Eating in New Zealand

One of the best parts of visiting a new place is trying the food, and in New Zealand it ended up being one of the highlights. Our experiences eating in New Zealand were overwhelmingly positive. Over six months, we sampled delicious food, local craft beer, and wonderful wine. Here’s some tips if you find yourself in this beautiful country looking for something good to eat.

You Won’t Go Hungry in New Zealand

After years cruising in barren habitats from The Bahamas to Tonga, I will never forget our gleeful first visit to a New Zealand supermarket. We felt like celebrating when we spotted the range of produce and the selection of foods we wouldn’t even eat! Our first visits to grocery stores, farmers markets, and specialty shops in New Zealand were much the same, impressing us with the variety of fresh, high quality food of all groups. We saw more fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, etc.etc. than anywhere we’d sailed the boat in a long time. From produce to dairy to meat and seafood, eating in New Zealand includes the widest choice of the best ingredients.

Popular New Zealand Foods

New Zealand food covers a wide range of cuisines, with a mixture of influences, especially British and Asian. It’s truly global, with lots of Indian and Thai restaurants, which is good for vegetarians.

Kiwis like their comfort food. Some of the most popular dishes in New Zealand are savoury pies, fish and chips, anything with snapper, mussels, and lamb. As in everywhere in the world, pizza, burgers, sushi and pad thai are also popular. New Zealand also has fast food, but it doesn’t seem as popular. Maybe that explains why in general Kiwis are fit looking. Or maybe it’s all the hiking!

avocado

Kiwis call them avos, which are plentiful and fresh most of the year. According to the New Zealand avocado site, there are nearly 1,800 avocado growers over 4,000 hectares. The main variety is the Haas avocado, and I can attest, they are among the freshest, biggest and tastiest avos I’ve ever had. You can buy them in the supermarket, but better to go to farmers markets. Even better, when you drive around the countryside, look for signs. People sell avos at little roadside sheds, often leaving a box for payment.

chocolate eclair

One of the highlights in Ohakune is Johnny’s Eclair shop. I am not usually a sweets person, but Brian and I split one of Johnny’s giant eclairs and almost fought over the last bite, the creamy, chocolatey pastries were so good. We ate it so fast, I almost forgot to take a photo!

Johnny Nation’s Chocolate Eclair Shop, 78 Clyde Street, Ohakune, North Island

lamb

For a country that has more sheep than people, you better bet they serve delicious lamb dishes. From the lamb we bought at supermarkets, to the cuts served at high end restaurants, New Zealanders know how to cook their lamb. You won’t be disappointed if you’re a fan.

mussels

New Zealand mussels are huge! And delicious. We learned early on to buy them at the Pak N Sav for a good price, and cooked them on the boat and while traveling the country by campervan.

We ate a lot of mussels in New Zealand. They were always delicious, and often inexpensive. But not always. We went to the source for New Zealand mussels in Marlborough Sounds, where we found the most expensive mussels in the country. It didn’t make sense to us either.

pies

Like New Yorkers with pizza, and Mainers with lobstah rolls, every Kiwi has their favorite pie purveyor. You can get savoury pies in bakeries, supermarkets, and dedicated pie shops, but quality varies. We sampled a few – even the supermarket ones – and found our favorites in Blenheim.

Blenheim, a small town in Marlborough wine country, is a gem. It has an excellent museum, cool street art, varietals of wine, and yummy meat pies! We biked to the pie place on the way to the wineries and were greeted by an astonishing array of pie flavors. We took the counterman’s advice and ordered uncommon pie flavors like jerk chicken and curried lamb, and they were heaven in a flaky crust. Once you get off the Interislander ferry on the South Island, aim for Burleigh Gourmet Pies to try the best of this New Zealand staple.

Burleigh Gourmet Pies, 34 New Renwick Road, Burleigh, Blenheim, South Island

salmon

Salmon is a popular New Zealand seafood, and there are lots of sources of this delicious fish. We went to one of the best. After a big hiking day at Mount Cook, our best decision was stopping at the Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon shop.

The rest area was packed with people taking photos of the gorgeous views of the mountain and the lake, and also hungry tourists snapping up the fresh salmon. We joined the line and bought a platter of sashimi, some of the most delicious salmon we’ve ever eaten.

Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon Shop, Lake Pukaki Information Centre, Pukaki, South Island

General Tips for Restaurant Eating in New Zealand

I wrote about this when talking about eating in Whangarei, Northland’s biggest city. Basic etiquette for eating in New Zealand is that in most dining establishments – unless they tell you upon entering – you order and pay at the bar or counter. You will either be given a number or there will be one at your table to receive your food and drinks when ready. We got so used to this system of paying as we ordered that at one brewery in New Plymouth, we walked out without paying the bill and had to be chased down! It was a little embarrassing. They were very understanding and didn’t cause an international incident.

A great thing about eating in New Zealand restaurants, especially for North Americans, is there is no tipping. They do use card machines, called EFTPOS, and some of them are pre-coded with tip amounts. Tips are not expected, and often the server will x out the tip before handing you the machine.

Our Favorite New Zealand Restaurants

We spent six months in New Zealand, a couple of them in the van, so we ate out more than we ever have. You can’t talk about eating in New Zealand without mentioning some of the wonderful places to eat. Here are some of our favorite restaurants in New Zealand.

Brick Bay Wines & Sculpture Trail

A great place to stop for lunch between Whangarei and Auckland is Brick Bay. It’s a beautiful place at a winery in the country with lots of land including a sculpture trail. Plus they serve tasty wines and incredible food.

It was a surprise stop – we were looking for a different establishment, which was closed, and one of the finest places we ate in New Zealand. New Zealand has a lot of wineries offering fine dining, so that’s saying a lot!

Brick Bay Wines, 17 Arabella Lane, Snells Beach, North Island

hide thirst and hunger, mount manganui

Another favorite New Zealand restaurant of ours was Hide in Mount Manganui. We visited for the first time after hiking the mount, and had a tasty lunch in the nicely secluded back patio. Cleverly hidden off the main street, it feels like an oasis from the crowds at the beach, and the food is top notch. We ate delicious ribs and seafood. This area has a lot of restaurants to choose from, but this one is memorable.

Hide Thirst and Hunger, 147B Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui, North Island

mr. Morris, auckland

Our Waiheke taxi driver recommended Mr. Morris to us, and since we were staying nearby in Auckland’s CBD, we chanced a walk in for dinner. Thankfully, they squeezed us in. The food at this place was so good, the salad is one of the best I’ve ever eaten. Fresh ingredients and great flavors are hard to beat.

We were tempted to return on other trips to Auckland, but that city has so many good restaurants and we wanted to try others.

Mr. Morris, Britomart, Auckland, North Island

MK restaurant, HANMER SPRINGS

We only spent one night in our camper van in Hanmer Springs, but if you’re ever crossing the South Island via the Lewis Pass, stop at MK Restaurant. The welcoming chef/owner whips up dumplings from all different cultures and they are delicious. My only word of warning is the portion sizes are very big!

MK Restaurant, 3/24 Conical Hill Road, Hanmer Springs, South Island

mister d, napier

We had delicious seafood in downtown Napier, with better food and service than most of the wineries in the region. Mister D is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is very popular for a reason. It serves good food!

Mister D, 47 Tennyson Street, Napier, North Island

poco, rotorua

Up a flight of stairs off the main drag in Rotorua, you’ll find Poco Tapas & Wine. This restaurant stood out among the touristy food merchants in this busy town, and they had a good wine list.

Poco Tapas and Wine, 1183 Arawa Street, Rotorua, North Island

sidart, auckland

Many of our favorite New Zealand restaurants are in Auckland, a city we returned to several times over six months. New Zealand’s biggest city boasts a few bustling culinary neighborhoods, with a vibrant dining and drinking scene.

Another Auckland foodie favorite, Sidart is a highlight in the bustling Ponsonby area, serving Indian/Western fusion in a fine dining atmosphere. During our dinner there, we enjoyed beautifully presented mouth-watering food. It was one of our favorite New Zealand restaurants and one we recommend for a fine night out in Auckland.

Sidart, 283 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland, North Island

split, whangarei

Split, 15 Rathbone Street, Whangarei, North Island

One of our favorite restaurants in New Zealand is Whangarei’s Split. Make reservations for lunch or dinner at this contemporary restaurant serving fresh seasonal plates, because Split is a local favorite too.

tappo, auckland

We loved this tiny casual Italian spot snugly situated in an arcade in Auckland’s K Road district. They serve pastas and apps alongside wines and cocktails. Our porchetta served with fresh bread and a glass of New Zealand wind made a delicious and satisfying lunch. Auckland has a lot of good restaurants, but not all as fresh and relaxed as Tappo.

Tappo, 23/183 Karangahape Road, Auckland, North Island

white house te puna, minden

A roadside restaurant isn’t where you’d expect to have one of your best meals, but White House Te Puna hit the mark. We had some excellent mussels in a very friendly atmosphere on a rainy day while driving back to the boat in Tauranga marina.

White House Te Puna, 15E Minden Road, Minden, North Island

Hope I didn’t make you too hungry with all this talk of eating in New Zealand. I also hope you can try at least some of the country’s fresh local cuisine. Have you already been and have your own favorites? Please share in the comments.