I honestly cannot believe how many WOAP places I have been to this year. I never planned to go to so many but have ended up going to quite a few places. So may next adventure was to Duke Carvell’s with my friend “Velma”. I was slightly apprehensive about going as this place is in the transition to new owners or now have new owners. “Velma” and I originally wanted to go to Restaurant 88 to try the Bahn mi burger but they are closed on Mondays. So we went up to Cuba street and decided upon having the three course meal at Dukes.
Flour-fried chicken with Duke’s hot sauce
I am slightly disappointed as this is found on the regular menu so nothing really special here. I have reviewed this before and again it was very good and had a good kick to it. However, I would like it a bit more crisper that they serve it.
Smokey and the Bandit
Smoked brisket patty with secret sauce, smoked Kāpiti cream cheese, Island Bay Butchery bacon and wild onion in a Duke’s housebaked steamed bun.
I was slightly disappointed with the presentation of this burger also the lack of chips that you also get with this burger. However, the chips were very nice, well seasoned and crisp. Overall the burger tasted very nice. The Bun was very good and had a good flavour to it and fresh. Was interesting to see wild onions / spring onions in a burger but made it very nice and gave it a different punch compared to onions. The pickles were very nice and crisp and the cheese was also very good. I ate the patty by it self and it was slightly on the tasteless side. However, with the special sauce it was very nice. The stand out was the bacon, as it was strong and crisp and when you add it with the rest of the burger it was fantastic.
Smashed Louise Slice: Biscuit crumb, jam and Gelissimo Gelato coconut sorbet
Again I was disappointed that this was on the set menu as this dish is also on the regular menu at Dukes. However, this is a very nice dessert. On the bottom is a slightly caramelised marshmallow like / fluffed egg white substance. Then there is the biscuit crumb of the louise cake. Also with the combination was the coconut sorbet sprinkle pinked coconut on top. Overall it worked very well and great to see a classic rejigged.
Overall the food at Duke Carvell’s is still very good, but will be interesting to see what happens. The burger was very good and again the same problem I have here as I had with The Besolin. A great burger, but nothing that excited me in terms of originality. So the same score as The Bresolin 8 out of ten.
Trencherman's Travels 