New Zealand Restaurants

Posted by Patrick Lam on Saturday, October 3, 2020

Table Of Contents

I consolidated the list of restaurants we liked in New Zealand from my monthly summaries so far. Considering how few days we spent in Christchurch there are a surprisingly large number of restaurants from there. In general we’ve been doing a lot of cooking at home.

Wellington

  • Upesh Kitchen: Our favourite Kelburn take-out place, Malaysian and South Indian

  • Harbourside Market: Sunday market with food trucks

  • Best Ugly Bagels: Montreal-style bagels

  • Kazu Yakitori & Sake Bar: Good Japanese food, no chicken sushi on the menu

  • Viva Mexico

  • Ti Kouka Cafe: fairly famous Wellington brunch spot

  • Fisherman’s Plate: best pho in Wellington

  • Ramen Shop: was in NZ Herald list of restaurants, did not disappoint

  • Dragons: famous dim sum (aka yum cha)

  • Rātā Cafe, Zealandia: Had a bunch of good snacks here.

  • Nam-D, Wellington: I like the banh mi at this food truck chain.

Around Wellington

  • Olde Beach Bakery, Waikanae Beach: pies!
  • Kiss and Bake Up (Otaki): more pies! semi-fancy bakery
  • The Tin Hut (Featherston): good pub-type food

South Island

  • O’Sha, Takaka: Enjoyable Thai food
  • Why Not Cafe, Kaikoura: Recommended by bus driver, lived up to recommendation.
  • Sevenpenny, Greymouth: Had a whitebait sandwich here. Has potential.
  • Fat Bastard Pies, Invercargill: I liked the pies
  • Bao Now, Te Anau: Bao, poutine (-ish, with cottage cheese), dumplings
  • South Sea Hotel, Oban: They have a monopoly but their daily specials are excellent. Also their Quiz Night is famous. We took 3rd.

Christchurch

  • Costas Taverna, Christchurch: Was great to have a meze platter here.
  • Le Panier, Christchurch: Best croissants I’ve had for a while!
  • KUMO Japanese Cuisine, Christchurch: Not bad for kaiten sushi.
  • Kinji, Christchurch: Best sushi in NZ that we’ve had yet; we went twice!
  • Smokey T’s, Christchurch: 4.9⭐ on Google, superlative BBQ
  • Original Sin, Christchurch: Italian, and good oysters