Alright, time to give you some food inspiration from the city I call home. Let me tell you, writing this blog was not easy. There are so many restaurants hidden in the suburbs of Auckland, but realistically speaking if you’re travelling to Auckland, I highly doubt you’ll make your way to a suburb for a meal. I have tried to keep this restricted to the city and city fringe area as much as possible. Here are my suggestions of places to grab a bite when in Auckland.

1. Lula Inn – This is a great restaurant situated at the start of Wynyard Quarter. They have their menu as well as their bottomless brunches. Note: they also do other bottomless meals, but you just have to check-in and see what they’ve got going. I’ve been to their bottomless brunch, and their bottomless dumplings. The latter was a special event they had going on. You may need to check, what they have on. I highly recommend booking a spot for their bottomless events. I absolutely loved both – their bottomless brunch as well as the bottomless dumplings. How does this work? Once your group has arrived (and hopefully you have made a reservation), you will be seated for 2-hours. You can choose an alcoholic beverage from the menu, my poison of choice was a mimosa for their brunch and a Prosecco for their bottomless dumplings, or one of their other options. The staff will come at regular intervals and refill your drink, so please don’t try to swallow your drink in one gulp. They also take your order soon after they have seated you, however, they bring your food out later for the brunch. With the bottomless dumplings the waiter assigned to your table will come at regular intervals and bring out more dumplings of your choice. I believe they usually 3-4 different types.  Your drinks are bottomless but please do not abuse this and just have a good time. The seating is for 2-hours, so I would recommend keeping this on hand or alternatively, you can opt to order from their menu.

2. Soul Bar & Bistro – This is a restaurant nestled in Auckland’s Viaduct. This area has been done up over the years, and is a nice way to spend an evening. If you’re thinking of a date night or maybe even celebrating an occasion, hell celebrate yourself, Soul is a great place for a meal. This is on the higher end, but the food and drinks are worth it. Highly recommend it! If you’re stuck for options, the Espresso Martini and the Wagyu are fantastic options. My family had the Snapper and Tarakihi, which they absolutely loved as well.

3. Mekong Baby – I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. This is located in Ponsonby in the city fringe just off K’Road. This is an Asian Fusion restaurant, and my first time there was great, however, my second time there was quite average. The reason for this is that, my food was quite spicy and not really flavourful and I don’t deal well with spice. I had not anticipated that it was going to be this spicy. This is quite a busy place, and again, I would recommend reserving a spot. Give it a try and let me know how you find it.

4. Andy’s Burgers – If you’re staying at the SkyCity hotel, there really is no excuse for you to not go to Andy’s Burgers. Unless you’re visiting us from the States, in which case, this is probably too close to home, and I totally get it if you’d rather try something different. I am a big fan of burgers, and I love going to Andy’s when the opportunity presents itself (dear future boyfriend, take notes). They’ve tried to mimic an American burger joint, and I like what they’ve done. It’s a nice casual place, and something a bit different to your usual burger joints.

5. Feriza’s Kitchen – This is again, located at Wynyard Quarter and I had my birthday dinner here in 2018. I went in not knowing what to expect or how the food was going to turn out. But, they had a great range of drinks and their food was amazing. In case you’re wondering, they do Mediterranean food.

6. 1947 – This is a high-end Indian restaurant in the vicinity of the SkyCity hotel specifically on Federal Street. It is quite highly priced, but is a great option if you feel like eating an Indian meal in the city. The other Indian restaurants around the city are your usual stock standard, and don’t really have much. 1947 has a slightly different menu from what the other Indian restaurants in New Zealand offer, and quite a different ambient too.

Would you want to read about restaurants out in the suburbs that would be good to eat at? Let me know! I just need an excuse to go out to more restaurants.

Until next time,

MiliG