The Bowling Club - Dunedin

We’d love to have you around for LOADED CHIPPIES for dinner! Our kitchen team is busy washing & slicing 325 kilos of chips for tonight, so there is PLENTY of kai to go around. 🥔

We’re seasoning our fries with garlic, paprika & cumin. They’ll be served up with our nacho ‘mince,’ sweet chilli sour cream, & a side of carrot salad in a yoghurt dressing. 🥕

For dessert, Ash is making GORGEOUS sweet cinnamon steamed buns. They’re filled with our house-made Nutella & served with custard! 😋

Last night, a kind woman came over for dinner & explained that she always “feels guilty coming” because she feels as if she’s taking away kai from someone who may need it more. “But I love the food,” she said, “so I keep coming anyways.” 〰️

We are SO grateful for each & every one of you who comes over to support us. The point of the bowling club is to be a gathering space for ALL people. Our business relies on people with means coming over & paying a bit extra when they can, the majority of people paying $4 for their meals, and also people paying nothing at all & simply having a good feed. ♥️

We always have HEAPS of kai to share around here, so no one is taking away from anyone. We’re all simply enjoying kai, space & togetherness. It’s an honour to share in it all with you. Thank you. 🫶🏼

It’s been a slow week around here. It’s our final night FINALE for the week, and we would sooo appreciate a nice & busy night for anyone who is free & keen for some loaded CHIPPIES. 🥔

See you bowlers from 3:30 to 8pm. 🥳 🥣

There’s no queue around here & we’ve got MEATBALL SUBS galore to share ♥️

You’ve gotta build them yourself, but we’ll serve you up our vegetarian meatballs in a tomato sauce, garlic & herb bread & a buttermilk coleslaw. 🥬

For dessert, we’ve got apple & cinnamon cheesecake, and a banana cake with coffee icing. We’d love to see you around and have your support! 🥣💛

Ooo we are very excited about today’s meal! 🥳

It was Rosie’s idea to make MEATBALL SUBS, so we know it’s gonna be a hit! Rosie works in the kitchen each morning, making about 1,000 meals each day. Even though we don’t open until 3:30, the kitchen crew starts working at 8am (and sometimes even earlier) to be ready on time. We are so grateful for all of Rosie’s expertise & energy 💥

So today, you can build your own meatball sub! We’re serving our vegetarian meatballs smothered in a tomato sauce, alongside a fresh-baked Italian & herb sub. A rich cheese is sauce drizzled on top of the meatballs, and a buttermilk dressing coleslaw on the side. 🍅 🥬

For dessert, cinnamon & apple cheesecake! And, yesterday’s scrumptious banana layer cake with coffee icing. 🍌 🍎

Today is also MENDSDAY WEDNESDAY with Gabby. Bring any worn wear or items that need stitching up, and Gabby can help you out. Koha is greatly appreciated. Gabby, the speedy seamster, will be here from about it 430 to 8pm.🧵 🪡

And, we could use your help! It’s been a slow start back after our break. If you can remind your friends that we’re open as normal again, we’d really love that! We still have 6 free frozen kai parcels that we hope to get to the Kaikorai & Brockville area this arvo. If you’re heading that way and are keen to help deliver, please check out our deliveries board when you come in or simply let us know. Thank you for all your care, everyone! ♥️

We hope to see you this afternoon! We’re open 3:30 to 8pm 🥣

We hope today’s kai makes you as happy as flowers make us! 🌸 💐🌼🌷🌺

We’ve got our classic veggie fried rice for you all tonight, served up with cashew satay sauce & our version of bing, a Chinese-style crispy pancake filled with spring onions. 🍚 🥕 🥬

For dessert, we have two options for you! Today’s banana cake with coffee icing or yesterday’s blueberry crumble bars with lemon curd. Or, why not both! 🍌 🫐

Merekara from Massage Serenity and Healing will also be here for koha chair massages in honour of Mental Health Awareness week, until about 530pm. 💛

Per usual, we have fresh fruit smooooothies. This week’s flavour is black currant, pear, kiwifruit & banana! And, our house made muesli! Two flavours: fruit & honey, or ginger & turmeric. 🥣

And everyday, we have macaroni & cheese! 🧀

We’d love to see you around 🌸🌼

We’re open until 8pm. 💛

It was a slow first-night-back last night, so we still have 36 free frozen kai parcels that we would love your help delivering this afternoon! 🚙

The parcels are packed with a variety of meals for people who can’t make it to the bowling club who are in need of kai. It’s an honour to nourish our community together. We couldn’t do it without you, thank you. ♥️

And for dinner tonight! We have our classic fried rice! It’s served with BING (a Chinese-style thin bread filled with spring onions), and cashew nut satay sauce. 😋

For dessert, Ash is baking up banana layer cakes with coffee icing. And! We have leftover blueberry crumble bars with lemon curd that we are chuffed to eat again (and we hope you are too). 🩵

We’d love to see you all around for kai & deliveries tonight! We’re open 3:30 to 8pm 🥣

It’s slow around here, and we’d love for it to be ROLLIN’ like our yummy spring rolls 😏

There’s no queue around here, and plenty of room & kai for YOU 🌟

We’re open until 8pm. 💛

A sunny day with sunny kai & sunny people (like you). We’re open again and so chuffed about having you back around. We’re open until 8pm 🌞🌞🌞🌞

We also have HEAPS of free frozen kai parcels to deliver around Ōtepoti & we’d love your help if you can! Check out our deliveries board when you come in to see if there are locations near you 🚙 🥣 🩵

Welcome back to the bowling club, everyone! We are very excited to have all your energy in our space today! 🥳

We are open as normal again, 3:30 to 8pm, and today we’re serving up SPRING ROLLS! They’re filled with carrot, leek, celery, ginger, sesame & rice noodles. On the side, we have a broccoli & brown rice salad for you, tossed with a Sichuan pepper aioli dressing. And a kūmara & sweet chilli sauce to dip everything into! 🥕

For dessert, Southland blueberry & orange crumble bars with lemon curd ooowee!🫐 🍊 🍋

We have 100+ free frozen kai parcels to deliver around Ōtepoti today, so come on by & take a peek at our delivery board if you’re keen to help us share kai with those who can’t make it here to the bowling club. 💛

Thank you for all your support, everyone! See you soon! 🥣

TOMORROW we are open again ❗️

We are reminding you MANY times because we’d love to see you around! 🩵

I’ve dreamt about opening back up again. In the dream, we have LOTS of kai, but no one shows up. 😬

I know dreams aren’t real because I’ve also had a dream where everything in the world looks normal, but when I touch it, EVERYTHING feels like steamed potatoes. 😂

Thankfully, after this break, I don’t feel like my life is being overcome by potatoes. Thank you all for cheering us on to take a break. 🥔

Truly though, we’d love to share tomorrow with you. 🥣 ♥️

Tomorrow is also a free frozen kai delivery day! We have 100+ parcels to share around Ōtepoti 🚙

We’ll be open as normal this week! Monday to Thursday 3:30 to 8pm 🥳

TOMORROW we are open again ❗️

And for now, we’re sharing a SAVE THE DATE for an upcoming bingo fundraiser in two weeks ❗️

🌟 Our friend Maria of Two Fat Ladies Bingo Mobile Fundraisers is organising a Bingo night to help support the Bowling Club 💛

🌟 Friday, October 4th

🌟 The event will be held at St Clair Golf Club Inc.

🌟 Doors open at 6:15. First number called at 7pm.

🌟 Maria reckons this to going to be a sell out event. If you wish to reserve your seat for this event please email [email protected] with your name, cell number and the number attending. You will be sent a txt confirmation which will be your entry to this event.

🌟 Our bowling club team & whanau will be there bingo’ing the night away!

🌟 Our team is also contributing some FUN auction prizes, including a grand prize of a dinner party for up to 30 people (great for business of big family event!).

🌟 Other bowling club auction prizes include smaller fine dining dinner parties, a behind the scenes bowling club experience, & FREE DESSERT FOR A YEAR!

🌟 Bingo books will be sold on the night.

🌟 10 games of fun, super-house and raffles galore!

🌟 If you wish to donate raffle prizes for this event please email [email protected] for collection.

🌟 Please note it’s free to register for this event.

We can’t wait to see you TOMORROW & we hope to bingo with you all on Friday, October 4th. Thank you for all your support, everyone! 💛

2️⃣ days until we’re open again ❗️

A special relaxation treat is coming for you THIS Tuesday the 24th thanks to Merekara. She is a masseuse & a friend of the Bowling Club! She’s keen to support the community through sharing koha chair massages. 🌟

Liam is CHUFFED about the upcoming relaxation. And we hope you are too 🎉

Here are all the details from Merekara ⬇️

—

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Merekara fromMassage Serenity and Healingg will be offering Chair Massage on Tuesday 24th of September at The Bowling Club. The Theme of the day is Tautoko Tuesday.

Benefits of massage include: Improved overall sense of well-being, relief in muscle tension, stress relief, clarity of mind and improved focus.

Massage has also been shown to boost endorphins and oxytocin, initiatives like this can encourage self-care. An incredible thing to incorporate into Mental Health Awareness Week.

I will be offering chair massages at The Bowling Club from 3:45pm – 5:30pm (ish) on Tuesday the 24th.

Maximum of 10 minutes per session for koha.
Koha is not always monetary; it can be kai, an exchange of service, a multitude of things.
Ngā mihi nui! - Merekara ♥️

—

See you all at the bowling club for kai & lots of love Monday to Thursday 🥣

3️⃣ days until we are open again ❗️

We are very excited about sharing kai again & even MORE excited about seeing you all 🥳

We hope you can feel our enthusiasm in this week’s menu. 🎉

Some special events this week: Merekara ofMassage Serenity and Healingg will be giving community koha chair massages at the Bowling Club on Tuesday in celebration of mental health awareness week. Thank you, Merekara, for sharing the gift of relaxation ❕

And on Mendsday Wednesday (every Wednesday!), our teammate Gabby will be sewing up any worn wear or items that you may have. Koha is greatly appreciated. 🪡 🧵

See you all MONDAY ❗️❗️❗️

3️⃣ days until we are open again ❗️

We’ll post our menu tonight, but for now: we’ve got lots of lost and found items around here. Please let us know if any of these items belong to you. 😎

The film camera was left outside the door of the Bowling Club. The phone was found in the street. 📸 📱

We love reuniting you & your belongings. And we love reuniting with YOU even more 💛

We’re excited to open back up again in THREE days! See you Monday 3:30 to 8pm 🥣 ♥️

4️⃣ days until we are open again ❗️

And we’ll be posting next week’s menu TOMORROW. It’s a real hit. 💥

While we’ve been on break, we’ve realised how lucky we are to run a business that SO many people support. We feel so looked after by the you all. Thank you. 💛

Before this month-long break, we were feeling spread thin and burnt out. A couple of months before our break, I remember Liam saying something to me like, “I can’t remember the last time I had a creative thought.” Thankfully, both our brains are feeling more colourful now. 🌈

Thank you for supporting us to take some time off. We spent it with many loved ones who we rarely get to see, and our hearts feel very full. 🩵

We also realise the immense privilege in having free time to reset. We often think of how easy we have it in comparison to other businesses. We realise that our business provides a great community service, and we also feel like we are treated like royalty by you all. We can never get over how nice everyone is to us. Thank you for your endless aroha. 🫶🏼

We have formed a few friendships with fellow hospitality business owners here in Ōtepoti, and one thing that always strikes us is how they all seem to never take breaks. We just want to pick them up and drop them off somewhere to sit in the sun for a month. 🌞

This picture is of us at Noisy Brewing (thanks to my mama). We are huge fans of Connect Four with nice beverages. We’re even bigger fans of the wonderful crew there ~ Chris, Sarah, Adam & Rhiannon. They REALLY treat us like royalty whenever we’re over. And on top of that, they come over for bowling club kai on the regular too. 🥣

We hope that we can live in a community where taking breaks comes easily, and everyone feels lifted by one another. If you can, we hope you can all get out there & support local businesses! Supporting them is like supporting our community’s vibrancy too. ✨

Some of our favourite businesses to support areNoisy Brewing Co..,Beam Me Up Bagelss,Chopsticks 101 Restaurant (Asian Cuisine)), Kūkū Coffee &Evansdale Cheesee!

If there are ways we can better support you all, please always let us know. We really value hearing your feedback. And! We cannot wait to see you all so very soon! 🥳

See you Monday❗️

u

5️⃣ days until we are open again ❗️

And! Today! Is Mends-day Wednesday! With Gabby ❗️

All the mends-day info you need to know is in our pic from Gabby. The only thing it doesn’t say is that in addition to all the mending, Gabby will share so much cheer with you, you’ll feel like it’s Christmas too. 🎄

Gabby will be at the bowling club this arvo 4:30 to 8pm, and the whole bowling club team will be back on Monday sharing kai & lots of aroha. We can’t wait! 🥣💛

6️⃣ days until we’re open again❗️

A couple of the people were very excited about seeing again are Timothy and Zara! The two of them have come over for dinner nearly EVERY single day since we opened the food caravan over two years ago. 😮

We admire their dedication & their open-mindedness, always keen to try out whatever we’re serving here at the bowling club. 🥣

Back in May when we started our free frozen meal program, I spoke on the phone with a woman who needed kai and also struggles with mobility issues. She explained how she’d not only appreciate kai delivered to her home, but she’d also need it brought inside and upstairs. That meant someone would need a key to her home, and she wondered if there are any customers we trust who would be willing to do this. I immediately thought of Zara and Timothy. 💛

They exude a gentle kindness. We’ve observed them helping other customers out in the queue many times, and they’ve even built relationships with other regular bowling club customers. They make the bowling club feel more like a home, shared with many. 🩵

One time, when we were out for a walk, Zara & Timothy were driving by, so they pulled over to simply to say hi and check in on us. We hope we can soak up some of their kindness & continue to share it around Ōtepoti too. 🌈

Less than a week until we’re all together again! We’ll be open again on Monday, September 23rd! 🥳

7️⃣ DAYS until we’re open again ❗️

When we open back up again in ONE WEEK (on September 23rd), we’ll also be sharing frozen kai parcels for those who are in need but can’t make it into the bowling club. 🛍️

We do this every Monday, and our wonderful team & dear friends of the bowling club have been helping by dropping off frozen kai throughout the break as well. 💛

We couldn’t do this without you! We are moved by all of you who continuously show up & support us, in whatever ways you can. 🫶🏼

One of these people who inspires us is Lesley. Lesley comes to the Bowling Club every Monday to pick up all of the North Dunedin free kai deliveries. Usually it’s about 15 parcels! She often takes the time to connect with the people she’s sharing kai with too. 🌟

One time, a man she was delivering to showed her the garden where he lives. There were Jerusalem artichokes growing, but he didn’t know how to use them. Lesley (a huge fan of this root veggie!) took them home, cooked up a soup, and brought some back to share. Turns out the man really loves Jerusalem artichokes too! 🥣

If you’re keen to help deliver kai, simply come in on Mondays during our open hours (3:30 to 8pm) and check out our delivery board. If you’d like to regularly deliver a bulk amount of bags (6+), feel free to get in touch & we can see if we can organise a time for you to pick up that’s more convenient. 🩵

We can’t wait to see you all again soon! 🎉

8️⃣ DAYS until we’re open again❗️

Our teammate Ani’s dogs, Bruno & Ted, are ready to come back to the bowling club! And so is Ani! And so are we! 🐶

Ani joined the team a few months ago, and she loves chatting with you all about her sweet doggos, and hearing about yours. Ani even has a bumper sticker on her car that says, “tell your dog I say hi.” 👋

We really do miss the bowling club, mainly because we miss all the connection with our team and YOU! It’s a beautiful thing to share even just a minute of our days connecting, sharing & getting to know each other. 🩵

If you’re one of those people come into the bowling club every day we’re open, that means we’ve spent 6+ hours connecting simply by filling up your bowls & having a chat as we do so. It’s an honour to share these ordinary moments together. We can’t wait for more soon! 🥣

See you all on Monday, September 23rd 💥

Our wonderfully creative teammate Gabby will be at the bowling club TODAY! 🧵

Even though the Bowling Club is closed for our break (until September 23rd), Gabby will still be around the eatery from 3:30 to 8pm today (& all Wednesdays) for all your mending needs! You can always drop off your items with Gabby & pick up the following week. A koha for Gabby’s mending is greatly appreciated if possible. 🪡 🩵

We miss you & will be seeing all you bowlers soon! 🥣

Only 12 days until we’re all reunited! 💙

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our teammate Amye! 🎉

We initially connected with Amye through our teammate Leroy. My first memory of Amye was just before Christmas. She came in at the end of the night, handed me a package of Roses chocolates and said, “This is a gift for you and Liam from Leroy, but he’s too embarrassed to give it to you.” 😂

Besides this memory, I knew a bit about Amye through Leroy. I knew she could rock some tricks on her scooter. I knew she‘s great at making people laugh. I knew she once managed a deli at a Christchurch New World. Despite her teammates opinions, she insisted on serving boil up to the deli and heaps more people came flocking in. 🛴

I’ve gotten to know Amye a lot better since these snippets of stories, and what I’ve learnt is that Amye’s creativity, humour & generosity runs so deep. Beyond chocolates at Christmas. 🍫

One time, Amye marched into the Bowling Club and announced that she wanted to donate a portion of each pay check towards free meals. 💛

During one of her first weeks of work, Amye dropped off lunch for our kitchen crew just to treat us. 💛

Amye is always looking after people. I’ve overheard her offering teammates a place to stay when they’re going through hard times. 💛

And whenever we have free frozen meal parcels that didn’t make it out, Amye always volunteers to deliver them after her shift. 💛

Amye has worked every role here at the bowling club. She finishes off the week with a dish shift. Every time we pass her a tray to wash, she says “thank you” even though she’s the one who’s doing the REALLY hard work. 💪

She’s often singing & laughing as she’s rockin’ these dishes for 6+ hours. And when she clears all the dirty dishes (if even for a minute, which is a true feat here), she’ll fist pump both her arms up into the air, sharing her unwavering sense of joy with all who get to witness this magical moment. 🙌

Recently, Amye and I were chatting about when she started working at the Bowling Club back in May. “I think I was part of the family within two weeks,” she said. It’s true. Amye exudes love for people, so she naturally nestled her way right into the core of the bowling club whanau. Thank you for joining our family, Amye. I am honoured to be a part of yours. 🩵

Happy birthday to you, Amye ♥️

We are still on a break. Our next day open will be Monday September 23rd. Can’t wait to see you bowlers then! 🥣

We are closed until Monday, September 24th, and this week our teammate & bowling club baker Ash is competing in the dragon boating WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Italy!! 🐉 🇮🇹

In addition to baking about 600 desserts every Monday to Thursday at the bowling club, Ash also trains with the Ōtepoti Dragons team 6 days a week! She started causally last year, and now she is a professional athlete. 😮

The Ōtepoti Dragon team is full of tough cookies, and we’re wishing them the best of luck this week! We hope you can give them a follow & send them some love with us! Go Dunedin Dragon Boat Team - Ōtepoti Dragons!! 🍪

We have been missing you all and are excited to share kai again soon. See you & your bowls at the end of this month. 🥣 🩵

Go Ash & the Ōtepoti Dragons! 🏆

You always blow us away. Thank you so much for supporting us, always, and especially these last few weeks.

🌼

We were worried about our finances going into our month-long break as we still need to pay for overheads, wages, and other bills due during this period. We decided to prioritise our wellbeing & personal relationships, and take a break despite the financial risk.

🌸

Thanks to you, we don’t have to worry. Today, we paid out everyone their leave & paid off all of our bills. We’re still okay! We feel such a deep sense of relief. Thank you.

🌼

If we could, we would gift you all a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers (like the mystery flower lady & our friends did for us). We are growing gardens in every nook of the bowling club yard. Maybe one day, our dream of sharing flowers with you will come true.

🌸

For now, we are sending you a bowl-full of love. Our good friend Mark gave us the figurine in our picture. He hand-painted “love” on the bowl. We can’t fill your bowls with kai during this month, but we will fill them with love.

🌼

One of the biggest things we’ve learnt from the bowling club is that it feels really good to look after each other. We’re all craving opportunities to extend our care. We hope that during this break, the spirit of the bowling club will stay strong & we can all continue to look after each other in the ways that we can.

🌸

If you are struggling with food insecurity and need support during our break, please do reach out. Our wonderful teammate Amber is our messaging-queen. She will probably address you as “sweets,” write you a love letter, and help support you.

🌼

If you are someone (or an organisiation) who has the means to support people who are needing kai over the next month, please send us a message. It’s possible we could use your help. We are trying our best to do a wee bit to support 9 of our bowling club families during this time. If more people reach out, perhaps we could connect with you?

🌸

Thank you for all your love, everyone. Thank you to our team for being guardians of the bowling club and embodying the spirit of generosity. Mixed with our relief, we’re also sad to close up shop for a month. We love it here, and we’ll miss you all. We feel it’s important to take a step away and reflect on what we’re doing here.

🌼

You’ll be with us in our reflections, and we’ll be seeing you soon. We’ll be open again on Monday, September 23rd.

🌸

Much love,
Jackie, Liam & our bowling club whanau

🌼

❗️Today is our LAST DAY before our 1 month break❗️

After tonight’s BIG BOY samosa dinner, our next day back will be Monday, September 23rd. 🥣

Please come on out to support us tonight so we can go out with a bang (we promise to make bangin’ samosas for you)! 💥

For dinner, we have JUMBO samosas! Golden turmeric samosa dough filled with spiced potatoes, carrot, cabbage & celery. Rolled into a big-boy sized roll. Served with a side of garlic & minted yoghurt sauce. And! A side of plum chutney! 🥕 🥬

For dessert, we have about 70 servings of toffee apple crumble left. And today’s dessert of the day is a coffee fudge cake! ☕️ 🍎

As always, we also have $6 1/2 kilo bags of muesli! Choose between fruit & honey, or ginger & turmeric. Or both 🙃

For something simple, we’ve got macaroni & cheese. And to drink, fresh-pressed pear, ginger & blueberry juice. 🍐 🫐

Today feels very celebratory for us, as we’ve been working really hard to get here. Our whole team has. And, we’re celebrating BIRTHDAY WEEK as we celebrate FIVE birthdays on the team. 🥳

We’ve made some goofy games in the dining room! Pin-the-veggie-on-Leroy, Amye, Gail & Gabby. Feel free to give it a whirl! We’ve all played pin-the-squash-on-Gail, and we highly recommend! (See our pic and it will make more sense). 😂

Thank you for all your love and support, everyone. On Tuesday, a kind woman popped into the back & dropped off SEVEN bouquets of flowers to celebrate everyone’s birthdays. They are BEAUTIFUL. We keep joking that someone needs to have a wedding because we’ve never been around so many beautiful bouquets all at once. We feel so treated & loved. Thank you. 🌸🌺🌻🌹🪻💐🌷🌼🌻

We’re open 3:30 to 8pm tonight. Come PARTAY with us 😉 ♥️

Hi it’s Ani here ✌️ and I’m writing this because it’s a very slow queue right now!

So come on over while it’s nice and quiet 🤫 come try our first ever build your own bánh mí 🤩 it comes with sichaun pepper aioli and rice noodle salad! Which slaps once it’s all put together 🤩😋

it also can come with our yummy desserts which are toffee apple crumble and last nights banoffee pie 😋 yum yum yum 🤤

It’s a beautiful sunny day outside at the moment so we’d love to see everyone come down to share some yummy Kai before the sun disappears for the day ⛅️before it starts getting cold 🥶🥳

We’re open until 8pm 🥣

This meal (and this flower) are magic. 🌟

And so are all of you who are out there supporting us. And so is our team who creates such beautiful things & shares them with so many. 💛

We’re open until 8pm and serving up our first-ever bánh mì. Build your own sandwich! We’ve got freshly made steamed bread, fill it with our veggie fritter, rice noodle salad with beetroot & GORGEOUS sichaun pepper aioli. Toffee apple crumble for dessert. 😏 🍎

This is our SECOND TO LAST day open until our month-long break. We’d love to see you today (and tomorrow). 🥣 ♥️