Toru

I'm kind of in a food coma as I write this. It is early Sunday evening, I'm wrapped up in a cuddly blankie with my favorite pooch and I may or may not be watching reruns of Felicity from the early 90s.  Ahhh guilty pleasure. 

But what I want to tell you about was this fantastic breakfast I had last Sunday. Or a series of breakfast(s).  I got up early, it was sunny, and I had this relatively awesome run through the suburbs which involved hills and amazing views. Life was good.  Then I met the lovely Sok and we spent an hour or so trawling the Avondale Sunday markets for fresh fruit and veggies, exotic herbs and delicious baked treats. Even though we were meeting friends for brunch we had to stop at Crumblicious as the treats looked so sweet. We shared a caramel topped cinnamon brioche which was spicy and sweet with a crunchy finish. Yum!*

A quick zip across the city in Sok's zippy new car and we were at Ponsonby Central to brunch with friends. It was busy, which was a good thing, and so after a short wait we grabbed a table at Toru and set about trying to eliminate choices from the menu. With delicious looking pies and sandwiches coming out of the kitchen it was tough to stick to the brunch options.  Deciding to be brave I chose the chicken livers, served atop brioche with a confit of leek in Pedro Ximenez with pancetta and roast apple. The livers were rich, the leek creamy, the pancetta crispy and salty, the apple a little bit tart and a little bit sweet. It was a perfect balance, just teetering on too much, barely pulled back from the brink by the fresh cress, tomatoes and the coffee on the side.

I very nearly chose the pork belly eggs benedict. Two of my favourite brunch things on one plate! Luckily Wil chose it so I was able to try a mouthful or two of the succulent pork belly, the creamy hollandaise. He also ordered a side of black pudding which is becoming something of a tradition, but I'm not complaining. This was the best black pudding I've tasted; I'll be enjoying this again sometime for sure. 

I also very nearly chose the french toast.  Of late I've been finding it hard to choose between a sweet or savoury breakfast. On this occasion it was worse than most, the pineapple curd, lime and coconut were not making the choice easy. Luckily Tash was kind enough to share a forkful with me and I vowed to return to have this dish all to myself, it's that good!

A quinoa bircher with persimmon and chestnuts, ricotta pancake with salted caramel butter, Waikanae crab omelet and polenta with bacon hock also all called my name, but no one at the table ordered these so I'm left in suspense. The next page over was filled with meals, sandwiches and pie from Scratch Bakers so we're all in agreement that we'll be back. Till next time Toru!

Toru can be found at Ponsonby Central, 136-138 Ponsonby Road, Auckland

*I took the peanut brittle and the raspberry chocolate slice home for later and they were even more delicious!