Best Variety - Zarbo

* This restaurant is a category winner in Viva's Ultimate Takeout Food Award winners 2003.

For dedicated foodies, this is paradise. Before you choose your meal from the cabinets filled with the most heavenly array of gourmet food, wander around the shelves stocked with imported and local delights. Jams, relishes, sauces, pasta, vinegars, oils and marinades - you name it, you'll likely find it here. Don't expect to go in and buy only what's on your shopping list though. We've tried, it's impossible.

Over at the food cabinet, the options are almost as unlimited. Zarbo recently launched its Zarbo2Go range which changes daily. Thai chicken curry with rice and Asian vegetables, lamb shanks with kumara mash and greens, beef cassoulet with beans and fruited couscous, tagines and lasagne are some of the menu dishes.

Or you can order smaller delights - individual marinated salmon steaks with lemon and dill, risotto cakes, quiches and an extensive selection of gourmet salads - from the deli cabinet.

If you can't make up your mind, ask the very friendly and efficient staff to whip you a special picnic hamper with a selection of their goodies. And don't forget to add an eccles cakes or chocolate brownie - they're legendary.

Cost: Deli items start at $6.95 and Zarbo2Go meals start $12.95. Picnic hampers range from $16.50 to 29.95

Viva also recommends: Forbes for Food, Kohimarama and Rocket Kitchen, Ponsonby