25 of our favourite international restaurants

Thai: Saan

It’s Thai food, but not as we’ve known it. The Isaan and Lanna cuisine of Saan on the Ponsonby strip is prepared by Thai-born, raised and trained chef Wichian Trirattanavatin (‘Lek’ for short) from traditional family recipes.

Dishes like the sai ua (Isaan pork sausages), geang sadoong (semi-cured venison), larb ped (wok-seared spicy duck and mint salad) and the crispy pork curry moo krob prik khing are a far cry from the flaccid stir-fries and curries in soupy hues of green, yellow and red that frequently pass for Thai food on these shores. The concept for Saan was a passion for Lek while rising through the ranks as a chef at Café Hanoi in Auckland’s Britomart precinct.

In late 2014, executive chef and co-owner Jason van Dorsten asked Lek what he wanted out of his career as a chef. Lek told him he wanted to open a Thai restaurant specialising in authentic cuisine, something he felt was not yet fully represented in Auckland. After presenting his dishes and culinary vision to Jason and fellow owners Krishna Botica and Tony McGeorge, over many months and much planning Saan was fashioned out of the dank old Video Ezy on Ponsonby Road into an airy space by Cheshire Architects, full of blond wood, Thai ceramic lampshades and cane chairs designed by Aucklander Ben Glass. Wonderful dishes like deep-fried whole fish with spicy sweet and sour dressing, and crispy fried soft shell crab with coconut sauce are the fulfilment of a dream for a talented and determined young chef, and a delight for Kiwi diners. saan.co.nz

Ethiopian: Café Abyssinia

Authentic Ethiopian cuisine on Auckland’s Stoddard Road, where the national bread, enjera, is used to scoop up the likes of kitfo (marinated minced raw beef), or doro wot (a stew of chicken marinated in lime juice with ginger and onions and seasoned with the spice mix berbere), menchit abish (ground beef with onions, garlic, spices and green chilli) or a vegetarian stew atkelet alicha. They also bake fresh muffins, cakes and slices for your more regular cafe fare, and you can also experience a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. facebook.com/CafeAbyssinia

Malaysian: Sri Pinang

Rendang, roti, laksa, satay, prawn toast, sago pudding…They’re all there on the menu at this K Road institution. It pays to book in advance if you crave a hit of authentic and value-for-money Malaysian cuisine. 356 Karangahape Rd, Auckland.

Spanish: The Black Hoof

Climb the stairs off Wyndham St for some of the best tapas in Auckland. Take a seat at the recycled wood tables where a menu of classic Spanish tapas awaits with delights such as goat’s cheese croquetas, and prawns with garlic and chilli. Larger plates include Catalan pork sausage and slow-braised beef cheek. 12 Wyndham St, Auckland.

Chinese/Asian fusion: Judge Bao

Fluffy, cloud-like steamed buns filled with free-range meats and locally sourced veges, topped with condiments like pickles, sriracha sauce, and peanuts are served at this travelling food stall. foodspace.co.nz/vendor/judge-bao

Italian: Coco’s Cantina

One of Auckland’s most lively eating spots for unfailingly good Italian fare. Try their famous spaghetti and meatballs – it’s way better than you’d think. Tuck into their grilled scotch fillet with bone-marrow butter or grilled lamb on Sicilian caponata then chase it down with classic Italian tiramisu or affogato. Take your friends there if you want a great night out; it’s always busy and it’s always awesome. cocoscantina.co.nz

American: The Federal Delicatessen

Al Brown has the Midas touch up in Auckland with his collection of delis, bagelries and restaurants. Federal Delicatessen is his take on the old-school New York Jewish delicatessen and he duly serves evocative platters of house pastrami with mash, smoked brisket with pickles and mustard, turkey meatloaf, and New York strip steak. Sample griddle cakes and bottomless filter coffee from Havana and Coffee Supreme in the morning, a sneaky Reuben sandwich or a matzo ball soup full of shredded chicken and bagel dumplings for lunch, and a dinner of New York strip steak, spit-roast chicken or turkey meatloaf. On their Late Shift every Friday and Saturday 11pm-1am you can soak up the sauce with their buffalo wings or outstanding poutine. thefed.co.nz

Chinese: Ancestral

Quality Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine in Wellington’s Courtenay Place. It’s an oasis among the dance clubs and Irish pubs in the neighbourhood with an elegant garden bar serving great cocktails and an extensive wine list. Share a plate of dim sims with classic flavours like pork, prawn and chive. Sample the monkfish with tianjin pickles and chilli garlic topping, or experience the pi pa duck, split and flattened to look like a Chinese lute. The crispy eggplant is a vegetarian delight and there’s a dessert menu of familiar flavours with Asian flourishes. ancestral.co.nz

Middle Eastern: Cazador

A family-run restaurant down Auckland’s Dominion Rd specialising in game dishes with the likes of boar, hare, rabbit and venison. There’s nose-to-tail cooking as well with crispy lamb’s brains and duck sausages – it’s heaven for the committed carnivore. Chef Dariush Lolaiy even accepts BYO meat by appointment from hunters and fishermen. For a small fee he’ll cook your trout or venison into a feast for you and your buddies. Middle Eastern influences abound with nigella seeds and tahini sauce on the sausages, saffron rice and smoked tomato sauce on the dolmades, or candied orange in the dark chocolate and brandy mousse. cazador.co.nz

French: L’Assiette

A small French bistro and cafe at Britomart where you can pop in for freshly baked pastries like canelés, chouquettes and croissants. Take a seat inside or on their sunny outdoor terrace, if the weather co-operates. Order from their daily specials or sample French classics such as beef bourguignon, croque monsieur or crème brulée off the menu. Outstanding crepes and galettes are made to order at their dedicated station. lassiette.co.nz

Korean: Faro

Eating out and doing the cooking yourself sounds somewhat contradictory, but order the ‘table set’ at Faro and you’ll get a tabletop brazier, a selection of meats and a highly entertaining introduction to Korean barbecue. Beef short rib, sliced ox tongue, salted tiger prawns, scotch fillet, pork belly, or marinated chicken thighs are all available for barbecuing at your table along with a range of dipping sauces and sides with the likes of kimchi, shredded pancake and a spicy soup made with the soy paste doenjang. From their flagship branch in Lorne Street they have expanded to two more locations in Auckland as the traditional Korean barbecue catches on in Kiwi-land. faro.co.nz

Mexican: Mexican Specialities

A tiny but prized eatery which led the vanguard of decent Mexican food in New Zealand. Deep in Auckland suburbia, they only serve dinner on Friday and Saturday and it’s frequently packed. Get in early or head there for lunch to enjoy tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tostadas or zesty guacamole with house-made corn chips. There are lesser-known Mexican items like the toasted sandwich-like sincronizada or nogada (a stuffed poblano chilli with walnut sauce) and you can wash it down with a range of house-made drinks like horchata (chilled rice and almond milk with a hint of cinnamon) or a tangy fresh lime juice. Don’t forget to stock up on authentic Mexican pantry items and crafts while you’re there, too. mexicanspecialities.co.nz

Chinese/Asian fusion: The Blue Breeze Inn

A restaurant of modern Chinese food with a Polynesian party vibe in a prime spot in Auckland’s Ponsonby Central complex. Staff adorned in Hawaiian shirts serve up delicious cocktails, frequently laced with rum, and seriously good contemporary Chinese by chef Che Barrington. You’ll just want to pile dishes on the table and dig in. Dumplings, pork buns and dim sims soak up the first round of cocktails, so reload and get into their popular and fiery fish drowned in heaven-facing chillies or braised beef cheek with cumin and fermented chillies. On Sundays, they offer all-day dumplings and Peking duck cooked in their purpose-built Peking duck roasting oven as an added extra. thebluebreezeinn.co.nz

Vietnamese: Café Hanoi

A modern take on authentic Vietnamese where dishes are infused with aromatic spices; laced with herbs like Vietnamese mint, dill, perilla and coriander and spiked with plentiful lime juice, fish sauce and soy. cafehanoi.co.nz

Italian: Al Volo

Authentic thin and crispy wood-fired pizzas made in the Neapolitan style. Grab a takeaway or nab a long glass of Peroni and eat-in at the Auckland pizzeria while pizzaiolo Luca Villlari works his magic behind the counter. alvolo.co.nz

Japanese: Zool Zool

The Japanese obsession with ramen has caught on in Aotearoa and Zool Zool is creating legions of fans with their beautiful bowls of broth. They have five flavours of ramen broth filled with house-made noodles, meats and tasty titbits – ample excuse for repeat visits to their Mt Eden restaurant to settle on your favourite flavour. For those not joining the soup noodle revolution, there are plenty of other options, starting with their non-broth ramen served with a salad base and izakaya-style dishes of spicy edamame, grilled prawns, tempura vegetables and gyoza. zoolzool.co.nz

Indian: Cassia

Overall winner in the recent Metro Peugeot Restaurant of the Year Awards, Cassia has rapidly cemented a place among fans of contemporary Indian cooking. Lewisham award-winning chef Sid Sahrawat opened the restaurant to cook the food he and his wife Chand made for themselves at home. Note: you will not be able to cook this food at your home. Instead, descend into the modern dining room of exposed brick and concrete illuminated by dozens of low-hanging oversized light bulbs. You might hit upon familiar flavours of vindaloo or korma in the menu but they come in inventive treatments you’ll never have experienced before, like tandoori fish with dry korma, smoked yoghurt and pickled cucumber, or a tender piece of pork shoulder on a vindaloo sauce with slivers of apple and ginger. cassiarestaurant.co.nz

Latin American: Besos Latinos

An exploration of authentic Latin American cuisine at Auckland’s Elliott Stables, where signature dishes of the region like Peruvian ceviche, Argentinian empanadas, and Venezuelan arepas are made from market-fresh produce and seafood. BESOSLATINOS.COM

Chinese fusion: Hugo Chang

Shanghai-meets-Soho in a stylish bistro setting in Havelock North, where Asian-themed tapas and quality cocktails abound. hugochang.com

Japanese: Cocoro

Exquisite modern Japanese food by chef Makoto Tokuyama served in refined elegance just off the busy Ponsonby restaurant strip. With so many inventive flavours and textures to explore, their six-course ‘omotenashi’ degustation menu is ideal, featuring amongst other things sansho pepper-miso cured Ora King salmon, tempura ‘fish & chips’ with Japanese mustard-flavoured egg tartare and yuzu foam, and charcoal-finished free-range rack of lamb. There’s also a set menu dedicated to fans of sushi and sashimi, the more familiar à la carte menu, as well as a menu of signature dishes highlighted by the mighty Cocoro signature sashimi platter. cocoro.co.nz

Burmese: The Bodhi Tree

Not a cuisine we are inundated with here in New Zealand – Christchurch just might have the stranglehold with The Bodhi Tree. Their menu of small tasting plates features pickled tea salad with lentils, nuts and sesame seeds, for instance, and sautéed squid with chilli and basil or shredded green papaya dressed with lemon, dried shrimp and shallot oil. It’s a great way to sample multiple dishes and make a quick study of a cuisine we’re destined to see more of in the future. 820 Colombo St, Christchurch Central, Christchurch.

Indian: iVillage

The slow conversion of Auckland’s Victoria Park into a dining precinct is definitely heading in the right direction with the likes of iVillage serving traditional but brilliantly executed Indian cuisine. Start with a gourmet poppadom platter while you explore the extensive menu featuring vegetarian paneer and dhal dishes, delicate Goan fish curry and familiar favourites like rogan josh, lamb saagwala and murg jalfrezi. ivillageatvictoria.co.nz

Middle Eastern: Ima

This is Yael Shochat’s homage to the cuisine of her hometown Tel Aviv and the wider Middle East. There’s a spacious dining room on Auckland’s Fort Street in which to sample Lebanese lamb shoulder or whole stuffed market fish which Yael and her team kindly debone to make devouring it all the more pleasant. Vegetables and salad get the star treatment – the Tunisian grilled carrot salad is simply outstanding, and the Arabian rice with pine nuts and pistachio nuts is worth a visit alone. Save room for dessert as the knafeh – an Arabic dessert of soft goat cheese mozzarella topped with crispy kadief pastry drenched in hot syrup is not to be missed. imacuisine.co.nz

Southeast Asian: White & Wong’s

A newbie down on Auckland’s viaduct serving the intense street-food flavours of Southeast Asia in delicious plates of noodles, crispy-skinned meats, soups, curries and dumplings. You’ll find untouched classics like massaman and red curry, bang bang chicken, and barbecue pork buns, while dishes such as whole Peking duck, numbing and fragrant prawns, and barbecue meats are tweaked and re-imagined. WHITEANDWONGS.CO.NZ

Jamaican: Caribbean Spice

Their popular new stall at the Street Food Collective in Ponsonby will add some Caribbean dynamism to your diet. Dine out on the classic jerk chicken, Jamaican goat curry, deep-fried spicy snapper or crab and prawn gumbo. caribbeanspice.co.nz

Japanese: Nishiki

If you’ve ever been to Japan then Nishiki will feel incredibly familiar. It’s almost a facsimile of the traditional izakaya experience, they even have the laminated menu cards with photos of the food in case you don’t speak Japanese (or in this case, English) and can just point mutely at the photo. All the classics are there: sushi, sashimi, tataki, gyoza, tempura, skewered meats cooked robatayaki-style. They frequently play to a full house in Auckland’s Freemans Bay and it’s not surprising as there’s a huge fanbase for this easy and enjoyable style of Japanese dining. nishiki.co.nz

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