One of the reasons that this blog has fallen into a slight decline posting frequency wise is the fact that I have relocated to New Zealand, but a recent revival and upcoming potato cake season (i.e. Summer) has seen this turn around, something I’m sure our loyal and unwavering audience (i.e. my mum) is thrilled by.
New Zealand has a lot of things that trumps Australia. Snow capped mountains and breathtaking views every 5 minutes (a little more sparse in Australia), speeding and parking tickets don't break the bank quite so much, there are about 10 flavours of hummus in every brand in every supermarket, the cheese here is amazing and when you do order a potato cake – of potato fritter as they are commonly called here - you can amuse yourself during that agonising wait by chucking to yourself that you’re in a “fush and chup” shop.
There are pitfalls too. The main one being that NZ just does not seem to get potato cakes. Their fish and chip shops have much to their credit - far more fish varieties and offer about 3 types of chips to boot - usually standard potato, agria potato and kumra chips. Agria chips are brilliant! Kumra chips too, when done right. But they don’t get potato cakes at all. I’ve been to one shop that does a semi-decent one so far and yet I’d take a smith street 3am potato cake over that any day of the week. So when in NZ, fish lovers rejoice, chip lovers revel in the variety but poor potato cake lovers - prepare for your waistline to be the only happy thing.
So I’d heard a lot about PJ’s fish and chips in Queenstown – allegedly best in NZ - and was excited to see if they had a potato cake option (due to the lack of understanding of potato cake art, many NZ fish and chipperies do not even sell them!). I got to PJ’s and not only do they sell potato cakes but their menu states “potato cake” rather than potato fritters. I began to get excited, it was like finally coming home if only in a deep fried, salty potato package. When my cake was delivered to me, it looked like this:
Presentation, tick. Complimentary tomato sauce, I didn’t even have to ask. I could see the salt on the surface, but it had not been over applied. Finally! Also note the very NZesque can of L&P in the background
The batter was fantastic. FANTSTIC! I think this is why people rave about their fish so much, these guys have batter down to a tee. But my potato cake was too thick, as you can see, and it was undercooked. But I prevailed for a while, hoping it would get better. But maybe 1/3 through the batter layer separated from the thick undercooked potato layer, and liquid started running into my hands, into the bowl. It appeared to be water mixed with oil, trapped in the cake. In an attempt to stop my sleeves from getting wet I grabbed some napkins even in all the flurry dropped the remainder of my potato cake. I wasn’t upset though, because the inside was so average. It’s such a shame.
It was the only bad thing to say about the whole establishment, my dining mate's fish was excellent and they staff have been lovely on both occasions I have visited. You couldn’t ask for a more picturesque setting than beautiful Queenstown
Verdict 3/10.
