Eat: Auckland
Understandably, a country that’s both next to Asia and cosmopolitan is going have a plethora of South Asian restaurants which is the last thing we wanted after two long-haul flights serving just Chinese food. So we took advantage of the British influence and went straight to Queens Ferry pub. I had my go-to salmon and my first drink in NZ had to be a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, the only white wine I truly favour in its country of origin. Further comfort was found later at one of my favourite chains Dunkin Donuts who offer the best Vanilla Chai and the doughnuts are pretty good too. Even better if you catch happy hour. Auckland was agreeing with m
The only place we went to twice was Viaduct Grill, a little bit of quiet grown-upness when Auckland had started to live up to it’s party town reputation on the Friday night. The fish and chips was great and service exemplary so we returned their for our last night in NZ after returning from Wellington. Belotta offered great tapas in superbly comfy surroundings too.
For breakfast, we visited Scarecrow on our first and last mornings too. The first time it was around the corner form our centrally located AirBNB but the second, we had to make an effort. Chuffed was good too although there’s a strange set up here where the room you work into with tables is not the cafe; rather that’s a much bigger space through another door so don’t be fooled if there’s a queue. A lot of people were eating before heading out to work. Federal Delicatessen however was was over-hyped, over-riced and over-American. We nearly walked out after they failed the make-eye-contact-with-us within-one-minute-of-entering-or-we-leave rule . It takes a nano-second to look up and smile, even if takes 2-3 minutes to finish what you’re doing and welcome us properly.
If you’re over visiting the modern Westfield shopping centre in Newmarket, The Aroma Indian Cuisine is a lovely cafe in the Rialto Centre Foodcourt. The building looks like it’s seen better days but we enjoyed great service and good value food plus there are loads of other choices. It’s worth mentioning Proper Pizza and The Tandoor for mini-meals in the central area.
For coffee, the most memorable was Stolen Summer on the last day as they put a macaroon on the teaspoon. It’s the little things and I’m a fan of places that give a complimentary something with the drink. Plus the service was gorgeous. My first Flat White in New Zealand was in Be Coffee and we tried Remedy and Havana Coffee Works on Oneroa Beach too. Around the corner we grabbed some Island Gelato before a walk along the beach. Later some fries and milk shake from Too Fat Buns kept us going for the short bus ride to Onatangi Beach.
As with the UK, only the chains open late so we popped into Esquires one evening and Dunkin's for a takeout Vanilla Chai most nights.
On the day trips, a much needed coffee was picked up at Memento Espresso towards the end of the long drive to Hobbiton (where they only had instant coffee) and we also grabbed some lunch in the delightfully old-school Ronnie's Bakery where clearly the locals go.
Eating and having a coffee in Auckland lived up to my expectation from being cosmopolitan to buying excellent coffee on the beach and healthy snacks on everywhere I looked.
2019
