Best restaurants in Auckland

Unzid's largest city is a bona fide culinary playground. Bring the stretchy pants.

Watch the team at work at Ahi.

Bring the stretchy pants.

1. The Engine Room

Located in an old post office building in Northcote Point, The Engine Room started in 2006 and has, over the years, become a legit reason people travel to Auckland. The food, in a word, is dazzling. The braised beef cheek with parsnip, pickled carrot and prunes is the perfect example of the sanctity with produce is regarded. Finish off your meal in proper decadence with a wedge of the local Over The Moon Triple Cream Brie.

2. Ahi

The best local ingredients and a reverence for Maori culture combine for a unique dining experience and unlike other many fine diners, you can also pop in for lunch. The scampi corn dog is an absolute winner and definitely load up on sides such as the BBQ garden greens fresh from the kitchen garden.

3. Alma

The Spanish region of Andalusia is probably as far you can get from Auckland, but this restaurant transports you there with items such as pork pinchitos with pear and coca and the flan of your fantasies. The funky tiles and warm walls of the dining space only add to the Euro vibe.

4. Ghost Street

Describing itself as ‘a reimagining of the heady hole-in-the-wall eateries Beijing’s famous food street’, this vibey diner in the Britomart district revs up trad Chinese in the most sublime fashion. Wash down the scallop wontons with sichuan oil, ginger and red vinegar with an on-tap Far Eastern pilsener.

5. Orphans Kitchen

If sustainability, seasonality and long lazy lunches are on your menu, this 40-seater in Ponsonby will tick every box. Now in its 10th year of operation, the pick of the seats is out the back in the shady courtyard. Order the fried eggs with asparagus, labneh and pepitas then watch the yolked happiness flow.

6. Odettes Eatery

Whenever we see reference to “Levantine” and “African” spices on a menu, our taste buds take over. Both are in evidence at this beloved restaurant where chef Jonah Haung practises daily alchemy. Try the venison and plum boerewors with ajvar (a roasted pepper sauce) and guindilla peppers.

7. Gemmayze Street

The word ‘elevated’ has been used and abused to such a degree in the hospitality world that it’s lost almost all of its punch. Which is a pity because that’s exactly what this eatery has done with Lebanese cuisine. Instead let’s just say it has managed to innovate with still being ground in tradition. By way of example, the shish barak, a lamb tortellini with octopus, pickled garlic and chilli is a masterpiece.

8. Origine

The massive tricolore flag hanging on the wall is an immediate statement about the cuisine served in this glass and timber cube overlooking the sandstone Ferry terminal downtown. Operating on the triptych of seasonality, terroir and technique, we’re talking next level bistro. The degustation of three appetisers and three courses at NZ$125 is a solid investment while the Pour Les P’Tits kids menu is a cute touch.

9. Hello Beasty

The slogan of this pan-Asian restaurant should be ‘quality without the attitude’. There is zero pretension here but everything else is top of the line and the emphasis is on a fun dining experience in cool surroundings (we love the mushroom murals). Sink into the $60 per person tasting menu of five main courses and save room for the twisted donuts with miso caramel.

10. Depot Eatery

Submit to the skilled hands of Al Brown in this buzzy, laidback diner that’s been delighting locals since 2011. It only does walk ins and like a total local legend it provides a small but delicious breakfast menu plus a raw bar and charcuterie selection before you even get onto the smaller and larger share plates.

11. Cassia

Under the low lighting and amid topaz silk banquettes, Sid and Chand Sahrawat’s spin on Indian cuisine has garnered acolytes - the devotion really is that intense - since 2014. The prix fixe lunch of three courses for NZ$68 is a steal.

12. Ada 

Those nuns were onto something. This restaurant, ensconced Grey Lynn’s The Convent Hotel, does the best Sunday lunch in town with a shared five-course banquet. If you’re after more of an a la carte dinner or lunch, the hangi pork belly served with potato mousse, crispy onions, cured egg yolk and chive oil will leave you glazed and delirious.

13. Mr Hao

That’s Mr Hao to you. Such is the level of respect engendered at these outposts in Mt Eden and Auckland. Both are open late and drenched in Sichuan influence. You gotta try the numbing chicken swimming in chilli and peppers and the beef tongue skewers to push out the culinary boat a bit. This is also the most affordable option in this entire list.

14. Onemata

A fine diner under the stewardship of Rob Hope-Ede that showcases local produce? We’re in. Add the mercurial skills of executive pastry chef Callum Liddicoat - he of the baked vanilla flan with honeycomb ice-cream, pumpkin puree and autumn ‘soil’ -and you have the recipe for a meal to remember.

15. Onslow

Any fans of MasterChef New Zealand will recognise the man behind the stoves here. Josh Emett is big on provenance and subtle flavours. His menu is littered with jaw-droppers such as fried bread with six months aged cheddar and Marsh’s honey; Fiordland crayfish eclair; Cambridge duck sausage roll; and Oscietra caviar served with Onslow fried chicken and spicy pickles. And that’s just the Treats section of the menu.

16. East

High-end vegetarian is the order of the day here amid a dining room designed by the same team behind Longrain in Tokyo and Acme in Sydney. Definitely sign up for the Trust The Chef menu which costs NZ$79 and includes the likes of typhoon shelter fried rice with broccolini and burnt garlic, spicy garlic eggplant and caramelised black pepper tofu.

17. The Lodge Bar Dining

When clothing label Rodd & Gunn announced it was launching a restaurant, the news was best viewed with a shake of scepticism as purely a marketing exercise. The detractors could not have been more wrong. This restaurant in Commercial Bay has racked up multiple awards and is particularly strong on show-stopping grills. Try the Josper Berkshire pork with feijoa barbecue sauce and kumara.

18. Homeland

Chef Peter Gordon has created something special here - part cooking school, part produce showroom, part dining room. The unifying feature being Aotearoa-based producers across a menu divided into breakfast, brunch and all-day sections. Try the toastie of hangi beef brisket with double cheese, capsicum and onion.

19. Mr Morris

Michael Meredith brings Samoan warmth and technical excellence to a restaurant that can mount a very credible case for being the best in the Britomart district. And believe us the competition is stiffer than a chef's toque. It's open for lunch and dinner and highlights include duck served with beetroot and blueberries and snapper with chickpeas and green lipped mussels.

20. Stanley Avenue Wine Bar & Bistro

The wine list alone is a drawcard here but even for those not into cabs and savs, the food is worth the trip. Go trad with the beef tartare with charred egg yolk, crispy ginger, Dijon mustard and lavosh and finish with Stanley's chocolate mousse which comes with lemon curd, mango, caramel and cocoa meringue.

Originally published as Best restaurants in Auckland