Food & Drink

Chromatic Dining: A Curated Must-Try Dish List So You Can Eat The Rainbow This Auckland Pride

By

A person with a rainbow flag facepainted on their forehead rocks out to music at Big Gay Out.

It's Auckland Pride Month so we've whipped up a very special eats list. Get ready to eat a rainbow this Pride with eight must-try chromatic dishes from local hospo legends. Blending flawless aesthetics with incredible flavours, here is your rainbow eats list for Pride 2025. 

Red

Polpette By Baduzzi | Wynyard Quarter

Chunky meatballs slathered in red sauce.
Image credit: Baduzzi | Instagram

We’re kicking off the rainbow feasting with Baduzzi’s hand-crafted polpette (aka meatballs). There are five juicy iterations on the table, from Karitane crayfish to wild reindeer, Mamma D’s “East Coast” beef, a mushroom-forward vegetarian situation and lamb slow-cooked for 11 hours and served with preserved lemon and rosemary. Exquisite.

Orange

Rose Tteokbokki By Seoul Night | Auckland CBD

A bowl of creamy rose tteokbokki topped with parmesan and a smattering of glorious microgreens.
Image credit: Seoul Night | Instagram

For the uninitiated, tteokbokki are Korean rice cakes and if you haven't tried them yet, you better right that wrong, stat. Tteokbokki takes all manner of shapes but this rose number by Seoul Night is rich, creamy and—for the purpose of this article—an upbeat shade of orange. Soft rice cakes, savoury sausage and vegetables take a spa in tomato and coconut sauce and the whole thing's topped with parmesan. Is there anything more perfect in this world? We think not. 

Yellow

Fried Chicken Glazed Donut Burger By Good Luck Club | Takanini

A glazed donut burger with a generous portion of fries.
Image credit: Good Luck Club | Michael White 

It's a golden yellow fried goodness overload at Good Luck Club. Get one of their Southern-style fried chicken burger on your plate, stat—opting into the glazed donut swap—with a load of fries and you're practically guaranteed a happy food coma. Want more yellow? Summon a bowl of their hearty mac and cheese. 

Green

Iceberg By Queens Rooftop | Auckland CBD

Iceberg wedge topped with walnuts and slathered in green goddess dressing.
Image credit: Queens Rooftop | Jake Dennis

If you thought goddess dressing ran its course back in the early ‘00s let us gently correct you. Proving that side dishes can, in fact, have main character energy, Queens Rooftop Bar & Wineshop's iceberg wedge with walnut and green goddess is an ethereal shade of emerald green and is oh so refreshing with crunch for days. 

Blue

Blueberry Pear Tart By Liobôn | Online & Markets

Bright blue-coloured pear tarts.
Image credit: Liobôn | Instagram

If you haven't heard of Liobôn, prepare yourself—it's very impressive indeed. The tart, which was a limited-edition run at plant-based baker, Jared's, market circuit at the end of last year, is a massive flex in sky blue pear form. As for tasting notes, expect the obvious pear and blueberry, plus vanilla, almond and coconut. We're pretty sure if you asked Jared really nicely, the tarts might just appear among one of Liobôn's upcoming market lineups. 

Indigo

Galette By Bar Magda | Cross Street, Near Karangahape Road

A tri-colour galette topped with long banana chip ribbons.
Image credit: Bar Magda | Instagram

Look, turns out we may have bit off more than we can chew when we committed ourselves to finding a dish that's mostly indigo but we reckon you’ll forgive us for leaning on artistic licence once you’ve tasted Bag Magda’s sensationally savoury tricolour galette of warm orange and purple kumara with crispy plantain and Kinampay sauce. 

Violet

Mochi Filled Burnt Basque Cheesecake By Fankery | Online & Markets

Someone holds half of a purple mochi-stuffed ube burnt Basque cheesecake.
Image credit: Fankery | supplied

Get a load of Fankery's burnt Basque cheesecake in a striking violet hue. Each cheesecake, available in a whole or half serve is triple layered with an ube brownie or cookie base, a delightfully stretchy mochi centre and an ube-spiked cheesecake top. 

Pink

Strawberry & Mint Ice Cream Sandwich | Forest, Dominion Road

A slab of pink ice cream sandwiched between two almond cookies sitting on a dusting of pink.
Image credit: Forest | supplied

Rounding up our list of rainbow eats is this lightly rose-tinted ice cream sandwich from the incredible team at Forest. The plant-based strawberry and mint ice cream, which is sandwiched between almond cookies and a layer of sticky balsamic, is so good you won't even mind that we've snuck pink into our rainbow. 

You might also like: 

Main image credit: Big Gay Out | Chontelle Musson via Auckland Pride Instagram.

Get our top stories direct to your inbox.

Subscribe

Get our top stories direct to your inbox.

Subscribe