50 Meals You Should Have Eaten If You Live In Auckland

By Albert Cho
9th Apr 2018

A favourite food is like an old friend, a reassuring hug, a little piece of heaven in an otherwise ordinary life. You already know that we here at The Urban List love our food—and we know you do too! So we put our heads together, asked our besties, and have come up with a (far from exhaustive) list of 50 meals you should have eaten if you call the City of Sails home, from some of the best restaurants, cafes and food trucks in Auckland.

We love everything from elegant meals in fancy restaurants to a dripping kebab from the local, a smoothie our body is so so grateful for, to salted caramel shakes that takes weeks to work off.

Aucklanders…without further ado, here are 50 meals you need to get out and eat. Side note: The below is in no particular order—we love them all.

First things first: breakfast at Best Ugly Bagels, you can’t go wrong with the classic Yodi.
Without a doubt, the degustation menu at Bracu.
Tapas at Feriza ’s – the mezze platter is an absolute must.
The eye fillet beef plate at O’Connell St Bistro.
Don’t try to resist the chicken salad sandwich with a side of poutine at The Fed.
Forget the pizza in their name (although, yes, it’s good too), but the gnocchi di patate con carciofi is insane at Non Solo Pizza.
The heavenly doughnuts at Little and Friday.
Speaking of doughnuts, you can’t skip a visit to The Pie Piper for a little slice of heaven and the super epic Doornuts doughnuts.
There’s always room for the raw snickers cheesecake at The Raw Kitchen.
The 1-metre pizza from Toto’s is an Aucklanders’ right of passage.
The Eton Rifle from Winona Forever isn’t just the most insta-worthy breaky of Auckland, it also tastes 10/10.
Spicy dumplings and noodles from the one and only Eden Noodles.
Amano has a couple of things that are an absolute must. The scampi pasta, straciatella and the best crème brulee doughnut in Auckland.
Speaking of crème brûlée, Miann on Fort Street serves the best crème brulee with heilala vanilla.
If you want Italian, hop over to Baduzzi. The lamb meatballs, duck pasta and tiramisu are compulsory dishes to your order.
Avo toast with sauerkraut and the crumpets at Orphans Kitchen.
Cure that hangover with a burger from Auckland’s version of Shake Shack – Better Burger.
The pork bao at The Blue Breeze Inn. One bite and you'll be hooked.
The spaghetti agioli at Prego. So perfect. Every. Single. Time.
Dive right into the dumplings at Barilla Dumplings.
Bombe Alaska gelato stick from Milse, it is truly bomb.
Suck back some shucked oysters from Depot. You also can’t miss out on their sliders.
The Odettes Complete from Odettes Eatery, the whipped feta is everything.
Little Bird Unbakery serve up a bird bowl that’ll make you feel like you’re succeeding at making better life choices.
Let the experts guide your culinary adventure with the five course tasting menu at Cassia.
A croissant from La Voie Francaise, pure French buttery, flaky goodness.
Totally delicious is the homemade sausage at Apero.
Happy hour pasta for a bowl of tasteful comfort and socialite vibes of K’Road at Coco’s Cantina.
Mussaman Lamb Curry from one of Auckland’s best Thai eateries, Saan.
You can’t go wrong with the lamb sandwich, feta, peppers, rocket, lemon and harissa mayo (make sure you add the fries) at Meadow.
Go sky high and eat the crayfish linguini from The Sugar Club.
Whittakers Chocolate Mousse with caramel popcorn at Culprit.
A woodfired pizza from Dante’s Pizzeria for pure authenticity.
Bread and butter lovers should grab a loaf and slather the butter on a French baguette from Olaf’s.
King crab leg with smoked wasabi lime butter from Masu.
The gnocchi and the fritti at Cotto will kill you every damn time.
Arancini balls at Centro in Takapuna. The kumara has with cheesy kimchi fried rice balls can only be found here.
A classic New York style baked cheesecake at Mt. Eden gem, Frasers.
The West Coast white bait fritter and all the wine at SPQR.
Eat your Ramen heart out at the OG Japanese ramen joint in Auckland called Tanpopo.
For the essential meeting spot, grab a coffee and the half and half from Dizengoff.
Enjoy a 7 course degustation dinner at one of our top Japanese restaurants Kazuya.
Daily Bread serve up the tastiest hazelnut croissant that you have to get amongst.
Keep it classy with a lamb rump at Pilkingtons.
Grab some friends, order as many plates as possible and indulge at The Glass Goose.
The char kuey teow prawn and pork fried rice noodles goes down a treat at Madam Woo.
Eggs bene fans need to hit up Geeks On Sainsbury as it’s topped with the creamiest avocado puree and crispy potato hash.
Pretty much anything and everything at Ortolana.
The pulled pork at Miss Moonshine’s is totally legit.
The greasy goodness of a White Lady burger, make it a midnight feast to get the full experience.