|
|
| Home > City Guide - Auckland - Restaurants | ||
|
||
|
Restaurants We have selected 25 restaurants, which we have divided into five categories: Gastronomic, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The restaurants are listed alphabetically within these different categories, which serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments. Many of Auckland’s restaurants operate as cafés, bars, music venues and nightclubs, as well as serving food. They do not generally have a pre-book service, although when they do, they rarely book far in advance and do not readily give out telephone or fax numbers, or e-mail or website addresses. GST (Goods and Services Tax) will be mentioned on the menu, indicating whether it is included or not. In the vast majority of cases it will be included as a percentage of the total bill, currently 12.5%. Tipping is rarely included in the bill and until recently was not expected, in fact it was even frowned upon. Globalisation has, however, led to a more ‘American’ attitude and it is now advisable to tip 10-15% – but only if the service is good. The prices quoted below are for a three-course meal and for a bottle of house wine or equivalent. Gastronomic Antoine’s Restaurant Despite its conservative tone and decor, this is a favourite among Auckland’s gastronomes and widely held to be one of the best French restaurants in the country, situated just ten minutes from the city centre. Particularly high on the must-try-list are the wonderful salmon dishes, tripe dishes and duckling, all from fresh New Zealand produce but with Gaelic flare. The menu changes weekly. 333 Parnell Road, Parnell Tel: (09) 379 8756. Fax: (09) 524 0684. E-mail: info@antoines.co.nz Website: www.antoinesrestaurant.co.nz Price: NZ$80. Wine: NZ$30. GPK Another delicious fusion house combining Italian pizza bases (and sometimes toppings) with Pacific rim toppings, such as Thai green curry or octopus, which are then all finished off in large wood-fired ovens. The surroundings are a combination of smart restaurant and bare wood bar with a relaxed atmosphere. 262 Ponsonby Road Tel: (09) 360 1113. Price: NZ$30 or NZ$20 for a pizza. Wine: NZ$25. Hammerheads Seafood Restaurant & Bar This is a very popular waterfront restaurant with a balcony where it pays to be seen, white awning and views of the Auckland skyline and harbour. It has a reputation for slow service, although the cocktails are dynamite and the food is well worth the wait. Specialities include very fresh fish and shellfish, with some lamb, poultry and beef dishes. 19 Tamaki Drive, Okahu Bay Tel: (09) 521 4400. Fax: (09) 521 4499. E-mail: info@hammerheads.co.nz Website: www.hammerheads.co.nz Price: NZ$65. Wine: NZ$18–25. Toto Restaurant Possibly the city’s finest Italian restaurant, this open and airy opera-filled room (with live opera on Thursday and Saturday) leads to a sunny terrace where it is good to be seen eating at the white-clad tables. The ripieno (stuffed breads) make mouth-watering appetisers and the roasted scallops and lobster are delicious. 53 Nelson Street Tel: (09) 302 2665. Fax: (09) 302 2047. E-mail: toto@totorestaurant.co.nz Website: www.totorestaurant.co.nz Price: NZ$70. Wine: NZ$18-35. Vinnies Restaurant Best bib and tucker is advised when visiting one of the few formal restaurants in Auckland, located just five minutes from the city centre. With immaculate white linen tablecloths and an exclusive atmosphere, the food is prepared on wood-fired ovens, so dishes like braised lamb and snapper ceviche have a delicious and highly distinctive flavour. 166 Jervios Street, Herne Bay Tel: (09) 376 5597. Fax: (09) 376 5559. E-mail: vinnies@xtra.co.nz Website: www.aucklandrestaurants.co.nz/vinnies Price: NZ$75. Wine: NZ$25-50. Business Euro Euro opened just in time for the America’s Cup defence and since then has been the place to be seen in town. It has superb service, bare wood and tastefully refined decor, as well as a fantastically imaginative and varied menu, including rotisserie chicken on a bed of mashed potato and peanut slaw. Princes Wharf Tel: (09) 309 9866. Price: NZ$70. Wine: NZ$18-30. Iguaçu Often the haunt of young corporate wannabes and their hangers-on, Iguacu is a wood and flash brasserie. It has large glass windows through which patrons look out and passers-by look in at them indulging in good but expensive steaks, pan-fired lamb and fresh fish. There is also excellent jazz on Sunday brunchtime. 269 Parnell Road, Parnell Tel: (09) 358 4804. E-mail: info@iguacu.co.nz Website: www.iguacu.co.nz Price: NZ$90. Wine: NZ$25-50. Ottos Once a magistrates court, this lovely building is now one of the premier restaurants in the city with tasteful decor and loads of potted plants. The food is catholic in its influences and melts on the taste buds, especially the duck confit, dressed in coconut and palm sugar, and the seared venison with onion ravioli. 40 Kitchener Street Tel: (09) 300 9595. Price: NZ$80. Wine: NZ$25-60. Porterhouse Blue The decor is tasteful, the service faultless and the quality of the food on offer is top draw in Devonport’s most well thought of restaurant. Particular favourites are lamb’s brains, roasted ribeye, artichoke ravioli and a selection of tangy and creamy goat’s cheeses. 58 Caliope Road, Devonport Tel: (09) 445 4263. Fax: (09) 446 0309. Price: NZ$80. Wine: NZ$25-35. Sake Bar Rikka This is the best Japanese restaurant in town, with the usual plinky music, wall hangings and gleaming clean surfaces. Dishes include chicken teriyaki, a dazzling variety of sushi, miso and a never-ending tempura platter with hot sauce and pickled ginger, all washed down by authentic sake. Victoria Park Market Tel: (09) 377 8239. Price: NZ$75. Wine: NZ$25-35. Trendy Ding How This is a lively, intimate Cantonese restaurant with some traditional eastern decor, with a tendency to fill early and stay that way. Trays of steaming dim sum are carried around the floor, while the waiters shout out the options to guests who literally just stop them to peek under the lids. Second Floor, 55 Albert Street, Patrick Square Tel: (09) 358 4838. Fax: (09) 358 4855. Price: NZ$70. Wine: NZ$15-25. Kermadic A large, fashionable and imaginatively decorated seafood specialist with a big bustling and music-filled brasserie, Kermadic serves classier versions of bistro favourites – pan-fried snapper, Cajun-spiced fish, fish curry and scallops. The adjacent Pacific Room dances to the beat of an altogether quieter, more expensive and refined drum. First Floor of the Viaduct Basin, corner of Hobson Street and Quay Street Tel: (09) 309 0413. Price: NZ$80. Wine: NZ$20-40. Tuatara Named after a lizard – some might say it is full of its scaled cousins – this is the ultimate place to be seen and to see the in-crowd. It is as brash as Gordon Gheko’s crocodile wallet and as overpriced but the salads, fish, pasta dishes and snacks all taste good and the wine list is fantastic. 198 Ponsonby Road, Parnell Tel: (09) 360 0098. Price: NZ$110. Wine: From NZ$25-55. Vivo Out in the café and fashion boutique end of Newmarket, is this intimate little gourmet pizza house, with tables in the street and a gorgeous wooden-floored interior. The pizzas have a thin-ish crispy base and a variety of toppings designed to dazzle the senses. There is also back up from pastas and salads, all at relatively low prices. 65 Davis Crescent, Newmarket Tel: (09) 522 0688. Price: NZ$60. Wine: NZ$18-30. Wildfire A new flashy kid on the block, with black-topped waterside tables and massive fiery grills inside. Gourmet pizzas are produced, which, although good, are put completely in the shade by rotisserie specials of quail, duck, venison, steak and many more, marinated in herbs and spices and roasted over manuka coals. Princes Wharf Tel: (09) 353 7595. Fax: (09) 353 7590. E-mail: wildfirerestaurant@xtra.co.nz Website: www.wildfirerestaurant.co.nz Price: NZ$65. Wine: NZ$20-30. Budget Java Room Described as Pacific Rim, the predominant influence in this intimate, light-hued and comfortable restaurant is Indonesian, although there are some fantastic Szechuan dishes, particularly prawn. The spicy fish cakes also take some beating, as does the whole snapper in sambal. 317 Parnell Road, Parnell Tel: (09) 366 1606. Price: NZ$80. Wine: NZ$20-35. Kamo This stripped-down-to-keep-the-prices-down restaurant has functional furniture and a rowdy atmosphere. Pacific Rim is mixed with Mediterranean flavours, to come up with things like fresh fish marinated in coconut cream and finely diced vegetables. 383 Karangahape Road Tel: (09) 377 2313. Price: NZ$70. Wine: NZ$18-35. The Mekong Café The Mekong Café is a rather scruffy looking Vietnamese restaurant that produces authentic and delicious food – sugar cane prawns, chicken dishes full of exciting spices and fluffy rice or crisp noodles. There is an off licence next door, for those who forget to bring their own bottle of wine. 38 Wellesley Street Tel: (09) 303 4245. Price: NZ$70. Wine: BYO. Merchant Mezze Bar This buzzing café-style restaurant has Turkish rugs thrown around and an intimate little deck area. It serves dishes from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and beyond, including Spanish tortilla, grilled mushroom on polenta, ceviche, and Thai green curries. 430 Queen Street Tel/Fax: (09) 307 0349. E-mail: mezzebar@pl.net Website: www.menus.co.nz/mezzebar Price: NZ$50. Wine: NZ$18-25. Monsoon A heady mixture of Thai and Malay food makes for an exotic eating experience at surprisingly low prices. Functional decor takes second place to wonderful satay dishes, peanut and chilli sauce, and fish and tiger prawns in a vibrant red curry sauce. 71 Victoria Road Tel: (09) 445 4263. Price: NZ$55. Wine: NZ$20-30. Personal Recommendations Bluefins This is yet another informal, friendly, hanging-basket-strewn, wooden-floored and apparently simple seafood specialist but this time in the glorious surroundings of Okahu Bay. The fish is fresh, the seared scallops melt in the mouth, the tuna is just pink in the centre and the paua is large, golden and tastes of the sea. Corner of Tamaki Drive and Aitkin Avenue, Okahu Bay Tel: (09) 528 4551. Website: www.bluefins.co.nz Price: NZ$65. Wine: NZ$20-30. Bolliwood A vast Indian restaurant in the style of that country’s films, Bolliwood has a retina-irritating bright colour scheme and a bunch of waiters who play to the crowd so much so that it is obvious they are all actors waiting for their big break. The dairy dishes are worth trying for a bit of richness or the spicier southern dishes for some real steam heat. 110 Ponsonby Road Tel: (09) 376 8966. Price: NZ$65. Wine: NZ$20-35. Harbourside Seafood Bar and Grill This is a typical informal Kiwi seafood restaurant that is extremely classy, because of the beauty of the location and the quality of the food and wine. It offers a myriad of prepared and presented fish and crustaceans, with inland fare for the unenlightened. 99 Quay Street Tel: (09) 307 0486. Fax: (09) 307 0523. E-mail: harbourside.auck@xtra.co.nz Website: www.harboursiderestaurant.co.nz Price: NZ$70. Wine: NZ$25-35. Simple Cottage Bare wood furniture, simple decor and a homey relaxed atmosphere mark out this vegetarian establishment and all-day coffee house as a good place for visitors to stop off for a caffeine buzz or a herbal tea. This should be followed by tofu burgers, salads, lasagne, falafel or moussaka. 50 High Street Tel: (09) 303 4599. Price: NZ$40. Wine: NZ$20-35. Tony’s Tony’s is a no-fuss or bother steakhouse, where the portions are about the size of the animals from which they were removed. The massive sides of beef and lamb are cooked beautifully, while the accompaniments, which include pumpkin mash and sweet potato wedges, are wholesome and delicious in equal measure. 32 Lorne Street Tel: (09) 373 2138. Price: NZ$50. Wine: NZ$19-25. |
||
