Spread the love

In writing our annual “Forty-Eight Hours IN-VIGORATED In Auckland!” feature this year, we’ve taken liberties and paired up eating spots with attractions that are almost on the doorstep of each dining spot we’ve recommended.

The previous articles drew a fine audience among hundreds of cruise ship passengers who either began or ended cruises in Auckland Harbour. Our ‘spoon-tested spots’ and recommendations on how to enjoy Auckland with only two days to spare were well-‘heralded’.

Success with the travel writer’s pen can have its Drawbacks.

It IS the dilemma of every Travel Writer & Voyage-tempted-traveller to spread the good oil over an exceptional meal offering. Yet sharing delightful dining discoveries can have devastating drawbacks.

The fact is, we can’t help ourselves; when we discover the incredible and remarkable, we just need to start shouting about it. Bragging with our pens! It reminds the New York City kid in me. I can recall childhood images of those ‘walking-sandwich-boards’. Lead them to the food, and they shall invest in a fork!

Roadside Attractions

If, like me, you have a good-sized ‘audience’ and shout too loudly, your readers will be taking the spaces normally set aside for writing scribes like me. It is akin to revealing that very special fishing hole that fills the krill to the top of the basket.

Lead by Example!

On an RV Trip, hosted by El Monte RV™ with my brother-by-another-mother years ago, we discovered the “mother lode” of successful fishing spots. And a few months later, in a feature story for freshwater anglers, I hinted at the honey-hole spot’s location, apparently dropping enough breadcrumbs* in the copy for a clever investigative angler who could, with some work, discover the very spot of shoreline where I made my cast. And boom! Less than a single fishing licence-year-later, when we returned, the very same and silent shoreline was salt and peppered with My Readers! Recently, these revelations have cost me dinner reservations… my new, New Year’s Resolution revolves around the notion that I will report my eatery entries, but I’ll be placing a caveat on readers intending to follow in my feeding footsteps: never book a table by the window on a Thursday evening… under penalty of retributions!

For our feature story about how to make the most of ‘Forty-eight Hours in Auckland!’ We dropped a few dining delights on your doorstep; bon appetite

We Are Christening Them, OUR Fabulous Five!

New Zealand Maritime Museum

We also took the liberty of suggesting a few activities or attractions you might enjoy while nearby. It’s a bit like ‘matching wine with the main course’. We show our readers where we like to eat, and add a nearby adventure or attraction for each spot.

Here Flies! Our top 5 picks of the best feeding-friendly food spots in town!

White & Wongs. 149 Quay S,t Auckland. Okay, so what? We over-order every time, just so we can have another takeaway meal with anything that’s leftover. Go-to favourites are the Peeking Duck and the Soft Shell Crab. The Prawn and Pork dumplings are almost a meal unto themselves for flavour ratings. The nearby New Zealand Maritime Museum

NEM. 311 Parnell Road, Auckland Exceptional Service & Excellent Eats; please have ‘Ling Ling’ Cloned! Ms Ling Ling was remarkable with EVERY table she touched! Ours included. We left the ordering to Lulu’s lead, and she delivered splendid starters~ fresh summer rolls, dumplings and herbed lamb skewers. Our main was fabulous fried rice by the bowlful, and flaming prawns; the display and delivery turned heads. The ‘dish’ is actually a cracked coconut, which guests light from below; it warms broth nestled in a half-coconut. Yikes! In Auckland? Don’t take my word for it! Taste for Yourself! A perfect ‘pairing’ with this eatery is the monumental Auckland Museum

NEM

AMANO 68 Tyler Street, Auckland. Like a long-playing vinyl record that’s scratched, my taste bud needle keeps returning to the very same spot on AMANO’s menu; I adore the Scampi Pasta, while lobbying hard for my fellow eaters to order the Slow-roasted lamb shoulder, so I can have some of that too. And for starters, try sharing the ‘line-caught’ Smoked Warehou Pate. For an after-dinner activity, try popping across the road and catching an Auckland Ferry from the historically significant terminal. Consider it a bit of a mini-cruise. If you hunger for modestly more adrenaline, you can stroll up the road to Holey Moley! Indoor Putt-Putt golf.

The JAVA Room 2 317 Parnell Road, Auckland. Get stuck straight into the Roti with Curry dip, Chicken Satays and Dragon Eye Pork. The house special for us was the ‘Crispy Siamese Snapper. The staff are smiling and engaged in delivering top table service. A very calming eatery.

GION, 168 Parnell Road, Parnell. Please be mindful: they are closed on Sunday & Monday. I love good Japanese food. And this spot is among my all-time favourites on the entire planet. The hostess is articulate and dedicated, and, alongside traditionally draped waitresses, sets the stage for the wonders created in the kitchen. If we visit for lunch, we sit at the street-front tables for the people watching. If we’re invading at dinnertime, we book a traditional booth at the back. No matter where guests sit…its colossal cuisine.