Butler's Chocolate Cafe
Well it was a Saturday night. I think it was Sharon’s turn to cook, Sharon thinks it was mine. Either was we said what the hell, lets go eat some Malaysian grub. Isobel had mentioned to Sharon that the Malaysian food in Welly was really good.
So it was out with the Lonely Planet and their review of the local restaurants. The first restaurant on the list was a place called Kopi and coincidently the only Malaysian restaurant in the list. The review read “ Kopi is constantly voted the city’s best Malaysian eatery, the crowds attesting to its popularity.” High praise we thought and decided to look no further.
We were hoping to head to see Ricky Boyd and the Boom Shack Band afterwards, another Isobel recommendation, so we said we better give the Bodega a call to see what time the gig was starting. The friendly Kiwi at the other end informed me that the band we warming up and asked me to hang on while he found out…..sound of drums……chatting……finally he returned, “they reckon about 10-10.30.” Great I thought and asked if there was a cover charge. The Kiwi confirmed there was and said he would ask the band how much…..sound of more drums….a bit of guitar….more chatting….”they haven’t quite decided yet but they reckon about $7 dollars.” Great I replied again and asked if we could buy the tickets “at the door.” The Kiwi hesitated for a moment and suggested that we should “make sure to come inside the door” the phrase “at the door” not commonly used in NZ it would seem.
Armed as we were with the info from the Bodega we said we would book the Kopi for about 8 pm. We have had mixed experiences with Lonely Planet books and in particular Lonely Planet Hong Kong. You would think a book specifically about a single city would be up to date but not once, not twice but three times we ended up staring at a Pizza Hut or a run down hovel where a nice restaurant should have been.
Anyway, suffice it to say that, our instinct served us well and after trying to ring several times I decided to walk down to the restaurant, No. 103 Willis St., about a fifteen walk from our hotel.
What has this got to do with Butlers Irish Chocolates? Well coincidently my parents, a few days ago, had mentioned that there was an Irish newspaper article about an ex pat who was setting up a Butler’s Chocolate Franchise in Welly. I told them it was about fifteen minutes from where we were living and we passed it quite often! By now I’m sure most of you have got the picture, but if not, take a look at the photograph of No. 103 Willis St. below where our lovely Malaysian restaurant should have been. Another update required in the Lonely Planet guide it would seem and a small victory for the Irish food industry over the “competition.”
Ireland 1 Malaysia 0.
If you’re lucky they have done an exchange and now at the top of Grafton St. there’s a fab Malaysian restaurant just waiting to satisfy your appetite!
Cathal
So it was out with the Lonely Planet and their review of the local restaurants. The first restaurant on the list was a place called Kopi and coincidently the only Malaysian restaurant in the list. The review read “ Kopi is constantly voted the city’s best Malaysian eatery, the crowds attesting to its popularity.” High praise we thought and decided to look no further.
We were hoping to head to see Ricky Boyd and the Boom Shack Band afterwards, another Isobel recommendation, so we said we better give the Bodega a call to see what time the gig was starting. The friendly Kiwi at the other end informed me that the band we warming up and asked me to hang on while he found out…..sound of drums……chatting……finally he returned, “they reckon about 10-10.30.” Great I thought and asked if there was a cover charge. The Kiwi confirmed there was and said he would ask the band how much…..sound of more drums….a bit of guitar….more chatting….”they haven’t quite decided yet but they reckon about $7 dollars.” Great I replied again and asked if we could buy the tickets “at the door.” The Kiwi hesitated for a moment and suggested that we should “make sure to come inside the door” the phrase “at the door” not commonly used in NZ it would seem.
Armed as we were with the info from the Bodega we said we would book the Kopi for about 8 pm. We have had mixed experiences with Lonely Planet books and in particular Lonely Planet Hong Kong. You would think a book specifically about a single city would be up to date but not once, not twice but three times we ended up staring at a Pizza Hut or a run down hovel where a nice restaurant should have been.
Anyway, suffice it to say that, our instinct served us well and after trying to ring several times I decided to walk down to the restaurant, No. 103 Willis St., about a fifteen walk from our hotel.
What has this got to do with Butlers Irish Chocolates? Well coincidently my parents, a few days ago, had mentioned that there was an Irish newspaper article about an ex pat who was setting up a Butler’s Chocolate Franchise in Welly. I told them it was about fifteen minutes from where we were living and we passed it quite often! By now I’m sure most of you have got the picture, but if not, take a look at the photograph of No. 103 Willis St. below where our lovely Malaysian restaurant should have been. Another update required in the Lonely Planet guide it would seem and a small victory for the Irish food industry over the “competition.”
Ireland 1 Malaysia 0.
If you’re lucky they have done an exchange and now at the top of Grafton St. there’s a fab Malaysian restaurant just waiting to satisfy your appetite!
Cathal
Labels: Misc., New Zealand, North Island, Wellington
posted by Sharon in Ireland/NZ @ 8:53 PM
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