Morrison Street Cafe Gallery

Award Winning Cafe Gallery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have visited New Zealand many times over the last ten years and always pay a few visits to this wonderful cafe gallery.  Morrison Street Cafe  is in central Nelson and draws crowds from tourists to locals who come for the wonderful food and to see the new local art exhibitions. This place has got just about everything right and has actually won awards for the last eight years naming it the best cafe in the region. If you check it out on Trip Advisor you will see that my gushing recommendation is not out of place. Why are all cafes not this good?

Excellent coffee

Firstly, the coffee is excellent and the food and drinks of the highest quality. Everything is baked daily on the premises and displayed with great attention to detail. Snacks and meals are beautifully presented and delivered by attentive staff. The place is friendly and totally informal with mixed areas of seating and masses of quality papers and magazines to browse ... and the walls are covered in art! The exhibition changes every three weeks and is always exciting.

Local school children's art

Serving station

Casual seating areas

Good home baking

Yummy cakes

Brilliant breakfasts

Good simple food

The outdoor eating area (usually in the sun) overlooks the weekly market and a 'Fashion Island' of tasteful shops and cafes. Iced water is always available and local wines, beers and soft drinks are quickly delivered. They even produce a cookery book and recipe blog to enable you to recreate your own favourite recipes.

Popular Afghan biscuits

A happy lunch here introduced me to Lamb Borek, a filo pastry filled delight originally from Turkey but apparently now popular throughout middle eastern countries. It is a simple dish to make and oh so delicious. Here is the recipe ...







                 Lamb Borek





Ingredients:

Filo pastry
Minced lamb
Parsley
Garlic
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Lemon juice
Egg
Butter

Method:

Fry the minced lamb in a little oil
Add the finely chopped parsley, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper and mix well
Continue cooking until well browned and dry
Add lemon juice to taste
Cool
Add the beaten egg and again mix well
The mixture should now be dry and slightly spiced
Now add more finely chopped parsley
Season well

Lay the filo pastry out  - each sheet should be folded into two
Place meat mix on pastry and roll and fold into a thick cigar shape
Tuck all ends in well and put on baking sheet with join underneath
Brush with melted butter and bake until golden and crispy all over



I have purposely left out quantities as this can be adapted for number required.
A vegetarian option can be made in the same fashion by substituting feta cheese and spinach for the meat and adding chopped sun dried tomatoes.
I served these with taboulleh and hummus and with a mango chutney

Very chilled cafe culture
Artist unknown
Via google