Neighbourhood dining going from strength to strength, says Metro food editor

Mo Koski, co-owner Apero on Karangahape Rd, has made Metro's top 50 list this year. Photo/ Ken Downie

Neighbourhood restaurants are part of what defines Auckland's dining scene and the quality of local joints is increasing all the time, says Metro magazine's food editor.

This year 30 of Metro's top 50 restaurants are on or outside the city's fringe, a trend toward suburban venues which has been growing in recent years.

Metro's short list was announced this morning.

Food editor Alice Harbourne said for a lot of diners, the personal touch of eating at a local restaurant, where the staff remembered you and the owner worked shifts, was hugely appealing.

An example of a city fringe owner-operator venue "delivering an experience that's both personal and polished" was Apero on Karangahape Rd.

"It's those places where people feel more relaxed, they want to have a good time," she said.

"We have a culture of people who love to go out and eat and it should be fun and it should be exciting."

While some restaurants on the list were as far afield as Waiheke, neighbourhood eateries who made the top 50 were still mainly in suburbs near the CBD, like Grey Lynn and Parnell.

Harbourne was careful not to write off Auckland's outer suburbs, saying there was quality food to be found all over the city.

However, she said the strict judging criteria Metro uses for the top 50 meant some venues further out which had been on the long list didn't make the cut this year.

Although food was always the most important factor when judging, elements like decor, atmosphere and service were also taken into account.

As the line between what was and wasn't fine dining blurred, with people enjoying professional but laid back ways of eating, neighbourhood dining kept on "hitting the sweet spot" between casual and fine dining.

"I think it's a case of [suburban venues] doing better and better," Harbourne said of the high numbers of neighbourhood restaurants on this year's list.

"I think it's a continuation, it's not necessarily a sudden rise. I think it's really [that these places are] growing in confidence. They're not trying to be anything they're not."

Just over half of the top 50 restaurants were one site venues, meaning they were likely to be owner-operated.

People establishing restaurants in the suburbs were taking a risk in that they weren't guaranteed the instant customer base of a CBD venue.

Harbourne said they should be celebrated for taking that risk, and was pleased to see New Zealanders did lean toward supporting local businesses.

"People really back the everyman, the owner operator places, which I think is something that really defines Auckland dining."

The Top 50 Auckland restaurants, and the finalists in the Metro Peugeot Restaurant Of The Year 2017, are (in alphabetical order):
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Amano
Apero
Artwok
Augustus Bistro
Azabu
Baduzzi
Beirut
Café Hanoi
Casita Miro
Cassia
Cazador
Cibo
Clooney
Cocoro
Coco's Cantina
Culprit
Depot
Ebisu
Euro
Federal Delicatessen
Gemmayze St
Gusto at the Grand
Ima
Kazuya
Masu
Merediths
Molten
MooChowChow
O'Connell St Bistro
Orphans Kitchen
Ortolana
Paris Butter
Pasta & Cuore
Pasture
Ponsonby Road Bistro
Rosie
Saan
Sidart
Siostra
Soul Bar & Bistro
Spacca
The Blue Breeze Inn
The Engine Room
The French Café
The Grill by Sean Connolly
The Grove
The Oyster Inn
The Shed, Te Motu
The Tasting Shed
Woodpecker Hill