One of those truly great Auckland suburb stores, where you can pick up some truly useful things on the cheap (picnic mats, reflective vests and jackets for cyclists, sarongs, luggage, undies, kids toys) and there’s enough truly weird stuff to make it interesting. This is a great stop for a dress up party - the hats and dresses are primo.

I discovered Flourishing through the cheapeats.co.nz website. They know their Auckland cheap eats, and when Flourishing Cafe reviewed well I knew it was worth a visit. It's amazing value and great quality - a little known fact is that it's the sister restaurant to the incredibly popular Canton Cafe in Kingsland. Like its big sis, Flourishing is BYO and there's no corkage charged, making it an ideal place for a super cheap (under $20/head), super rowdy dinner with mates.

A waterfall in the city? Yes it’s true. Only a five minute walk down a pretty track just off Great North Road (yes really!), this waterfall is a beauty - especially after rain. This is a really secret swimming spot in Auckland central, if you’re brave enough to ignore the ‘Danger’ sign (I’m not). But you can watch the local kids doing huge bombs and back flips, and last time I took the kids here there was a family washing their dog under the waterfall. Not exactly eco-friendly but a funny thing for the kids to see.

Walk into Spice World and you’ll be sniffing in no time - the smell of exotic freshly ground spices surrounds you, but in a lovely fresh way that isn’t overpowering. This unassuming store is a foodie’s dream, especially if you dream of creating authentic Indian-influenced dishes. Instant Indian packet meals are also available here, so you can fake it till you make it. It’s also a budget friendly place with bulk bins selling store cupboard essentials at good prices. Pick up some $1 packs of incense while you are here!

Looking to buy fresh fish out West? This place is the best! An old-school fishmonger, with really fresh fish at a good price, with good advice thrown in for good measure.

Cute atmosphere, good pricing, and tasty food choices. At Food Truck Garage they try to make healthier food using less salt, less sugar and less fat. Their buns are made with spelt flour, sauces are homemade emulsions, fizzy drinks are naturally sweetened and there’s no deep fryer!

Delicious food to accompany a date with your girlfriends! And amazing set-up with the shops.

Mexican with a waterfront view - the way it should be

Delicious Italian cuisine on the new North Wharf waterfront.

This place was the best little hidden gem I’ve ever come across. Gorgeous set-up and beautiful food.

Whether it’s a date night with my hubby or a family outing on a Sunday afternoon to listen to a live set from Hopetoun Brown (one of my favourite live bands), the atmosphere and food are fantastic!

We spend a lot of time here with our little ones, walking the trails, (there are also tons of little secret trails all throughout Greenhithe, tucked away) visiting the horses, playing on the swings and in the water feature or riding the old tractor at the playground.

This is our regular Saturday morning run to the village shops for their black cherry Danish (my constant craving when I was pregnant!), custard squares and my 2.5 year old’s big treat, a “Pink!” (lamington).

Our little guys love this place - from the wooden games out front to a walk along the pier with a bag of warm Mexican churros and a fresh squeezed juice from Spruce Juice. We always stock up on bagels and Heavenly Pies (the Beef & Blue Cheese is to DIE for!) and freeze them for meals throughout the week.

We practically live at this place in the summer! The BEST real fruit strawberry ice creams made to order and we always come home with a huge box of strawberries that rarely last us the whole week until we can get out there again.

Love all the Russian, Polish, etc goodies. It's yum, it makes me miss home(s). Try the gherkins, actually try the dumplings, the tomatoes, the beer, the sweets... Ok, I need to check my fridge, probably some gherkins are left :P

They've got some really good German sausages, good bread and many other things. Their beer choice is also pretty impressive. Love it!

OMG, I could spent so much money there. The food, especially all the cheese and sausages are so so good.

Fresh warm croissants, pastry and bread, you can't go wrong no matter what you pick.

Check out the European section, it's full of gourmet goodies!!! You should try the quince jelly (French). Combined with some cream cheese on top of a good bread it's super delicious.

A mere 40 mins from central Auckland and we were winding our way down lovely back country roads ( simple well signed posted turn off from the motorway north). A couple of k's and we found the Puhoi Cheese Shop & cafe. OMG KUDOS Puhoi Cheese. I'm very impressed and as for the cheese. Fabulous.. I bought 3 and got 1 free ( thank you for the voucher)... what amazing cheeses.. We bought a 6 year old parmesan ( OMG), a blue, and two quite different bries. Fabulous fails to describe them and not too pricey. I paid $27 for 3 good chunks. The cafe had some to die for looking ice cream selections.. a limited lunch menu (divine baps & filled rolls, salad & homemade pie. It was 3pm so we may have missed the good stuff). I'm sure it wont be long till they add a cooked selection. Best part is you can eat lunch while watching them make the cheese. The setting is lovely with a large fountain in the little river nearby, an excellent playground for childtren and large run-around areas. What a gem for a Sunday country drive.

What a treat. An authentic French market with all you need to feel like you are on the other side of the world… divine food, great market, great atmosphere.

Stop off at your fav deli or french patisserie or even supermarket… buy french bread, brie, salami, gherkins; a cooked chicken and premade salad, some nice fruit and a bottle of wine or juice and off you go for a peaceful family picnic in lovely natural surroundings. In summer its a beach - fantastic for small children as well as larger, and in winter a nice setting amongst the trees for a BBQ or picnic.

We have been here several times and find it a great experience with the kids and Ive never seen kids eat so many green beans! Theirs are the best. We know now what to order and for under $100 we all have to waddle out with loosened belts. Our family favourites are : their signature prawn spring rolls, sweet & sour pork ( best in Auckland) , green beans, pork & prawn steamed dumplings, battered squid, dim sums, crispy duck ( not as good as expected but tasty), and sometimes pork buns. Yum… now I’m craving it again.

As far as family foodie experiences I has to add this place as my kids insisted. Its great even for little kids becuase it teaches them about mixing flavours - oils, sauces, meats & veges and they can experiment over & over at no extra cost. (I hear management growling at me …) What better way to teach young & old about the diversity of tastes and flavours… especially spices.. all or a very reasonable price. Well we love this place and you can always finish with a Mickey mouse shaped pancake!!

Now called Penny, this is one of the few places right in the city where you can get really good fish and chips, like you’re at the beach. The chips and pineapple fritters are my favourite menu items, but the burgers are also worth a try.

Love this place. You can get a big, healthy, tasty meal for super cheap and, of course, it’s totally vegan friendly. The pakoras are by far my favourite thing - so yummy!

This isn’t the nicest place to dine in, but I love getting takeaways from this Korean BBQ place. The portions sizes are big enough for me to eat half for dinner and the rest for lunch the next day, and everything is always well cooked. The staff are friendly and you never have to wait too long.

Pita Pit is the perfect place to take a break from shopping and have a delicious lunch that’s not full of fat and chemicals. I’m a big fan of the chicken ceasar pita, and how patient the staff are when I’m indecisive about what vegetables or dressings I want.

Denny’s is a great place for brunch. They make great pancakes and French toast and hashbrowns, and you can have as many coffee refills as you want.The staff are friendly, there’s plenty of parking AND if you sleep in past brunch time, it doesn’t matter, because they serve their breakfast menu all day.

I cant help but stop off and order a pizza margherita from this Italian run establishment. Great for takeaway, very fresh ingredients and the best dough there is!

I was so excited to find Dante's from Kumeu now at Ponsonby Central! Amazing Pizza and people watching. Good dough, good ingredients, though not Italian the owners have gone to Italy to learn the trade. I love the passion and the product

I must begin by admitting that pizza is one of my favourite foods, certainly the best "comfort food". Flying Pizza was a great example of a family owned takeaway pizza place that has spent the energy to perfect their sauce and come very close to a near perfect Italian base. We ordered 2 pizza's a mushroom and a fire. Both were a great balance of sauce, toppings and cheese. We couldn't finish them both but they were great cold the next day. This is definitely one of the best pizza places in Auckland. 

For a long pizza and a party atmosphere this is the answer, I look forward to Toto's night each month as we drag kids and friends to a great night out with yummy pizza. I am a pizza expert and this is well worth a visit with the family and friends.

Last but not least, they make a great pizza with a few different options for toppings , if your in the neighborhood this is a sure bet for a great takeaway

Great atmosphere for a casual drink with friends, the selection of beers always makes for an interesting tipple and the food is cheap but delicious.

the courtyard is lovely and the wine list is great, add to this the fantastic service and NSP becomes a great spot for intimate drinks or a large gathering

With a range of seating options meadow allows guests to capitalize from any weather in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. never overcrowded but always busy meadow has a lively feel but still allows for conversation.

When the sun is shining tom toms deck is hard to beat with great seating and a spectacular view. The drinks and food leave nothing to be desired and there is often live music or other entertainment to truly enhance a standard drink.

When out for a big night with friends it's hard not to pay a visit to PSC. The music is always enough to get you dancing and Saturday night sees it packed with interesting people to talk to. Its proximity to decent late night food is also a great feature when the night is over.

Relaxing & always interesting

Always Fresh

We have items that are not only great for work but home too. To help organise the garage & craft.

Cheapest Ice-cream in Auckland! Pretty standard tip top flavours like cookies and cream, gold rush, orange choc chip etc however they have a flavour that I absolutly love and cant find anywhere else - coconut mallow… the best ice cream flavour ever!!!! sounds weird but do try it!

Love this little spot, they so many options - hot chocolate, italian densos, brownies, ice cream, waffles, sticky date puddings, cakes, macaroons, lollies and chocolates! I just love the variety and how everything is chocolate :) perfect for a date night!

Unforunately they dont open at night :( but their whoopie pies are so yummy if you need a sweet fix during the day! I love their sundaes too!

More of a high end, boutique desert place, limited seating options so make sure you book! Friendly service, beautiful presentation of dessert plates and yummy too :) perfect for a date night!

The best nutella and almond crepes!!

In sixth place it’s Late Night Diner, beating my seventh seeded burger joint for one reason, which I will explain to you in due course. Let me say first that I was ecstatic when this joint opened. I recall too many nights finishing work around midnight in Ponsonby with little-to-no choice for a quality late night bite. Now, thanks to this team, those days are no more. On the burger front, it is not the place to come if you’re looking for choice, but it is the place to come for a delicate and lovingly made beef, bacon and cheese burger. It’s brilliant to watch it all happen in front of you as the team fastidiously prepare your order. The meat paddie sizzles to your desired finish, the cheese placed precisely on top liquifies, the bacon grilled under strict supervision to perfection, the pickles sliced lengthways so they stick out just a touch to make their presence known. The team are meticulous, they care, they look cool while they do it, and the result is a damn fine burger.

The hardest part about a trip to Burger Queen is choosing from the menu. There’s three columns of options on the blackboard to tempt you, with around 10 to 12 in each. I left there kicking myself because I didn’t ask what the record is for the longest time spent choosing a burger. All that aside we come to the easiest part about a trip to Burger Queen: the masticating. My choice was the Beast Burger, named after NZ Warrior Manu Vatuvei, and it was as hard to tackle as the man himself, but only much, much more enjoyable. The thing towered over my can of Sprite, a steaming stack of awesome wrapped in tinfoil. Beef, steak (yes, both), bacon, chicken, egg, caramelised onion, lettuce, mayo and special sauce. I thought of words of comfort from the Mitre 10 Mega guy, “BIG IS GOOD”, as I powered through it, then fell into a beautiful food coma. This place is legendary, you must try it.

(Eighth place) A Dunedin institution that’s inevitably made it’s way north due to popular demand, many an Auckland confidant have now nestled against the Velvet Burger bosom. It’s all about Kiwiana here, with a loud and proud attitude towards sourcing local ingredients and beer to wash them down with (they even have Double Brown). But the real star comes in the form of ‘The Stag’ burger, a beautiful amalgamation of venison, portobello mushroom, blue cheese, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, aioli and plum chutney. Those Otago locals know a good burger, and I’m glad they were willing to share them with us.

I really did want to try leave the more ‘chain store’ style burger joints out of this list, but a special mention and a ninth placing must go to Burger Fuel for their vegetarian options. As I delved deeper into research among my vegetarian friends (and their friends) as to where they go for their vege-tastic treat, it seemed Burger Fuel was the most consistent name that surfaced. Ka pai Burger Fuel.

(Tenth place) Due to the scheduling of my visits to Auckland’s oldest foodtruck, The White Lady and I don’t always have the clearest picture of our relationship, but I know for sure that I’m a happy customer. The burgers are large and delicious and the staff are always friendly, even after more than 60 years serving the nightlife on the city’s streets. The menu has maybe too many options for the functionally drunk to safely navigate, but no matter what you pick you’ll be greedily spilling burger fillings onto the moonlit street with a grin on your face, that much I can guarantee.

oo…like it

Good view and Romantic etmosfere

Grand Harbour has the best selections of yum cha in town. It is very delicious and affordable

love to eat

yum