I felt like having something French for lunch. I’ve seen the Le Tour De France voucher before and thought this would be a nice day to try it. Let the French flag guide you if you’re not sure where the place is. The interior decor definitely have a very French feel to it. There are several paintings of the Eiffel Tower. Considering the name, I expected to see a few cyclists but there were none while we were there.

We ordered escargot, as in the photo above, for our entree and I ordered the duck breast for my main. The food was great. I particularly enjoyed the combination of duck breast and orange. I saw crayfish on the menu but the price… let’s just say the voucher wouldn’t cover it. The staff are really friendly; complete with French accent.

The voucher was for one complimentary main course when another main course of equal or greater value is purchased; up to NZD 25. We saved at least NZD 15 this time.

I have St Pierre’s sushi fairly regularly; partly because their sushi is available through a takeaway shop close to my work place. I like their sushi. At one point, I was having their sushi almost weekly. They have quite a wide variety to choose from. My favourite is the one with the crispy chicken.

The voucher was for one complimentary regular size sushi pack (8 piece pack) when another regular size sushi pack (8 piece pack) of equal or greater value is purchased; up to NZD 8. I saved about NZD 6 this time; but would have been more if I wasn’t short-changed.

If you’ve read my blog, you may well realise that Coffee Culture is my regular coffee stop. I had an Espresso frappe. I don’t usually have frappe but thought as the sun was out, it was a good time to use the frappe voucher.

The voucher was for one complimentary frappe when another frappe of equal or greater value is purchased. I saved NZD 4.90 this time.

Official website: Coffee Culture

The Bog Irish Bar, as the name suggests, is an Irish bar. The first thing I notice after I stepped in the bar is a board hanging on the wall with the definition for bog, which could either mean a wetland, or a toilet. The interior decor fits my impression of an old Irish bar; not that I’ve been to Ireland before. The place is understandably quiet as it was lunch time.

The menu is what I’d expect of an Irish bar too. Hearty meals come to mind. I ordered a St Paddy’s Melt—a rump steak with melted cheese. The steak was alright. Nothing spectacular but does the job of filling me up. I originally wanted some tomato sauce to go with the steak. However, the cap popped when I tried to open it; putting me off. It could probably be explained by some temperature difference but I wasn’t confident about my theory. Moving on. I expected the staff to be Irish so as to provide a more authentic Irish experience. One of them definitely isn’t, the other could possibly be; so I suppose that’s good enough. No fault with the service though.

The voucher was for one complimentary main course when another main course of equal or greater value is purchased; up to NZD 35. We saved NZD 19 this time.

Official website: The Bog

Now, Oderings Cafe definitely deserves a photo. However, I don’t have any that does it justice so I won’t put one up. Instead, you’ll just have to visit the place instead. Oderings Cafe is attached to the Oderings Nurseries Garden Centre in Barrington. The place is nicely designed. It even has a couch beside a fenced pool. I wouldn’t even have known this place existed if not for the Entertainment Book.

Unfortunately, I’m not so impressed with the food. I had fish and chips, as you’d probably guessed. The fish was way below par for the price I paid. Having said that, they would probably have done better with more traditional cafe food. The iced coffee was alright though; and the service was good. Nonetheless, if you’ve never been, it’s worth checking out even if it’s just for a coffee.

The voucher was for 25 percent off the total bill; up to NZD 20. We saved NZD 15.20 this time.

Official website: Oderings

Last Train to India is the only Indian restaurant I know of that opens for lunch on weekends. Most Indian restaurants I had wanted to try are closed at that time. I really like how the place is decorated.

Last Train to India offers a lot of exotic curries that I’ve never seen anywhere else. We ordered a couple of curries off the express lunch menu, and one off their standard menu. If you are not after the exotic curries, then definitely go for the express lunch menu. They are about half the price and the portion size is about the same. The main difference is how your food is presented. Also, the curries on the standard menu do not come with rice. Plain rice is NZD 1 extra. The curries are good. They are quite different compared to ones I’ve had at other Indian restaurants. As always, just when you think there is not going to be enough curry for your rice and the naan bread, you end up with leftovers. The service is good.

The Gold Card offer was for 25 percent off the total bill; up to NZD 25. We saved NZD 13.50 this time.

Official website: Last Train to India

Warning: This blog post contains spoiler for the movie Inception.

I’ve just seen Inception on Xtremescreen and I really enjoyed it for a few simple reasons:

• It taps into real world experiences. For instance, why is it that you never remember how a dream begins?
• It does not depend on a lot of technologies that does not currently exists. The key piece of technology that has yet to be invented is the dream machine.
• The key technology is well explained when the girl, who was recruited to be the architect, is first given the opportunity to experiment with the system.
• It involves clever use of the key technology by attempting to layer the dreams. The idea of using a totem to differentiate between reality and someone else’s dream is neat.
• It kept the viewers in suspense; wanting to find out what actually happened to the wife.

All of this makes 150 minutes seem like 5 seconds. I like movies like this because it makes you question reality, the way that Matrix did. Now, how can I be sure this is not a dream you ask? Simple. I’m still worried about my assignment, and have to go to work tomorrow. As much as I hate them, I suppose they keep me grounded in reality; my totem in a way.

First off, I think the photo needs a bit of an explanation. I believe it’s a bit out of focus; but of the three I took, this is the best. The photo by no mean represent my impression of Sepia’s food. It just happened to caught my attention. I’ll let you figure out what it is. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to the actual review.

We wanted to visit the Christchurch Art Gallery; I wanted to see the Blue exhibition. As we were already in the city, we thought we might as well find a restaurant in the vicinity. Sepia came to mind, so there we ended. Now, I wanted to go for a proper lunch. However, as everyone else was going for a light meal, I thought I should follow suit. So, I ordered the Roast Pork Belly Sandwich. I didn’t expect it to be quite that light; on the meat part at least. It was just two thin strips of pork belly; possibly even less than the two strips of bacon you normally get with a full breakfast. Anyway, the roast pork belly was good; whatever little bit there was. Luckily, the half plate of fries was enough to fill the void that was my belly. The place was quite empty while we were there. The lone staff was quite efficient. The service is what you’d expect.

The voucher, or more accurately the Gold Card offer, was for one complimentary main course when another main course of equal or greater value is purchased; up to NZD 40. We saved NZD 24 this time.

Official website: Sepia

This is the third voucher of the day. We actually bought the sushi pack for someone else. So, I guess I’m not really obliged to write a review about the sushi. Yay! If I do go to Bento, I would much rather have the noodles though.

The voucher was for one complimentary sushi pack when another sushi pack of equal or greater value is purchased. We saved at least NZD 7 this time.

After the Japanese themed lunch, I decided I needed some ice cream. For those who have never tried New Zealand Natural ice cream, you should. I have to admit it is expensive though. Anyway, with a regular ice cream, you can choose to mix two flavours. However, I was so in the mood for green tea ice cream that I didn’t bother mixing the flavours. Plus, what flavours do green tea go well with?

The voucher was for one complimentary regular ice cream when another regular ice cream of equal or greater value is purchased. We saved NZD 4.50 this time.

Official website: New Zealand Natural