Federal Diner, Auckland

The Federal Diner is opposite Sky City in Auckland.  However it is a world away from a casino.  It is like stepping back in time to an American diner... The staff are dressed in quirky uniforms and the decor is fantastic.  I enjoyed the NY steak for dinner one night and a rueben sandwich for lunch another day.  Both were delicious and reasonably priced.

Auckland desserts at the Heritage

The winter has been a little quiet for ice cream.  However now that spring has sprung, I am back on the ice cream bandwagon.

On a recent trip to Auckland I had a couple of good desserts at my hotel.  The Heritage doesn't have much ambience in the dining room, but they make an effort with the food and service:

Sticky date pudding with vanilla ice cream

Flourless orange cake with vanilla icecream:

Breakfast at the Deli Counter, 211 Queen Street Melbourne

I read about a new cafe in the Epicure this week and so we decided to try it for breakfast.  It has a rustic charm with friendly staff.  Downstairs there are benches to sit by the window and upstairs there are larger tables for groups.

We all had the smashed avocado with feta, chilli, lemon and poached eggs on a light crisp of turkish bread.  It was served on a glass plate and tasted absolutely superb.

Messina moves to Melbourne

We walked to Smith Street Fitzroy to try Messina's new store.  It was fantastic and even nicer than the Sydney shop, because there is more space to sit.

Mr Critic had a double scoop "East Meets West" (lane, pistachio, with fig and date jam, a little sour and yoghurt-like) and Giandua (hazelnut and chocolate):

I had the rosewater and pistachio (light and nutty... delicious):

Gelare, Brisbane

Gelare is a chain from Perth.  It has opened on South Bank in Brisbane... and New Zealand ice-cream has closed.  Unfortunately the quality is not so great.  This was the passionfruit sorbet... the sort of texture you might expect from a supermarket tub.

The cone was terrible and crumbled, but the ice-cream was delicious:

In the Pink, Byron Bay

In the Pink is a lovely gelato shop in Byron Bay Queensland.  I highly recommend the caramel and fig... the passionfruit was delicious too...

The store layout is fairly standard for the artisan gelato shop - with a nice retro rounded cabinet...

Indulging in the outback

This week I had an adventure in the outback.  I drove 850kms from Melbourne to Broken Hill (and loved every minute of it - amazing landscapes, funny characters and warm friendly country hospitality).  On the way up, I had a fantastic steak sandwich (with perfectly cooked steak) at the Mildura micro brewery (run by Stefano of 'Gondola on the Murray' fame).

Loved the coffee fudge ice-cream at the local gelateria:

Excellent spicy chicken and eggplant enchiladas at the Palace Hotel in Broken Hill (famous for its murals painted by a long term resident in the 1950s):

Incredible ceiling (all the walls were covered... the staircase murals were particularly beautiful, but the light was not so good there):

Two up game after dinner (the murals made a fantastic backdrop):

On the way back from Broken Hill, I had the slow cooked beef lasagne at Stefano's art cafe (I think it might be the best lasagne I have ever had... the meat was so soft and in big chunks).  I am a big fan of the earthenware dish too. 

The Persian love cake and iced lemon cake were interesting, but quite unusual textures... not too sweet... both quite wet (and eaten before I had a chance to take photos).

Such wonderful foodie experiences along the Murray and in the dessert...

:-)