DELAYED ENTRY March 2010 - New Zealand (Various)

On 11th March this year, Paul and I (Chris) celebrated 25 years together. Such a big anniversary seemed to deserve a big holiday to go with it, so we decided to re-visit New Zealand - something we'd talked about for YEARS. On the way we spent three nights in Hong Kong, but we didn't have any extraordinary meals there.

The first noteworthy meal was at Lumberjack's in Owaka (www.catlins-nz.com/lumberjack.html). Paul had chicken in a plum and curry sauce (MUCH nicer than we thought from the description) and I had a rib-eye steak with a stout and garlic sauce. Actually, it was good enough that we happily went back the next night - although, to be honest, the choice is a bit limited in Owaka - when I had venison in a blueberry and red wine sauce, and Paul had lamb. We drank Monteith's beer. All very nice - well cooked and with friendly, efficient service.

Later, in Hokitika, we visited the Priya, an Indian restaurant on Revell Street. We had a mixed starter, followed by Lamb Rogan Josh and Kudai Chicken, with Cobra beer. Delicious food, good service and nice background music.

On our actual anniversary, we were in Arthur's Pass Village, being entertained by the world's only Alpine parrot, the Kea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMLpPoOeays). It seemed appropriate to eat at a cafe/bar called the Wobbly Kea (www.wobblykea.co.nz) The food was good though not extraordinary of itself (lamb shanks/rib-eye steak) - but they did very good garlic bread and the chips were nice too.

The most entertaining eatery was Sophie's Cafe in Christchurch. We went there for our last meal in New Zealand - brunch, before we headed for the airport. They serve a fine cooked breakfast and delicious milkshakes - so delicious, in fact, that I had to have two: vanilla and caramel. The walls of the cafe are covered with photos of Sophie (and sometimes her partner, Hudson) with celebrity customers. (Many I didn't recognise, so I guess the celebrities in New Zealand, but what do I know?)

I'm not going to bother rating them all, but we had excellent food in New Zealand.