Flavour House
If you want affordable, authentic Chinese food and don't care about fancy surroundings, stop in at Flavour House. Auckland has a huge number of greasy "Chinese" takeaway restaurants, but Flavour House is nothing like them. The lunch and dinner menus are in Mandarin and English, so be sure to ask if the translation leaves you unsure about a dish's ingredients. The restaurant's clientele is drawn mostly from Auckland's immigrant community, so you're more likely to hear Mandarin spoken than English. Despite the somewhat run-down atmosphere, you'd be hard-pressed to find better Chinese food for the price in Auckland.
614 Dominion Road
Balmoral
Auckland
New Zealand
011 (64) 9 630 7034
(If calling from outside the United States or Canada, dial 00 instead of 011)
The Blue Bird
Traditional New Zealand cuisine can frustrate vegetarians, for whom a meat pie or sausage may not do the trick. Fortunately, in recent years, several vegetarian restaurants have sprung up in Auckland, among them The Blue Bird. This restaurant offers lunch and dinner during the week, with reduced hours on weekends. The menu offers vegetarian and vegan versions of some New Zealand favorites (sausage rolls, for example) as well as some less-traditional options like chickpea curry with bananas and coconut served over baked kumara. There is also a full selection of fresh fruit and vegetable juices, scones and cakes.
299 Dominion Road
Mt Eden
Auckland
New Zealand
011 (64) 9 623 4900
(If calling from outside the United States or Canada, dial 00 instead of 011)
thebluebird.co.nz
Cazador
For the non-vegetarian looking for a restaurant on Dominion Road, Cazador is the place to be. As you might expect (the restaurant's name is Spanish for "hunter"), meat is the centerpiece of Cazador's menu. If the meat is available, you can try rabbit, pheasant, duckling, wild pork or venison, washing it down with a brandy prepared from dried fruits. The restaurant's menu focuses on the more obscure elements of Mediterranean, Indian and Persian cuisine, so expect to try new things whose names you can't easily pronounce. Also, expect to pay more for this than for many other Dominion Road restaurants, as Cazador offers dinner only.
854 Dominion Road
Mt Eden
Auckland
011 (64) 9 620 8730
(If calling from outside the United States or Canada, dial 00 instead of 011)
cazadornz.com
