Waiheke Island
Up a winding driveway framed by grapevines, Waiheke's newest vineyard restaurant and tasting room channels an Iberian ambience, but the savvy and diverse…
Must-see restaurants in North Island
Ponsonby & Karangahape Rd
Hot in both senses of the word, this super-fashionable restaurant focuses on the fiery cuisine of the Isaan and Lanna regions of northern Thailand. The…
Hamilton
Journey across to Hamilton East to this bustling eatery in a former garage. Thoroughly unpretentious, Hayes Common's versatile menu stretches from…
Ponsonby & Karangahape Rd
No one in Auckland produces creative degustations quite like Sid Sahrawat. It's food as both art and science but, more importantly, food to fire up the…
Coromandel Peninsula
Get pleasantly lost in the Refinery, a spacious showcase of 1960s and 1970s Kiwiana style including a turntable where customers are encouraged to play the…
Waikato & the Coromandel Peninsula
Around 3km from town adjacent to surf beaches, Rock-It Kitchen combines rustic decor – it's housed in an old woolshed – with the area's best food. New…
Auckland
Modern Filipino food is the star at Nanam in the North Shore suburb of Takapuna. Dine on innovative updates of traditional Filipino food that made UK chef…
New Plymouth
Crammed with retro furniture, superpopular Federal conjures up a 1950s corner-store vibe. Switched-on staff in dinky headscarves take your coffee requests…
New Plymouth
Sharing a fairy-light-draped courtyard with Snug Lounge, seductive Ms White serves trad wood-fired Italian pizza and a bedazzling range of 40-plus craft…
Coromandel Peninsula
Luke’s Kitchen has a rustic surf-shack ambience, cold brews including hyper-local craft beer from Kūaotunu's tiny Blue Fridge Brewery and excellent wood…
Coromandel Peninsula
Bringing cosmopolitan cool to Coromandel Town, Wharf Road offers the opportunity to ease into another day equipped with excellent coffee, interesting…
Parnell & Newmarket
Greek cuisine is rare in Auckland, but Gerome's modern interpretation of traditional Hellenic flavours make it one of Auckland's best restaurants…
City Centre & Britomart
That there are queues outside this boutique ice-cream shop even in the middle of winter says a lot about the magical confections that it conjures up…
Napier
This long, floorboarded room with its green-tiled bar is the pride and joy of the Napier foodie scene. Hip and slick but not grossly unaffordable, with…
The Wairarapa
On the highway just north of Carterton, this excellent little bakery-cafe makes famously good sourdough bread, lamb-cutlet pies, steak sandwiches and…
Bay of Islands
Muted colours give way to sea views at this new upstairs seafood restaurant across from Paihia pier. The seasonal menu is largely seafood focused (who can…
Bay of Plenty
The sea air might easily be Mediterranean at this new restaurant that has brought quality Italian cooking to the Mount. All the accents are Italian, from…
Ponsonby & Karangahape Rd
Located amid the restored heritage architecture of St Kevin's Arcade, Gemmayze St presents a stylish update on Lebanese cuisine. Mint, orange blossom and…
Wellington
Deservedly ranked among Wellington's best restaurants, Logan Brown oozes class without being overly formal. Its 1920s banking-chamber dining room is a…
Auckland
The Persian heritage of the Lolaiy family combines with game meat and foraged ingredients at Cazador. Decor such as stuffed animal heads is largely…
Ponsonby & Karangahape Rd
Nikkei cuisine, an exciting blend of Japanese and Peruvian influences, is the focus at Azabu. Amid a dramatic interior enlivened by striking images of…
North Island
Stocked with home-baked goodies (chubby muffins, bagels, pastrami-stuffed baguettes), this bijou deli and wood-fired pizzeria is heaven-sent for the…
Waiheke Island
Referencing the first three digits of Waiheke phone numbers, Three Seven Two's oceanfront location includes an outdoor deck and a shaded rear courtyard…
City Centre & Britomart
Occupying a moodily lit basement, Cassia serves modern Indian food with punch and panache. Start with a pani puri, a bite-sized crispy shell bursting with…
Taupo
Taupō's coolest cafe is just outside the town centre, filling an old plumbing store over two warren-like levels. Indoor plants drape over warehouse beams…
Hamilton
The authentic flavours of Malaysian street food are served in this high-ceilinged space just off Victoria St. Partner Asian-inspired cocktails or craft…
Hamilton
Mr Pickles is a standout in the Riverbank Lane development. Either sit at the bar near the open kitchen or outside with river views and enjoy shared…
Parnell & Newmarket
Pasture is unlike any other dining experience in the city. You'll need to book a few months ahead – the compact space has just two seatings per night and…
Wellington
A Cuba St institution for caffeine-craving rebels, Fidel's cranks out eggs any which way, pizzas, panini and fab salads, along with the city's best…
Coromandel Peninsula
On the outskirts of Waihi Beach, the Surf Shack is definitely worth a detour for its plate-filling salads and quite possibly the best burgers in New…
Wellington
This warmly lit, atmospheric wine bar serves some of Wellington's best food. Euro influences pervade the menu, featuring the likes of charcuterie plates,…
Coromandel Peninsula
Sleek Scandi style makes the Port Road Project a standout in sleepy Whangamatā. Join the locals on the sunny, shared tables and partner the all-day menu…
Coromandel Peninsula
The Bistro at the Falls Retreat is located in a wooden cottage under a shaded canopy of trees. Gourmet pizzas and rustic meat dishes emerge from the wood…
Rotorua
Overlooking the village green, this bright and breezy restaurant sources herbs and edible flowers from its own yard. Doors peel back to merge the indoor…
Whanganui
In hot pursuit of the North Island's best burgers? Community-minded Citadel, 10 minutes' drive from downtown Whanganui, is a contender. Alongside the…
Bay of Plenty
Cobbled together out of shipping containers, but with a very flash louvred roof, this mainly open-air cafe is Ōhope's best. The coffee is first rate and…
Kingsland & Mt Eden
The French Cafe has been rated one of Auckland’s top restaurants for more than 30 years. Now helmed by one of Auckland's finest chefs, Sid Sahrawat, there…
Bay of Islands
Named after an escaped Australian convict who was NZ's first white female settler, this hip restaurant-bar occupies a cheeky perch on the main pier. Bits…
Bay of Islands
Serving Kiwi classics (lamb, beef, seafood), the Gables occupies an 1847 building (formerly a colonial brothel) on the waterfront built using whale…
Bay of Islands
Kerikeri's best located and most upmarket restaurant occupies an old homestead right on the basin (book ahead for a table on the veranda). Mains run the…
