Rainbow's Rest: Hamilton

06 April, 2015

We ordered all the Desserts!

The starters and the mains were such a fusion of delicious flavours, we couldn't decide what to try for dessert, so we ordered them all!

A celebratory dinner for Erik and I. Our wander down the main street of Hamilton on Easter Sunday evening indicated that while there was not a lot of options, I was a food snob, and hopefully something appertizing would show itself.

"Mexico" in neon beckoned to us, and our tastebuds haven't recovered. The shared tables at the restaurant are an excellent idea, and creates a friendly atmosphere. The front of the restaurant was full (and noisy), so Erik and I decided on the back. Perfect, (quiet) we were the only ones there until later.

The paintings, masks, and objects d'art on the walls set the scene. The hardest part was deciding what to order. Everything sounded so delicious, and did not disappoint. For a snack, the plantain chips were perfect. A coriander and fennel sofrito accompanied them, - I have to confess to munching more than my fair share of these chips and dip. The spices in the Sangrias were perfect. Cinnamon for Erik, cloves for me.

The tamarind charred pork belly (with jalapeno, cashew, cauliflour ceviche) in a soft shell taco tempted Erik. A delicious but tiny serving, and Erik needed more sustinance,. He settled on the Eggplant with apple and peanut mole. This was served in a lettuce cup. Fortunately for Erik, he got to enjoy the majority of this meal, as I was replete from the Chicken Tinga Quesadillas, (with avocado, queso fresco, coriander and tomatillo salsa). I ordered another serving of the tomatillo salsa, and I also brought a bottle of the wonderful stuff to take home. It reminded me of a time when I was eating Frybread in New Mexico, and ordered 3 servings of the local green chilli sauce, because it was so yum.

By now our tastebuds were in heaven, and dessert beckoned. What to try, what to taste? Erik mentioned he didn't try any Churros while on the Tour Divide. WHAT! So we ordered the lot.

Churros and dark chocolate sauce

The table filled up with coconut granita, sweet corn icecream, spiced popcorn, sweet potato tart (made with piloncillo, a molasses tasting sugar), peanut icecream, candied seeds, churros, and chocolate sauce. Not sure what was the best, dipping the Churros into the coconut granita, or putting the popcorn in sweetcorn icecream.

04 February, 2015

No bruises, but I am still sore.

Four days later and I am still sore, but there are no bruises. An hour of jumping, falling, and trampolining with the urchins, has taken it's toll on my body, but hey, you only live once.

The foam pit was the best, but nearly impossible to get out. Rolling over the top of the foam worked the best. At one stage a small boy just had his feet showing, and his older brother had to pull him out.

The urchins challenged me to several races on the obstacle course. The winner wasn't me, and it was hard hot work crawling in the small spaces, trying to prevent the urchins getting in front. Thank goodness for water bottles. The urchins don't like the taste of Hamilton water.

Wall to wall trampolines were fantastic, and we chased each other, played tag, dodge ball, and had a fabulous time. An hour was long enough, and my body is thankful we didn't stay longer.