Sunday Funday

 My Husband and I had decided to have a date night last Sunday and ventured into Bedford Meatballs, which is still kinda new in Auckland and is situated in a side lane with other restaurants next to it. Surprisingly they were not as busy as expected so we got a table as soon as we entered (Wohoo!).

The setting is pretty American with the vintage industrial bar stools with swivel seats, soft brown leather seats and beautiful incandescent light bulbs above seating areas. Bliss. We were served quickly and were offered the drink menus and dinner menus where we tick our choice of meat, sauce, and base (spaghetti, mash, polenta, risotto, and special that changes regularly).

The drinks menu was phenomenal! On trend with the whole soda thing happening everywhere and alcoholic floats mmmmmmmmm. I decided to try the non-alcoholic Dr Pepper float and my Husband had the mandarin mango with lemon honey and ginger soda, which is handcrafted (fancy). We went all out and decided to have appetizers as well as mains, which were the BBQ pork ribs and the onion rings with jalapeno cheese sauce. Our mains were both chicken meatballs but I had it on polenta with spicy tomato and parmesan cheese sauce ($1 extra for additional sauce) and the hubby went for a sub with spicy tomato sauce.

Drinks came first followed shortly by all our orders which was handy for taking photos! I must say, the ribs were so soft and juicy while also having a whole lot of flavour, it was amazing! The onion rings were on point too, perfect for a Sunday winter treat. We stared at our mains, trying to figure out how to tackle them. They may look small in the photos, but man, is it deceitful! The meatballs were quite decent in size, well cooked with both sauces being super delicious and the sub baguette was soft enough to bite into while also not getting soggy. Bonus.

The taste of the meatballs however, quite heavily infused with fennel which made it hard to eat on its own and needed a lot of sauce with each bite. As the dish got slightly cooler, the stronger the fennel got. I was quite surprised as to how strong it was and couldn’t finish my meal. With this being the only setback, I would rate 3.5/5 for the menu, since the meatballs are meant to be the star of the show. The service was top notch and can’t be faulted. With the total bill coming in with less than $70, I would say the value you receive for going to a rather trendy place, with great service is hard to find sometimes, hence 4.5/5.

We would definitely make our way back. As long as the meatballs are toned down.

PS. I am no expert in evaluating food so these ratings are only for those who may want to know how we had personally experienced.