Takeout stakeout

IN: Pedro’s is a recent arrival to central city takeaway options — but there aren’t that many options on the menu. It’s a Christchurch import that does just one thing — and it does that thing really, really well. Their export quality lamb shoulders have been slow cooked for six hours to melting perfection, served with deliciously soft and salty scalloped potatoes. The four of us — two adults and two kids — showed up after a long Friday evening swim, and were completely famished. So we ordered a whole lamb shoulder and potatoes ($45) plus a salad and small bread sticks. They’re on Uber, but not in Te Atatu, so we picked our order up.

OUT: Arrive during a quiet spot in Pedro’s evening and you’ll get the full story of how the Christchurch eatery kicked off in the 1980s but was irreparably damaged in the quakes. A food truck was born, serving their most popular dish: slow cooked lamb and potatoes. Now, Pedro’s has four outlets: in Auckland, two in Christchurch and one in Queenstown. You can watch as they prepare your order, pulling a lamb shoulder out of the oven, serving it next to the scalloped potatoes, and sprinkling herbs over it all. You’ll want to devour it on the spot.

THE TAKEOUT: Once home, we couldn’t wait to peel off the lid of the tinfoil tray and dish this up. We were hungry, for sure, but the smells were intoxicating. I had a huge plateful, then went back for seconds. An hour later, I had thirds, spooning the lamb and salad into one of those bread rolls. Everyone agreed it was delicious, a huge meal, and good value for money. The salad is pretty basic so expanding on those options would be nice. And we grabbed some aioli from the fridge to squeeze into those rolls. But if you’re going to Pedro’s, you’re going for the lamb, and it doesn’t disappoint.