The Auckland Restaurant Dishes You Have To Try This Year

Find inspiration for your next dinner out.

Viva thrives on bringing readers some of the best dishes in the city via its weekly restaurant reviews, in which dining out editor Jesse Mulligan heads to restaurants across Auckland to find out what’s good, what’s great, and what to avoid. From delicate kingfish sashimi to mushroom parfait and a plum and pistachio cake, these are the Auckland restaurant plates to add to your dining out list, stat.

Market fish from Lilian

At Grey Lynn osteria Lilian, perfectly cooked market fish is covered in a golden vadouvan butter made with shallots, ginger, garlic and curry leaves and warming spices like turmeric, cumin and fenugreek, with a crispy square of duck fat potatoes alongside. Perfection.

Address: 472 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn

Phone: 0210 528 136

Spicy pork milk bun from Gochu

The exterior is a fluffy housemade milk bun, the interior a deeply savoury and spicy pork with kimchi and the sauce a velvety beurre blanc for pouring over the top or dunking. Commerical Bay Korean restaurant Gochu’s spicy milk bun is a must-try and sells out fast.

Phone: 021 0905 2396

Tala’s mixed entree

Part of Samoan fine-dining restaurant Tala’s considered tasting menu, this snack plate features chef Henry Onesemo’s simply titled Taro Chip, Banana Chip and Raw Ramen. The taro crisp is his take on a Bloody Mary with tomato paste, diced celery and black olive crumb. The banana crisp is topped simply with yoghurt, curry powder and herbs, and the “raw ramen” combines cooked and puffed packet noodles with pickled veges and mayo.

Address: 235 Parnell Rd, Parnell

Contact: 021 172 8349

Anise’s kingfish ceviche

At Anise, beautiful slices of raw kingfish are topped with a coconut and jalapeno sorbet, and studded with decorative wheels of cucumber, chilli jam and a sprinkling of makrut lime leaves. Viva’s dining out editor Jesse Mulligan notes the sweet sorbet is “a risk in anybody else’s hands but here an assuredly beautiful way to celebrate the fresh, pink slices of fish”.

Phone: (09) 377 1911

Wakuwaku’s tonkatsu pork

At this excellent Japanese restaurant in Remuera’s newish Village Green complex, the pork tonkatsu is exemplary. It’s cooked until perfectly crisp and is served sliced, with a smooth sesame sauce, a splodge of mustard and quinelle of parmesan cream.

Address: 1D/415 Remuera Rd, Remuera

Phone: (09) 520 0243

Barbecue combo platter from Jami

Jami in Wairau Park specialises in Korean barbecue and the combination platter is a collection of its finest cuts, including marbled wagyu beef, pork and vegetables. Cook it yourself over hot coals and then wrap the meat in lettuce with a selection of condiments and seasonings, like kimchi, seaweed and radish.

Address: Unit 9/20 Link Drive, Wairau Park

Phone: (09) 444 9987

Dahi puri from Mumbaiwala

We’ll understand if the dahi puri from Satya has your heart, but do give Mumbaiwala’s a go. These mini puffed puries are filled with mashed potatoes, chickpeas, spicy yoghurt and tamarind sauce and are a beautiful, complex mouthful. The contents are liquidy in texture so it’s best to consume them in one bite. While there are many iterations of this popular snack, the chefs at Mumbaiwala say they “prioritise flavour, presentation, fresh ingredients, attention to detail and texture”.

Address: 252 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby

Contact: Mumbaiwala.co.nz

Darling on Drake’s mushroom parfait

One for the vegetarians, and lovers of parfait, Darling’s version is a silky smooth mushroomy log topped with pickled Oras mushrooms and shittake and a sweetish sticky glaze. Order it with the focaccia, which is like glorified deep-dish pizza dough (in a good way), sprinkled with a toasty za’atar spice mix.

Address: 27 Drake St, Auckland CBD

Contact: Darlingondrake.com

Qozi chicken from Tapsi

At Iraqi restaurant Tapsi on Dominion Rd, the half chicken comes bone-in, marinated, grilled until tender and resting on a bed of “za’faran” rice dotted with sweet raisins and slivered toasted almonds. There’s a bowl of tzatziki for spooning on top and a little vegetable stew of your choice — from white beans cooked in tomato sauce to okra and tomato.

Address: 985 Dominion Rd, Mt Roskill

Phone: (09) 600 1807

Cornettos from Farina

Ponsonby Rd Italian restaurant Farina has just been treated to a renovation and Viva’s dining out editor Jesse Mulligan paid a visit to test out the new space, and the menu. The cornetto, he says, is a cone made of pizza dough, “which might sound to you (as it did to me) a little stodgy. But it was light, airy and nicely chewy. You have a choice of fillings but we chose baccala — a very traditional European ingredient made with salted cod”. Bellisima.

Address: 244 Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby

Phone: (09) 390 6213

Crispy chicken wing from Tokki

This is a very special piece of fried chicken, from Milford’s modern Korean restaurant Tokki. It’s deboned, stuffed with minced prawn and mushrooms, coated and fried to perfection, and served with a truffle aioli. Yes, it’s worth driving across town for.

Address: 87 Kitchener Rd, Milford

Phone: (09) 488 0888

Advieh’s pistachio cake

This cake is what Viva’s dining out reviewer Jesse Mulligan declared “the best dessert in the city” last month. “A light, spongey cake with an intense inky butter-paste, both made from pistachio. It’s topped with a plum two ways: a drizzle of concentrate then segments of the fresh fruit with a quenelle of yoghurt icecream, extra shattered pistachio and edible flower petals scattered over the top.”

Address: 1 Queen St, central city

Phone: (09) 304 0040

Pineapple pavlova from Cibo

Parnell restaurant Cibo is famous for its pavlova, and for good reason. The pineapple iteration is a meringue bowl encasing cream, housemade pineapple lumps, shards of Valrhona chocolate and pineapple curd; a playful and nostalgic dessert that’s completely delicious.

Phone: (09) 303 9660

Address: 91 St Georges Bay Rd, Parnell

Johanna Thornton is deputy editor of Lifestyle Premium at the New Zealand Herald, with an extensive background in magazines and lifestyle journalism, specialising in food and drink, design, culture and travel.

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