FOODS

The New Zealand restaurants you shouldn't miss

1. Coco’s Cantina

Coco’s Cantina

Come early or get comfortable waiting around the block.

Loud, buzzing, inner-city bistro popular with hipsters in a gritty uptown area.

The steak and handcut chips has cult status. No bookings: be sure to arrive before 6.30 p.m. or you’ll wait a few hours.

376 Karangahape Road, Newton, Auckland; +64 9 300 7582; cocoscantina.co.nz 

2. Grove

The Grove

This wild boar and confit hen’s egg takes up to 36 hours to cook.

Chef Ben Bayly took over at Californian Michael Dearth’s inner-city Auckland institution three years ago and has made it his own.

Labor-intensive dishes appear light on the plate; old-fashioned cooking gets smart, but never pretentious -- as with the wild boar and confit hen’s egg, which takes up to 36 hours to cook.

St. Patrick’s Square, Wyndham Street, City, Auckland; +64 9 368 4129; thegroverestaurant.co.nz

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3. Depot

Depot

Freshly shucked oysters and clams from the raw bar.

Hunter-gatherer celebrity chef Al Brown opened this place, all white tiles and industrial lighting, in August, and it’s already a firm favorite.

Freshly shucked oysters and clams from the raw bar meet slow-roasted pork hock meet pinot noir on tap, served in tumblers.

86 Federal St., Auckland; +64 9 363 7048; eatatdepot.co.nz 

4. Black Barn Bistro

Black Barn Bistro

Hearty food without the pub atmosphere.

In a region filled with winery restaurants, Black Barn is the one you should head to: it’s deceptively simple, a plain room with wooden tables and off-white walls.

The food is brilliant and hearty but never pubby -- a slow-braised lamb shoulder, say, with smoked potato mash and wilted winter greens. 

Black Barn Road, Havelock North; +64 6 877 7985; blackbarn.com 

5. Martin Bosley’s Yacht Club

Martin Bosley's

Sit by the waterfront view and guard your yacht.

Bosley is legendary for his farmers’ market, hyper seasonality and two very beautiful books.

Delicate, impressive food -- Bosley treates oysters and seafood with beautiful respect -- but no matter how finicky, the ingredients are king. A great view too.

Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, 103 Oriental Parade, Oriental Bay, Wellington; +64 4 920 8302. martin-bosley.com 

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6. Logan Brown

Logan Brown

Succulent shanks that "hit the spot."

Al Brown is still a partner in the Wellington fine diner he started with Steve Logan in a former bank on bohemian Cuba Street.

It’s smart but not pretentious: on the menu you might find paua, Waikanae crab and tuatua (surf clams).

192 Cuba St., Wellington; +64 4 801 5114; loganbrown.co.nz

7. Amisfield

Amisfield

Local ingredients, deftly and simply prepared.

An unpretentious bistro in a croft-like building just out of Queenstown.

Local ingredients, deftly and simply prepared -- the menu changes depending on what’s available, but whitebait and Cardrona Merino lamb are a highlight.

10 Lake Hayes Road, Queenstown; +64 3 442 0556; amisfield.co.nz 

8. Boutereys at 251

Boutereys

You know it's fresh when the Chefs garden four times a week.

The best restaurant in Nelson takes seasonal produce a step further: the chefs head out to work in the gardens four times a week.

It must give them an appreciation for the food, which is excellent -- we can’t go past the seared venison with artichoke crisps and braised red cabbage.

251 Queen St., Richmond, Nelson; +64 3 544 1114; boutereys.co.nz

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9. Riverstone Kitchen

Riverstone Kitchen

Roast Mt Cook salmon on local potatoes served with winter spinach.

Riverstone is everything a rural restaurant should be -- a high-ceilinged white room with a fireplace; the service is friendly but polished.

The food here is startlingly simple but very, very good: roast Mount Cook salmon, say, on local potatoes, served with winter spinach.

1431 State Highway 1, Oamaru; +64 3 431 3505; riverstonekitchen.co.nz

10. Fleurs Place

Fleur’s Place

Indulge in seafood fresh off the boat.

Even famed English food writer Rick Stein is a fan of this place, owned by Fleur Sullivan -- it looks like a fishing shack.

Seafood fresh off the boats is a specialty here: be sure to have the shellfish hotpot, using clams from Otago Harbour, local potatoes and wild spinach. 

At the Old Jetty, Moeraki; +64 3 439 4480; fleursplace.com 

11. The French Café

 (thefrenchcafe.co.nz) Newton, Auckland, for sophisticated dining in a beautiful room on a gritty uptown street.

12. Fishbone, Queenstown 

 (fishbone.co.nz), a top-notch bistro specialising in South Island seafood with a daily changing menu.

13. Casita Miro, Waiheke Island

 (mirovineyard.co.nz). A small, rustic tapas restaurant on a vineyard: the house-made chorizo is a highlight.

14. Pegasus Bay

 (pegasusbay.com), another winery restaurant with a serious dedication to local produce.