Busy Kiwis board roast dinner gravy train

Forget fish 'n' chips. The new Kiwi favourite is takeaway roast dinners.

But the good old meat-and-three veg is not as wholesome as you might think.

Kathy Fouhy, a dietitian from Nikki Hart Dietitians, agreed takeaway roasts were becoming "the new thing".

But, although a roast meal provided vegetables and important protein, iron and carbohydrates, it also packed a 613-calorie punch.

"For the average New Zealander, that's too many calories in a meal. And 27 grams of fat? That's way too high."

Ms Fouhy said roast meals were still healthier than fish and chips, which were twice as high in fat but provided little nutrition.

"The problem is the perception - because people think they're getting meat and three vegetables, the perception is roasts are healthy."

A healthier meat-and-three option would be an eye fillet steak, baked potatoes and vegetables.

"That whole meal is less than 10g of fat. This [takeaway roast pork] is almost three times as much."

Or, if you had an otherwise healthy diet and just couldn't resist the odd roast, you should limit yourself to one every fortnight.

Auckland now boasts 43 specialist takeaway roast restaurants. Owners say their meals are cheap, easy, and popular because no one has time to cook their own.

Matthew Rudez and his partner set up Marco Polo Roasts on Dominion Rd in Sandringham two years ago. They sell 350 roast meals each night.

"It has picked up. We're about 20 per cent up on this time last year. That's a fair whack of an increase."

ACNielsen figures show one in three New Zealanders opted for takeaways at least once a week.

However, Kiwis lead the world in consuming healthy takeaway meals, with Subway the most popular choice in 2004.

So why then are takeaway roasts proving so popular?

Mr Rudez put the trend down to "good food, good flavours, service and portions" and said although chicken, beef and lamb were popular, pork "always cleans up".

Michael Mei, owner of Angelo's Roasts in Massey, said there were three new roast shops within 3km of his shop.

"It's newer than fish and chips and Chinese takeaway. Most people like roast pork, but I think New Zealanders, maybe they just like to eat meat. And potatoes."