Awesome #Auckland #NewZealand

We had some great meals out in Auckland on our stopover on the way to the Cook Islands.

Lunch at Giraffe Cafe was delicious featuring beautiful New Zealand produce overlooking the buzzing scene around the harbour and viaduct. We loved the slow cooked lamb shank and the duck Caesar salad, enjoyed with a delicious Greywacke Pinot Gris. Great service and local knowledge from our friendly waiter Herbie too!

Slow cooked lamb shank on creamy mash
Duck Caesar salad

Dinner at one of our favourites in Auckland Baduzzi stood up to its huge reputation for excellent roman inspired dishes including their famous meatballs. We ate everything from ox tongue to venison meatballs and delicious steak with creamy polenta! Bellissimo.

Ox tongue with a heirloom tomatoes, asparagus and salsa verde
Broken cannoli of yellowfin with nduja and Burrata
Lamb meatballs
Inside skirt tagliata with creamy potato and lettuce with parmigiana reggiano and balsamic

Korean lunch at Gochu in the new Commercial Bay shopping centre and food court was a welcome spicy and delicious detour. Everything from the milk buns with spicy pork and Kim chi filling with amazing beurre Blanc sauce to the cucumber salad with cashew cream, ssam and fried garlic to the brilliant crispy fried chicken doused in gochujang sauce and the crispy fried eggplant was cooked to perfection and impeccably presented. A great find in a shopping centre!

Cucumber with ssam and cashew cream
Milk bun with spicy pork and kimchi filling
Milk bun with beurre Blanc sauce
Crispy fed chicken with gochuchang sauce
Crispy eggplant with doenjang glaze, tofu cream and sesame

Our final lunch at Amano which started when we enjoyed a breakfast coffee and croissant in their bakery earlier on our trip did not disappoint. Delicious cheesy focaccia, mussel fritter and Burrata shared between us followed by individual mains including agnolotti with slow cooked beef shin and asparagus, smoked Warehou pate, grilled chicken with kale and chittara with scampi and chilli.

Agnolotti stuffed with slow cooked beef shin with mustard seeds and crunchy asparagus
Agnolotti with slow cooked beef shin
Focaccia with cheesy cow’s milk mozzarella filling
Burrata, sweetcorn, fermented chilli and chervil
Mussel fritter with pickled onion, preserved lemon and shaved fennel
Chittara with scampi, tomatoes and chilli
Chargrilled chicken with kale and chilli
Smoked warehou pate with green olive and sourdough

Great way to end our wonderful 2022/23 summer holiday.

There are so many other places we would have loved to have tried but we ran out of time on this trip. Auckland is definitely a foodie heaven that could do with much more exploration!

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Shanthini

Born in South Africa, of Indian heritage. My family moved to Australia in the early 80's. I have a busy professional career as the CEO of a Healthcare Foundation based in Sydney. I love cooking, learning to cook, eating and travel. My blog Freespiritfood.net is written in the spirit of sharing my foodie adventures.

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