Eating in New Zealand

It’s always hard to get a seat in the popular eateries on a Friday night, and tonight as no except; however given that one of our friends happened to have a birthday the very next day, we decided to try our luck anyway.

As I’ve blogged prior , Belgium Beer cafe is a restaurant/pub that offers not only Belgium fares but also a wide complement of Belgium beers (of which very few are available anywhere else, save for some Leffe beers that are available in the supermarkets).

Although my favourite beer is definitely Leffe Dark, I thought about trying something new and Duvel caught my eye - cited as the strongest beer in the menu, why not give it a whirl? And true to the description, the beer was a lot stronger than your average beer - the alcohol content is quite pronounced, coming off in a bitter overtone and very little sweetness compared to the other Belgium beers that I’ve had. I didn’t think too highly of it as there weren’t any other uniqueness about the Duvel apart from the alcohol level (around 9.5%, I recall).

If I experimented with my beer, I may as well experiment with the dish! As I was also feeling like a slightly substantial meal with meat, I decided to try their sirloin steak with garlic butter sauce. To my dismay, the sauce constituted of garlic butter slices that melted away to oblivion under room temperature, and the medium-rare steak was almost well done - I’m glad I am still equipped with fairly strong canines to tear through the meat, which would’ve been otherwise very hard work! The seasoning itself is average to below average, and the fries weren’t exactly crispy.

As the venue is usually packed (full house tonight!) I suspect the chefs are unable to cope with sending out the meals in a timely manner. Indeed for us, we had to wait for half an hour before the first orders trickled in, and undoubtedly some of which have been sitting under the heat lamp for a while. So readers beware, if you’re after good quality dish from this particular eatery, please visit during non-peak nights! (i.e. avoid Friday and Saturday nights). For a simple gathering of friends though, it’s no biggie; after all, its the company that makes or breaks the meal when you’re out with friends!