These Auckland restaurants and bars feature booths and banquettes for nestling into, plus the food and drinks are good too.
Settle into a plush blue booth and indulge in Greek fare at this Parnell restaurant. For dessert, try its loukoumades - crispy little doughnuts with Nutella, coffee
This Grey Lynn favourite is cast in an undeniably warm glow thanks to an abundance of wood and gentle lighting. Relax with a favourite cocktail in hand and some crostini with chicken liver parfait. 455 Richmond Rd, Grey Lynn
This bistro has been something of a chimera, changing from a German beer garden to Augustus to Augustus by Mudbrick, and now, Hotel Ponsonby. Its latest iteration is fashionable and inviting, designed by award-winning interior design studio CTRL Space. Head to the restaurant side of this bistro and bar for luxe velvet booths and the ne plus ultra of sticky toffee puddings. 1-3 St Mary’s Bay Rd, St Mary’s Bay
Open for lush breakfasts like their vanilla crepe with stewed fruit, or their simple spinach and pea fritters as well as lunch, dinner or an after-work refresher a la honey daiquiris, Odettes’ enveloping booths with piles of soft cushions are perfect when nestled into. 90 Wellesley St West, Auckland central
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Culprit’s smaller sibling is a cosy – certainly stylish – cocktail lounge with a clear personality. There are kaimoana platters on the menu, as well as chicken liver parfait with a pile of doughnuts for dipping and waffle cut fries with spicy ketchup, and a playful drinks list that’s as creative as it is decadent. Try the Coco Coala with sour cola bottles and coconut husk rum, cherry bitters and charcoal, or an old fashioned with a hint of white miso and milky bar. Corner of Wyndham and 151 Queen St
The interior of Bonita in Ellerslie is all about the bright orange, circular velvet booths, chequerboard tile floors and red tabletops. Opened in late 2023 it serves Spanish-style tapas with the menu undergoing a makeover thanks to chef Kyle Street, inspired by this travels to the Basque region. Snack on mortadella gildas; Mills Bay mussel escabeche and slow cooked beef cheek with polenta and a lemon and currant gremolata. 131 Main Highway, Ellerslie
The Nightcar
A seriously impressive underground restaurant and bar on Queen Street, The Nightcar is the embodiment of owner Daren Zhou’s vision for a spot that combines the fun and atmosphere of a nightclub with the service of a restaurant. That means table service at any of the beautiful booths, where you can order Northern Chinese-inspired dishes like dumplings and noodles, and inventive cocktails, served with huge pieces of The Nightcar-stamped ice. 44 Queen Street, central city
Trivet
A new opening for 2024, Trivet is on the ground floor of the JW Marriot Hotel on Albert Street. It’s a big, bold restaurant with plenty of handsome, built-in booth seating and banquettes. The menu by chef Wallace Mua spans Pacific, Asian and New Zealand dishes and flavours, with plates like trevally sashimi with soy, truffle, herbs and chilli; a Chatham Island paua vol au vent with palusami and pork belly nem: a Vietnamese-style spring roll filled with vermicelli, cos, herbs and wood ear mushrooms. 22 Albert Street, central city
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Blessed with a renovation in 2024 to expand the restaurant’s floor size, Farina has new booth and banquette seating at the front of the restaurant, as well as its coveted raised booth seating along one side of the dining room, with views of the chefs at work in the kitchen. The food here is Italian, with a wood-fired pizza oven to the rear of the restaurant doing a roaring trade in perfectly cooked pies. 244 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby
Metita
The fitout of Metita, designed by interiors firm CNTRL Space, has received several awards nods, including being shortlisted for the hotel category for the Restaurant & Bar Awards 2024 and the Best Awards’ hospitality category, and winning first place in Architecture NZ’s Interior Awards. The restaurant’s design takes its cues from the cuisine, which is Pacific-inspired, designed by head chef Michael Meredith. Contemporary and textural, it’s rendered in a palette of deep blues, greys, cool neutrals and soft whites in homage to the ocean and sky. Banquette seating is a feature at Metita, piled high with comfy cushions. 90 Federal Street, central city
Baduzzi has garnered a following for its buttered maltagliati with duck, but it’s also worth visiting for its hand-made pasta and seafood. And then there’s the tiramisu, which some say is the best in Auckland. A stone’s throw from the water on Wynyard Quarter, Baduzzi is blessed with a series of high leather booths, perfect for hiding away over a long lunch. 10-26 Jellicoe St, North Wharf, Wynyard Quarter
"I'm 99 per cent sure the booths at Daisy Chang started off as a temporary measure due to social distancing during Level 2, but every time I've returned back to this popular East Auckland eatery, they're still erect," says Viva beauty editor Ashleigh Cometti. "The food is flavoursome and never fussy; an eclectic mix of dishes borrowing inspiration from every corner of Asia bao buns, hawker rolls, dumplings, drunken noodles and sweet-and-sour salads." The booths seat up to six people comfortably, but feel just as cosy and inviting during a date night for two. 31 Picton St, Howick
At its new home in SkyCity, Indian restaurant Cassia has jewel-coloured booths to sink into. Where its previous Fort St location was all brick and exposed concrete, at Federal St it favours acoustic-friendly carpet and velvet-covered walls. The menu is still the same, and excellent, with sharing menu an ideal way to canvass some of the restaurant’s greatest hits. 90 Federal Street, central city
At Al Brown’s esteemed New York-style deli, the best seats in the house are undoubtedly the booths, with their green leather and warm wood touches. The Fed serves bagels and griddle cakes in the morning, matzo ball soup and poutine in the evenings, and filter coffee all day. Its pie department is unquestionably strong: order a slice of New York cheesecake, banoffee pie, pecan pie or lemon meringue pie, or yield to the menu’s ‘The 3-Way’ and mix and match your baked goods. 84 Federal St, Auckland Central
Norma Taps
City Works Depot bar Norma Taps might be known for its commitment to eliminating single-use bottles, with every drink poured from one of 24 taps, including the cocktails. Still, its recent makeover is piquing our interest. The team have introduced cosy, spacious booth seating to enhance privacy and intimacy, in what is a big and airy warehouse space. They’ve also installed a big screen TV for sports fans. Shed 3D, City Works Depot, 90 Wellesley Street West, Auckland CBD
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