Eating out is one of Auckland's favorite pastimes, with every major road being lined with a diverse array of cafes, bars, and restaurants. Despite the sheer volume of choices, at the right time of the day (or night) most of these places are packed and lively places to be. It reminds me of a college town, and like college students, kiwis have a voracious appetite for beer; it's not uncommon for an entire office to go out for a beer together on Friday nights, and bars are generally packed from Wednesday to Saturday night. As such, in the spirit of (camaraderie( and making friends, I have decided to do as the Romans…ahem, Kiwis do. Luckily for me, I have found New Zealand brews more agreeable than American beer (and Kayleigh loves the NZ ciders). The NZ flagship brews are Lion Red and a variety of beers from a local microbrewery called Mac's, which to my surprise, I actually liked.
New Zealand is also surprisingly devoid of the slew of fast food chain restaurants from America. Don't get me wrong, they have McDonald's, KFC (coincidentally nicknamed K Fry), and a few others, but their market penetration and is low and people generally don't support them. What with kiwis being raised on less processed foods combined with having no shortage of better options, it doesn't surprise me. In their place, many New Zealand chains have arisen which is much less boring for a traveling American :). The Noodle Canteen (variety of Asian cuisines) has been our go to cheap takeaway when we don't want to cook. Casa Del Gelato has amazing and unique flavors of ice cream. Hollywood Bakery makes an excellent mocha (yes, I'm a sellout and have started drinking coffee as well). There is also a sushi chain here called St. Pierre's that I haven't tried because it is owned by a Greek guy with a french name selling Japanese food. Also, as mentioned before, Mac's has some awesome beers, and the Doolan Brothers (Kayleigh's company) has a great atmosphere and good food, especially the meat pies.
Unfortunately our three favorite types of take out from back home aren't well represented here. Chinese food is done differently here and is looked at sideways by kiwis similarly to how Indian food is (unfairly) looked at back home. Pizza is pretty popular, but so far we haven't found a place that makes a good one. Most places offer gourmet style and make pizzas with all different kinds of sauces and loads of toppings. There is a high end chain here, Sal's, that sells American style pizza, but it is unpalatably greasy. And then of course, there is Mexican food. We have searched high and low, tried many of the popular "Mexican" restaurants and come away with only one place that sells legitimate Mexican food. It's called Mexican Specialties and only serves food from 11am-3pm Thursday-Saturday. Outside of those hours it functions as a shop selling various food products and novelties from Mexico, so at the very least we've been able to get some authentic ingredients to make home cooking. Other than that we've just had to make due with the California Burrito Company that does their best to imitate a California style burrito, and our stand in Mexican substitute, Indian food. Nite Spice is quite a good little franchise and we've been slowly working our way through the menu.
One more subtle difference between eating out in NZ and back home is that the service is a bit more hands off. Your waiter isn't hovering around checking in on you at all times; you pour your own water form a pitcher, and if you are expecting them to bring you your check at the end of the meal then you'll be waiting for a long time. It may be because NZ doesn't have a tipping culture or it may just be that they kiwis view that sort of behavior as pushy. I'm willing to bet it's the latter given that retail service similarly hands off. So here's your warning: if you're finished eating and you intend of leaving, ask for the check.
Kiwisms:
arvo = evening
manky = raunchy (this one may be used in America, but I've never heard it)
wees = pee
bumwees = diarrhea (These two I think are more likely unique to Ryan and Eden's vocabulary)
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