Dining: Local bites

I’ve been horrendously remiss in posting my food pictures, but I hate being “that person” at the table, taking pictures of food for Instagram or Facebook. Okay, well, maybe I hate being that person for a few minutes while I take the photo, and then I’m the person who’s super happy to have taken the photo before licking the plate clean. So lucky for you, I’ve got a few snaps to share.

My first few days here, I stayed in a hotel so that I could get my bearings and settle into this new life I’ve chosen. Fortunately, said hotel is pretty nice and included breakfast with my room! Not only did they clearly identify all of the foods that were Rebecca-friendly, but it was all really tasty.  Behold – the breakfast of champions:

All kinds of ridiculous things on the table: Berocca (my favorite traveling supplement), kiwi juice, hot tea with local Manuka honey, poached eggs on gluten-free toast, “streaky bacon” (as the locals refer to it), sauteed potatoes, and freshly peeled pineapple, grapefruit, and orange. Not bad, right? This girl knows how to do it.

I found this little cafe just behind the hotel, called Bespoke Kitchen. It has mostly a breakfast menu, but they do offer some GF and DF versions of things. Unfortunately, there aren’t many that are *both*, so I was stuck with their mango smoothie bowl:

which was pretty good, honestly. It wasn’t a hearty lunch per se, but it was tasty and had some interesting components to it. I happen to like the mix of textures in it, and the fruit was super fresh. Definitely something to keep in mind for those hot summer days.  AND, because no meal is complete without something sweet, there was this:

Don’t scrunch up your nose at it just yet… That’s a raw version of a Snickers bar and HOLY HELL that thing was good! I don’t know how they managed to make it gluten-free, dairy-free, and *nearly identical* to the flavors in the real thing, but I don’t care. It was fabulous. When I get into my own kitchen (some day), I’ll try to make this for myself. It’s worth eating the darn peanuts.

If you didn’t catch this on IG, this lunch was super local and super delicious:

That’s an octopus and paua salad with ginger, chilli, and rice noodles. Man, that’s some fresh seafood! I had never eaten paua before, although I am pretty sure I’ve eaten abalone. I wear paua shells – a gorgeous pair of earrings for my milestone birthday – but eating them this way was a first. And probably not the last. A little chewy, I thought it tasted pretty good. It helps that we were sitting on the pier, on a sunny Saturday, drinking cider and enjoying life. But yea, the paua was pretty good too.

On one of my afternoons in town, I stopped by a new spot for lunch – Rehab was recommended to me as a good option for someone with dietary requirements, and since it was directly across the street from the coffee shop, I figured it was high time for me to check it out. The menu is so simple to read that I genuinely thought I wasn’t understanding it. Turns out, it’s just that simple. So I chose some ginger-sprout-coconut salad thing, and I would definitely have it again:

I thought initially that I’d have to send it back because of the cheese sprinkled on top, but then I realized that it wasn’t cheese at all! It was shredded, toasted coconut, and it added the most delicious flavor to the chicken. I don’t think I could have chosen better, honestly. For quick, satisfying lunch, it was totally spot-on.

All that being said, I will aim to be better at posting food porn. I really do hate being that obnoxious person taking pictures of food, but I’ll do it – because I want you to enjoy my food with me. 🙂  Stay tuned!