Garlic Bread from LIttle Italy

Little Italy
119 Farrington Ave
Christchurch
Facebook -- Little-Italy
03 359 2930


 garlic-bread-from-little-italy.html

We had been there before and it was/is quite nice place to eat out.
This time however I was most disappointed.
I should really have sent this one back ^^
The top of the bread was burned
The inside garlic butter was only just melted but not even warm
I am positive they cut of the left side because it was just not "sell-able"
It came pre-cut (as you can see) but you needed a chain saw to cut through the bottom (crust) of the bread.

All in all - epic fail. As a former baker I would be extremely embarrassed to sell a bread like this.  I do believe this will be the first  ZERO rating

Presentation	0 out of 5
Quantity	0 out of 5
Taste:	0 out of 5
Quality	0 out of 5
Overall score:	0 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Morrell Bar in Christchurch

Morrell and Co

280 Lincoln Rd
Christchurch
NEW ZEALAND

Phone (03) 423 1440

Website: http://morrellandco.co.nz/
Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/MorrellAndCo


It has been a while and so when the opportunity came - we treated ourselves to a meal out - while at the same time acting as taxi for a elderly gent.
it is time to explore some of the more new-ish places in town - many of the cafe's and other eating places had shut down due to the earthquakes in 2010 and now - 4 years later new ones (cafés that is ) are springing up - like mushrooms.
So it is time to go out and have a good time.  We were recommended this place - so off we went. 

 The garlic bread duly arrived (and in good time ) and was nicely arranged on a porcelain platter (bonus points there).  It was 'just' warm enough. Very crunchy on the outside and soft just in the very centre.  It might have stood on the  counter under the lamp just a bit to long?? perhaps?!
There was certainly a good decent garlic flavour and the sprinkling of fresh herbs helped along. The bread itself was a French baguette originally. In terms of quantity it was just right for the two of us - neither felt full or wanting another slice!
Overall we rated this as a better garlic bread of recent times.

The only downside of the evening was to see on the menu a bottle of mineral water - charged at $11 for 1litre advertised and we sure got charged for it $11.
The bottle however turned out to be only a half litre! To their credit once we asked the question they gave as a credit for the "other" 500ml.                

Presentation	4.5 out of 5
Quantity	5 out of 5
Taste:	4.5 out of 5
Quality	4 out of 5
Overall score:	18 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from The Tin plate at Lake Tekapo

Tin Plate Kitchen & Bar Restaurant
Main Street | Lake Tekapo Village,
Lake Tekapo 7999,
New Zealand

Phone: (64)3 680 6677

Website:  www.facebook.com/pages/Tin-Plate-Kitchen-Bar

Email:    info@tinplate.co.nz


 A surprise was in store for us - we had been to Tekapo on a number of occasions and Pepe's was a place we liked - a rustic charming little Pizza special place.  Alas - the shop combined floor space with its neighbour and redecorated (which made it lighter in color) and - well in short - had re-opend just a few weeks prior to us arriving there.
The menu was still pretty much the same - so that was great.  Ironically we had a regular UN of waiters - of which only one was a Kiwi - the other being Italian / Swiss / Indian / Asian.
The languages notwithstanding we managed to place an order (and noted the absence of Garlic bread on the menu)
The drink arrived shortly after and I was cheeky enough (seeing it been previously been on the menu ) if they still do Garlic bread and - "why yes sir, we do - would you like some?" was the response.
Duh - yeah having missed out the previous night at Peppers ( a place that definitely does not do garlic bread) so there was no real choice.  Wonder why they left it of the re-printed menu in the first place. In any case it arrived not before to long.

Sadly like most pizza places these days and very reminiscing of a much earlier consumed bread in the Coromandel  ( garlic bread from dinos cafe Coromandel )  it was just a flat piece of pizza base - with the liberal applied butter - almost missing.  Its redeeming feature was the added herbs - fresh.
Maybe they left it of the menu beacuse they had not yet decided what to do - or improve the urm Garlic - platter.  I am sure that when we go back sometime in the future to check this out!
Meanwhile - we rated this a tad lowly = with a lot of room for improvment

Presentation	2 out of 5
Quantity	1 out of 5
Taste:	1 out of 5
Quality	2 out of 5
Overall score:	6 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Ceasars Family Restaurant

 
Ceasars Family Restaurant
Northwood Supa Centa,
Main North Road,
Belfast,
Christchurch
03 323 5420


www.caesars.co.nz

       We have been there before - twice to be exact and the fare is a typical family  restaurant. The bread eventualy arrived and yes it is still the same compared with the two previous visits. This time however - there must have been a bit of pressure on the kitchen / waiter staff - by the time we got it, it was bearly luke warm.
The wooden platter has been over used and ought to be retired - it has a 7 cm long split running the length of the timber and at its widest part has a 1.5cm wide gap. The additional Garlic butter was welcome - however as the bread was almost cold - when spreading it - it just did not melt into the bread at all. 
Overall we mark this a bit down compared with the previous visits.

Shame really as the bread itself is quit nice.

Presentation	3 out of 5
Quantity	4 out of 5
Taste:	4 out of 5
Quality	3 out of 5
Overall score:	14 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Spagalimis

356 Main North Road
Redwood
Christchurch
Phone:
0800 113 113

http://www.spagalimis.co.nz/

 

 From time to time we have pizza from our, and what we would consider, one of the better pizza eating/takeout places in Christchurch.  Certainly their pizza's are of a good standard.  Their Garlic Bread however - is still - well . . .
We decided that pizza alone today was not enough, so added the Garlic bread to the takeout. As usual by the time we got home - paper bag - quality - taste - etc - it was well below what we would consider even just middle of the road standard. No real surprises there.  The only surprise being that the bread itself has changed shape and form.  Compare this with the previous visit / takeout.
A earlier Garlic Bread from Spagalimis.JPG
Apart from that - same old same old - enough said ^^




 

Presentation	1 out of 5
Quantity	1 out of 5
Taste:	2 out of 5
Quality	3 out of 5
Overall score:	7  (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Lushingtons Cafe

Lushingtons Cafe

5 Archibald St, Tinwald
Ashburton 7700

Phone: 03 308 6858

Website:  www.lushingtons.co.nz



 We (or more to the point - Mamabear) needed some good quality chill-out time - so we debated whether we we should head north, or south, or west.  No point in going east - since after 15 km you hit the pacific and that is just a tad cold atm.  In any case - we eventually headed south.  Half way there we tried to remember the 'Highway nr 1 Inn / cafe'.  A quick google and realised it was just south of Ashburton.  Hmmm - it no longer is the same place that we used to zip past at 100 miles an hour or so  on our way further south - more of a tourist place run by Asians - catering for inbound yup you guessed it - Asian tourists.  The 'authentic' kitchen - well you had to have a booking - soooo not to be outdone we headed back to Ashburton and stopped at Lushingtons Garden, Gift & Cafe place we spotted on way south. 
What a gem!! What a gem of a place.
Even better - they do regular evening meals AND, even way more better, they do Garlic bread.  Good choice Mamabear!!
Naturally we had some (along with the lunch and drinks and urm - *cough* dessert)! 
It proofed to be a winner.
Lovingly made.
You could smell the flavor as it was delivered. Warm enough to be enjoyed but not hot enough to be burned.  Good buttery texture and some liberal sprinkled fresh cut herbs. Oven grilled - on a wire rack I suspect - the top nicely done (with the fresh cut garlic bits and pieces getting a good tan - yes you could see the pressed/cut garlic) and the bottom being nice and very crisp!  The bread itself would have been a small round Cibiatta type bread - cut horizontally and one half being used-served for us.  It arrived somewhat artistically arranged!!
The only down side - as usual - the wooden platter.  This one however looked new - and clean - no drops of oil or cuts on the timber.
We rate this highly - hardly can be faulted and only stops receiving a full mark of 20 via the wooden platter/presentation.
One more slice of bread would have been perfect - it left you wanting - but I guess that is not a bad thing either.

Presentation	4.5 out of 5
Quantity	4.5 out of 5
Taste:	5 out of 5
Quality	5 out of 5
Overall score:	19 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from the Manuka cafe - Devonport

Manuka Cafe
49 Victoria Rd
Devonport
Auckland

Phone: 09 445 7732
Email: manukadevonport@hotmail.com

Website:  www.manukarestaurant.co.nz/


We treated ourselves to a flying visit to Auckland - to see Michael Buble in concert - fabulous!!  We thought we had lots of time - however due to the (infamous) congested nature of the Auckland highway and lack of local knowledge we missed out on a decent dinner and garlic bread before the show - ending up with Subway to satisfy the hunger before the show.  So next day we where determined, while visiting Devonport,  that we would have lunch - along with some garlic bread.  There are a good number of Cafe's and eatery places in the locality.  Devonport itself is like a Lyttlelton of Christchurch - just better maintained.  It is our Naval Base - so that may have something to do with it.

Anyhow - on to the review!!

We ended up in the Manuka Cafe - it looked inviting form the outside and it had a good mix of food on the menu - something to eat that would keep Mamabear and me happy!  We duly ordered the garlic bread - *cough* urm - PIZZA-bread.  Seems to be the trendy thing - you know - if you making pizza - use the same dough and add a dash of garlic and so forth, instead of making an extra effort of a decent Garlic bread.
I was sure the waitress got the order mixed up - and looking back however - she was indeed correct! The condiments are for both - the Parmesan & Garlic bread.  I have to say - they (condiments) tasted yummy. Mashed Olives' / mashed avocado-garlic and a simple mayo.  While very tasty - they overpowered any garlic flavor on the "bread".  Not that there was much of that to start with.  The pizza bread was crusty and easily eaten.  No oil or butter dripping from it - so that was great. Even had a sprinkling of herbs on top!
The presentation - as you can see from the picture was superb. Not half bad for a 'pizza'-bread.  I rate this highly - with (sadly) several points been taken off, for being a pizza based thing.  To be fair - the menu does sell it as such (unlike some other places).

Presentation	5 out of 5
Quantity	4 out of 5
Taste:	2 out of 5
Quality	2 out of 5
Overall score:	13 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread by La Porchetta

La Porchetta
Riccarton mall

Christchurch






 Not much ever changes - certainly not when it comes to franchises.  You know a McDonalds cheeseburger is the same anywhere in the world.  Right?!
Having said that - with a new cook we did get a surprise recently when entering Harrington's Bar  (another suburban Bar/pub franchise). 
So when we booked a place for a easy meal out I was thinking - yeah same old same old and fingers crossed there may be a change.  We have been there on 4 or 5 occasions in the last 5 or so years. 

Sadly - nothing has changed - it is Scheme F and no deviation from thereof.
Previous visits rated the garlic bread poorly and I re-read my earlier entries - only to confirm I was not of the mark here with this years visit.  I seem not to be - more bang spot on
So to cut a long story short - a poorly 4 our of 20

Presentation	0 out of 5
Quantity	1.5 out of 5
Taste:	1 out of 5
Quality	1.5 out of 5
Overall score:	4 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Harringtons Bar in Belfast

808 Main North Road
Belfast
Christchurch
New Zealand


http://harringtonsbreweries.co.nz


Revisited 11 February 2014

We must be regulars there.  Apart from being the 4th time as an entry for garlic bread - we have been on many other occassions - just not eating garlic bread.  The menu must be good eh  :)

T H I S  time however we got a bit of a surprise!! Instead of the usual garlic bread that we are used to and affectionately call football-loaf  . . .

 see

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we got THIS instead

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which is a definite retro-step!! 

Top marks for the use of the plate again and stacking artistically the bread. Still not sure about the use of a paper napkin under the garlic bread.  However after this,  everything came to a grinding halt.
The "bread" itself obviously was a half sliced pita-bread, then buttered (with a lack of herbs) and then baked.  It was still warm-ish by the time it got to our table.   The texture was typical pita-bread - soft on the inside and also soft on the outside i.e. no crust ( a bit chewy). 
I was hoping for a little side dish of garlic butter as I tasted very little of the 'garlic' but that was not to be.  As a party of  5  and expecting the "football-loaf" - which would have been enough - this offering was never going to be enough - a pity that the staff did not tell us of the change,  we would have ordered two servings had we known.  So we give top marks for presentation and - well - little else

Presentation	4.5 out of 5
Quantity	1 out of 5
Taste:	1 out of 5
Quality	1 out of 5
Overall score:	7.5 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Etrusco's at the Savoy

Etrusco's at the Savoy

8 Moray Place
(The Savoy Building)
Dunedin Central
Dunedin City  

Ph:  03-477 3737

http://www.etrusco.co.nz/

www.garlic-bread-critique./garlic-bread-from-etruscos-at-savoy.html

You will see (if you click on the link above) that in October last year we had been there before.  Not that we had planned to be there this time, however due to some unforeseen circumstances we ended up in same place.  Excellent - this gives us time to compare last years efforts against this years.   Last year we gave it 9 out of 20 with a lot of improvement wanted.    This we partially got.  A slightly different bread - nice and hot - full of flavor and - yes color (herbs). The presentation is pretty much the same - nice clean warm porcelain plate and token knife.  However comparing images - there is a slice missing  compared to last year and two pieces of bread for two people was never going to be enough!
Given that the rest of the meals are larg-ish it is puzzling to understand the small nature of this plate's offering.  Still the bread was as said before nice and hot and the butter had melted and soaked right through - so that was nice.  A nice improvement in some respects

Presentation	2 out of 5
Quantity	1 out of 5
Taste:	3 out of 5
Quality	4 out of 5
Overall score:	10 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Keplers Restaurant in Te Anau

Keplers Restaurant

1055 Town Center
Te Anau 9640

Phone: 03-249 7909

No known email or Website

          We had been in Te Anau some time ago, actually a long time ago - before we started blogging about the quality of the Garlic breads. From memory we had a meal at Kepler's back then as well.  Te Anau is the Gateway to Fjordland and Milford Sound along with the multitude of Tracks one can walk/tramp/hike or - in some cases - just stroll for a lazy afternoon.  In any case it is a mecca for many youth-ish backpackers - many which do stay several weeks if not 6-12 months, and supplementing their 'holiday' budget by working in the NZ hospitality industry. This gives them the the opportunity to use their 'off-days' to explore further, so no surprise that we were served by a young bloke from Spain.  Last time we ate out in Te Anau it was a lovely lass from Prague that served us.  Now, whether or not, NZ should issue 12 month 'tourist' visa's is not for this blog to discuss. My personal view is that 12 months is too long and it should be a maximum of 3 months - but alas - as said before - we will not get into that - rather yes, let us look at the garlic bread we received when eating out at Keplers.  As  you can see - it was originally a baguette - cut into semi-bite sized bits and liberally buttered.  Surprisingly (because you do not see it very often these days) there was a good sprinkling of chopped herbs with it!  The down side is partially the presentation, a wicker basket is fine - but not sure it needed a white paper napkin. The other down side is that the edges of the bread got close to being burnt - yet as you can see in some cases the butter still remained - well - as butter and had not yet melted into the bread.  I suggest this was a bit of a rush job to get out on to our table - which was unnecessary  as the eatery place was semi empty when we got seated and only filled up by the time we were ready to leave. Maybe the oven was just to hot for this particular job (assuming they used an oven indeed and not a blow-torch)

We rate this as pretty average given recent offerings

Presentation	3 out of 5
Quantity	3 out of 5
Taste:	3 out of 5
Quality	2 out of 5
Overall score:	11 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread from Stumpers Cafe in Hokitika

2 Weld Street, PO Box 35
Hokitika 7810
New Zealand

E-mail:   enquiries@stumpers.co.nz

0800 STUMPERS (788 673)

Phone    (03) 755 6154

Fax        (03) 755 6137

Website    http://www.stumpers.co.nz/bar-cafe/

Stumpers Cafe is a curious mix of Hotel and Bar and Cafe, and sits in a prime location in Hokitika.  By all accounts it is popular with the locals so we decided to give it a whirl. That being said - the other attraction was the garlic loaf on the menu. A loaf it was, as  you can see.  Sadly - probably for health and safety reasons, it was already on its side when it arrived.  

The added little side dish as a nice touch, although I am never sure if the chef wants to give the client the choice of how much garlic butter he wants to spread - or does the chef not trust his own creation / flavoring?!?  Either way - some of our dining companions added liberally to the bread - others used what had already pre-melted into the loaf.  The bread  itself was typical loaf - slightly crusty on the outside and soft and fleshy on the inside.  Sadly by the time we got it, the bulk of the heat had already left the loaf a little bit, so the 'extra' garlic butter applied did not melt and soak into the fleshy bread part as one might have hoped.  The slices were very uneven cut - giving one a very thick slice that would have been enough for two slices.  All in all a pretty average presentation - not helped by arriving on a wooden platter and over a paper napkin.   Regular readers know that for this blogger the minimum standard is a porcelain type plate or at least Non-wooden.  A wooden platter - you can never be totally sure how clean it is . . . .

Presentation	2 out of 5
Quantity	4 out of 5
Taste:	3 out of 5
Quality	3 out of 5
Overall score:	12 (out of poss 20)

Garlic Bread homebaked at a friends place

The Austrian Connection
c/o- Lancwood Drive
Christchurch



http://garlic-bread-critique.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/garlic-bread-at-friends-place.html


 Hmmmm - In all fairness - and you can read about that from the link above and the comment posted at this blog-entry -  there has been a improvement from the original offering. This time it is a case of 2 steps forward - one step backwards.

There are however extenuating circumstances, which will take to long to write about. Suffice to say that the owner changed her location and was still bedding in all the equipment at the new location.  There was enough stress getting to this point so we shall leave it at that eh ;) her royal highness Elizabeth ii;  and forgo any rating
 - in the hope that we get invited back there soon!!  

I can honestly say that the bread and the rest of the meal was great and we had an enjoyable evening re-kindling the family links!!

Presentation	out of 5
Quantity	out of 5
Taste:	out of 5
Quality	out of 5
Overall score:	(out of poss 20)