Cafe Adventures; The Foodtruck Garage

Super healthy fast food. Not a phrase you hear very often, and one that brings to mind either $25 raw-vegan lettuce leaf “burgers” or other fast foods claiming to be 'super healthy' with only 3 times your daily calorie intake. Because quite honestly the concept of healthy, delicious and cheap food breaks the golden triangle of eating out.

You can have healthy and delicious food but its usually expensive, and you can most definitely have cheap, tasty food but its not usually too forgiving on the figure. But a restaurant that serves healthy, cheap AND delectable food!?

Don’t worry; I was cynical at first too.

Now if you haven’t already heard of NZ tv show ‘The Food Truck’ here’s a little background. Basically in 2010 Chef Michael Van de Elzen decided to go on a quest to reinvent fast food, believing that he could replicate popular fast foods for the same price just as delicious, but healthier! Sufficed to say with resulting restaurant “The Foodtruck garage” and a second cookbook in the works he was pretty successful!

Regardless of the fact that the night before I had the delight in trying out Better burger (posts to come) somehow I still had a hunger that only the perfect combination of meat, vegetables and brioche bun could put an end to. So it was impossible not to look past the burger that was the Metro 2013 winner of the best gourmet burger! The ‘beefroot’ was insanely good with an amazing hummus/aioli type sauce, fresh vegetables and soft burger buns, but that’s not even the best part!

Now imagine a patty… only half of it is made up of shredded beetroot, carrot vegetable goodness…but you can’t taste any vegetables. Unable to comprehend how such wizardry was possible, I put my confusion aside and tucked into the rest of my food as well as a side of kumara and potato chips. While the potato chips probably weren’t as good as the infamous maccas fries and the burger was quite juicy, we left feeling totally satisfied but guilt free. 

So if you’re looking for a place to enjoy your guilty pleasure foods but without the guilt, check out the Food Truck Garage at 90 Wellesley Street.

  A beautiful and refreshing mint, cucumber and basil soda!

Awesome little neon sign part of the famous "Best Ugly Bagels eatery" right next door.

http://www.foodtruckgarage.co.nz 

Cafe Exploring; Shaky Isles

I love airports. Nothing beats the excitement of traveling to a far away destination combined with the never-ending supply of interesting people to watch whether it’s the old couple saying goodbye or the weary foreign family sprinting around the airport trying to find the right terminal. So I was more than stoked to find myself in the Auckland international airport at 6.30am Monday morning on my way to a week in Cairns, Aus.

Starving and half asleep it was just my luck that the popular café Shaky Isles has opened up shop in the international terminal serving beautiful food and coffee for a great price. With delicious meals like eggs on toast, Bircher muesli and toasted cibatta sandwiches, it’s a welcome change to the usual deep fried macca’s breakfasts had while at the airport.

A hot porridge with date and agave sugar with a soy flat white certainly it the spot on a cold Auckland morning, and while it was small, it was well priced  ($12) and delicious.

There really is no better way to pass time in an airport with a hot coffee and a good book so if you haven’t already discovered the amazingness that is penguin books I seriously suggest you check them out. They are sold at nearly every airport with classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s or the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes for only $10!

Cafe Adventures; York Street Mechanics

Tucked away in the side streets of Newmarket along Kent St is a little Western gem called the York Street Mechanics. Decked out with enough Harley motorbikes to entertain any boyfriend or father before the food arrives, the leather fringed jackets and cracking fire makes you feel like Route 66 is just outside the door.

York Street has a small but delicious selection of muffins and cakes to choose from and the blueberry and oat is to die for, but who can resist the beckoning smell of bacon and egg on a Sunday morning?

The menu food was refreshingly varied and the staff were happy to cater to any requirements, such as my unending obsession with avocado which didn’t happen to be on the menu; could I be any more predictable?

Nothing silences a loud Pollok family like a round of coffees, 3 orders of scrambeled eggs on toast and a chilli bean salad with an array of delicious sides. Needless to say we left considerably

fuller and happier than before, regardless of the food taking a little while to arrive.