This is the best Chinese food I have had on the shore and Auckland! Super authentic, welcoming and…read moredelish! Will be back soon. The spicy beef, grill lamb, taro balls and wine selection all on point.

Good noodle house for quick and fresh noodles. We got the lamb/chive dumpling sour soup and the…read morekungfu spicy beef noodle soup. Both equally delish. The sour soup was a bit over powering with the vinegar, but if you like strong vinegar soup this is perfect and I stilled enjoyed it. The lamb dumplings were not gamey at all! I am surprised how good the lamb in NZ is coming from the US and having gamey lamb.

I haven't had Szechuan hand pulled noodles this awesome since living in China!! And! Free wifi!read more

This Szechuan restaurant opened up down the road from me a little while ago, and I've been meaning…read moreto try it. I was hoping to find a menu or something online beforehand, but eventually I just decided to go in blind and hope! My absolute favourite Szechuan dish is shuizhuyu, which is boiled fish in a delicious, spicy soup. I learned Chinese yonks ago and, not willing to bust out my rusty Mandarin, instead brought the dish up on my phone to ask if they had it. I was assured that yes, they did - with a choice of fish, and fresh or frozen. The man serving us (who may have been the owner or manager), however, was kind enough to let us know there would be bones, and unfortunately that counted me out. I have a thing about bones in fish. So instead we ordered pickled and fried free range chicken with dried chillis and chilli oil, fried rice and pork dumplings. Be aware, firstly, that it may seem expensive, but the portions are HUGE. We got a giant plate of fried rice, and more than enough chicken for the both of us. Each serve of dumplings comes with 4 dumplings in a spicy oil, so we had plenty of food. There was also complimentary jasmine tea. I was slightly taken aback to discover the chicken had bones in some pieces, but it was worth dealing with that as the chicken was crispy on the outside, juicy in the middle and deliciously flavoured. The service leans towards Chinese style, i.e. ask for what you want, don't expect them to come to you.

I was beginning to wonder if good Sichuan food would be available in Auckland. Thanks to a friend…read moreof a friend we were turned on to Love Cuisine and we were not disappointed. The menu is very extensive, with each listing accompanied by a photo (helpful for newbies) and there really is something for everyone, from the familiar to the new. We ordered rather more than two people really need, including two cold dishes, two kinds of dumpling, a tofu dish, a beef dish with noodles and a green vegetable and each one was excellent. Not all dishes are super-spicy, so fear not if that's a concern, but if you are a chilli-head you will be well looked after. Reasonably priced and friendly service to boot. GO!!!

The hotel concierge recommended the Commercial Bay food court on the second floor. At first, we…read morewere hesitant about eating at a food court as we imagined it would be like Taco Bell, Panda Express, Burger King, etc. But it turned out to be more like a modern food hall. It's inside a commercial building with over ten vendors offering a nice mix of cuisines: Vietnamese, Malaysian, Chinese, Mediterranean, and Korean, plus a few places for juice, açaí, and matcha drinks. We decided to try Eden Noodle, mainly because it had the longest line--which usually says something about how popular (and hopefully good) the food is. We ordered the pork ribs with rice noodles and the wontons in chili oil. We chose mild, but it was still quite spicy, so next time we'll definitely go for not spicy. The ordering process was super easy. You go to one of the three kiosks, grab a pager with a number, enter your order, pay, and wait for the buzzer to go off when your food's ready--it took about 15 minutes for ours. There's plenty of seating--tables, chairs, and benches--and you often end up sharing a table with strangers. That might feel unusual for Americans, but it actually reminded me of Hong Kong, where space is limited and communal dining is the norm. Overall, portion sizes were decent for the price, and the flavors were good--just a bit spicier than expected for "mild."

Just great food. Small no frills place. Chili wontons are a must and the cucumber salad was a good…read morerefreshing balance. Grandma was making dumplings by hand right when you walk in like she does everyday. You prefer before you sit down so know what you want. Go here.

Aaah with all the Chinese food around Auckland, Sichuan Restaurant is pretty run of the mill…read more It was pretty quiet on a monday lunch for Yum Char but the ladies are very friendly and are happy to help in any way when it's not crazy busy, so good service gets a tick from me. I thought the food was sliiightly bland so I made sure to ask the waitress for chili, soy, and vinegar. Though my mum seemed to prefer it that way, so I guess it's a preference thing.

Went here for Yum Cha midday on a Sunday and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't packed full…read moreto the brim as is usually the case with Yum Cha's around this time. Not much you can say about the service, they came around regularly enough with food and as is usually the case with Yum Cha, knew the bare minimum of what they were serving and not much more. I did like that they had a self-service vinegar, soy sauce and chilli oil station so you didn't have to keep requesting little bowls of each. Arthur C mentioned that the food was pretty bland with his review and I'd have to agree. It was definitely OK, but it all seemed to taste the same and didn't have much flavour to it. And it was expensive ($90 for 2 people for lunch with no drinks and nothing to exotic ordered). Would come again probably, but there are a lot better Yum Cha's in the area that have better food for cheaper prices.

Xi'an Food Bar in the Food Court , Auckland is one of those places that reminds you why you love…read morefinding truly authentic spots. This is handmade greatness, run by a hardworking husband-and-wife team, and you can feel the passion in every bite. The noodles are clearly made in-house, perfectly textured, chewy, and coated in bold, comforting flavors that hit all the right notes. Everything tastes fresh and intentional, not rushed or mass-produced. It's the kind of food that makes you slow down and actually appreciate what's in your bowl. What really sets this place apart is the heart behind it. Watching the owners work, cook, and serve with pride adds another layer to the experience. No gimmicks, no overdone presentation, just honest, soulful food done extremely well. If you're in the food court and want something memorable, satisfying, and genuinely authentic, Xi'an Food Bar is a must-stop. This is the kind of spot Yelp Elites love to champion -- small, personal, and absolutely delicious. I've already been back.

I came here for a very late lunch and ordered the Chinese Stewed Pork Burger. It wasn't what I…read moreexpected, but was still good. I was craving a cumin pork burger but this was more of a spicy pepper burger. One thing I didn't like about the burger was that it had more onion than pork. However, if I were to come back, I'd like to try the noodles.

On the stretch of Hurstmere Rd populated by average bars and chain restaurants is now the best…read moreaddition - Artwok. It's surprising that the owners are from the banking industry not food. But they have dived in here with something quite awesome. Artwok is split over two floors. The downstairs area is more casual and where you would head after work as you climb up on a barstool. Where upstairs has a very cool large aquarium and more formal seating. On a busy night is just as cool as downstairs in a different way and at least you can hear your neighbour speak. I love the calligraphy brush wall and how the whole upstairs on a balmy night opens out onto a deck with more tables to make the most of this short NZ summer. Having only 5 in our group worked well in that we got to sample the whole menu as the waiter (who was very tentative) suggested us sharing at a cost of $40pp. Great value and I really was full when I left. Complimentary Sliced potato with chilli was a good starting kick. The Szechuan pepper flavour of the tender Wakanui beef was not my favourite dish personally just because of the flavour but others loved it. The north eastern sweet and sour pork is popular, and great -- crunchy batter dressed with a palm sugar syrup. Other dishes we had were Vermicelli and pork salad, Wontons and dumplings, Pork belly in flatbread, chicken with cashews with chilli's you are not supposed to eat. The Hand pulled Chinese cabbage was something I have never tried and was lovely and fresh with its ginger punch to clear those other strong flavours. Pork belly and eggplant were the only things on the menu we didn't try and so alas I have to go back to Artwok to sample them. Such a shame! I'm not a beer drinker but had to try the Good George Brewing Sparkling Ale which I actually loved and what made it more novel was the science beacon it was served in. This place is worth the trip to Takapuna for sure.

Amazing food!!! We had the Guo Bau Rol which is a must have(…read morecrispy pork) The De San Xian (again amazing vegetables) Guo Tie! (Beef Dumplings) And the Shiyu Yangtui ( lamb shank, not my fav but still very good)

Recently opened. Give them a few more weeks/months to get used to the system?…read moreafter we ordered food, everything came really slowly... literally finished eating one dish then another one came. by the 2nd dish (sharing by the way) we were full due to the long wait... However they are working hard on how they present the food. The flavours are good although some are a tad too salty or not enough... So we ordered originally order 4 dishes and a pancake between the 4 of us... but one never came until we asked later on to which they answered that dish isn't available.... we were siting there, finished with everything else and waiting for the next one and they never came to tell us that earlier or when we ordered it........ the poor boy were still hungry after we left... We order a white cabbage in broth (in cantonese its called wa wa chai) which was actually really nice but too salty. Spicy sichuan chicken was flavourful, SPICY, crispy (sometimes dry) and salty. Prawns on skewers was the best dish that night! the flavours were so interesting but i had no idea what flavour it was... curry? asian spices? no idea but there wasn't enough for me to steal before other got to them. We also had a side of chive pancakes but they didn't have enough flavour.. was just plain savoury pancakes.... need more chives and maybe the salt from the other dishes... So i'm giving them a 2 star which seems really hard but the food, service and slow cooks were a real disappointment... Hopefully they will get better after a few months as they are still very new. They seem like they could have a lot of potential for a chinese restaurant !

I love Sichuan food so wanted to go to a Sichuan style restaurant after 10 pin bowling with…read morefriends. Checked out the details of a few places in New Market but was attracted to Spring trees because its fairly new, and basically not much information was available on it online including nothing about the menu, so we just had to try it. It was a great choice, considering the risk involved. I called them up and while the receptionist couldn't speak perfect English she we worked through it and it was easy enough to make a reservation for 12 people. I wanted to get an idea of the price range but had no idea what the menu looked like so asked how much the kung Pao chicken would be since pretty much any Sichuan restaurant would have that dish. It was only $12 and that did it for me. Because we had a large group we were told the earliest time would likely be 7.30 pm, which was fine. However in the end we turned up starving after a good workout half hour early at 7 and they nevertheless found a table in a nice private dinning room for us immediately, when they could have told us to wit till 7.30 pm. The decor was pretty good and my friends who had spent much time in China including in Sichuan said that the style and menu etc. were quite authentic. They were very busy though and we expected them to take some time to prepare all our dishes. We had only 9 diners in the end and ordered 9 dishes, and while they did take some time, all 9 dishes were delivered within about 1 hour of ordering. They delivered each dish as soon as it was done which was good as we didn't have to sit there hungry for an hour, and as we were all sharing. The food was absolutely delicious, and presented really well in good portions that were just the right size. It was also very filling, some of our group have massive appetites but we were all too full at the end so couldn't quite finish everything. The place looks like it would be in the $25-$35 range per person, but it only cost us $12.56 pp! Definitely be back and would recommend it to anyone that loves Sichuan.

I went back to Parasol & Swing for their fabulous gin drink-still just as amazing!…read moreLuke was soooo nice and made our visit extra special. We came during happy hour to celebrate my friend's birthday, and the vibe was perfect. If you're looking for a laid-back spot with great energy, friendly staff, and delicious drinks, this is definitely the place to be.

It was a free-for-all getting a table on the deck. We originally joined another couple at a…read morelarger table and then played musical chairs as they nabbed a smaller table that became available. The view from the deck is nice, especially if you are closer to the railing at the front of the deck. The wait staff did not seem very happy - no smiles or 'welcome'. The food was average.