Mussels...

Had my dinner in this restaurant called The Occidental in Auckland, New Zealand. The place is jam-packed with people. I had to wait for several minutes before they got me a place to sit. This restaurant is famous for their mussels and Belgium beer.

I ordered 2 pots of different flavoured mussels. Each pot contains 1kg of mussels cooked in your desired flavour. They have grilled mussels too but I don't think I could finish all of it so I decided to stick with the 2 pots. While waiting for my feast to arrive, had a Belgium beer called Leffe. Tried the Leffe Blonde. I should say that it tastes rather ok... Nothing special to shout about but it is just ok... It's thick and quite foamy but the flavour is rather odd. It has a sour aftertaste to it. The colour is dark brown rather than golden brown. I wonder why they call it blonde...

Then came my 2 pots of mussels accompanied by fries. The mussels here in Auckland are huge and fresh! Unlike the mussels back home in Boleh Land, these mussels makes those back home look like midgets! The average length of the mussels are 5 to 6 inches. Inspite of its gigantic size, the flesh is still sweet and tender.

The first pot of mussels was cooked in Celery, Onion & Garlic flavour. The mussels are rather dry on the top part of the pot. Try stirring it in the pot to get the sauce from the bottom and you'll get the flavour you want. The sauce is clear and watery like soup. Goes very well with the mussels.

The second pot was cooked in Blue Cheese... Mmmmm... The sauce is thick and creamy. I would recommend everyone to try this flavour. Ordered garlic bread to dip in the sauce.... Yum yum... Finished the sauce to its last drop. To recall and write about this dish makes me extremely hungry now....

Each pot costs only NZ$19.00. It's rather reasonable to compare with a normal meal in Auckland. So, for anyone visiting Auckland, do visit this restaurant and try their mussels. I don't think anyone would regret patronising this joint.