The lady who lunches

Well that would have to be me. It would be a little odd not to be over indulging at this time. Today we went for brunch at our friends and are just home at 5.45 after a lovely afternoon whiling away our time on the puffy leather sofa chatting and sharing stories while the children delighted in the freedom of distracted parents. A great bunch o kids. The food was the basic brunch fare of a very long tradition, eggs, bacon, hash browns, tomatoes etc. A glass of bubbly to wash it down and some sweeties and we are done for the day.

In the past week I have dined at various locations around town and thought it only proper to share these experience and practice my reviewing skills.

First up - Holy Smoke Smokehouse 650 Ferry Road Christchurch
A stunning renovation of an old building, stylish and buzzy. Very noisy with wooden floors and a lot of chatty people. The menu was delicious looking and with a full diary of lunch dates, I decided to go with the Caesar Salad...no egg but but with hot smoked salmon. It was small and perfectly formed except for the absence of the dressing!!! The dressing is the key to a successful Caesar without a doubt. So nice but not perfect. The only thing that really let the whole event down was the 50 minutes!!! it took to get our meals....at lunch. We were obviously a work group and had to rush our meals to get back to work. Lovely fresh smoked food though.

Next up was a snack lunch at Daily Grind in the city. It used to be full to the top at lunch time and was the brainchild of this very cool guy (read hot) who started up a small bunch of them. Anyway, although the food was edible, again really small and the place was really dirty. The tables weren't cleaned and there was dirt and dust all around the till. Felt grimy.

Next up our leadership team trekked down to the Bicycle Thief for our annual last lunch. Highly anticipated with many good reviews...including mine, it was a busy place and the food was tiny and mine was tasteless. I had a salad with fish - Blue Cod which was delicious. But there was not one ounce of seasoning on any of it. I licked my lips thinking about the broccoli and almond salad with greens and marinated beetroot. Not to be. No almonds, no dressing, soggy cold broc. Bloody hell. AND it took ages AGAIN!! We were obviously a work group and again had to rush meals. Apparently the chocolate torte and tiramisu were delicious. I have had several excellent evening meals at this restaurant but wont be going back for lunch. Very disappointing. Put a real dampener on our lunch.

Right, next up was 'Cup' a cafe on the hill over looking the city. It was a gorgeous hot day so we sat outside for a business lunch and the food, service and company were all perfect. We had a divine smoked salmon salad with lovely dressing and fresh new potatoes that were slightly caramelised. Excellent.

Finally I met my friend Jackie for a quick lunch yesterday and we popped into the Lotus Heart. A vegetarian haunt that is always busy and food is always absolutely delicious. Go here and enjoy your food and sweet service by the sari clad followers of Sri Chimnoy.

So, in all a range of food and service, lots of good conversation and a few extra centimetres on my waist.