Get your summer foodie escape without leaving Auckland...
16 Dec 2022
16 Dec 2022
Flame Bar and Grill, is located on Beach street at the lake end of town. This is a South African style BBQ venue, so it might not appeal to those veggies out there * although they do have several salads on the menu* .. but boy oh boy you meat lovers are in for a treat. Even walking towards the entrance, you are greeted by the aroma of chargrilled meat, sending the senses wild with excitement of what’s to come.
We were greeted by friendly, smiling staff, who showed us to what I would say was THE best seat in the house. * Hint* when booking, request the balcony area for top views. It has ceiling to floor windows, which open out to face right over the lake. What a view, and lovely to have the summer breeze coming in. Now to the good stuff. Food and drinks…
Our waitress for the evening was Kate, a lovely chatty lady, who was so patient with my indecisiveness of what order – all the food coming out of the kitchen, made my choice even harder! * The rack of ribs looked like they would defeat me*. An easy choice were the cocktails as we are lovers of a classic mojito.. but this mojito was a Flame Special. Their lychee mojito was so fresh, and not too sweet. We enjoyed it so much, we asked Kate how they made it, as we decided we would try and make them for Christmas Day!
Eventually we came to a decision. For the starters we ordered Mozambique prawns, and beef carpaccio to share. The Mozambique prawns were a MUST order for us, as we had been recommended this dish by a friend, who said it was amazing. It did NOT disappoint. The dish is served in a piping hot flat base pan, with rice, big prawns, and a tasty spicy creamy peri-peri sauce. Just the right balance of heat, and prawns were cooked beautifully. I would go back for this dish alone. The carpaccio was served with crunchy baby rocket, parmigiana reggiano, and a zingy balsamic glaze * which I found myself wiping off the plate with my finger*. So far so good.
For mains, we ordered the rib-eye on the bone, 450g and the Lamb cutlets. Kate advised that the mushroom sauce was a good choice, and we also got the Roquefort blue cheese sauce.
We were asked how we would like our meat to be cooked, and whether we wanted roast potatoes or chips. Being smart.. we ordered both.
As our dishes came to the table, we wondered how we would manage such a feast, and if our eyes had been bigger than our bellies.
The meats were cooked perfectly to our medium rare request. Both sauces were packed with flavour, the mushroom being my favourite. Having cut away most the meat from the lamb cutlets, I found myself picking them up with my fingers to get the last few bits of deliciousness off. There was no way I was letting it go to waste. As expected the rib-eye did defeat us, and was too big to finish off, as our bellies were already stuffed.
I would highly recommend Flame to those of you wanting to indulge in a meat feast. Dishes packed full of flavour, and the super customer service and views topped the night off. The restaurant was fast paced, buzzing and packed out, so be sure to make a reservation with Res Diary so you don’t miss out on this South African dining experience.
