3 Chinese Restaurant Signs that Survived their Closure in Auckland

I haven't been posting much lately, other than my lists of new openings. You know how it is - life gets busy, and it's much easier to just send out a quick tweet or two. Once you've procrastinated enough, all those blog ideas you had don't really seem so relevant anymore.

Anyway, to add some pictorial content back to my blog, here are some restaurant signs I've seen around the place. I find it pretty amusing how long some of them have lasted for, since these Chinese restaurants closed years ago!

1) Ding How 頂好飯店

Ding How is probably the restaurant I remember the most of the three in this list, since I actually went there with friends using an Entertainment Book voucher, rather than just having a vague childhood memory. I'm not too sure when that was, but I found a review from 2007 online, and it was still around for the St Patrick's Square opening celebrations in 2009.

The upstairs space is now home to the Heaven Scent Food Co. It's a great place for pies and salads, but from the red sign outside their windows on the side that's away from the square (overhanging Albert Street), you could easily mistake it for the Chinese restaurant which no longer exists!

No Ding How Chinese restaurant here, despite appearances (picture from September 2016).

2) New Orient 新東方酒家

New Orient in the Strand Arcade was Auckland's oldest Chinese restaurant*, and closed in 2010 after nearly 40 years in business. Originally "The Orient", it was sold in 1978 and renamed "New Orient."

* (Presumably it had been operating the longest of all the Chinese restaurants in Auckland at the time, since the first Chinese restaurant in Auckland was in the 1920s or even earlier.)

I don't remember much other than going down the stairs to the basement restaurant, but apparently they had a full Chinese buffet for lunch or dinner which was popular.

New Orient sign outside the Stand Arcade (picture from September 2016).

New Orient sign inside Strand Arcade (picture from December 2016).

3) Palace Restaurant 皇宫酒家

Unlike the previous two examples, the signage for Palace Restaurant is just fading paint on the side of a wall now. You have to stand across the road to see it, otherwise the awning over the footpath gets in the way, and until recently, it was covered up by advertisements. I don't have any recollection of this restaurant at all, though the business apparently existed from 1993 to 2000.

The company listing shows it was on level 10 of the red pagoda tower known as Choice Plaza, which used to be called the Orient Towers. The distinctive building was commisioned by Mangere's Chan family in 1988, and designed by Auckland architect Ron Sang.

Palace Restaurant painted on wall (picture from October 2016).

Bonus Signage: Sri Makhota 滿金香 (City Branch)

Sri Makhota is Malaysian restaurant whose original East Tamaki branch was purchased by the Chin family (founder of the Hansan Vietnamese chain) in 2008. While that restaurant and its sister in Epsom are still around, the city branch, which opened in 2010 on Upper Symonds Street, closed quietly last year, despite a renovation in 2014.

Closed sign (April 2016) and menu from Nice Dumplings (November 2016) at the same location.

You could be forgiven for thinking Sri Makhota still has a third restaurant though, since the city branch is still listed on their website. And if you go around the corner and peer down Stable Lane, you will still see the restaurant sign hanging out the back.

Sri Makhota sign in Stable Lane (picture from November 2016).

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What is it about Chinese restaurant signs that give some of then such an extended life span? Do you have some other examples I have missed?

3 Places that Magically Appear at Night in Auckland

We keep hearing about the skyrocketing house prices in Auckland, with people turning to pint-sized apartments in order to live in a central location. But our population growth is putting pressure on commercial property too. We've all seen those tiny shops and semi-permanent carts around town, and it seems that the creative uses of retail space have been taken to new heights recently.

Kebabs and "sensational chicken" being sold from a window of a convenience store.

Not only are places opening where there has previously been little foot traffic (Little and Friday's Tuck Shop and the Scratch Bakers HQ are examples of this), but they are popping up where you would never have expected to find a store at all, like Elsie's spot under the stairs near Myers Park.

Elsie is tucked away under the stairs.

The latest phenomenon that has intrigued me is the concept of stores co-sharing a space. I don't mean businesses diversifying their offerings (like Barkers having an espresso bar in their menswear shop), or even communal areas being used by multiple operators (as in food courts). Rather, I have started seeing stores take turns using the same facilities in a kind of time-sharing system.

To some degree, this was already happening at popular eateries, where tables have been known to spill into neighbouring businesses at night, when the space would otherwise have been unused.

Having dinner inside a hair salon.

Here are three eateries I've come across, which you would not have known existed at all, unless you turned up at night.

1) O Bar (오빠)

O Bar has been around for years, but during the daytime, you just see a cafe from the street.

Caffe Madison by day.

The Korean bar used to be easier to find at night, because they would hide the cafe counter behind black partitions, forming a corridor leading to the covered courtyard area of the nocturnal drinking hole.

O Bar entrance appears at night.

Now, however, they have started operating the cafe at night too, so you kind of have to know that you can walk through it for fried chicken, kimchi pancakes and more.

O Bar can be found out the back at night.

2) One Shot (소주한잔)

You might see the One Shot symbol hanging over the footpath outside the takeaway part of Kushi on Durham Street West, but you can easily be forgiven for thinking that someone had just forgotten to update their signage.

Kushi Takeaway by day.

At night, however, the Kushi shopfront is covered by what looks like roller blinds, printed with the One Shot name and Korean cuisine menu, offering a number of different dishes, from sashimi to Korean pancakes to popcorn chicken.

Night time signage on display.

3) Bien Street Stall

According to their website, Bien has six different locations around Auckland. I can tell you that there is at least one additional one, though it is not permanent. Situated where the Buns Cafe is on High Street, there is no indication that it exists at all during daylight hours.

Photo from the Buns Facebook page.

Swing by at night, however, and you will find a little stand selling Japanese street food in the cafe courtyard: okonomiyaki, yakisoba and takoyaki.

Bien street stall at night.

Have you seen any other examples of eateries that only pop up at night, on a daily basis? What other hidden gems have you come across?

3 Places for Intelligent Bites in Auckland

A few days ago, it was announced that New Zealand's cultural treasure John Campbell would be leaving. Carefully timed with the Government's Budget 2015, we learnt that his signature current affairs programme Campbell Live, despite regularly becoming TV3s top-watched show, would be replaced by one with more of an entertainment focus, one that doesn't ask difficult questions.

As a person who simply writes about the fun and non-threatening topic of food, I have a huge respect for caring journalists like him, who help us to see news from a different angle, and fearlessly push to change things for the better. So, while staying on topic, I thought I would share some eateries in Auckland that feed the mind as well.


1) IKA Seafood Bar and Grill

In my last post, I wrote about a restaurant that featured in Metro Magazine's 50 Under $50 list. In part, we gave Ika a try at the urging of Nanogirl, otherwise known as Dr. Michelle Dickinson, a passionate engineer who freely gives her time and money to foster an interest in science, particularly in the young. She was one of a line-up of speakers at a conversation at the restaurant last week, and there is another talk coming up soon on a completely different topic too.

Previous Talk

Table Talk: Beneath the Ponytail: women, work, progress?

Michelle Parks summary from last nights gender debate @lailaharre @lisaowennz @jacindaardern @GayMaxine @drjackieblue pic.twitter.com/s3wlEXgV7C

— Nanogirl (@medickinson) May 19, 2015

Tuesday 19 May – doors open 5 pm, discussion at 6.15 pm
Hosted by Lisa Owen, from TV3’s The Nation, with

•     EEO Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, Dr Jackie Blue

•     Senior Lecturer, UofA Engineering School, Dr Michelle Dickinson aka @nanogirl

•     First Union Secretary, Maxine Gay

•     Labour Party MP, Jacinda Ardern

Bar open from 5 pm, small & large plates served throughout evening
Showtime 6.15 – 7 pm

Next Talk

“Abba to Gaga: pop music as queer revolution” - an Ika Salon with Dr Kirsten Zemke
(Facebook event here)

Tuesday 26 May 

Dr. Kirsten Zemke is a Senior Lecturer in Ethnomusicology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Auckland. She famously completed her PhD on New Zealand hip hop in 2000, and has been teaching, and talking, about popular music, race, gender, genre and identity since then. She currently has regular radio spots on bFM and Radio National. 

Despite its sometime silliness, shallowness, sexism and commercialisation, pop music has been quite a radical site for promoting queer identities. Genres of glam rock, disco, and eighties new wave all projected gender fluid identities and sexualities- mostly unheard of in the rest of the mainstream at those times. We’ll re-visit David Bowie, Boy George, Queen, Grace Jones and Abba, their ground-breaking gender bending and ‘gay play’. Then to contemporary artists & pop music that continues to represent minority identities, engendering validation and understanding.

$30 including dinner – with seafood, meat and vegetarian options.

Doors and bar open from 5, dinner served from 6 folowed By Kirsten’s presentation (approx 7.30). We’ll be open for drinks, dessert and conversation into the evening (dessert & drinks extra).

The Ika Salon is a chance to share food and conversation with others. We welcome single, double or larger bookings & will develop a seating plan with a great night in mind for you.

2) Ima Restaurant

Ima is another restaurant in Metro's 50 Under $50 list. Not only serving delicious Israeli and Middle Eastern food downtown, it hosts a monthly talk from The University of Auckland Faculty of Arts.

Previous Talk

Arts Café: Understanding the Ukraine Conflict

Wednesday 22 April 2015, 6:30 - 7:30pm

Professor Greenberg is a scholar of South Slavic Linguistics with an emphasis on ethnic conflict and nationalism. He has taught at Yale University, University of North Carolina and Georgetown University. His publications include numerous books and articles on South Slavic and Balkan topics, including language and identity in the Balkans, published by Oxford University Press. 

This talk is the first in a series of informal presentations by members of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Auckland. Arts Café will be held on the third Wednesday of each month. This series is co-sponsored by Ima Restaurant and the Faculty of Arts.

Next Talk

Arts Cafe: Algorithmic life and the “internet of things”

Wednesday 27 May 2015, 6 - 7:30pm 

Wednesday night lectures are back! This week, the 27th of May at 6pm, join us for $10 appetizers, $7 Ima Red & White wines, our famous fresh juice and be enthralled by Neal Curtis as he launchs our new ARTS CAFÉ with ''Algorithmic life and the “internet of things” 

This talk reflects on the role of the arts and humanities in the information age. This is an age defined by an increased use of algorithms that, amongst other things, define the nature of public knowledge, make calls about the next music hit, provide medical diagnoses, nominate “terrorists” for “kill lists” and make trades in stock markets around the world. We are also living through a paradigm shift in our relationship with computers and mobile media dubbed the “internet of things”, which promises to create “smart” rooms, “smart” buildings, even “smart” cities where every object can communicate with each other. Within an economy so dependent upon information, and where data directly equates to profit, it is imperative to think about the economic and corporate drivers behind these shifts and interrogate whose interests they best. 

Neal Curtis is a Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Television at the University 

Stick around for more food and wine if you are still hungry afterwards!

3) Horse and Trap

The Horse and Trap is a pub in Mount Eden where the monthly Café Scientifique events are held (unfortunately these clash with the talks at Ima), as well as some of the talks organised by Nerd Nite Auckland.


Previous Talk

Musing on museums: …of ships and shoes … and many things

Wednesday April 29, 2015 

Roy Clare, CBE
Director, Auckland War Memorial Museum 

Museums around the world are facing new challenges and are evolving to meet them. Auckland’s own War Memorial Museum, with its unique collections and place in the ongoing story of Auckland, is changing too.  Nearly four years after his appointment as Director of the Museum, and following the centennial ANZAC day commemorations on April 25th, Roy Clare scans the horizon and poses some questions for museums and the people who love them.

Roy Clare CBE used to drive an aircraft carrier for a living, before coming ashore to take up leadership roles at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the UK’s Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.  He was appointed Director of the Auckland Museum in August 2011.

Next Talk

A physicist and an anthropologist walk into a bar...

Wednesday 27 May 2015, discussion starts 6:30pm 

Network science was "invented" independently by a number of different disciplines. Sociologists came up with sociograms; engineers created wiring diagrams; while mathematicians have long studied graphs. 

At Te Pūnaha Matatini – “the meeting place of many faces” – researchers from very different backgrounds are using network science to gain fascinating, and sometimes non-intuitive, insights into New Zealand’s environment, economy and society. 

About the speakers 

Thegn Ladefoged 

Thegn Ladefoged is a Professor of Archaeology at the University of Auckland who has worked in Rotuma, Hawai‘i, Rapa Nui, and New Zealand. He is developing a network approach to investigate the connections between communities in pre-European Māori society. 

Dion O'Neale

Dion O'Neale is a Research Fellow in the Physics department at the University of Auckland. He is particularly interested in how the properties of innovation networks might help predict the future economic success of regions. He has been known to (mis)use network science for topics ranging from sports to soils to conversations.

Also worth a mention: Toto

Toto Restaurant's Montecristo Room is where Refactor inspires women in the tech industry. Formerly known as Girl Geek Dinners, the Refactor events are open for both genders to attend, though the speakers are always talented females. In the sessions I've been to in the past, there has been some mix-and-mingle time before the presentations, where the price of the ticket includes a drink and some snacks from the restaurant.

Previous Talk

Refactor May 2015

Wednesday 20 May 2015, 6:00pm  8:30pm
presented in conjunction with our sponsors Microsoft NZ, and Catalyst
Tickets $25 – open to both women & men

Next Talk

In July, speakers to be announced.

3 Places for Medium-Rare Burgers in Auckland

[Added 25 April 2014: Our favourite burger place in Auckland is now Burger Burger. And yes, it does medium-rare by default.]
[Added 7 March 2016: So many great burger places have opened in the past year—this list is well outdated!]

Eating in France was a revelation for us, not least because we tasted for the first time what we considered to be real American burgers, beautifully cooked and with the patty still pink inside. You didn't have to ask for them medium-rare, because that was just how they were, every time. The restaurants even used that lurid orange processed cheese, though occasionally someone would slip in a slice of camembert or something as well. We have not tried burgers in America yet, but that was how we imagined they would be.

The best such burger we have tasted to date, though, was actually in Hong Kong earlier this month, when we visited an independent burger joint called BurgeRoom. Look at what a piece of art that bun is, and how juicy the filling.  We also approved of the excellent service in slicing the burger in half for easy eating, with a skewer in each portion to hold the pieces together.  This is currently our benchmark for the perfect American burger. And yes, even the fries were good.

Bacon Cheese Burger at BurgeRoom.

Of course, this meant we were on the hunt for the same as soon as we returned to Auckland.  How could you make do with what Jesse Mulligan calls Murder Burger Fuelconsin after such an experience (never mind that Murder Burger isn't around any more; you could substitute Handmade Burgers if you like)?

We have yet to find that perfect American burger in Auckland, but that didn't stop us from trying to recreate it ourselves at home. Sadly, though we managed to produce some pretty tasty burgers, we could not find the same sort of cheese, and there was always just something that was not quite right. It is hard to articulate what the difference is, but our burgers were not American burgers.

If you are happy to settle for a burger with a medium-rare patty, skilfully and freshly cooked, then it turns out there are at least a few places in Auckland where you can get this.  You only have to ask... Below are the eateries where we have successfully ordered a medium-rare burger, in the order of how we rate them. None are in the same category as that BurgeRoom burger, our idealised American burger, but there is no reason why you can't enjoy them anyway.

1) Vinyl Coffee Shop

Top on our list is the cheeseburger from Vinyl Coffee Shop. Don't forget you need to ask for it to be cooked medium-rare. Since we last reviewed the place two years ago, this tiny cafe has upgraded their menu, but the burger is still going strong. It is now made from beef rather than lamb, which is definitely closer to our expectations of a classic burger, though the rocket leaves used do push it towards a more gourmet direction. We like the fact that the staff manage to keep the standard consistently high, while throwing in minor variations. The last time we ordered the cheeseburger (before we discovered you could have it medium-rare), it was filled with fancy lettuce with frilled edges, for instance.

Cheeseburger from Vinyl Coffee Shop.

The bun may not look as perfect as the one from BurgeRoom, the colouring not as golden, the sesame less evenly spread, but the bread was soft inside while having the slightest, delicate, crispy crust on the outside. The cheese was regular cheese rather than the orangey American processed cheese, but then we haven't found "proper burger cheese" for sale anywhere other than at the big fast food chains. The meat was juicy and pink in the middle. This was a very good burger, for a very reasonable price tag of $14.

A closer look at the filling.

This place gets extra brownie points for offering a good vegetarian burger and crispy curly fries too.

Vegetarian O.J. Burger, with onion rings and avocado.

Vinyl Coffee Shop
218 Dominion Road, Mount Eden
(09) 623 3821

Opening hours:
Mondays to Fridays 7:30am - 3pm
Saturdays to Sundays 9am - 3pm

2) Late Night Diner

It's an exciting time for Ponsonby, with new eateries popping up left, right and centre. Not just the same kinds of places either, but novelties for Auckland, like the collection of little restaurants in Ponsonby Central, where some businesses started life as food trucks and market stalls. You can have an Argentinian asado at El Sizzling Chorizo (Simon Farrell-Green has a nice write-up of its previous incarnation as a foodcart on Waiheke Island), for instance, and we are also keen to try Foxtrot Parlour's doughnuts, which you can inject with filling yourself, though we've heard their brunch and lunch options are excellent as well.

But I digress.  One of the new places to eat in Ponsonby is the Late Night Diner. This little spot has three booths and some bar seating, with interior windows looking into the Ponsonby Social Club next door (it's owned by the same people). You might have trouble finding a seat depending on when you turn up, but it sure has an attractive menu.  Where else would you go to get rabbit pot pie, crispy skinned fish on popcorn grits, hard shakes (milkshake with a shot of cigar infused bourbon or fernet branca, perhaps), or Oreo doughboys?

Our objective, of course, was none of those things.  We were here for the late night cheese and bacon burger with fries ($15), cooked medium-rare. It was a bit difficult to see what we were eating because of the dim lighting (we used the flash for the photos below), but this is not a beauty contest.

Cheese and bacon burger from the Late Night Diner.

The late night burger does a good job, though the patty was more medium than medium-rare, and it was maybe a little too dry. Simple yet gourmet at the same time, you can always order something else to go with it, as we did.

The patty was more medium than medium-rare.

This place does not pretend to serve healthy food, so we were surprised by how much we enjoyed the slaw we added as a side. Apart from the obligatory cabbage and mayo, the salad was sweetened by some grated carrot and date slices, and jazzed up with mint and lime. Now we have a balanced meal we wouldn't mind returning for.

Late Night Diner
152 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby
(09) 361 2320

Opening hours:
Mondays to Wednesdays 5pm - late
Thursdays to Sundays 5pm - 2am

3) The Flaming Onion

We weren't really looking for a takeaway burger, but with all the hype around The Flaming Onion (the Herald's Viva magazine picked it as Best Burger late last year, alluding to chef Alistair Bingle's background at the Engine Room and Euro) and with their own website saying "Don't be afraid to ask for it medium rare", we decided to give it a go.

Like the popular Big J's in Mount Wellington, The Flaming Onion has a burger special every week. Unlike most other takeaways, though, they also offer hand cut agria chips, and use free range eggs, homemade sauces and good quality ingredients in general.

We ordered the beef and cheese burger, as it sounded most like what we were looking for. Despite the beef patty being thinner than at the eateries we have already mentioned, it was still pink and moist inside. The bun was too fancy for us though. The rosemary in the foccacia bap added an unexpected flavour to the burger (that was our chief complaint with Murder Burger too), and where were the sesame seeds? Although they have taken liberties with the bread, and it was overall not as exciting as Vinyl's burger, it certainly was not bad, and represented good value at $10.

Beef and cheese burger from the Flaming Onion.

We enjoyed the agria chips too. We were not able to eat them all (we couldn't even finish the burger), but they reheated well in the oven. Not sure we would drive out to Northcote for another Flaming Onion burger, but if you are in the area, why not?

The Flaming Onion
1 Lydia Avenue, Northcote
(09) 419 0325

Opening hours:
Tuesdays to Wednesdays 4 - 8:30pm
Thursdays 4 - 9pm
Fridays 12 - 9pm
Saturdays 1 - 9pm
Sundays 4 - 8:30pm
Mondays closed.