Auckland Dining Just Got Even Better With Award-Winning Indian Eatery Cassia Opening At SkyCity

Award-winning Indian eatery Cassia has opened at SkyCity, making the dining precinct a truly global affair.

It’s been a tumultuous few months for Cassia but the award-winning Indian restaurant by chef Sid Sahrawat has finally reopened in its new home at SkyCity. The Fort St eatery closed in January after being impacted by weather events that left the business inoperable. Owners Sid and Chand Sahrawat have now found a new permanent home for the restaurant and its 20-plus team members, in the site formerly housed by The Grill. Cassia’s addition to SkyCity marks an exciting new chapter for the world-class dining precinct, which is now truly a global affair, with Cassia rounding out the international offerings alongside MASU (Japan), Huami (China), Depot, Orbit 360˚ Dining and The Sugar Club (New Zealand) and Andy’s Burgers & Bar and Federal Delicatessen (America).

“It was really important to us to find a location where we could get up and running again quickly, but where there would be absolutely no change to the Cassia experience,” says Sid. “It was also just as important to partner with people who are serious about great food so we can’t wait to share SkyCity Federal St with some of New Zealand’s best dining outlets.”

The new restaurant recreates the look, feel and warmth of the old Cassia, renowned for its innovative, modern take on Indian cuisine. Diners will still be able to order its favourite signature dishes, such as the “Journey Through India” tasting menu, alongside tempting new bites. These include a take on a traditional kati roll, a popular street snack in India, Sid’s version is a tandoor cooked chicken roti taco topped with cashew cream and coriander, and also new on the menu the cured Ruakaka kingfish with creamy pistachio cream and a sorbet with verjus and green chilli.

“I am very excited to be able to offer the team a new stable home and to be able to partner with SkyCity who have shared our vision in turning around the space so quickly,” says Sid.

Elsewhere, SkyCity boasts an impressive range of dining options, all within metres of each other, not to mention the Sky Tower, casino and five-star The Grand by SkyCity hotel, making the precinct Auckland’s home of entertainment.

For a contemporary taste of Japan, MASU by chef Nic Watt serves up fresh Japanese cuisine, much of which is prepared on a traditional robata, an open charcoal grill that provides diners with front-row seats as its yaki gani (king crab leg), Waikato lamb cutlets or Kagoshima wagyu beef are charred in front of them, the heat from the grill warming the entire restaurant. The menu also boasts rarer, delicate dishes, such as the glacier 51 sustainably caught toothfish sourced from the sub-Antarctic, and served with chilli, citrus miso and pickled apple. This special variety has a complexity of clean, sweet flavour and texture rarely found in fish fillets, Nic explains. These are balanced with fresh, local ingredients that allow the food to “speak for itself,” he says.

“This pure approach to cuisine is reflected in our clean, natural décor,” he adds. “Add to this a lively, informal atmosphere and you have a beautifully bold and dramatically different style of Japanese dining in the heart of Auckland.”

Meanwhile, at Huami, an elegant restaurant complete with a wood-fired duck oven, diners can discover premium modern Chinese cuisine by Shanghai-raised executive chef Raymond Xue. The dishes at Huami span the regional provinces across China including Canton, Sichuan, Huaiyang and Beijing, and are made with fresh seasonal New Zealand produce. Think fruit-wood roasted Peking duck using traditional, dry-aged meat sourced from Cambridge, alongside an impressive range of dim sum and dumplings, a Manuka-glazed char siew pork, and modern takes on Asian fusion cuisine, such as its crispy tabasco prawns. Huami’s Baijiu cocktails are the perfect blend of east meets west, combining a traditional Chinese spirit with seasonal fruit flavours.

“Our guests can enjoy the entire precinct,” says Ray. “Dine with us, stay at a star hotel, and enjoy sensational views up the Sky Tower.”

While SkyCity visitors can take their tastebuds on a world tour, if it’s New Zealand cuisine they’re after, they’re well catered to, with Al Brown’s iconic Depot providing fresh kaimoana and other homely favourites, many of which have become famous in the city. The raw bar changes with the seasons, offering wild oysters from Marlborough, Mahurangi and Orongo Bay, and the menu is a mix of signature staples (the Depot sliders and bone marrow have legendary status), with fresh, new seasonal dishes.

“We want guests to fall in love with a dish, remember it, then come back time and time again to enjoy it,” says head chef Jack Stott.

The Sugar Club, perched atop the Sky Tower, is another great spot to bring international guests, as it serves innovative fusion cuisine that tells a story of Aotearoa through food. a wide clientele, (vegans and vegetarians can even enjoy a plant-based tasting menu) and innovative dishes such as the malt-cured Ora king salmon, with daikon ribbon, roe and diced apple. Or you can simply sip a cocktail from their “Native” series while gazing out across Tāmaki Makaurau as the city lights twinkle at night.

Those magnificent views are also on offer at SkyCity’s New Zealand brassiere Orbit 360˚ Dining, the country’s only rotating restaurant, providing the full panorama of the cityscape and harbour, along with a New Zealand-inspired menu, (such as the Hawke’s Bay lamb rump, showcasing the very best of local ingredients).

Nowhere else in New Zealand can you match unrivalled views of the city scape, with world-class dining

For diners seeking out a more casual bite, perhaps on the way to take in New Zealand culture, such as the All Blacks Experience or WETA Workshop Unleashed, both on Federal St, SkyCity has plenty to offer. Both Andy’s Burgers & Bar and Federal Delicatessen offer American-inspired food that hits the spot.

At Andy’s, you’d be hard pressed to go past the popular “Tower burger” or the chicken wings, best shared with a few mates who aren’t afraid to get a little sticky. The place is always humming (literally – its service robots will greet you with a friendly beep!) plus there’s live sport and live music that keeps the atmosphere buzzing.

On street level, there’s also SkyCity’s Federal Delicatessen (another classic Auckland institution founded by Al Brown). It’s here diners can pretend they’re in the heart of New York and sample classics such as pastrami, poutine and matzo ball soup. Or you can pop in for a slice of pie and a cup or two of fresh filtered coffee. Its new cocktail range is a quirky play on American culture, with non-alcoholic options too.

“The Fed” as it’s affectionately known keeps the neighbourhood humming with flavoursome food, colourful chatter and a riot of aromas of salt, spices and fat.

“We serve everyone right,” says head chef Megan Cruikshank. “Locals who love us day in day out, tourists looking for something that feels like home, or someone walking by a busy street wants to see what all the fuss is about.”

With so much variety in one place, the most difficult part is deciding on which cuisine to try. It helps that you can make a night of it, taking advantage of all the entertainment and hospitality options SkyCity offers, by staying a night or two at the five-star The Grand by SkyCity hotel, catching a show at SkyCity theatre, visiting the iconic Sky Tower, or immersing yourself in a cultural experience just down the road.

“There’s an energy that comes with dining at SkyCity,” says MASU’s Nic Watt. “A bustling Federal St creates an atmosphere that is matched inside. It’s electric.”

Discover the world of international dining at SkyCity. skycityauckland.co.Nz/restaurants

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