[T2DMan]

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Contact Details:
62 Manchester Street
Feilding
Ph. 0-6-323 5672

[sfmenz@gmail.com]

Had been to Feilding previously and may have had expectations a bit high upon being repeatedly reminded about how it was Town of the Year for most of the past millenium. Accordingly, we became a bit intimidated by the various upscale or pseudo-upscale dining establishments. All we wanted was a not-pre-packaged or fast-food lunch - but not a dining experience or $ 4 latte's.

Upon entering Mummie's Café, I may have been a bit slow on the uptake at the unimposing though ubiquitous decor, having thought the name was a down-home, maternal reference rather than the sometimes weird (a poster of Brendan Frasier's The Mummy Returns) Egyptian motif; but the emphasis was low-key and not annoying.

It was early afternoon, mid-week, and there was only one other couple waiting to be served, and upon approaching the counter a very friendly lady appeared from the kitchen (replacing the ominous-looking seven-year-old at the cash register) and took our order from the overhead menus (which we may have preferred to gave seen posted outside, first, rather than 'drawing us in unawares'). Notwithstanding, in addition to the various fuller meals, toasties and standards (hot dogs, chips, etc), we chose from the half-dozen-strong Mummie Burger Menu (@ $7.00 ea).

First out of the kitchen, though, was the Today's Special Soup w/ toast. Being of the associated ethnic pursuasion, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on the Chicken Noodle Soup. Unpresupposing in it's half-litre serving mug along with it's perfectly, lightly toasted half-baguette 'toast' (almost dripping in a lightly salted butter), I can only describe the soup as being the 2nd best I've had in NZ ('best' being reservefd for my own). The only thing missing were matzoh balls. The only drawback was that it was so hot that we had to wait for it to cool instead of diving in.

Next came our Turkey & Bacon w/ lettuce and tomato on white toast and the Steak 'n Onion 'n Cheese on a 'bun' (a rather textur-y hamburger roll). I think the best description of both is that they were exactly as advertised (and thus, exactly what one might have expected) - no corriander, no sardine flakes, no capsicum niçoise, no weird hollandaise medly. Both were served hot, fresh and quite good.

Admittedly, accompaniments were a bit sparse (well . . . there weren't any), and being from a different hemisphere, I still can't understand the national affinity of calling canadian bacon (or ham) "bacon". The rest of the civilized world knows that the only bacon on a sandwich is what you call 'streaky bacon'. The only drinks were those in the freezer (though there was a diverse assortment of sodas & juices) and amazingly, noisily prepared coffees (must have been that latte being foamed).

The only nominally distracting aspect of the whole experience was that between the soup and the arrival of our sandwiches, we seemed to have more-than-ample time (in the virtually deserted dining area) to wonder where the chef had gone - in search of a Turkey, perhaps ?

In any case, after being continually challanged to find, un-trendy. un-posh, simple-meal venues (particularly in Feilding) where the fair wasn't pre-packed in either styrofoam or plastic-wrap, Mummie's Café was a pleasant surprise. I can only hope that next time, we choose a table at which we won't be stared at by Brendan Fraser and The Rock.

Oh - and a belated 'Thanks' to the staff who had disappeared as we were exiting, leaving us no alternative than this revue to express our appreciation.