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Foodie Auckland: New Zealand Steps Up To Tickle The Tastebuds

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[Photo: Instagram/Coxocube]

New Zealand’s famous for many things - stunning landscapes, Lord of the Rings, the All Blacks, the Maoris, Flight of the Conchords… But as a foodie hub? Not so much.

We all know it’s got lush white wines (though honestly, the best ones don’t even make it out of the country), and top notch flat whites (the battle continues between the Aussies and the Kiwis as to who lays claim to its invention). But now, the wider Kiwi food scene is catching up.

We headed to Auckland to scope out the must-eat stops.

Coffee Culture

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[Photo: KES]

There’s a reason I was extremely highly caffeinated for my entire trip to New Zealand.

Flat whites have taken London by storm, but Auckland has truly secured its place as a world-class coffee capital.

Where? Most good cafe’s will do a cracking flat white, but if you want to pair yours with a tasty brunch, don’t miss Odette’s Eatery at the City Works Depot.

Others worth checking out include Little and Friday, Blend and Kokako.

Sophisticated Food

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[Photo: Instagram/Coxocube]

New developments are popping up constantly as Auckland goes through something of a modern transformation.

For burgers to rival any, head to Burger Burger in Central Ponsonby and order the broccoli as a side - it comes with garlic butter and almonds and is out of this world. Also: milkshake.

More centrally, make sure you drop in at Depot. Right next to the Sky Tower (which you can jump off if you so wish), this Oyster Bar and eatery by chef Al Brown has a menu packed with fresh, interesting flavours, paired with (of course) great coffee and crisp wine.

Varieties of oyster changed depending on what’s in season. While we were there we were mid Bluff Oyster season and enjoyed the fattest, most succulent ones we’d ever tried.

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[Photo: The TravelSmith]

The sharing platters are great for a light lunch - and enable everyone to try a little of everything. The snapper tortillas were a particular favourite.

Inside the Sky Tower itself is The Sugar Club on floor 53 - by celebrated Kiwi chef Peter Gordon. It fuses middle eastern and asian flavours with New Zealand cuisine.

Ice Cream

For dessert, I’m about to convince you to spent $20NZ on an ice cream. And queue up for it for half an hour.

Hear me out.

Giapo, on Queen St, central Auckland, makes ‘Haute Ice Cream’. And it really is. People queue around the block to buy one of these works of art/entire meals in themselves.

Rather than picking from a menu, you talk to the servers about what flavours you like and they will recommend (and let you taste) a variety of options until you pick one that’s perfect for you.

You also choose your type of cone (which is equally unique and delicious), then wait while the gelatiers make up your stunning ice cream cone.

With additions including edible gold, honeycomb spikes, pretzels, edible metallic balls, Oreo cookies and pretty much anything else you can think of… they are fantastic. But if you can polish off a whole one on your own I’ll eat my hat.

See?

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[Photo: Instagram/megananndowning]

Booze

To finish off our foodie tour of Auckland, let’s think about the accompaniments.

Wine is of course essential, and the best way to get your fill is to head a little out of town to Waiheke Island.

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[Photo: KES]

After distracting ourselves with some eco zipping around the island (highly recommended) we stopped for lunch/high tea at Batch winery.

One of the few places in the North Island that makes good sparkling, Batch also has some delectable wine on offer - red, white and rose, to satisfy everyone’s palate.

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[Photo: Instagram/Coxocube]

There’s possibly nothing in the world better than sitting in the sunshine, looking down over Waiheke, glass in hand. The winery is the highest on the little island so afford incredible views all round. Food is delicious and carefully paired with the wine and you can talk a walk around the vines. Perfection.

But if beer’s more your thing, stick to mainland Auckland, where you can visit Brothers Beer. This is the place for craft ale, with a huge selection of home-brewed beers and guest ales, lagers and ciders from all over the world.

The craft ale scene is on the up in Auckland, but these guys are well ahead of the curve.

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[Photo: Instagram/the_travelsmith]

With its laid-back atmosphere, comfy 80s-style sofas and friendly staff, it’s easy to spend an entire day in this shop-come-bar and thankfully thin-crust pizzas are on hand to soak up the booze.

New Zealand is a young, fun, laid-back, outdoorsy country with plenty to do for travellers - adventure and adrenaline travel is rife, beautiful walks and scenery are hard to miss, and then there’s the cinematic history and the Maori culture to explore.

But now it’s not just great for backpackers and adrenaline junkies. With an increasingly sophisticated food scene (the capital Wellington is also enjoying a boom), options for holiday-makers and tourists just got a whole lot wider.

See you, literally, on the other side.

Discover all you can do and eat in New Zealand at newzealand.com, and share your Instafoodie moments #NZMustDo.

Return flights from London Heathrow start at £575pp and STA runs a variety of NZ tours starting in Auckland and finishing in Wellington. Various departure dates available, head to www.statravel.com, call 0800 988 0390 or pop into a STA Travel store to start planning your adventure.