Where to eat in Auckland? Restaurant recommendations, New Zealand

Auckland has no shortage of restaurants, but finding the right place for a relaxed dinner in the city centre can be surprisingly difficult. The waterfront and harbour is full of restaurants, some with great views, but many are busy, noisy and touristy. Not our style. Instead, this guide gives you our personal recommendations to places that have good food, comfortable and calm atmosphere and are within walking distance. In addition to those we have tried ourselves, we give you some more that look like promising candidates for a future visit on our next wine tour in New Zealand. We have also included a few wine bars. This list will give you a good wine and food start to your tour of the country (hopefully on the BKWine NZ wine tour).

Auckland is New Zealand’s biggest city. This is where our wine tour of New Zealand starts. It is right on the water, with a busy leisure boat and commercial harbour out towards the Hauraki Gulf. It is built on a dormant volcanic field, which one can clearly see from the shape of the surrounding hills. The central part of Auckland (where our hotel is located) is called Auckland CBD (Central Business District).

Here are a few restaurant recommendations in Auckland. All are within walking distance from the downtown area near the ferry terminal (CBD, Central Business District) where most hotels are located, and certainly the one where you will be staying if you join our New Zealand tour.

The recommendations are partially based on our own experience as well as on information I have gathered from other sources (which may then be less accurate but still inspirational).

What we look for are restaurants that offer:

Good but not necessarily luxurious food. Our wine tours lunches are usually very high quality with several dishes, so in the evening it can be nice with something simple and relaxing. I rarely go for “star chef level” in the evening on our tours.
I abhor loud music in a restaurant. Why go for dinner with someone if you have to shout to talk?
I don’t want “you all share it on the table”. I want to choose my food.
I don’t want set menus where I can’t choose. (That’s partially because in the evenings, I might just want a single dish, after our copious lunches.)
Good wines is a plus but it is not an important point (we get plenty of good wines at visits and lunches.)

There are plenty of restaurants in downtown Auckland. Many of them tend to have loud (or very loud) music, which I can’t stand, so I try to avoid them. Quite a few are clustered around three areas:

The Viaduct Basin

A very busy and very crowded area, so crowded and noisy that I mostly avoid it, but definitely an area that’s worth taking a look at, if nothing else for the views around the harbour. Many of the eating places are rather touristy but have a good view over the harbour. The Viaduct Basin has an impressive collection of sailing and motor yachts.

North Wharf

Is just beyond the viaduct, both facing the sea and on Jelico Street. There are plenty of restaurants, mostly quite bustling. Beer and burger, lots of Asian restaurants (an Asian street food place at the end if you like that), the fish market, which is both a fish market and a few quite simple fish restaurants, an Italian (Baduzzi) that is quite okay but with a modest wine selection, and much more. Nice but not our favourite, except for the view.

But it can be more fun and enjoyable to search out some of the other places if you want a good place to enjoy your first few evenings in New Zealand and sample the wines and the gastronomy. For example, not far at all:

Britomart

Is on the other side of the ferry station. Named not after a British market but after an 1840 warship. Several restaurants of varying types in this area. It is a bit calmer here.

Restaurants where we have been

Recommendations for places that we have personally visited and liked.

(Keep in mind that the restaurant scene can change rapidly; some disappear and some sprout.)

Advieh

1 Queen Street, Intercontinental Hotel. Modern Middle Eastern-inspired cuisine. Quite nice and quiet, a little bit up-market but not too much (in the Hotel InterContinental). https://www.adviehrestaurant.com/

Alma

In the Britomart area. Spanish-inspired with a slightly confusing menu (a mix of small dishes and proper dishes), but very nice food and not too loud music. Lots of Spanish wines (!) with a few NZ wines made from Spanish grape varieties, which is fun. https://www.alma.nz/

The Living Room

At the Park Hyatt (next to the Wynyard Crossing (the viaduct) in the Viaduct Basin harbour). Relaxed and calm bistro, excellent wagyu burger and fries. Quite calm. I usually don’t like hotel restaurants, but this was good. https://www.parkhyattsydneydining.com/the-living-room They also have Onemata that is more trendy and upmarket. At the back, they have The Pantry, a nice and calm cafe with delicious sandwiches and other food.

Café Hanoi

Next to the “Ghost Street” restaurant in Britomart, is a pretty nice Asian resto. A bit noisy (we’re really sensitive to noise…). Good choice for Asian food (not necessarily Vietnamese). https://cafehanoi.co.nz/

Orbit 360

At the top of the Sky Tower. Luxury restaurant with unbeatable views. Rotates while you eat (but slow – if you get dizzy, it’s because of something else…). https://skycityauckland.co.nz/restaurants/orbit/

Botswana Butchery

In the Ferry Terminal building. I have not been there, but we usually have our farewell dinner on the New Zealand wine tour at Botswana Butchery in Queenstown, and that’s excellent, so I assume this is too. Seems often quite busy. https://botswanabutchery.nz/auckland/

Tacoteca

1/90 Wellesley Street West, rather different, taco place, spicy and rather noisy (loud music) – but if you like tacos… Odd but quiet location next to a gym hall and parking place. https://www.tacoteca.co.nz/

Onslow

9 Princes Street. This is the restaurant of Josh Emett (a renowned NZ chef). It is sophisticated, located in a beautiful building. It’s elegant, the service is professional, and the food is refined Kiwi-European. A bit on the posh/fine dining side in a quiet part of town. 15 min walk from the ferry terminal and our hotel. https://www.onslow.nz/

Fuga Japanese Brasserie

Japanese, yes. Brasserie, no. Not sure I want to mention this because it is our own small, secret, calm and quiet, very simple oasis place… But okay! A very small Japanese restaurant close to the Sky Tower. Very simple, very basic, but we had very nice sushi, and it was calm and quiet. It may be worth checking if they do BYOB, since the wine choice was limited. https://fuga.co.nz/

Restaurants where we have not been

But that looks interesting from recommendations and what I have seen about them. So, comments are not ours, except the comment at the very end of each commentary:

Amano

Britomart. “Italian-inspired powerhouse located in a beautiful heritage warehouse. While it is popular, the high ceilings and open layout prevent it from feeling clubby and busy.” https://savor.co.nz/amano. Looks pretty nice.

Ebisu

Britomart. “Contemporary Japanese. Located in a historic warehouse. It has high ceilings and spacious booths, which helps keep the noise levels down compared to its neighbours. The food is exquisite (don’t miss the Ebi Mayo or the Black Cod), and the wine and sake list is one of the best in the city. It’s polished without being ‘luxury-stiff’.” https://savor.co.nz/ebisu

Ghost Street

Britomart. “Modern Chinese. Located in a basement beneath Britomart, this place is the definition of “moody.” It’s dimly lit with recycled timber and exposed brick. It’s underground and tucked away; it doesn’t get the “walk-in” bar crowd that makes places like Cafe Hanoi noisy. It feels like a private club. The food focuses on Xi’an and Hong Kong Flavors (biang biang noodles, scallop wontons).” https://ghoststreetakl.nz/menu/. It’s next to Café Hanoi as well as another restaurant that looks pretty nice.

Ahi

Level 2, Commercial Bay, 7 Queen Street. Next to InterContinental Hotel. Upmarket NZ food. https://ahirestaurant.co.nz . Also runs Origine Bistro, 172 Quay Street, Auckland CBD, NZ-style French food. Both are in the shopping centre in front of the ferry terminal.

Some new short additions to consider (that we haven’t been to yet)

The restaurant scene changes fast. Here are some that I only heard of recently but that look like good candidates:

Mr Morris

Britomart. “Next door to Café Hanoi, and does inventive Pacific-influenced New Zealand food. ‘relaxed and welcoming’. Its wine list is specifically curated to work with the food rather than being an afterthought.” https://www.mrmorris.nz/ Looks nice, slightly sophisticated.

Hugo’s Bistro

Shortland Street, “only a few minutes’ walk from the ferry terminal and has a more intimate, European-bistro character.” https://hugosbistro.co.nz/

Bossi

Italian, in the heart of Britomart. https://www.bossi.co.nz/

Kingi

Britomart. “It is the seafood restaurant at Hotel Britomart, with a strong sustainable/local-produce angle.” https://www.kingibritomart.com/