Meanderings

The Cottage - Ma'ufanga

Posted by: Samiuela LV Taufa on October 31, 2005 3:59:14 PM

Amazing what you can get for a meal, when you pay ?

So, went with 'Ofa and Sisitoutai to have lunch on Saturday at The Cottage, a renovated house turned restaurant in Ma'ufanga. Possibly unfortunate location for traffic, that it is hidden on one of the residential side roads (one street out from the International Dateline) but the setting definitely adds value for the visitors in that the dinery is off the main road/traffic and in a very quiet neighbourhood.

Mum and Dads meal - Chicken Burger a la fat

The restaurant itself is a converted two story house with the ground floor dedicated to the restaurants service which includes the dining area, kitchen and a large indoor play area stocked with toys for 1 ~ 5 year olds. Have any kids ?

The decor is 'garden' motif ? which blends well with a well kept garden. Interestingly, it is the first place where I've seen the garden 'tied' back (whatever the technical term is for that.)

So, the atmosphere is great, the breeze from the ocean actually makes it down the narrow / quiet street straight to the balcony where we sat. Outside is this neat garden, with all those Tongan plants and imported seeded stuff, although I'm not into plants here so I can't tell whether they were top grade or not.

Beyond the garden is a challenging neighborhood facade of Victorian(?) era wooden buildings. Or, buildings that seem to date back to the Copra shipping/plantation era, raised 4 feet off the ground on cement blocks and making the whole atmosphere more 'gentle' than the mad hectic life of parenting two discpline 'challenged' kids.

The Meal

Sisitoutai's Choice - Fish Fingers The luncheon menu was pretty good, and we ended up selecting the Fish Fingers plate for Sisitoutai while mum & dad selected the Chicken Burger. The 1st thing to notice is that the menu is quite reasonable, and a whole lot cheaper than the up-up-market Luna Rossa/Waterfront, but the food was great none-theless.

Selecting a burger should have been a warning that 'burgers' by normal definition means fat, and fisher fingers is a fried thing, so it just goes to highlight that Tonga has not a market for Vegetarians unless you just keep picking the 'chef's salad.'

The Chicken burger seemed to use a home-made quasi chicken patti which was good in that it wasn't something just out of the super-market shelves, but I think it also ensures a better sit on your burger and easier to munch on. The patti is not completely grounded to tiny mint chicken, so you still get the taste and texture of the chicken pieces (if you can taste it over the fat and any other ingredients you add manually like heaps of tomatoe sauce.)

I'd have to ask 'Ofa for more documentation on the taste of the Fish Fingers chips, but she did say it tastes real good. She was 'mamaring' Sisitoutai's food so I'm not sure whether she was eating more than I was, or not.