Fueled By Flapjacks: Who Ate All The Pie?

Fueled By Flapjacks

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Who Ate All The Pie?

"It's alive! It's alive!" Is what you might cry if you were a) a maniac who has watched one too many Frankenstein movies or b) just way too dramatic in expressing your surprise at a new post after such a long hiatus. What happened? I'm not sure. I think I just got lazy and abandoned it for my personal "anything" blog. But no more. Yet again I shall share with you the contents of my stomach. Before they reach my stomach. How considerate of me. Some of you, if I know you know me personally might be so lucky as to consume such gastronomical delights with me and for that you should feel oh so privileged. I don't just eat with random strangers you know. I carefully select my partners-in-feast. There is a rigorous selection process. In fact, you may have been subjected to an audition and not even know it. However, there are some partners-in-feast that are more skilled than others, and for this they have attained a certain level of excellence, a veritable prowess in the art of eating. There are very few requirements for this other than a) you can eat as much as me, therefore alleviating the feeling of being a "big pig" and b) you show an incredible amount of enthusiasm for the contents selected for consumption. Are you up to the challenge? Will you become the Number One Partner-In-Feast? Will you come up with a better name than Partner-In-Feast or PIF?

Alright, moving on. We'll start with my most recent feastage. This morning. For the last two weeks in a row I have had the pleasure of eating banoffee pie. This week was to be no different, for all week Derryn and I have been planning and very much looking forward to in a somewhat obsessive way, to our Banoffee Pie Eating Expedition or BPEE if you really like to make acronyms. The day of our BPEE finally arrived and we met up at The Coffee Club in Botany Town Centre at 11am. We arrived just in the knick of time. Our plans for banoffee pie eating were almost foiled by other greedy souls. There were only 3 slices left! And I find that I must correct myself for we were actually going to eat banoffee tart. As to what the difference between a pie and a tart is, I don't know.* I'm not an expert. Yet anyway. I wonder just how many pies and tarts you have to eat before becoming an "expert". I wonder if you can tell an expert in the a similar manner to how you can tell the age on a tree, but instead of rings in the trunk, you get number of extra inches in girth. Excessive pie eating is not conducive to skinniness.

Being in full glutton mode (which arguably is my default setting but can be controlled through much will power) I ordered not only the banoffee pie, but also pancakes and a long espresso. Derryn just went with the banoffee pie which she claims really made her full. Weakling. lol. Kidding. I love Derryn, my fellow banoffee tart/pie enthusiast.

We took a seat and waited for our orders. The tart and coffee came pretty quickly. Derryn politely waited awhile before digging in, but she did start before my pancakes arrived because they took an eternity as far as my desire is concerned. I left the tart for the "dessert" portion of my meal and patiently sipped on my blessed black elixir of life (neither scientifically proven nor a culturally revered belief, but asserted by coffee aficionado, *cough* addicts everywhere).

Due my current run in with the cold virus, my taste buds were a little muted.

Bow to the tart!

This tart is divine. Dulcet creamy banana-caramel with a nearly custard-like consistency inside a sweet, buttery pastry crust and topped with caramel, a lone pecan and a single crispy, baked banana slice. Served with a dollop of cream, which it doesn't really need because this tart needs nothing added to it. It can stand alone. I have indulged in it three times in three weeks. I may not be an expert on tarts, but I'm an expert on this particular tart. Derryn very much agreed with my affirmation of deliciousness. She still raves about the banoffee pie from Lone Star Cafe, which I have yet to meet and eat.

Banoffee Tart in all its glory prior to cutting and carnage (photo courtesy of Rocket Kitchen)

And now for the pancakes. Despite the name of my blog, I really haven't been consuming many pancakes lately. Very few pancakes stand up to my criteria for really good pancakes. Not that pancakes are ever bad, but I still crave a hefty serving of huge pancakes so fluffy that you expect them to just drift off your plate and into your mouth, which in such a mesmerized state would probably exhibit some sort of tractor-beam like pull. Still, the pancakes at The Coffee Club are good. You get just enough to live satisfied but not so much that you leave completely stuffed and unable to function for the rest of the day (though on occasion this is a totally awesome sensation). You get three pancakes, which judging by size really should be called hot cakes. They come with a ball of vanilla icecream, a dash of cream, a tiny crisp mini pikelet-waffle hybrid, lightly grilled banana, strawberries and maple syrup, all dusted with icing sugar. It hits the non-breakfast filled spot and fulfills my sugar cravings. It also looks beautiful. But having eaten the pancakes here many a time, I have to say, their presentation changes slightly every time. They added the strawberries for free. I only ordered the banana as an extra (you can also choose bacon and strawberries for an extra price).

Mmm... I love breakfast. Whether it be a stack of pancakes or a bowl of porridge, I heart it. It is one of the last things I think about before going to sleep and the first thing on my mind in the morning. It is my number one reason for getting up and I feel weird if I don't eat it immediately after rising. It's a major part of my morning routine. It's also a habit to be recommended. It kick starts your metabolism and gives you energy to start your day right. Breakfast is awesome.

Derryn and I also went grocery shopping after our feast. I was happy to see that New World has added an international section. I was very tempted to buy chocolate green tea Pocky, but I didn't. But boy, oh boy, was that Men's Chocolate Pocky tempting. What is it that makes this Pocky more suitable for men, I don't know, but I'm intrigued. Does it have a mystical ingredient that makes you sprout chest hair and manly strength? Maybe I should try it and find out, if I am so daring. I was intrigued enough to buy a bottle of Zenya green tea with pomegranate. It tastes like raspberry cordial. I don't have any memory of ever eating pomegranate so I can't actually compare it to the taste of pomegranates. It's yummy and healthy tea though and good if you don't like the taste of green tea because I could not taste it.

*According to Wikipedia, tart is a type of pie that is served upside so that the crust is only on the bottom. Thus a tart is anything that does not have a top crust.

The Coffee Club and New World - Botany Town Centre, Cnr. Ti Rakau & Te Irirangi Drives, Botany Downs, East Auckland

posted by Lauren @ 7:22 PM

1 Comments:

At 3:32 AM, Linda Jane said…

Thoroughly entertaining. And if I hadn't just scoffed a poor "breakfast" snack of oversized m&ms then I would be drooling for banoffee tart right now.