With lockdown almost a distant memory, we’re excited to bring you this must-eat Auckland restaurant-rundown by May-Lee Wong. A renowned Auckland food blogger, Metro Cheap Eats judge and all-around cuisine-maven, she really knows her kai! We suggest you use her personal post-lockdown restaurant bucket list to plan your own delicious tour around the City of Sails; it’s one of the best things you can do in Auckland!
As preparations begin to move to alert level two, my foodie heart beats in anticipation of visiting the cafes and restaurants I’ve been missing for the past several weeks!
We are fortunate to have so many amazing restaurants and cafes in Auckland. With fresh, creative cuisine, lively atmospheres and old-school hospitality, each and every spot mentioned in this article (and it includes plenty of hidden gems) is worth racing out to.
The following restaurants amongst the best in the City of Sails, and best of all, they’re open for business.
From cheap eats to fine dining, there’s something in this top-10 list for every kind of diner. In fact, if you’re anything like me, you’ll find it hard to decide which one to visit first!
Leave your kitchen behind and jump in the car – it’s time to support the very best local cuisine in Auckland.
Just so you know… Many Auckland restaurants have reopened since we moved to alert level three, and have set up contactless pre-order and pick-up or delivery systems in order to comply with level three rules. Most of these restaurants require you to pre-order – sometimes even the day before.
Sure, it takes the spontaneity out of dinnertime a little, but it is a small price to pay for a meal that wasn’t cooked by myself!
Jump straight on in
The Top 10 Bucket-List Restaurants in Auckland
In no particular order, the following 10 restaurants are, in my very experienced opinion, the most exciting restaurants in the City of Sails.
1. Cotto
Easily my favourite restaurant in Auckland, the irony is not lost on me that I am still craving pasta after a month in lockdown eating pasta. Theirs is a step above anything you’ll eat anywhere else (and certainly, anything you’ll ever eat in your own home).
The team at Cotto make superb fresh pasta and Italian-inspired sharing plates that will leave you wanting to lick the bowl at the end.
Their lamb ribs with honey balsamic, brussel sprout mint puy lentil vincotto and goats cheese dumplings (filled with sage and spinach) are the things I crave most, and lucky for you they have them all on their takeout menu.
If you need any more convincing, Cotto is donating $3 from every Home Box ordered to the social enterprise Everybody Eats.
Order by phone on (09) 394 1555 or online Wednesday – Saturday.
375 Karangahape Road, Auckland CBD, Auckland
2. Khu Khu Eatery
There are few restaurants in Auckland that completely cater for plant-based eaters but Khu Khu is one of them.
Boy, do they do it well!
With great, aromatic Thai flavours that would easily rival your local non-veg restaurant, the Khu Khu team have innovatively made this pork and fish-loving cuisine cruelty-free, and you’d be none the wiser.
Whet your appetite with their crispy kumara spring rolls before moving on to their tempeh pad thai and an order each of their Thai green curry and Panang curry.
This is a plant-based restaurant that absolutely everyone will enjoy!
Orders online or via Flamingo Food and Uber Eats Tuesday – Sunday.
171A Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
3. Peach’s Hot Chicken
While some have been hanging out for their KFC fix, I’ve been dying to wrest my chops around a piece of Peach’s Nashville hot chicken.
Superbly crispy and flavoursome, juicy and neither greasy nor dry; it is perfection.
I dream about their chicken and waffles with whipped garlic butter and chilli maple syrup!
Medium-heat is about as far as I will go here, but the choice is up to you.
Whilst we’re still in this Covid-19 bubble, you can order almost all of their original menu (save for their wonderful banana pudding), including their delicious Southern sides like hash brown bake, braised collard greens and pimento mac & cheese.
This is Southern food done right.
Order online Wednesday – Sunday.
1/100 Queens Road, Panmure, Auckland
4. Onehunga Neighbourhood Eatery (ONE)
ONE has fast become one of my favourite cafes in Auckland.
Their brunch menu is thoughtful and novel enough to keep you coming back. With dishes like their aubergine smash (oh-so-smoky babaganoush on sourdough toast, topped with dukkah, chilli butter and a poached egg) and the smoked kahawai rosti (with shaved celeriac, fennel, radish, tartare sauce and teeny crispy capers), they’re serious players in the Auckland cuisine scene.
They’re keeping the ball rolling in alert level three with regular menu updates, including incredible breakfast burritos (glazed ham or beef fajitas with scrambled egg, tasty cheese, rosti, avocado, onion jam & Chipotle aioli). Yum!
Order via Regulr app 7 days a week, 7 am – 11 am
306 Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland
5. Ima Cuisine
Ima has been around forever; the punters keep coming back to Yael’s Ima’s ‘experience’!
There you’ll find a veritable banquet served family-style. Enjoy incredible dishes like their Middle Eastern side salads; including favourites such as Arab lentil rice with pinenuts, almonds and pistachios and Morrocan harissa carrots with preserved lemon.
These are served alongside flavourful mains; including chicken mesachan, eggplant sabich and whole market fish (fresh from the sea, of course).
Special mention, though, must go to her virally-famous hot cross buns topped with custard-cream crosses!
Those of you who thought you’d missed out on them because of lockdown can still order them in alert level 3.
After all, if supermarkets can start selling them in February, we can continue eating them in May, right?
Order by phone (09) 377 5252 or via email.
53 Fort Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland
6. Cheese on Toast
There are three things I love about Cheese on Toast!
The first is their excellent coffee which is made with eighthirty beans; consistent, and always just the way I like it.
The second; their incredible toasties made with their home-made sourdough. Hot, crispy and buttery, my go-to is always the spaghetti made with their own marinara sauce. The bits of spaghetti that stick out from the sourdough and become golden and crunchy on the hot plate. It’s the icing on the toastie so to speak.
The third is its close proximity to the Big King reserve, a fantastic place to stretch your legs and watch the dog-walking action from a socially-responsible distance.
This is the age of Covid-19, after all.
Order via Regulr app Monday – Sunday
931B Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland
7. Bo’s Dumplings
Bo’s was my top pick when judging last year’s Metro ‘Cheap Eats’ awards.
Dumplings always hold mass appeal, but Bo’s takes it a step further.
His dumplings are bigger than most and the meat is of a much higher calibre; they’re really juicy and obviously delicious.
There is a wee array of interesting cold side dishes, of which I recommend the smashed cucumber salad and the spicy beef. The latter, so slow-cooked it is almost gelatinous, is dressed in chilli oil, spring onion and coriander and basted in warming five-spice flavours.
Though they’re serving takeaway customers now, I can’t wait till we drop down to alert level two so I can enjoy my Bo’s, seated in their cool outdoor alleyway.
Order via phone 021 289 0818 or Uber Eats.
14-18 McDonald Street, Morningside, Auckland
8. Lilian
Pre-lockdown this neighbourhood osteria was so heaving it would have been impossible to practice social distancing in!
There’s a good reason so many flock to Lilian.
Lilian’s menu is a toast to the seasons. Last time I was there I had an incredible dish of grilled peaches with ricotta, basil and hazelnuts.
Whilst stone-fruit have come and gone, they’re still serving delicious woodfired pizzas (including their famous tua tua pizza with fennel cream, parsley, chill flakes, fried garlic and pecorino) and a small selection of salads and sides.
My pick of which is the woodfired eggplant with agrodolce and macadamia; it’s smoky, sweet and sour bliss with a touch of sesame.
Get yourself along to Lilian to see what the fuss is all about. You won’t be disappointed.
Order online Tuesday – Saturday
472 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland
9. Mr T’s Baked Goods and Eatery
Mr T’s Baked Goods and Eatery is a new breed of neighbourhood café. It is part café/part bakery, whilst also imparting a refreshing Vietnamese twist.
Mr T (patriarch of the Tran family) bakes all the bread and other goodies in-house himself.
The hoards go crazy for his matcha éclair, and for good reason.
I hold his grilled pork banh mi sandwich (served in a, you guessed it, house-made baguette) up as a benchmark to which I compare all other banh mi sandwiches.
Whether you feel like chocolate-chip brioche French toast or a warming bowl of fragrant beef pho noodle soup, Mr T’s has you covered.
It’s a must in Auckland City!
Order via mobile text 021 871 695 Regulr app Tuesday – Sunday.
210 Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland
10. Federal Delicatessen
Al Brown’s CBD stalwart referred to affectionately as ‘The Fed’ is waiting out the storm until we move to alert level 2 before reopening.
But that doesn’t stop a girl dreaming about their chicken salad sandwich (with bits of crispy chicken skin crackling and extra gravy to dunk on the side) and their Montreal poutine.
Finish your meal or night with a flight of three of their delicious sweet pies (their banana and toffee pie with caramel popcorn will always be my number one) and you’re away laughing.
See you there when we make it to level 2!
86 Federal Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland
With tasty fare and fair pricing, each and every one of my top 10 post-lockdown craving spots are worth a visit to.
The only question is which one you’ll visit first?
