Pinati’s Keke Pua’a
Tasty filled and plain buns and doughnuts
Get in early because the coconut custard-filled buns tend to sell out quickly, as do the sticky steamed pork buns, which are rumoured to be some of the best in Auckland. The $2 Samoan-German buns – fried sweet doughnuts filled with caramel and desiccated coconut – are happiness epitomised. 19A Queen St
Penang Cafe
Finger lickin’ chicken
If you judge the quality of a Malaysian restaurant on its Hainanese chicken, this is the spot – though this version has a Chinese lean. Whole chickens are poached in furiously hot water until tender. Any fats that rise to the surface of the poaching liquid are then skimmed and added to rice, along with some liquid from the pot, ginger, garlic and pandan leaves; the oily stock flavours the rice as it cooks. A gentle sauce of dark soy, ginger and chilli is served with chunks of chicken and a small mound of the sticky, flavourful rice. 6 Station Rd
Secret Thai Garden
Great for a BYO dinner
Nobby and Aranya (aka Tommy) Clark spent 18 months converting their Ōtāhuhu garden into a secret Thai restaurant. The result is a maze of fluorescent lights, knick-knacks and handmade teak furniture from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Soups are aromatic and generous (especially tom yum with prawns) and the curries are thick and warming. Don’t forget a photo in the tuk tuk, if you can find it. 25 Station Rd
Toby’s Seafood
Fresh from the ocean
Toby’s is a well-oiled fish and chip production line: burly men – some who work part-time at the Auckland Fish Market – fillet fish, cooks fry it and the girls in the back rhythmically shuck mussels. The chips come out of a bag (and they’re delicious, by the way) but the fish lands fresh off the boat each day, and is both battered and cooked to order. Lunch arrives on a blue tray, topped with a piece of parchment paper, and the tomato sauce is free. 626 Great South Rd
The Hāngī Shop
A traditional lunch on the run
A hāngī cooker recreates the deeply earthy taste of hāngī without the work of digging a pit. Some might call this a cheat, but Catherine Lim has been using hers in her little hāngī shop for 17 years. Lim is sharing how traditional Māori flavours come alive when combined with a bountiful harvest. Her fried bread and roast meat sandwiches are also legendary. 583 Great South Rd
Try It Out
Vibrant Vietnamese
The phrase “all style and no substance” is something that the Ha family, who opened their Vietnamese restaurant 20 years ago in a building that used to be the Ōtāhuhu library, want to avoid being accused of. Daughter Jenny Ha, who helps run the place tells me, “we focus on the food, not the decor”. The beef pho, the stock for which simmers all day, is huge and deeply savoury, and vermicelli salads are brought to life with a chilli-laced dressing that smacks of fish sauce. And you’d be hard pressed to find an iced coffee as good as the one here. 79 Atkinson Ave
This article first appeared in Paperboy.
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