Ulog 1 - A family birthday dinner – and a brand new silver stacker!

You know how I’ve been very lucky lately with three lovely silver wins? Well, yesterday was an opportunity to pay it forward.

You may not know that @sift666 and I don’t have any children of our own but do have eight nieces and nephews. Our youngest nephew turned 20 yesterday, and what better 20th birthday present than something to start his own silver stack? Not something we only have one of, of course, but we thought he’d like a pretty American Eagle. He did! He liked it very much.

Not a lot more that can be said about that, but I do want to talk about his birthday dinner.

We went to what has to be one of Wellington’s oldest restaurants, as I remember going there in the 80’s and it’s exactly the same! It’s called Genghis Khan and it’s a Mongolian barbeque restaurant. Most places in Wellington, you’d be lucky to get just a main for $26, but here you get unlimited soup (chicken and corn), unlimited BBQ and a dessert for $26.

How the BBQ works is:

• Grab a bowl.
• Fill it with noodles and/or your choice of fresh veges (onion, carrot, cabbage, cauli, broccoli, tomato, bean sprouts or all of them)
• Top it with your choice of meat(s): chicken, lamb, beef, pork or a mixture
• Ladle some seasonings over the top, such as garlic, ginger, chilli, lemon water, cooking wine, soy sauce, curry powder
• Hand your bowl to one of the chefs who will toss it onto the large gas powered grill, stir it round with some enormous chopstick like things for a minute or so, then toss it back into your bowl
• If desired, top with more sauces such as sweet & sour or satay
• Go back as many times as desired

We were enchanted to see that the drinks menu included a list of cocktails, also right out of the 80’s and only $9.50 each. Cocktails are much more sophisticated now, and usually much more expensive, so it was fun to see a list that included:

• Black Russian
• Bloody Mary
• Harvey Wallbanger
• Tequila Sunrise
• Fluffy Duck
• Daiquiri
• Margarita
• Golden Dream
• Grasshopper
• And Pina Colada

I ordered a Golden Dream (galliano, cointreau, orange and cream) after also seriously considering a Fluffy Duck or a Pina Colada, and it was yum. My niece went for a grasshopper (crème de menthe, crème de cacao and cream) but didn’t like it, so I had that too. More alcohol than I’ve had all year! Everybody else happily hoovered down their Black Russians, Harvey Wallbangers and Pina Coladas.

The dessert menu included such classics as banana fritter & ice cream, lychees & ice cream, smoking chocolate ice cream (with a glass of dry ice underneath it), chocolate mousse and deep fried ice cream.

There were 10 of us at a big round table – my brother and sister in law, the two oldest boys with their partners, the birthday boy, his sister and the two of us. So it was a fun, lively gathering.

The birthday boy with his two big brothers and mum in the background.

One of the brothers’ partners ordered a banana fritter, but wasn't quite expecting this!

If you’re in Wellington, or visiting, and don’t want to break the bank, I highly recommend the Genghis Khan for a fun night out with a group. Go early though. We booked for 6.30pm and managed to get our food before it got too busy. Later on, the queues were a lot longer!

After dinner, we went to his brother’s place for birthday cake, presents and coffee. All in all, a most enjoyable family night out, but I did indulge in several things I wouldn’t normally, so ate more sparsely today!

Thanks for reading

Images 1-3 from the Genghis Khan website, 4 from Pixabay, 5-6 by @sift666.

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