The strawberry lamington at Sugar At Chelsea Bay Cafe. Photo / Babiche Martens
From a peanut butter mousse pie to a crayfish eclair to raw ramen - these are among Auckland’s Top 100 Iconic Eats, according to a just-released list.
Think Auckland, think the Sky Tower, sailboats and – raspberry lamingtons?
An old-fashioned coconut-crusted and cream-filled sponge treat is one of just two items continuing an unbroken run on the Iconic Auckland Eats Top 100 list.
Announced today, this year’s list contains 39 debut businesses and 77 dishes making an inaugural appearance.
Only the lamingtons from North Shore cafe Sugar at Chelsea Bay, and the fish sliders made famous at Al Brown’s Federal St restaurant Depot, have appeared in every Top 100 list since its 2020 inception.
Presented by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited on behalf of Auckland Council, the annual Iconic Eats list aims to celebrate the diversity and quality of the hospitality industry in New Zealand’s largest city. In 2025, dishes cover the culinary spectrum – from eggplant bibimbap to birria tacos to pani puri to whitebait omelette, and beyond.
New businesses to this year’s list include the likes of Michael Meredith’s Metita, San Ray (operated by Cazador’s Dariush Lolaiy and Rebecca Schmidt), Judith Tabron’s First Mates, Last Laugh and Henry Onesemo’s Tala – all also recently named among Viva’s Top 60 Auckland restaurants.
Annie Dundas, Tātaki’s director destination (and an Iconic Eats judge alongside local food legend Connie Clarkson and Restaurant Hub’s Mark Gregory) says there are “classics” that routinely appear – Cocoro’s sashimi platter, for example – but every year throws up surprises.
“I think in the second year maybe, we had just a tonne of really quirky burgers come through – Sneaky Snacky on K’Rd being the most obvious, with their crazy glazed doughnut bun.
“When things were getting financially quite tough, you started to see a lot more street food. And there has always been a really strong layer of Asian fusion-type food and just genuine good Asian food, because that denotes Auckland’s history.”
This year, four pies made the list – beef cheek and cheese, peanut butter mousse, braised beef short rib and steak, and jalapeno and cheese. Other notable first-time inclusions include two of the city’s most Instagrammed dishes – crayfish eclairs from Josh Emett’s Onslow and honey toast with whipped yoghurt and nectarines from Parnell restaurant Rhu. And, in a clear nod to Auckland’s coastal outlook, roughly one in five of the Top 100 dishes features kaimoana.
Dundas says back in 2020, when she first started working on strategies to build Auckland’s reputation as a must-visit food-and-beverage destination, “everyone kept saying to me – ‘what’s the dish, what’s the thing?’ And after about two or three months, I was like, ‘well, there isn’t one thing because Auckland’s just got this incredible diversity of culture and so on. Trying to distil something into some pithy, silly headline seemed really daft’.”
Any dish from any type of food hospitality business, including food trucks and market stalls can be considered, and judges make their final decision based on personal stories submitted by the public.
A record 3019 entries were received (a 67% increase on the last list) with five winning dish-nomination stories garnering their writers $500 worth of venue vouchers.
“We wanted people to think ‘why is that iconic to Auckland?’ What’s the story telling us about Auckland?” says Dundas.
Winning stories praised a halal pepperoni, capsicum and hot honey (from Bari’s Pizza), handmade dumplings from Eden Noodles and a “creamy bowl of happiness” – aka Prego’s risotto all’anatra.
Joshua Jo, who nominated Vietnam Cafe’s spare ribs rice noodles soup, wrote: “This dish has been a favourite of mine since I was 10 years old. I’m nearly 40 now and nothing has changed, in the best way ... I’ll gladly drive from the other side of Auckland for it.”
Elle Pitts, writing about Cross St’s Bar Magda, described a dish titled Noel’s charcoal steak with soy butter and scallion: “Cooked over charcoal perfectly, and then that sauce. I could drink that sauce. I could bathe in that sauce …”
Judge Connie Clarkson said the list showed off food offerings across the region.
“Iconic Eats is a love letter from the food lovers of Auckland to the cooks, chefs and their whānau who step up to the plate to deliver the food that brings them joy every day. It transcends place, price, nations and neighbourhoods, complexity, simplicity and time. We are really lucky.”
Agak Agak Food: Malaysian nasi campur.
Ahi: Tuna hūhunu
Ailimteh: Nasi lemak bungkus
Alma: Beef tongue, preserved lemon, olive
Amano: Chitarra, scampi, tomato and chilli
Apéro: Seared lamb rump, jus with carrot purée and kasundi
Aryeh: Black and white thoughts
Ashby Pies: Beef cheek and cheese pie
Azabu: Volcano sushi rolls
Bali Nights: Ikan bakar jimbaran
Banh Mi Boy: Lemongrass chicken banh mi
Bar Magda: Noel’s charcoal steak, soy butter, scallion
Bari’s Pizza: Deluxe pepperoni pizza
Beast and Butterflies: Market fish of the day, scampi bisque, mussels, prawns, burnt tomatoes, fennel
Bestie Cafe: Towpath cheese toastie
BFC Korean Chicken: Seasoned cup chicken
Boda: Eggplant bibimbap
Bossi: Olive fritte
Bridgehouse Warkworth: Fresh steamed mussels
Broke Boy Taco: Birria tacos
Bunga Raya : X.O. chicken
Burnt Butter Diner: Chilli fried eggs
Candela: Lamb belly pintxo with mojo verde
Carmel Israeli Street Food: Crispy falafel pita
Casita Miro: Churros con chocolate
Cassia: Pani puri
Cheese On Toast: Bacon jam toastie
Cibo: West Coast whitebait omelette with ginger, soy and lime butter
Cocoro: The sashimi platter
Depot: Fish sliders
Duo: Raw fish on toast
Eden Noodles: Dumplings in spicy sauce
Esther: Puff bread and taramasalata
Farina: Padella Isabella
Farm House Cafe: Pimp my cheese scone, Benedict
Fatima’s: Lamb chawarma
Federal Delicatessen: Chicken salad sandwich
First Mates, Last Laugh: Pan-fried John Dory
FishSmith: Battered Westmere Butchery pork sausage
Forest: Smoked purple kūmara, caper brine glaze, Marmite cream, rosemary greens, paprika
Forester Bar and Grill: Skin-on snapper
Fort Greene: The Reuben
Frat’s Pizza: Hawaiian pizza
Gemmayze Street: Babaganouj
Gerome: Rolled baklava, Greek nuts, gooseberry compote, metaxa syrup, mascarpone
Giapo: World famous hokey pokey
GOAT By Sid Chopra: GOAT champaran
Hapunan: Adobo del diablo
Hello Beasty: Prawn and crab toast
Hill House Cafe: Pimp My Scone, The OG
Huami: Fruit wood roasted Peking duck
INCA: Spicy tuna tostada
Ipoh Malaysian Cuisine: Lorbak
Izu: Tuna ceviche
Jia Qi Sweets: Dragon’s Beard Candy
Khu Khu: Kūmara spring roll
Kingi: Hot smoked kahawai from Little Barrier with horseradish
Lebanese Grocer: Chicken shawarma
Leigh Eats: Fish and chips
Lot Nineteen: Cinnamon rolls
Lucky Gs: Thigh guy
Mae Nam Khong: Drunken spicy duck
Mairangi Bay Bakery: Braised beef short rib pie
MASU by Nic Watt: Wagyu kimchi gyoza, pickled cucumber, soy vinegar
Mekong Baby: Braised crispy pork belly, caramelised chilli and soy, Asian slaw
Metita: Handpicked beef scotch, 55-day dry-aged, palusami puree, ravigote
Mint As Waiheke Island, Burgers and Shakes: Mint as burger
Moxie Restaurant: Beef Wellington, potato and truffle foam, pumpkin seed and parsley pesto
Mumbaiwala: Dahi puri
Nanam: Lechon
Ockhee: Tofu BBQ gui
Ohui Restaurant: Pāua tortellini
Onslow: Chatham Islands crayfish eclair, organic egg, spiced bisque, herbs
Our Land: East Coast brisket
Paradise: Lamb biryani
Peach’s Hot Chicken: Peanut butter mousse pie
Pici: Pici cacio e pepe
Prego: Risotto all’anatra
Ragtag: Duck carnitas tacos
Ramen Takara: Jade ramen
Red Crab: Sweet and sour chicken
Rhu: Honey toast with whipped yoghurt and nectarines
Richoux Patisserie: Steak, jalapeno and cheese pie
San Ray: Quinoa toast with smoked fish and pickled egg
Shelley’s Kitchen: Malaysian spiral curry puffs
SkyBar: Gold bar
Smiths Matakana: Chef’s loaded fries
Sugar at Chelsea Bay: Raspberry lamington
Tacoteca: Ora King Salmon aguachile
Tala: Raw ramen
Tempero: Pao de queijo
The ‘Ansum Pasty Company: Proper Cornish pasty
The Blue Breeze Inn: Steamed bao bun with roasted pork belly and pickled cucumber
The Engine Room: Twice baked goats cheese souffle
The Glass House Brick Bay: Leigh skin-on snapper
The Local Waiheke: Fish taco
The Lodge: Passionfruit drizzled pavlova
The Sugar Dealer: Raspberry cheesecake brownie
Tiger Bar and Restaurant: Korean fried cauliflower, gochujang glaze, sesame, kimchi
Vietnam Cafe: Spare ribs rice noodles soup