Food of the Long White Cloud

Should you ever be in New Zealand and feeling hungered I can throughly recommend these little corners of joy:

Flying Burrito Brothers, Cuba Street, Wellington
Gram Parsons should rise from his grave for this Mexican which offers smarter than the average fare. Great choices (for vegetarians and omnivores alike), fresh and tangy tasting sauces and a cool hardcover drinks menu that reads like a 1850's bible on booze and voodoo.

Dexarelli's Pizza, Westport
Bloke from Dubbo who lives in New Zealand and runs a lovely authentic 1970's pub with the original beer pumps and has a pizza oven at the end of the bar. The clever bit? Pizzas are cheaper if you eat them in - so stay, have chat with the clientèle, play a few games and enjoy a brew with a tasty pizza.

Red Star Luxury Burgers, Wanaka
Wandered in on a random Tuesday arvo and found a normal looking take-away nicely decorated with old pulp fiction book covers and cool music in the background. Fantastic selection of burgers for all tastes and meat-eating persuasions which left a nice sauce moustache on both of us. Not too expensive either compared to the prices that were seemingly increasing the closer we got to Queenstown

Vespa Designs and Cafe, Queenstown
Hope I got this right; I didn't write it down at the time as I wandered away in a satisfied cheese-roll induced fog towards the mini-golf. Vespa is a cafe and design shop based in the oldest cottage in Queenstown down by Lake Wakatipu in the main town. It was here that we discovered the $2.50 joys of the cheese roll - a South Island speciality involving a slice of bread, a slice of cheese, some onion soup mix and a toastie machine. Three should fill you up for the morning - make sure you get the grainy bread. We enjoyed our cheesey comestibles and coffee inside a greenhouse, which isn't something you do everyday (unless you're a pensioner).

Champagne Cafe, Struthers Lane, Christchurch
The only place I've ever been decorated with wallpaper inside and outside. Lush little cupboardy kind of place hidden under the adjacent Yellow Cross pub but is far better for atmosphere and service. I'm not very good at indulging myself (or parting with money) but was glad I did here. Shared a highly likeable cheese platter which was topped up for free, washed down with a mandarin gin cocktail. La di da me. Nice though but...