Purpose Just Tastes Different
Following Taste, Finding More
Noki | Christchurch, New Zealand
For the third time in 36 hours I found myself dining on Papanui Road in the sleepy town of Christchurch, New Zealand. Every once and a while I find a place in my research, that I’m all but certain will be as memorable as it is delicious. Call it a hunch, a gut feeling.
I hadn’t looked at Noki’s menu before I arrived. Not because I believe all brunch menus are essentially the same. They most definitely are not. There was simply no need to complicate what seemed like a very easy decision to take Saturday brunch right here.
Travel has taught me over the years that a good brunch spot invariably pulls off the classics with effortless grace but a great brunch spot blows the doors off classics with inventive style and spunk.
One of my first thoughts as I poured over its creative, diverse and globally inspired menu was thank heavens I went for a morning run. My eyes darted around the room, sneaking peaks of one jaw-dropping plate after another. My appetite roared awake.
I placed my order at the counter for the Noki Benny with Chadolbaegi (thinly sliced soy and garlic marinated beef brisket). It was served over crispy potato hashbrowns, drizzled in just the right amount of Tom Yum – yes Tom Yum – hollandaise and seasoned with their house-made Kimchi furikake. Then my eyes drifted to the bakery case just to my right. I actually gasped at its contents – croissants, muffins, and these SCONES. Without inner debate, I added on a toasted and buttered kimchi scone to my order because, well, why the hell not?!
I was giddy for the food to arrive.
When it did, I tasted one explosively delicious bite after another trying with all my might not to moan and groan my way through this fantastic, truly fantastic twist on eggs benedict. The scone was pure savory perfection. I may not have been expecting to have a blend of Korean, Japanese and Thai for breakfast but I couldn’t have been happier where Taste, my compass had led me.
There are places we eat and then there are places we taste. I can’t help but believe the difference-making ingredient is how much soul goes into every bite. Noki didn’t just make good on its promise to provide a blend of comfort and flavor, it put taste on the breakfast table in a way that would forever be impossible to forget.
Purpose, just tastes different.
