Toad-ally Delicious Food Part.2

I know what you’re gonna say – I’ve already done a review on Toad Hall (see Toad-ally Delicious Food). But that was a WHOLE YEAR ago, and menu’s change people – and you’re deffo gonna want to try a bit of Toad Hall after this review!

*Backstory Time* It was a warm, slightly overcast day in Takaka, where my family and I decided to kick off our travel back home with a beasty brunch at The Dangerous Kitchen. Sadly, Takaka doesn’t know about the importance of Sunday brunch, and Dangerous Kitchen was closed. Cue violins & tears. We had already been to the Wholemeal café and wanted something different – so ignoring our grumbling stomachs, we turned brunch into lunch and headed off to Toad Hall instead. A decision our stomachs thanked us for in the coming hours.

As we arrived, we saw that Toad Hall was PACKED (at least SOMEWHERE in the top of the South knows about brunch) – but luckily their lovely ladies found us a place to park ourselves! Looking at the Brunch menu, lunch menu & their cabinet – I knew deciding what to eat was going to be a long & arduous journey, but after many (what felt like hours) minutes – I finally chose their trio of salads.

You may say “Ew salads – why? They’re so boring AND they’re not a brunch meal” – BUT when I say Toad Hall does mean as salads, I mean it! They had my tongue in a trance with their orzo salad, spiced chickpea & root veg salad, and their Moroccan couscous salad. I didn’t know where to dig my fork in, but every mouthful I got seemed to be as delicious as the previous. The burgers were also a massive standout, as their COLLOSSAL size definitely translated in flavor too – each one looked juicy, tender and tasty! And just one more little shout-out to their polenta fries, since they converted my parents from HATING polenta chips – to liking these little forms of fried finger food.

So, last year after a delicious fare of food which included a killer salmon bagel and too much cider (I was a little drunk writing the review), I gave the kids at Toad Hall a bloody well-deserved 9/10 on the cafecrawlerlucy scale – a feat only few have succeeded in. But this time, after negotiating with my brain and my stomach, I’m going to have to give them a 9.2/10. They just keep getting better and better every time I come! AND they use biodegradable plastic wrapping for their cabinet – how sustainably sexy is that??? Seriously if you haven’t been, just take a weekend off and head to Nelson to visit this café because I can assure you it’s worth the travel.

Until next year Toad Hall, Adios!

The Ass Of The World – Well, Sorta…

I never thought I would have ever said this. But I’ve been to the ass of the earth. And I liked it.

Okay, let’s give some insight, because to some people that sounds pretty gross, and well If it’s your thing then you might want to find a different blog to read. El Culo Del Mundo is one of Wellington’s newest food hubs located right next to The Chippery on Roxborough Street, and basically, its name translates to ‘the ass of the earth’ – I don’t know if this was planned or not, but either way, it cracks me up (YES PUN).

So, knowing that the name meant ass, I had to see if their fare also translated to ass. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. We decided to hit this joint on a sunny Sunday afternoon, carelessly leaving the kids me and my boyfriend were babysitting to fend and cook for themselves (probably bad in hindsight, but they survived) and met up with some good mates to test-drive this new whip.

Vegans and plant-based protestors – you can rejoice. Because this place is getting on the old protein replacement band-wagon. How you say? Crickets. These little critters have stirred up a storm in the food industry recently, with their super high protein properties, and FINALLY a restaurant in Wellington is serving them up with spice. Naturally, we tried this right away, and hand-on-heart, I was nervous. But as soon as I popped that crunchy cricket in my mouth, the fear went and the flavor kicked in – absolutely delicious, and even better served on a nacho chip with a little guac.

Next, we glazed over their mains to see what else would tickle our fancy. Bougie-as dishes like ox tongue tacos, bone marrow tortillas, and tiger prawns jumped out at us – however for the menu that we got served, we felt like the veggie options were a little lacking. Maybe rejoice a bit less vegan friends. However, for what they lacked in veggie options, they sure made up for in flavor. Those tiger prawns – AMAZING. The creamy guac and home-made salted nachos – INSPIRED. The ox tongue taco – MELT IN THE MOUTH. So, you could say their food was pretty dope.

So all in all, a pretty cool place that serves up some fine ass fare has just opened up a stone’s throw away from Courtenay place, and is a great addition to the Wellington food and drink scene. The only criticisms I got for this place are as listed (clears throat); Have more veggie options, have the same menu online as in the restaurant (I wanted to try the cauliflower, but couldn’t order it!) AND increase the portion size or lower the price of meals, because if you’re running on a low tank and need a feed, you deffo gotta order multiple meals to satisfy the hunger – I paid $15 for 3 tiger prawns.

Apart from that, I’m gonna give this place a 7.5/10 on the ol’ CCL (cafecrawlerlucy) scale. Great people, tasty noms, and a good selection of beers and drinks. A few little criticisms here and there, but hey, for a place that’s JUST opened its doors – I reckon it’s doing pretty good!

Beasty Boi’s At Burger Liquor

Hello once again friends! I’m back with a burger-licious blog post that is guaranteed to get you tummies rumbling and your legs running to the nearest burger joint – that burger joint being Burger Liquor of course.

Now, it’s not my first time at this rodeo – do you think I would have lived in Wellington for three years and NOT gone to this city famous burger dwelling?? Although, if you follow my Instagram (@cafecrawlerlucy – shameless plug), you’ll know I’m actually super bad at going to some of the long-time foodie hotspots… anyway, moving on!

So, here’s a little backstory: My family friends had just travelled 2 hours driving and 4 hours on the ferry – and knowing the ferry food – they were STARVING when they got here. I wanted to show them something iconic, something very Wellington, and something that would fill that food shaped hole in their stomachs. Instantly, Burger Liquor came to mind. I’ve never had a bad burger there, I’ve always been treated super well there, and I’ve always gone home with a smile on my face and a food baby in my belly. This time was no different.

Picture 8 ridiculously loud and semi-tipsy Englishmen around a too-small-but-will-work table, and that’s pretty much exactly what we were like. First, we started off with some of their locally sourced brews, including Parrot Dog, Whistling Sisters, and Garage Project – which really hit the spot for my traveler guests (you can imagine after a ferry ride, a cold beer is next to winning the lottery). Next – after a lot of uhmmming and ahhhing – we ordered our burgers. I love how you can create your own signature burger here, and you can make it as meaty or as plant-based as you pleased – leaving nobody out of the flavour game!

I’ve had their burgers quite a few times now and wanted to see if their tacos were any better than their bun-defeated burgers. I have to say, they didn’t look like much, but the flavours of that fish taco were pretty darn good! The tacos weren’t Wellington’s best tacos (obviously with it being a burger place) and could’ve used a big more filling (maybe some fresh slaw or something?) but other than that, they were delish! Some of their other standout burgers was the pulled jackfruit & veggie patty luxe deluxe with mushroom bacon (for you vegans vixens out there), the Bernie mac (for you not-so-vegan vixens) – and of course I gotta shout out their classic ‘The Standard’ – as far as burgers go, this one is definitely above-standard (geddit?). Oh, how could I forget – their FRIES. Whether curly or straight, them fries are the king of potatoes.

Summing up, a pretty flipping good feed was had at this wicked Willis Street joint – and I can guarantee that if you go there, you’re going to have exactly the same amazing food journey. For everything that I experienced that night, I’m gonna give Burger Liquor an 8.5/10. If the tacos were a little fuller and maybe were handmade tortillas – it would’ve bumped you up onto the god tier. Butt hey, with everything else in the world, there’s ALWAYS room for improvement – even with 3 Michelin star restaurants! Stay awesome Burger Liquor – I’ll be back very soon!

Fidels: Cuban Communist or Cuba St. Brunch Boss?

The answer is the latter – well for my review anyway (Fidel Castro IS a Cuban communist – little history lesson for you!).

Last weekend was a BIG one. One of my life-long best friends came from England to check out the land of the long white cloud and stopped in Wellington for a little visit!

So, being the hostess with the mostess, I had to show her the best of what wellington can offer; all the best clubs (obvs danger danger), J & M’s at 3am, AND of course the best foodie spots – including what I can confidently call one of Wellingtons most beloved brunch spots – Fidels.

For those who don’t know, Fidels is located right at the top of Cuba Street – with Fidel Castro’s face plastered on everything and a loud hum of conversation erupting from its premises, you really can’t miss it. This place has been one of my favorites ever since I took a bite of their fish taco’s two years ago, and no matter what cool and hip cafes come to Wellington – it’s always going to hold a special place in my stomach/heart.

Okay, after getting a little too emotional about this place (even thinking about Fidels is giving me cravings), it’s time to get onto the food. Fidel’s offers a brunch, lunch and dinner menu which is jam-packed with some all-time classics (Eggs Benedict I’m looking at you) AND super-duper alty dishes (Mojo Chicken – what even is this??). We came here looking for a goof ol’ feed after what I can safely say was a wild night out – and boy did their chefs DELIVER.

It took me AGES to decide what to have, especially because I had the choice of brunch AND lunch menu which made it just way too hard. In the end, after tossing up between the vegan bowl, salmon bagel and the haloumi on toast – I went for the vegetarian quesadilla.

I have to give myself a big old pat on the back, as I actually genuinely think this is one of the best vegetarian quesadillas I have ever tasted*. What could be a better hangover cure than sweet pumpkin, spinach and tomatoey beans all wrapped up in a crisp and carbalicious wrap WITH guacamole and sour cream?? Not much, that’s what. Everybody’s dish tasted absolutely fab – meaning you can have 100% faith in the chefs to make your dish deliciously dope no matter what you order!

This place has maintained its café-celebrity status for years, and I don’t believe it’s going to change anytime soon. They have however played it safe by not changing up their menu (well, not ever since I’ve lived in Wellington), which is something I would love to see them try! A solid 9/10 for Fidels on the CCL scale – they filled my belly with good food, they have awesome staff (shout-out to you Art!) AND they have such a dope café décor going on – and you guys know I froth a café that has a hardcore theme, both food and design! If ever in need of a stomach-satisfying brunch or lunch (I haven’t had dinner here yet, so I feel it would be fake news to endorse it), you know you can trust the guys at Fidels to fix you up!

*PSA Beach Bab still reigns supreme for their vegan quesadilla though

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Hamilton: I expected punters – but instead I got ‘The Punnet’

Last weekend was my very first trip to Hamilton since I was 6 years old – and to be honest I wasn’t expecting much (this was SOLELY from other people’s opinions, I promise!). BUT I speak to everyone, especially you Hamilton homies (sorry for the lingo, I can’t pass on an alliteration), Hamilton WAAAAAAY exceeded my expectations – no matter how low they were!

I stayed at the Narrows Landing, which if you’re a Hamilton local, you know it’s literally one of THE best places to stay in, I would say New Zealand, let alone just the North Island (big-ups to the boyfriend’s parents for splashing out – loved every minute!). But we ain’t a travel blog here, we all about that foodie doodie goodness. So, let’s talk about The Punnet.

‘The Punnet’ is one of Hamilton’s true gems. I mean, I haven’t been to any other cafes there, but I can’t imagine it gets much better than this! You got the café, which serves up food with flavor profiles OFF THE CHARTS, they have a farm shop with everything that a middle-class mum would sell their soul for, they have a playground that even I, as a semi self-respecting 21-year-old, had to have a play on, AND you can pick strawberries. Pretty flipping dope place if you ask me.

Feeling very dusty after a BEAUTIFUL wedding and reception (shout-out to the gorgeous couple Nick & Sarah), around 50 of us filled the place and sat down for what I call a feast for the eyes, tummy, and soul. The menu was jam-packed with waaaaay too many mouth-watering meals, and in my hungover state, it was almost too much for my little head to handle. But, eventually, I made my own little eggs-avocado-spinach-salmon-toast situation. The eggs – poached to perfection, the avocado – soft, green, and with a little surprise sesame crunch, the salmon – crispy skinned and melt-in-the-mouth, the toast – well, toasty? They sadly forgot my spinach, which to be honest, I forgot I’d even ordered until I’d demolished the whole thing.

If I come back to Hamilton anytime soon – I KNOW I’m going to have to stop in here for breakfast, brunch, lunch, morning tea, afternoon tea – you name an occasion to eat, and I’ll come here for it. The cabinet had the most decadent pastries, cakes and sweets perfect for a snack, and stocked little savoury items like scones, paninis and bagels for those slightly-peckish-but-not-too-hungry-people. I think I’m going to have to award this people pleasing place a 9.5/10. ½ off top score solely for not being closer to Wellington. It is what it is, I don’t make the rules around here!

If you’re reading this – next time you go to Hamilton, you know where to go (I’m talking about The Punnet if it wasn’t clear enough yeah?).

Fabulous Food and Flagrant Femininity – Only at Fifi’s

Well well well, look what the cat dragged in. Oh, I’m not talking about you – god no! I’m talking about slack and blog-neglecting self, who quite frankly should be ashamed for not writing ANYTHING since August. Absolute trash blogger right here.

Pushing the self-loathing aside, I’m back writing to let you guys know about a brand-new and brilliantly bougie café that has just opened up in the heart of Wellington. Tucked away on the dodgy-but-cozy Marion Street is Fifi’s – a new café that serves up scrumptious sandwiches, beautiful bakes, and cracking coffees – all served with a side of flagrant femininity.

I’ve been craving to come and check out this curiosity-inducing café ever since I saw it open, and finally, on a fresh December Friday afternoon, I got the chance to see what the fuss was all about. If this place was in New York, there would be a Tasty video on the décor just alone, but since we are in Wellington, you gotta go and check out this dope as place for yourself. Fifi’s have paid homage to their women-only workspace, by decorating the walls with infamous artworks, that all have a slight feminine twist. We found our seats at one of their perfectly imperfect mismatched tables, with the ideal view of the cabinet food and the baristas killer magenta eyeshadow look – the first person to actually pull off pinkeye (it’s a bad joke, I know, I’m rusty remember?).

I could ramble on and on about just how cool this café is, but you guys are here to know about their food and drink, so let’s cut to the chase. Drinks first, as always. Because it was one of those #CBWOAGD (can’t beat Welly on a good day) kinda days, I opted for a iced coffee to keep refreshed and to keep the caffeine withdrawals at a minimum (I hadn’t had one all day and it was 2pm, ya gal needed her fix) – whatever coffee beans they use there are magic, the coffee was delicious! Now, onto food. They have the classic little lunchtime/brunchtime menu, but as soon as I looked into their savory cabinet, a giant bready boy filled with what I can only describe as green crunchy, cream, fresh delicious goodness, stole my heart and my stomach. As with the drink, choosing this sandwich was one of the best decisions of my life, because that perfectly toasted ciabatta sandwiched together some sick fillings (including rocket, feta, avocado and cucumber) to create the meanest greenest sandwich I’ve ever tasted. This sandwich literally gave me butterflies it was that damn tasty.

So, summing up: Fifi’s is freaking fantastic, and anybody who says otherwise probably didn’t go to Fifi’s, and is just making crap up, their food is everything, and their staff are eclectic and awesome. So, what does that mean for me? Well, it means I have to give them a stonking 9.5/10 for my visit to their humble and vivid abode! Love the food, love the feel of the place, and I love the feminine movement they have going. If you haven’t been here, please please PLEASE jog on down to Marion Street and get your hands on their nosh! Muchos Gracias Fifi’s for the lovely lunch. I’ll be back.

Slice Of Heaven

Dave Dobbyn keeps on banging on about how some girls love is a ‘slice of heaven’ – but I don’t think he’s ever been to Heaven Pizza…

Round 2 of ‘Parents pay for all my meals’ commenced last Saturday night. They had already taken us out for a wicked lunch at Karaka Cafe (link to that blog post is here ), and even though we were feeling as stuffed as a turkey on Christmas after that feast – the offer of them taking us out for dinner AS WELL was a rarity, and one too good to decline.

My parents left it down to me to decide where to wine and dine – I don’t know why, its like they think I run a food blog or something?? Even with my knowledge of restaurants, it still turned out to be a stressful and intricate operation. After dinner we were going to watch my sister in a play called ‘Almost Sober’ at club 121 – which was actually the dopest play I’ve ever seen (you’ll agree if you watched it too!) – so it had to be somewhere close so we could scoff the food, down the drinks and get to the play on time. After much deliberation with the family (having so many siblings makes it 10000000x harder), I set my sights on Heaven Woodfire Pizza – a place I had never been to before, but every time I walked past I made sure to eye up everybody’s mouthwatering meals – which was now going to be my destiny! Having a table for 10 sure made it snug, but the ambiance of this place and the family-oriented nature of Italian pizza culture made it super fun, energetic and homely!

After all the reunions and small talk – it was time to hit the booze (anybody else crave alcohol when with their family? Just me? Cool. Carry on.), so I started off with a crisp apple cider – which throughout the meal became 2 crisp apple ciders! Then came the best and worst part – choosing which pizza I was going to stuff my face with. After having a cheeky geez at other peoples pizza, we decided the old 1-between-2 method was going to be juuuuust fine – and I even let my boyfriend choose the pizza toppings (girlfriend of the year or WHAT)! In the end, he chose the jam-packed veggie pizza, and man when that bad-boy was laid down in front of us, I knew he had picked the right one. When cooking, I’m all about using a few ingredients and making them shine, however when it comes to vegetarian pizza, I want ALL THE TOPPINGS – and this puppy more than delivered. The combination of Aubergine, Capsicum, Olives, Mushroom, Sun-dried Tomato, Onion, Mozzarella, Pine Nuts, Oregano, all scattered over a crispy woodfired pizza made my tongue tingle, my heart warm, and my stomach sing! I also have to give a cheeky shout-out to the halloumi pizza – that one bit of added cheese took that pizza to an 11/10!

You can imagine after everything I’ve said about Heaven Pizza that I’m going to give them a hefty rating – and you’re not wrong! The pizza is some of the best I’ve ever had, the drinks got me VERY merry, and the people were super chill and onto it with their service. So naturally, I’m going to give them a bloody solid 9/10! I also love how this place has pretty much unlimited options for toppings – there is literally a pizza for everyone AND they’re at a super good price too! If you are feigning a pizza, definitely don’t overlook Heaven Woodfired Pizza for a more ‘Prestigious’ and ‘authentic’ restaurant, as Heaven can deffo hook you up with a feed that satisfies that craving.

Karacking Food With The Fam

Every student knows that the best feeling isn’t when you get an A, or when you smash that Kendrick rap verse – It’s when your parents come up for the weekend and pay for ya food. This weekend I was blessed with the parents visiting, and I had free reign of deciding where to go for lunch, dinner and brunch (F*ck yes.). Let’s start off with Saturday lunch eh? After having to grab an Uber from the airport for my parents because they refuse to download the app themselves (classic gen Y iPhone users), they treated us to a beautiful lunch at Karaka Café – which I guess you could say makes up for the whole Uber kerfuffle.

Karaka café is famous in wellington for being the peak summer location to sit back on a bean bag, drink in hand, soaking up the sun and beautiful surroundings. In winter this place can become a little sparse as it is mainly associated with the whole outdoor seating situation, but lemme tell you – they do not let the lull in customers or the slightly depressing wellington winter weather affect the quality of their food. No way hosé. This place is perfect for large groups as they have heaps of massive tables both inside and outside to park yourself at – which was lucky for us because our family is quite literally a small army. After being seated, we were tended to straight away. My drinks order was straightforward – coffee no.2 of the day to try and finally beat the overbearing hangover and shame from the night before (I’m sorry mum, I got a little too white girl wasted), however the food orders was a bloody ordeal and a half. They serve their brunch until 3pm which is dope as eggs is the hangover saviour, but their lunch mains also sounded like my migraine lord and saviour – so you can imagine I was in quite a pickle. In the end, the inner brit took over and I ordered their fish of the day serves with slaw, tartare sauce, and a MOUNTAIN of chips (again, F*ck yes.).

when the mains started coming out, food envy anxiety took over as my boyfriend had ordered the seafood chowder, and If you know me, you know seafood chowder is my weakness – no matter how fishy my breath will smell afterwards. But when my mass of a meal was placed in front of me, all envy was washed away, and I was one smug somebody indeed. The fish was lightly battered and crispy (yas), the chips copious and crunchy (yaaaassss!), the slaw fresh and flavourful (YASSS!), and the homemade tartare sauce tangy and tart (YAAAASSSS QUEEN!!!). Overall – a bloody brilliant plate of fish and chips that tickled my taste buds, stuffed my stomach, and put a smile on my dial. The rest of the food was equally as beautiful and yummy – seafood chowder, chicken pizza, chicken burger, calamari – everything was SUBLIME.

For my first time properly dining at Karaka and not just getting slowly sloshed outside on their beanbags, I am super-duper impressed. So, I think I would be an idiot to give them anything less than an 8.5/10 on the CCL scale. Their food was super yum and had heaps of variety, their service was tip top, location on point, and the cherry on the cake was that their menu followed their homage to Maori culture, with everything being in Maori with English translations – something that I feel many more cafes and public places should get on the bandwagon for! If you are looking to get your food fix with a big group of mates, or even if it’s just the two of you, definitely don’t overlook Karaka Café, as it may just have the perfect plate to fix your hunger cravings.

Cuisine Française à Gisborne?

Gisborne doing cuisine other than all sauces? I am shocked to say that it turns out Gisborne does have a little international culture! My little tiki tour trip to Gizzy happened to coincide with the famous French Bastille day – which I’ve never personally celebrated before, but apparently the people from Gisborne are all for it! The Marina Restaurant is Gisborne’s only French restaurant, and every year they hold a HUGE degustation dinner full of famous French dishes to celebrate Bastille day. My bf’s parents ended up buying us tickets – and who would turn down an opportunity to drink and taste some of the best French food, whilst also in French dress-up? Certainly not me, that’s for sure! So, we donned our berets and off we went to have a super dope degustation dinner.

As we walked in to the beautiful Marina restaurant, my eyes were instantly drawn to the MASSIVE croquembouche in the middle of the room, and I could tell this was going to be one hella good foodie night. The set menu was laid out on the table, with drink suggestions paired with each dish. A few of us on the table were vegetarian or vegan, and it was awesome to see that the chefs had created special versions of the set menu just for our dietary requirements.

After buying a few bottles of fancy French wine (which my bf and I probably drank waaay to much of), we were presented with our first course: escargot. I have never tried snails before, and the idea of trying it is a little off-putting, however these were paired with a super good basil pesto and toasted bruschetta which made them taste fabulous! The next course was a delicious French onion soup (very fitting) with toasted cheesy croutons which made the dish go from a 10 to a solid 11/10. After that we had a few more bottles of wine – which were also downed very fast by my boyfriend and I – and a cheeky little palette cleanser of a gin and quince sorbet which was superbly refreshing and tasty, and prepared our taste buds for the main course event. The set menu had duck confit as their main, however my boyfriend and I are pescatarian, so they whipped up a lush poached fish dish that was to die for – the fish was perfectly flaky, paired with a tangy lemon sauce and crunchy seasonal veg, you can’t fault it! For the dessert they served up a little buffet with apple Tarte Tatin, opera cake, and of course the prized Croquembouche. The Tatin was fruity and sweet, the Opera cake rich and moreish, and the Choux buns from the Croquembouche crunchy on the outside and filled with a delicious crème patisserie – each dish executed perfectly.

The evening was definitely one that I won’t forget – and I’m kind of surprised I still remember it after all the wine I had! Both the chefs and the FOH at the Marina really put on a show for bastille day, and because of their fantastical food, perfectly paired drinks and the pièce de résistance croquembouche – I have to award them an 8/10 on the CCL scale. I experienced this place when they were all putting on their best fare, however I am sure that on any normal day or evening the food, service and ambience would still boast that true classic continental charm.

Bin There, Done That

Date night without the date? Sounds like a fab excuse to go wining and dining – even if I am third-wheeling! GrabOne once again saved our undecisive and cheap asses when it came to choosing where to eat, and we ended up getting a super spicy deal; $120 worth of food for ONLY $60 at Welly waterfronts famous Bin 44 restaurant.

As we ambled up to the restaurant, I realised that I actually have been here before – so this review is not original content (sorry not sorry) – but you can go checkout that review on my insta if you want OG material. From my memories of this place, the food is mean and the drinks that they pair with the courses are delicious and complement the flavours perfectly, so that made me even more hungry to try their delicious fare. We were met with super friendly staff, who gave us recommendations on drinks and which meals to try (again helping out our indecisive asses), and thus began our quest to find the food that fixes our hunger pains.

I managed to suss a mate to come to dinner with us so I wasn’t third wheeling too hard, and we all decided to get things that we could all share (#cutecouplethings) – which MAY have ended up being a mistake. We ended up getting their prawn pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, burger, calamari, sticky ribs, and garlic ciabatta. It definitely fed us up good – but the meals lacked a little lustre for me. I was excited for their pizzas as they had such a variety of flavours, however when trying them they reminded me of something you could buy for $7 at the supermarket. Their calamari was super tasty and not AT ALL rubbery; but again it could’ve used some paprika or chilli seasoning just to pack that extra spicy punch. The rest of the food was pretty standard – nothing too ground-breaking – but it did the job and filled our bellies!

I have to say after the first time coming here, I had set some higher standards, however they were definitely not met this time coming here. Piling all aspects of our evening here, I rate Bin 44 a 6/10 on the CCL scale. Their staff were really lovely, but sadly that doesn’t make up for the mediocre food that we were served – minus the calamari as that boosted their rating. I feel like if I had chosen their main meals I might’ve experienced better food as I have had their mains before and LOVED them – however they should be consistent across the board and make their starters and share plates just as mouth-watering. I’m glad that we used a voucher when paying for the meals here, because I would not pay full price for the average pizza that we got! I think I would like to go back for a third time (third time lucky amirite?) and try their lunch or brunch options – gotta give them the benefit of the doubt, right? I think this place does have potential, and if you do go dining there PLEASE save yourself the disappointment and choose a main meal. I would totally recommend checking out GrabOne for dinner ideas – everybody wants to save some pocket but also live the boujee lifestyle, and with heaps of restaurants and spicy vouchers, GrabOne finally lets you be that little bit extra!