Iconic Auckland Eats 2025: Lamingtons and fish sliders remain favourites

The strawberry lamington at Sugar At Chelsea Bay Cafe. Photo / Babiche Martens

From a peanut butter mousse pie to a crayfish eclair to raw ramen - these are among Auckland’s Top 100 Iconic Eats, according to a just-released list.

Think Auckland, think the Sky Tower, sailboats and – raspberry lamingtons?

An old-fashioned coconut-crusted and cream-filled sponge treat is one of just two items continuing an unbroken run on the Iconic Auckland Eats Top 100 list.

Announced today, this year’s list contains 39 debut businesses and 77 dishes making an inaugural appearance.

Only the lamingtons from North Shore cafe Sugar at Chelsea Bay, and the fish sliders made famous at Al Brown’s Federal St restaurant Depot, have appeared in every Top 100 list since its 2020 inception.

Presented by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited on behalf of Auckland Council, the annual Iconic Eats list aims to celebrate the diversity and quality of the hospitality industry in New Zealand’s largest city. In 2025, dishes cover the culinary spectrum – from eggplant bibimbap to birria tacos to pani puri to whitebait omelette, and beyond.

New businesses to this year’s list include the likes of Michael Meredith’s Metita, San Ray (operated by Cazador’s Dariush Lolaiy and Rebecca Schmidt), Judith Tabron’s First Mates, Last Laugh and Henry Onesemo’s Tala – all also recently named among Viva’s Top 60 Auckland restaurants.

Annie Dundas, Tātaki’s director destination (and an Iconic Eats judge alongside local food legend Connie Clarkson and Restaurant Hub’s Mark Gregory) says there are “classics” that routinely appear – Cocoro’s sashimi platter, for example – but every year throws up surprises.

The sashimi platter from Cocoro - one of the Top 100 Iconic Auckland Eats for 2025.

“I think in the second year maybe, we had just a tonne of really quirky burgers come through – Sneaky Snacky on K’Rd being the most obvious, with their crazy glazed doughnut bun.

“When things were getting financially quite tough, you started to see a lot more street food. And there has always been a really strong layer of Asian fusion-type food and just genuine good Asian food, because that denotes Auckland’s history.”

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This year, four pies made the list – beef cheek and cheese, peanut butter mousse, braised beef short rib and steak, and jalapeno and cheese. Other notable first-time inclusions include two of the city’s most Instagrammed dishes – crayfish eclairs from Josh Emett’s Onslow and honey toast with whipped yoghurt and nectarines from Parnell restaurant Rhu. And, in a clear nod to Auckland’s coastal outlook, roughly one in five of the Top 100 dishes features kaimoana.

A social media star transitions to the Auckland Iconic Eats Top 100 list - honey toast from Parnell restaurant Rhu.

Dundas says back in 2020, when she first started working on strategies to build Auckland’s reputation as a must-visit food-and-beverage destination, “everyone kept saying to me – ‘what’s the dish, what’s the thing?’ And after about two or three months, I was like, ‘well, there isn’t one thing because Auckland’s just got this incredible diversity of culture and so on. Trying to distil something into some pithy, silly headline seemed really daft’.”

Any dish from any type of food hospitality business, including food trucks and market stalls can be considered, and judges make their final decision based on personal stories submitted by the public.

Jia Qi Sweets was a newcomer to this year's Auckland Iconic Eats Top 100 with its Dragon's Beard Candy.

A record 3019 entries were received (a 67% increase on the last list) with five winning dish-nomination stories garnering their writers $500 worth of venue vouchers.

“We wanted people to think ‘why is that iconic to Auckland?’ What’s the story telling us about Auckland?” says Dundas.

Winning stories praised a halal pepperoni, capsicum and hot honey (from Bari’s Pizza), handmade dumplings from Eden Noodles and a “creamy bowl of happiness” – aka Prego’s risotto all’anatra.

Joshua Jo, who nominated Vietnam Cafe’s spare ribs rice noodles soup, wrote: “This dish has been a favourite of mine since I was 10 years old. I’m nearly 40 now and nothing has changed, in the best way ... I’ll gladly drive from the other side of Auckland for it.”

Vietnam Cafe's spare ribs rice noodles soup - unchanged for decades, according to its Auckland Iconic Eats 2025 nominator.

Elle Pitts, writing about Cross St’s Bar Magda, described a dish titled Noel’s charcoal steak with soy butter and scallion: “Cooked over charcoal perfectly, and then that sauce. I could drink that sauce. I could bathe in that sauce …”

Judge Connie Clarkson said the list showed off food offerings across the region.

“Iconic Eats is a love letter from the food lovers of Auckland to the cooks, chefs and their whānau who step up to the plate to deliver the food that brings them joy every day. It transcends place, price, nations and neighbourhoods, complexity, simplicity and time. We are really lucky.”

How many have you tried? The complete 2025 Auckland Iconic Eats Top 100:

Agak Agak Food: Malaysian nasi campur.

Ahi: Tuna hūhunu

Ailimteh: Nasi lemak bungkus

Alma: Beef tongue, preserved lemon, olive

Amano: Chitarra, scampi, tomato and chilli

Apéro: Seared lamb rump, jus with carrot purée and kasundi

Aryeh: Black and white thoughts

Ashby Pies: Beef cheek and cheese pie

Azabu: Volcano sushi rolls

Bali Nights: Ikan bakar jimbaran

Banh Mi Boy: Lemongrass chicken banh mi

Bar Magda: Noel’s charcoal steak, soy butter, scallion

Bari’s Pizza: Deluxe pepperoni pizza

Beast and Butterflies: Market fish of the day, scampi bisque, mussels, prawns, burnt tomatoes, fennel

Bestie Cafe: Towpath cheese toastie

BFC Korean Chicken: Seasoned cup chicken

Boda: Eggplant bibimbap

Bossi: Olive fritte

Bridgehouse Warkworth: Fresh steamed mussels

Broke Boy Taco: Birria tacos

Bunga Raya : X.O. chicken

Burnt Butter Diner: Chilli fried eggs

Candela: Lamb belly pintxo with mojo verde

Carmel Israeli Street Food: Crispy falafel pita

Casita Miro: Churros con chocolate

Cassia: Pani puri

Cheese On Toast: Bacon jam toastie

Cibo: West Coast whitebait omelette with ginger, soy and lime butter

Cocoro: The sashimi platter

Depot: Fish sliders

Duo: Raw fish on toast

Eden Noodles: Dumplings in spicy sauce

Esther: Puff bread and taramasalata

Farina: Padella Isabella

Farm House Cafe: Pimp my cheese scone, Benedict

Fatima’s: Lamb chawarma

Federal Delicatessen: Chicken salad sandwich

First Mates, Last Laugh: Pan-fried John Dory

FishSmith: Battered Westmere Butchery pork sausage

Forest: Smoked purple kūmara, caper brine glaze, Marmite cream, rosemary greens, paprika

Forester Bar and Grill: Skin-on snapper

Fort Greene: The Reuben

Frat’s Pizza: Hawaiian pizza

Gemmayze Street: Babaganouj

Gerome: Rolled baklava, Greek nuts, gooseberry compote, metaxa syrup, mascarpone

Giapo: World famous hokey pokey

GOAT By Sid Chopra: GOAT champaran

Hapunan: Adobo del diablo

Hello Beasty: Prawn and crab toast

Hill House Cafe: Pimp My Scone, The OG

Huami: Fruit wood roasted Peking duck

INCA: Spicy tuna tostada

Ipoh Malaysian Cuisine: Lorbak

Izu: Tuna ceviche

Jia Qi Sweets: Dragon’s Beard Candy

Khu Khu: Kūmara spring roll

Kingi: Hot smoked kahawai from Little Barrier with horseradish

Lebanese Grocer: Chicken shawarma

Leigh Eats: Fish and chips

Lot Nineteen: Cinnamon rolls

Lucky Gs: Thigh guy

Mae Nam Khong: Drunken spicy duck

Mairangi Bay Bakery: Braised beef short rib pie

MASU by Nic Watt: Wagyu kimchi gyoza, pickled cucumber, soy vinegar

Mekong Baby: Braised crispy pork belly, caramelised chilli and soy, Asian slaw

Metita: Handpicked beef scotch, 55-day dry-aged, palusami puree, ravigote

Mint As Waiheke Island, Burgers and Shakes: Mint as burger

Moxie Restaurant: Beef Wellington, potato and truffle foam, pumpkin seed and parsley pesto

Mumbaiwala: Dahi puri

Nanam: Lechon

Ockhee: Tofu BBQ gui

Ohui Restaurant: Pāua tortellini

Onslow: Chatham Islands crayfish eclair, organic egg, spiced bisque, herbs

Our Land: East Coast brisket

Paradise: Lamb biryani

Peach’s Hot Chicken: Peanut butter mousse pie

Pici: Pici cacio e pepe

Prego: Risotto all’anatra

Ragtag: Duck carnitas tacos

Ramen Takara: Jade ramen

Red Crab: Sweet and sour chicken

Rhu: Honey toast with whipped yoghurt and nectarines

Richoux Patisserie: Steak, jalapeno and cheese pie

San Ray: Quinoa toast with smoked fish and pickled egg

Shelley’s Kitchen: Malaysian spiral curry puffs

SkyBar: Gold bar

Smiths Matakana: Chef’s loaded fries

Sugar at Chelsea Bay: Raspberry lamington

Tacoteca: Ora King Salmon aguachile

Tala: Raw ramen

Tempero: Pao de queijo

The ‘Ansum Pasty Company: Proper Cornish pasty

The Blue Breeze Inn: Steamed bao bun with roasted pork belly and pickled cucumber

The Engine Room: Twice baked goats cheese souffle

The Glass House Brick Bay: Leigh skin-on snapper

The Local Waiheke: Fish taco

The Lodge: Passionfruit drizzled pavlova

The Sugar Dealer: Raspberry cheesecake brownie

Tiger Bar and Restaurant: Korean fried cauliflower, gochujang glaze, sesame, kimchi

Vietnam Cafe: Spare ribs rice noodles soup