Cafe Abyssinia is well worth the drive to industrial Mt Roskill for it’s unique Ethiopian dishes. You are served delicious, rich curries on large pancake style sour bread which you use to mop up the curries - no cutlery and it is a large platter shared with the whole table. Lots of fun and quite a culinary adventure.

Sri Pinang is my local Malaysian restaurant and a favourite. The fish curry is delicious and their roti is flakey perfection. A regular order of mine is the seafood laksa which is big enough for two and perfect lazy night takeaway.

Simply the best falafel pita pocket around, especially smothered with the addictively delicious garlic sauce. The salad plate is divine with a mix of hummus, tabouleh, lentil, carrot and rice salads.

Mexican Specialities is one of the places I like to go as a special treat - as often as possible! Unfortunately due to it's location in Ellerslie it is not as often as I'd like. I am happy to sit down by myself and order the unctuous bean dip with house made corn chips and the sublime prawn taco. If I am feeling particularly indulgent I top it off with the spicy Mexican hot chocolate. Heaven.

Satya has a unique spin on Indian curries. They are of South Indian origin and many are spiked with ginger and tamarind. There is a large vegetarian menu and many unusual entrees to choose from such as the masala dosas and uthappam. A must have dish is the dahi puri which I like to call ‘Indian nachos’ - they are small papadams with a potato topping, a tangy tamarind sauce and yoghurt. The palakura cheese curry is also a crowd pleaser and the dal makhani will have you going back for seconds.

The Food Truck Garage does a great healthy version of a burger, the pattie is 50% vegetables. Choose from Beefroot, Spinkin or the Chickette and opt for some oven baked, chunky root vege chips on the side.

These guys do a spectacular, classic beef and bacon burger like you used to get, served in a paper bag with a tomato shaped squeezy bottle of tom sauce and handcut chips.

This is my go to for a no frills fish burger - battered fish, iceberg lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and a sesame seed bun. Yum.

Probably one of the best places for a vegetarian burger, Burger Fuel has some great options such as the Beatnik and the V-Dub Vege, gluten free bun on request.

Ponsonby Fresh Fish & Chip Co is a Ponsonby institution and always dishes up reliably great fish and chips. However my favourite item on the menu, and best hangover food, is the classic fish burger. A piece of battered fresh fish in a sesame bun with iceberg lettuce, mayo and tomato - with a scoop of chips you have a sure fire winner.

Jimmy the Fish is simply about fresh seafood prepared in the simplest manner. The beer battered fish and hand cut chips are perfection whilst the chargrilled squid and green salad make a great light lunch.

It’s a fair way out from the city for your usual feed of fish and chips, but Hallertau do a mean plate and chased with a cider it is the perfect lunch on a sunny day.

If you are hankering for a meal of fish and ships late then head to Late Night Diner for their beer battered version with skinny cut fries.

For an excellent feed of classic fish and chips straight up hit the Newton Fish and Chippery.

There has been quite a fuss made about Orphans Kitchen lately, and deservedly so. It has fast become my favourite place to go for a meal and catch up with friends. The food is seasonal and simple but with huge flavours such as the fish of the day with cauliflower puree and pickled cauliflower, brussel sprouts with baby beetroot and goats curd and the deceptively simple Tina's wedge - a wedge of crisp iceberg lettuce with a tangy herb dressing. The wide, blonde wood benches are incredibly comfortable to lounge around and you will while away a night quite easily - as long as you can beat the crowds to a table.

Johnny Feedback is a fine new cafe wrapped around the corner of a character Pitt Street space. It is sunny and light and makes the best of it's location by putting some tables in narrow courtyard down the side. The coffee is superb and the baking from Meola Kitchen very tasty. Stephen and Brodie are the affable chaps behind the counter and a coffee there will brighten your day considerably.

Have you ever wondered where Toru and Teed Street Larder get their superb baking from? Scratch Bakers are the source and now you too can go straight to it. They have opened a small but perfectly formed cafe in the City Works Depot and you can sit down to mouth watering fish korma or braised goat, harissa and yoghurt pies and follow up with a ginger creme brulee tart or twisted cinnamon dusted churro among many other sweet and savoury delights. They serve malty Three Beans Espresso and the decor is raw industrial in keeping with the rest of CWD but warmed up by a red painted wall.

Honeytrap has only just opened and I have fallen in love with the toasted sandwiches. To date they have had a creamy and delicious curried cauliflower and cheese in a sesame seed bun and a baked bean and pesto, both quite addictive. The salads are chocka full of healthy grains and vege such as farro, broccoli pesto and haloumi, quinoa and pumpkin or an Asian slaw with wild rice. They only serve filter coffee but it is a smooth Supreme brew and is a refreshing alternative to espresso. 

I love this place - it has such a fresh look and great service and the food is amazing. ‘The Fed’ is a homage to the traditional New York Deli so you will find bagels, matzo ball soup, pastrami on rye, latkes, pickles, hotdogs(mini versions) and Montreal poutine on the menu. There is also NY Cheesecake, which is incredible, and the choc cherry pie with pretzel crunch is ridiculously good. Chase with a bottomless cup of filter coffee and you will have had one of the most satisfying, and fun to boot, lunches in a while.

This colourful store is a great place to get Japanese dishes and other ceramics. They also have stunning kimonos for great prices and a large selection of Japanese food stuffs.

Wah Lee has everything from kung fu shoes to organic foods. There are glass jars for storage, beaded velvet slippers, Asian cookware and utensils, paper lanterns and parasols, dragon bowls, bamboo steamers, tea cups, I could go on and on. Seeing is believing.

New Gum Sarn is an Asian supermarket with everything you could possibly need from fresh fruit and vegetables, spices, dried mushrooms, sauces, condiments to mortar and pestels - and they are those excellent heavy stones ones at very good prices.

Lim Chhour is a very handy local supply for any Asian grocery supplies. They have a large range of fresh fruit and vegetables, an excellent frozen dumpling selection, tofu, pastes of every variety, noodles, dried fungi, coconut milks, a butchery and a whole lot of other mind boggling ingredients.

The whole premise of Zus & Zo is based on open sandwiches - choose from freerange bacon, rocket and tomato with guacamole, panfried haloumi with roast beetroot salad and almond gazpacho and egg salad with kimchi, rocket, mayonnaise, gochujang and sesame seeds - and that is just a few from the ample menu.

Toru does a divine jaffle(or toasted sandwich)including my favourite wild mushroom and polenta, all served with delicious crinkle cut chips, mayonnaise and pickle.

The Dairy does a couple of sandwich options, one being a very tasty classic cheese toastie with filling options. I like a simple cheese and gherkin which comes with a tasty relish. They also do a superb open sandwich with roasted eggplant and peppers, rocket, polenta crusted labne and honeycomb.

The toasted sandwich at Kapiti Store is divine - aged cheddar in a sourdough that is toasted within an inch of it’s life. It is greasy - in the very best way - piping hot and incredibly tasty.

Al Brown is on to another winner with Federal Deli. There is a lot of very good food on the menu but the sandwiches are special. The chicken salad sandwich has a generous portion of chicken, crispy roasted skin, iceberg lettuce mayonnaise on fresh baked bread and comes with a serve of gravy on the side. Finger licking good. Don’t forget to order pickles!