is exactly what it sounds like: Asian flavours, fresh ingredients. Not bad.

My friend H and I went in to the Woodward St location (there's also one on Tory St, in Petone and they've expanded to Auckland too) the week before Christmas for lunch, and we were given complimentary cups of miso soup (normally $3). I forgot to ask if this is the usual practice, since I haven't often been in at lunchtime, but it was a nice touch. The broth was superb; the natural umami of the miso was enhanced by toasted sesame seeds, and the interplay of textures between the silky tofu and almost-crunchy spring onion slices was fantastic.

H and I split the roast Pekin duck salad ($18). Juicy slices of duck were tossed with beansprouts, slices of orange, Southeast Asian-inspired herbs (Thai basil, coriander and mint) in a chilli palm sugar dressing. It was cool, crunchy and refreshing - yet substantial enough due to the hefty duck slices.

Chow's menu has an array of what they call "long plates", which are tapas-like in concept: small (though long and thin) plates of usually bite-size morsels of food. They're meant for sharing, and not that big - the menu recommends two long plates per person - but on this occasion I wasn't that hungry so one dish each sufficed.

The rib of beef ($17), seasoned with a coconut, lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime and chilli marinade, was succulent, a little sweet yet spicy, a bit messy but totally worth the sticky fingers. There's never really an elegant way to eat ribs, and these were no exception. I polished off quite a few, sucking the last caramelised bits of marinated meat off each bone.

We also got jasmine rice free with our meal, which nicely filled in any remaining gaps in our stomachs (though there were few).

Somehow we managed to fit in dessert - H had a brownie and I had this sorbet trio ($9) with cinnamon, star anise and saffron syrup. The sorbet was fruity and refreshing (I would have written down the sorbet flavours had I known I wouldn't be writing this till a month later! But I'm sure one of the flavours was passionfruit, and I seem to remember a melon-y flavour as well - don't quote me on this), and the syrup was divine. I found myself desperately trying to scrape up every last drop from my empty plate - not very good table manners, I know!

Anyway, if you live in Wellington, you're probably aware of Chow. If you haven't been there, I'd recommend it. It's pretty reliable for decent Asian-influenced food (though bear in mind that portion sizes might be smaller than at other places since it's really more for sharing). The atmosphere is casual, yet sophisticated (but not pretentiously so) - attracting a mix of younger and older, laid-back types and the more straightlaced; a good cross-section of Wellingtonians, perhaps?

Plus their "1+1 Mondays" are great - order one dish, get another free - a bargain, really. On Wednesdays they have a selection of pretty decent cocktails that are 2 for 1 as well. Service is generally good; although it does get pretty busy on weekends and on Mondays, the staff usually seem to keep it together pretty well.

RATING: 4.5/5



Chow Woodward
11 Woodward St
Wellington
(04) 472 8585
Open Mon-Fri, noon - late

Chow Tory
Level 1, 45 Tory St
Wellington
(04) 382 8585
Open daily, noon - late

Chow Petone
306 Jackson St
Petone
(04) 589 8585
Open daily, noon - late

*Ah, Wellington, how I miss you...
**Mostly working on one major project, but on the side I've been helping out at my aunt's exhibition at Gallery O in the Christchurch Arts Centre - this is a shameless plug, but if anyone reading this is in Christchurch, by all means feel free to check it out! It's pretty cool, and not just because the my aunt's the artist. Plus proceeds from sales of her cards are going towards the Banks Peninsula Tui Restoration Project, which is doing great work so far.
***Sort of... as I type this I should really be packing because I'm going to visit a friend in Queenstown for a few days tomorrow morning! So, I guess technically I'm still on holiday. Or something.