Dangerously Tempting

Marry me Mary! For some reason I just couldn’t get this chant out of my mind as I turned into Mary Muller Drive in Heathcote, in search of the well hidden Castle Rock Cafe. The trouble with this? The only person I know named Mary is 83 years old and has been happily married for over 50 years. Everyone keeps telling me there’s a ‘good woman’ out there somewhere for me but I’m damned if I can find her. Clearly my repetitious, banal chanting is useless!Not to mention my incontinence, uncontrollable flatulence and bad habit of dribbling over my lower lip....in public!
My hopes were raised somewhat as I walked into the CRC, it’s tables well populated with women in their 30’s enjoying late morning tea breaks and all manner of delicious looking slices. God knows how the modern female keeps her figure so stunning....how can one not notice such things?
Momentarily my gaze was distracted from these earthly delights to the food cabinet proudly stocked and stacked with man-sized baps, sandwiches, rolls and a few salad, pasta and cous cous arrangements. Dangerously tempting....and then, of course, there were the soft, sugary slices with all manner of seductive names, looking to be selected by the hungry.
The Scottish Baps and the English Benedict muffins were hard to pass over but I chose to consult the menu instead, predictably settling for something involving eggs, the perfect expression of fertility. It seemed so fitting in this place of plenty.
Two free range eggs on 8 grain bread with streaky bacon, freshly cooked spinach & large field mushrooms with a side of cous cous sprinkled with sliced up roasted almonds and traces of vegetables. A more than ample lunch and accompanied by very good and friendly service, two long blacks, warm sunshine and the morning paper. All the elements of the above two dishes were proudly represented, cooked well and retained so much of their essential flavours. The spinach goes so well with the eggs and the mushrooms, a taste combination that appeals to me. The cous cous was perfectly done but the slivers of almond and the presence of the vege flavours made this simple little concoction a real winner for me. A visually appealing lunch with everything behaving as it should....except me and my lustful eyes roaming around the room of course.
There is, unquestionably, something charming about this hard-to- find secret of a cafe buried in the stomach of industrial Heathcote. The large warehouse complexes, container yards and depots in the immediate locale undoubtedly provide the Castle Rock with most of its clientele, most probably on a repeat basis day after day. The food is good here, the surroundings (in the cafe and out in the courtyard) are pleasant and the service a credit to a small business.
Don’t forget to admire the beautiful old NCR cash register when you’re paying your bill.....

For God's Sake Pass the Salt!

It's true that asking for the salt to be passed was very much an everyday mantra heard at dinner tables around the Western world twenty or thirty years ago but these days I think we're obsessed with what goes into our bodies, in a careful way. Salt is necessary and we'll all probably concede that; we have learned that salt is in abundance in most foods so we don't need to add it at the table,  except on rare occasions. If you're dining intelligently (what on earth does that mean?)your chef or preparer will have used salt in the cooking process and achieved the balance required - at least that's the hope - why destroy the beautiful, subtle nuances of your meal by assaulting it (excuse the pun) with lashings of finely processed salt? It's all a question of individual taste you bleat....yeah, yeah, yeah!

Salt, like sugar, is to be used with caution in my view and the old saying that we should enjoy "everything in moderation, nothing to excess" might make a lot of sense when using these two cunning diablos.

Anyway, welcome to my blog which will be regularly updated and added to. There's no telling what you will find here and it's at least one way you can spice up your otherwise dull, boring and pointless lives I'd have thought. It has certainly helped me to snap myself out of the stupor of idiocy and mundanity that has dominated my woebegone existence in recent years......believe it!!

To end this short missive I must tell you the various ways you can reach this exciting blog: www.mrlu.co.nz;
www.misterlu.co.nz ;
 www.mrlu.co.uk;
  www.finefoodworldwide.com;
 www.eatdrinkandwrite.com.
It is much easier than trying to remember the main blogger URL. If you're incredibly lazy just type in Mr Lu at Large in Google and you'll undoubtedly find your way here. Whichever pathway you choose please be assured that I am humbled by your presence and I love you very much....

Reality Bites Cafe, Bishopdale

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.....It’s common knowledge that I get out of bed at 5am most mornings yet it would be fair to say I am far from wide eyed and bushy tailed at any time before midday.
However, on this particular morning I found myself across the table from one of the city’s power brokers (no, not a CERA contractor with an oversized bulldozer)in the Reality Bites cafe in Bishopdale. What an eye-opener! The cafe is visually defined by the striking, effervescent, colourful artwork of Nicola Taylor. Bold statements, captivating images and yes, even one of a digger at work!
Inside the front windows, in the sun, my colleague and I drank the elixir of the coffee bean, discussed our urgent business and dined on some smart and tasty offerings. For me it was a ribeye sandwich with rocket, mayo, onion jam, mushroom and flair. The cafe’s interpretation of a steak sandwich was a thankful departure from normality. The presentation so talented with the yearning, tongue pleasing textures of the mushrooms providing an enduring fungal adventure atop a substantial fillet of beef and a bright green splash of vegetation to match Nicola Taylor’s brilliant colours on canvas.
Something is working very well in this little corner of suburbia and methinks tis more than the freshly prepared food(the ‘chef’ took ten minutes to prepare my meal and I could see her working away on it in the kitchen – this was no pre-prepared microwaved animal) and the commendably good presentation. I more than sensed a passion, a dedication to achieve and to offer customers just that little bit more than other cafes. I do want to go back and see what else they can do!