For us, the monthly visit to the night market is really just entertainment for the kids and a very…read morecheap dinner. I love any Asian/Indian/ethno food so can always find something to keep the wolf from the door. There is a wide range of cuisines: Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Philipino, Hungarian, Hong Kong, Pacific Island, and more plus a plethora of post prandial sweets. The food quality at some stalls might be a bit iffy - I suppose at $6 they won't be using the best ingredients, but I have never been sick!!. Sometimes I wonder about the hygiene too but fingers crossed... A lot of the food is in bain maries pre-cooked but the last two meals I've had have been cooked on the spot. It always amazes me that there is a huge queue for churros, which must be the most over-rated snack ever - flavourless dough sticks covered in a sauce of choice. Having said that though I wish I owned that business because the queues reach out the door and they are making a killing!! As at the time of writing this, the Pakuranga market is getting overcrowded. We went last night, arriving at 6pm opening time and it was already extremely busy. We were glad to be in and out within 30 minutes because it was becoming uncomfortably congested. If the crowds continue to grow, the market will need to expand its area. If I was designing the space I would move the "dining" tables to an area away from the throng of hungry punters trying to buy food. And in my perfect world pushchairs would be BANNED from all pedestrian areas!! Why, oh why, do people bring push chairs into crowded pedestrian areas? Dumb. I recommend the night market for a bit of frivolous fun on an evening when you have nothing else on and want to take the kids out for some low key entertainment and dinner. The "shopping" is best avoided unless you want fruit and veges. However, if on the other hand, you have an urge to offload your cash on $2 Shop junk, costume jewellery, flannelette onesies, carvings, mobile phone covers and accessories, a (fully-clothed) back/neck massage, ear candles, cheap and nasty nail polish and nail art, a dubious fortune telling, or second-hand bric-a-brac then this will be your Shangri-la!

Awesome place to have a super unhealthy Friday night dinner. The cuisine there is just so varied u…read morecan have anything u cud think of.. Obviously cheap food.. As for the shopping.. There are a few vege stores and a lot of cheap low quality stuff, items that may entertain children..

Malaysian street food We really enjoyed our dinner here. We…read moretried the chicken curry with rice and roti, char kway teow and sambal green beans and we ordered pisang goreng (banana fritters) for dessert! The flavours were authentic and we're so pleased to be able to eat good Malaysian food in Auckland.

Worth the drive out of the city center for authentic Malaysian Food. Ordered the Satay, curry…read morepuff, roti, prawn mee and Nasi Lemak. All in good portions and very tasty. There is another branch in the middle of city center but this one is more conveniently located with lots of free street parking. The ambiance is lively and loud as you would expect at a hawker stall. The wait staff is very friendly and efficient. We'd definitely come back again!

Fiona's Fabulous Food stall at the La Cigale French Market offers a fine selection of tasty…read morerelishes and condiments. These vary from 'Marakesh chili condiment'; to 'lemon lime aoili'; to my personal favourite, 'Carribean capsicum'. These are all available to take home, or alternatively to be spread in a freshly made ham-on-the-bone sandwich by Fiona herself. The rolls come with fresh rocket and you can choose either a fresh baguette or a gluten free roll whilst chatting to the friendly Fiona as she makes it. Also available are well priced savoury treats, such as a spinach and feta filo, which make for a good snack to nibble on whilst wandering around the market. Alternatively, if you are vegan or gluten-free, then a helping of the good-looking chickpea and brown rice salad could be a great choice.

Tasty churros and friendly service. Love the caramel sauce and the drizzle option is my favoriteread more

This little stand in the city center (centre) is a must-visit for me whenever I come to Auckland!…read moreThe lady who works there is very nice and friendly. I just love that the churros are made to order, so they come out nice and hot. Get the orange chocolate sauce. It will change your life! I'm going there again today after trying it for the first time yesterday.

The Grey Lynn Festival is a wonderful display of art, music, food, and products that reflect our…read moremulti cultural society here in Auckland. Held annually towards the end of November, I am always eager to visit the festival, listen to some fantastic local music, eat exotic ethnic delights, and shop to my heart's content at the many clothes, and arty craft stalls. The crowds seem to get larger every year, last year 2012 the Grey Lynn Festival was sadly cancelled due to terrible weather. I have in the past purchased neat hand crafted woollen pillows for the love seat at home, and natural fibre baby clothing made by Nature Baby. There is always enough space to throw a blanket down and enjoy the sun and awesome music. This festival has a vibe set at peace and unity and keeps the crowd sweet as bro.

Bring a blanket, bring a brolly. Buy an artwork and a folly. Have some laughs, hear some songs,…read more'Tis the place to get along. A good afternoon with a community feel.

One night at the outdoor cinema at Silo Park, I wanted to grab some dinner, so decided to try…read moreMexiKai. They describe themselves as "mexican street food with a pacific vibe." I got the three tacos for $12 and they were really, really good. On the menu was a beef taco, chicken taco and a vegetarian option (which had a nice dash of spice to it). I tried the chicken taco which also had pumkin in it, and toasted coconut salad. It was great. I also really like my vegetarian taco - which had mushrooms, cheese, beans, corn and salad; with just the perfect amount of spice to it. As MexiKai uses a truck that moves around various events (check their website for dates and places) - you can even hire one out for a private event. If you did, I think that would be one fine party.

The Mexi Kai truck is usually parked down in a carpark near the Autrium on Elliot and makes for a…read moreperfect weekday lunch, especially when the sun is shining and you can sit out on one of the park benches and enjoy a taco or three. These guys stand out on the Auckland 'food truck' scene as actually producing food that is full of flavour and not full of fat. I had the trio of tacos and mixed up my flavours - one beef, one pulled pork (excellently good) and one chicken. My friend had a pulled pork burrito and that looked sensational as well. This truck can also be found at local festivals and events around Auckland so even if you don't work in the city, hunt it down somewhere near you.

Quite possibly the best-value takeaway Thai food in Auckland. Mercury Plaza isn't the most pleasant…read moreof venues for eating in, but the Thai food from this little food court stall is fresh, tasty and very affordable. In recent years they've obtained an A grade food rating, so they must be doing the right things behind the counter. I'm a fan of their numerous curries, red curry with prawns in particular, although their pad thai is also excellent. Rumour has it that a few members of the All Blacks come here to eat when they're in town...

Yeah.... I should not have gone to a place with 1 review, I placed too much trust in it…read more This place has some of the saltiest food Ive ever tasted, and Ive lived in 8 different countries and visited over 20 different countries. I am an avid Thai food fan, as it is easily my favorite cuisine, especially Tom Kka Gai and Tom Yum Kung, but wow the food here was so salty it was like drinking salt soup. The service was friendly but thats about it. Never going again. If you want decent Thai food, just go to one of the fancier restaurants, at least youll get your moneys worth

Best pop-up cocoa stand in Aucks! You can pick up a cup of their batch brewed, decadent hot…read morechocolate at the Street Food Collective or Ponsonby Central. Just checkout their FB page for the details of their weekly whereabouts. BE WARNED: The cocoa is deadly rich, and the roasted S'mores are likely to end up killing you softly - think death by dark chocolate and a giant slab of roasted, gooey vanilla bean marshmallow, all lovingly sandwiched between two spicy gram crackers! "Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow.."

Nothing but praise for the DAMN FINE work that Goodnight Cocoa is doing in the Auckland Street Food…read morearena at the moment. Finally got a chance to check these guys out yesterday afternoon down at Daldy Street in Wynyard Quarter, for the launch of Food Space. For all of y'all out there wondering what Food Space is, it's basically just a family of all the best mobile food vendors in Auckland, coming together for different events to share their offerings with the public. Although there were many fantastic vendors present, I must admit, Goodnight Cocoa was at the very top of my foodie Wishlist for the day. Featured below is their awesome combo, a beautiful smore, made of homemade vanilla bean marshmallow, doused in melted dark chocolate and wedged between cinnamon and nutmeg spiced graham crackers and their authentic cocoa. The smore was an absolute winner for me! I'd never had one before, so I didn't know what to expect, but being a lover of marshmallow and cinnamon, I knew I'd be into it. I absolutely loved it, it was rich, warm and gooey, the ultimate comfort food. The cocoa was also great, in that Italian hot chocolate tasting way. Very rich and chocolatey. The stall vendors were really lovely too. Definitely go check these guys out, they're worth a trip to the city on a weekend for sure!!!

Open up my pantry and you will find lots of large plastic spice jars that have travelled here from…read moremy local market in Takapuna. As I can't possibly cook a meal without adding some spices I frequently visit Ted, the Jolly Chef. His stand is just behind Burger King and he has been selling his jolly products at this very market for 16 odd years already. In fact, he only sells his various herbs, spices, chutneys and mustards in Takapuna and nowhere else. His 85 years don't stop him from pitching up his stand every Sunday before 6am - in fact, coming to the market is a hobby for him and he prepares and fills all the jars at his home in Northcote. You will find pretty much every spice you can think of at a cost that's well below any supermarket produce. Ted's mixed herbs and paprika spice up pretty much all of my dishes and if I can ever convince anyone to tuck into some German-style sauerkraut with me Ted's juniper berries won't be missing. Don't ever retire Ted! Please note that Ted does not have a website so I have provided the one of the Takapuna market.

I truly adore the Jolly Chef stand at the Takapuna markets, I believe that its products like this…read morethat make customers come back time and time again, for real quality. My favorite Jolly Chef product is the chilli tomato sauce. Quite simply put its the best I have ever tried. Its hard to perfect simplicity sometimes, but the Jolly Chef seems to nail it on the head. I have been coming to the Takapuna Markets frequently for the past 2 years and always pop over with my family to see what other delights we can spice up our meals with. Delightful flavors, herbs, salts, spices and sauces. You name it the Jolly Chef probably has it. The kind "Jolly Chef" mans his stall and is always super friendly and polite whenever we pop over for our usual buys.