Lamb-tastic

It's my last night in New Zealand and - skydiving cancellation notwithstanding - I've gotta do it up. But before getting on the piss, it's necessary to build up a buffer - especially when there's a morning airport shuttle pickup at stake.

Foregoing the local delicacy of "fush & chups" (yes, that's how these freaks pronounce it...) I tracked down a place that serves lamb chops on the cheap. Now typically, going for cheap lamb isn't a good idea. If the sheep's too old, it's gamey. If it's cooked wrong, it's smelly. But in a country where sheep outnumber people 10:1, it's pretty hard to go wrong. In fact, they have their means of classifying sheep by age, where lamb is proper lamb (baby), the gamey crap that's called lamb by American standards is middle-aged (hogget), and the smelly old stuff (mutton) isn't eaten by anyone.

I sat down for my plate of baby sheep on-the-bone at the Gourmet Express Diner, a casual joint modeled after the typical American diner. There's barstool seating, red booths, and oldies on the stereo, but that's where the similarities end. This place is far too classy and stylish to be a diner. Seriously, at what diner at home can you get a succulent plate of lamb chops with a highly regarded glass of wine?

Needless to say, dinner was great. Followed by a shot of short black (Weird terms for espresso in the southern hemisphere, I tell ya!), my tummy has almost forgotten about the severe lack of high-velocity falling it was expecting.