Boutique hotels
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Hotel DeBrett
- Style
- Art deco goes Pop
- Setting
- High Street's fashion hub
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The Boatshed
- Style
- Nautical chic
- Setting
- Bayside bliss
Auckland Eating, drinking and dancing
Restaurants
(+64 (0)9 358 1702)
Clooney
If you’re looking for wow factor, this chi chi restaurant has it in spades. Leather banquettes, long fringed curtains and elegant lighting prevail, with head chef Desmond Harris presiding over a seasonal menu with European leanings.
33 Sale Street. Auckland
(+64 (0)9 356 7249)
Soul Bar & Bistro
Down by the water at Viaduct Harbour, this place hums day and night. The view is reason enough to make a booking, and Greg Malouf – Australia’s premier Middle Eastern chef – is a regular consultant in the kitchen. The cocktails in the bar are fantastic too.
Viaduct Harbour, Auckland
(+64 (0)9 480 9052)
The Engine Room
It’s one of the city’s most popular eateries, located in an old art deco post office building and featuring a simple but superb bistro-style menu. Save room for the churros – long Spanish donuts that are dipped in melted chocolate.
115 Queen Street, Northcote Point
(+64 (0)9 377 1911)
The French Café
Simple, elegant and a fixture on the city’s restaurant scene for close to 30 years, this eatery has more awards than you can wave a wooden spoon at. The menu isn’t long but the food, by chef and owner Simon Wright, who trained in some of Europe’s best dining rooms, keeps foodies coming back for more.
210 Symonds Street, Auckland
Bars
(+64 (0)9 366 0398)
Crow Bar
It’s dark, moody and a favourite haunt of Auckland’s smart set. This lounge bar even has a secret upstairs venue, The Trophy Room, if you can sweet talk your way in.
26 Wyndham Street, Auckland
El Paradiso Pony Club
Hidden in a basement below a strip club (get the wrong door and you could find yourself at Showgirls), this opulent, mirrored club has a bit of a faux eighties vibe going on, and plenty of pretty young things shaking it.
55 Custom Street, Auckland
(+64 (0)9 361 6970)
Gypsy Tea Rooms
Don’t worry: you won’t be drinking tea at this local, where set designer Andrea Tuscia has given the room a beaten-up, weathered look to create a bar that’s popular with an artsy crowd.
455 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand
(+64 (0)9 358 0868)
Shanghai Lil’s
With its preloved armchairs and owner Russell Green’s quirky collections scattered about, this bar has buckets of retro charm. And, with its 24-hour license, it’s often open very, very late.
The Birdcage, 133 Franklin Road, Freemans Bay, Auckland
(+64 (0)9 309 5529)
Smith
You could be sitting in nanna’s front room, except for the cool tunes, long wine list and the range of cocktails on offer. If hunger strikes late at night, it’s also famous for its toasties.
Britomart, corner Commerce and Galway Streets, Auckland
Cafés
(+64 (0)9 360 1551)
Agnes Curran
There’s a proper grandma vibe going on at this tiny tearoom, where the cakes and tarts are lip-smackingly tempting. Try a local favourite, the lamington – a cube of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut – served here with lashings of jam and fresh cream.
181 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
(+64 (0)9 360 0108)
Dizengoff
The place for breakfast in this part of town (although it’s open for lunch, too). The menu is Jewish-inspired, so there’s no bacon on offer, but scrambled eggs with smoked salmon should get your day started properly.
256 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
