We’re back! After a long break overseas during Christmas and New Year, we are now back in Auckland and looking forward to continuing to bring you restaurant reviews from around the city.
Nanam first opened its doors in March 2015, serving up authentic Filipino cuisine.It started out at the night markets in Auckland and eventually graduated to a permanent premises in Royal Oak.
A cosy, yet inviting space – the interior of Nanam was designed by the owners and is a fusion of modernity and traditional Filipino. Meaning ‘delicious’ in Filipino, this restaurant certainly lives up to its name!
We started with the Longganisa which consisted of grilled Wagyu beef mince in a peanut sauce and garnished with a pickled radish slaw served in a Tortilla.
The Adobo Croquettas were soft and filled with a pulled lamb shoulder, bayleaf potatoes and a Vietnamese mint creme fraiche dip.
We continued with the Sumon Po which was a blend of kaffir lime rice wrapped in nasturtium leaves. This was served with a crab mayonnaise and crispy caramelised shallots.
One of Nanam’s signature dishes is the Taco + Siapao = TacoPao. Sticky pulled pork, Nanam’s signature red coloured steamed buns, pork chicharron, homemade pickles and peanuts make for a messy but fun ‘build your own bun’ experience. Probably making the top 3 of the best pork buns in Auckland!
It’s easy to get carried away!
The beef brisket consisted of skirt steak served medium rare with Nanam salsa verde, charred shallots and a sorrel butter, our favorite main on the night!
We had the chance to try out the Kare-Kare made from a base of stewed oxtail, with pak-choi, simple version of the original Kare-Kare who is mixing oxtail with pork hocks, calves feet, pig feet, beef stew meat with a thick savory peanut sauce. This was a good option for a start! (This might not be on the menu anymore but could come back?)
Look out for the special veggies of the night, they are really tasty and goes well on the side of your main! Roasted courgettes with sun-dried tomatoes, a success!
This beef dish we sampled the first night we came to Nanam before they changed the menu was the Inasal beef. Chargrilled Wagyu bavette marinated in Lemongrass and Annato served with Jus, butternut puree, pandan crème fraiche and Atchara (Green paw paw pickle) was a great mix of sweet and sour flavours with tender beef and a delightful kick from the Atchara. We hope it will be back on the menu soon!
Nanam is a great neighbourhood eatery and if we lived in Royal Oak we’d be more than happy to have this on our doorstep! It’s also a fantastic introduction to Filipino food if you haven’t tried it before – we urge you to go now. You won’t be sorry!
Nanam
126 Symonds Street
Royal Oak
Auckland
Tel: 09 625 6558
To see more reviews ->
