Auckland Diner's Diary: August 2014

The Auckland restaurant scene is full of comings and goings. Here are what I have noticed this month.

New Ventures by the Experienced

• The Black Hoof - Iberian ham, sherry and tapas in a beautiful upper-level space in the central city, from Will Thorpe and Logan Coath
• Boy and Bird - chicken kitchen in Ponsonby by Mike van der Elzen of Food Truck fame, also has other meat dishes and caters to vegetarians
• Siostra - meaning "sister" in Polish, this new restaurant is run by the Lamb sisters, where Delicious used to be in Grey Lynn
• Scarlett Slimms and Lucky - a crime novel inspired bar and eatery, where the Eden Cloak Room used to be. Apparently the menus are designed to resemble comic books.

City (Fringe) Cafes

• Forage - cafe on the city end of Dominion Road, with drool-worthy specials such as coffee braised beef short rib and pulled pork baguette with hand cut wedges
• Craft Cafe - small cafe on the ground floor of the Quest building on Beaumont Street, with cooked breakfast and lunch options, as well as counter food.
• [Added 28/9/2014: Dazzle Cafe - new cafe at the Three Lamps end of Ponsonby]

Ethnic Flavours

• Olas Latin Food - Argentinian empanadas, Colombian/Venezuelan arepas, and Mexican enchiladas, as well as desserts like alfajores and dulce de leche cheesecake, sharing a building with a dance school in Newton. Formerly known as Ola's Argentinian Food when they were simply selling empanadas at the markets.
• Turko Cafe - Turkish cafe in Freemans Bay, formerly the Mavi Cafe
• Santiago's - Chilean cafe, restaurant and bar on K'Rd. Churrascos (burgers), completos (hot dogs), empanadas ("Chilean pies") and other Chilean food like salchipapas, chorillanas, sopaipillas and empolvados.
• The Spoon - Korean fusion cuisine on Symonds St, near the top of Wellesley St. Looked like mainly set combos with food from the warming drawers?
• Grill and Shakes - grilled meats, some with Middle Eastern influences, and 69 flavours of milkshake
• Enjoy in BBQ & Hotpot (回回来) - Chinese eatery on Dominion Road, where Cheuk Cafe used to be

Sugar Rush

• Meet Fresh (鲜芋仙) - Taiwanese teas and desserts from a multinational franchise, on Lorne St
• Waffle Suprême - Liège and Brussels style waffles from a streetside container by the Atrium on Elliott carpark
• OKO Dessert Kitchen - high-end desserts and drinks from Mövenpick, on the Aotea Square side of the IMAX complex. I saw a chef doing something with balloons.

[Added 13/9/2014:
Burger Mania

• Lava Burger - many different types of "cooked to order" burgers, dogs, sandwiches and fries in Parnell
• TyrannoSaurus Burger - hidden little place targeting students nearby, has homemade brioche buns

]

New Branches

• Scratch Bakers - popping up for the next 6 months in Britomart
• Kanda Sushi & Grill (神田) - traditional Japanese food, where the iconic New Orient Chinese Restaurant used to be in the Strand Arcade

Coming Soon

Apart from some places mentioned in my previous post, there are some eateries being shaped up around the place. I also noticed that the renovated part of the IMAX complex has some shops leased now, so looking forward to more exciting things to come there.

• Swig French Style Cafe - on Queen Street close to the Mid City Arcade
• The Tasting Room - "a great exposition of taste" in Sandringham, presumably unrelated to the eatery in Wellington of the same name
• YB Sushi - "your best 寿司" on Queen Street, where Yogorino used to be, a couple of doors down from Giapo.

Closing

• Restaurant Carinthia in Glendowie will be closing on 31 August, though it will open for the Father's Day weekend. Final bookings requested.
• Black Monday, a little cafe on Fort St, closed on 7 August.