Ask any Takapuna local, and they’ll tell you how proud they are of the diverse selection of eateries and cafes.
The seaside suburb is home to several famous restaurants, including the Takapuna Surf Club, Nanam, Tok Tok and El Humero, which is the city’s only Colombian barbecue restaurant.
While a huge majority of those who visit Takapuna head straight for these eateries on the main Hurstmere Road strip, a row of eateries slightly off the main shopping path on the ground level of the Sentinel on Huron Street are just pure hidden gems.
So next time you’re in Takapuna, bring comfy shoes and your appetite, and instead of just walking down Hurstmere Road, explore these unique eateries that have been taking tastebuds to Japan, southern China and Vietnam.
AJISEN RAMEN
The first Ajisen Ramen opened on Kingdon St in Newmarket in 2019 and the one in Takapuna in 2022.
Founded in 1968 in Kumamoto, Japan and the chain today has more than 750 stores worldwide, including Australia, the USA, Canada, Italy,
It started as an eight-seat eatery and expanded internationally in 1994 to Taiwan, China and Hong Kong and diversified its menu from just ramen to other Japanese dishes as well.
Its signature is the Kumamoto-style tonkotsu pork bone broth and a “secret recipe” roast garlic and onion flavouring, and it makes its own wheat flour noodles.
A dish that the chain had created exclusively for the New Zealand market is the Kaiju Ramen, which made the list of top 100 Iconic Auckland Eats.
Besides ramen, Ajisen also serves a range of donburi rice bowls, gyoza dumplings and Japanese side dishes.
Ajisen Ramen Takapuna, 3 Northcroft Street, off 6/Huron Street. Ph: 09 217 1199. www.ajisenramen.co.nz
LUCKY LIFE
Chef Lucky Li, 46, and his wife Li Xian, 45, opened their eatery Lucky Life in Auckland’s North Shore, selling a signature poultry delicacy inspired by flavours from his hometown in Guangdong.
Called “five cup duck”, the dish uses five key secret ingredients, and is served half or whole with a glistening layer of brown sauce overflowing on the sides.
Lucky shared that it took 2 to 3 hours to cook the dish to the point where the duck was well-seasoned and moist.
“This is a delicacy in Guangdong, but there we cook it with pigeons and not duck,” Lucky said.
“You can’t get too many pigeons commercially here, so I decided to use duck instead.”
Chef Lucky has worked in kitchens and restaurants in China since he left school as a teenager, and more recently in Australia and restaurants in Auckland that include Wang Wang Pancake in Dominion Road and Canto Canto in Westfield Newmarket.
Guangdong food is more commonly known as Cantonese cuisine, and Cantonese are known to have an adventurous palate.
Other signature dishes at Lucky Life include their Salted Egg Yolk Soft Shell Crabs, made with their very own salted eggs and Honey Pepper Chicken.
Lucky Life Restaurant, 8 Huron Street, Takapuna, Auckland. Ph: 09 320 1688.
EAT NOW
Eat Now is a little eatery specializing in street food from the Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi.
A signature dish at the restaurant which is a must-try is the bun cha.
Bun cha is a Vietnamese dish that includes a bowl of cooked fish-sauce containing charcoal-grilled pork slices, pork patties, rice vermicelli noodles and a side of fresh herbs.
To eat this dish, diners mix the herb into the sauce and then briefly dip the noodle into the bowl for extra flavour.
The restaurant is run by two Hanoian chefs, Katie Le and Rosie Nguyen.
Bun cha received global attention a few years ago when the then US President Barack Obama stopped off at Bun Cha Huong Lien between meetings. It’s been more than a decade, but the photograph of Obama and the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain sitting at the bun cha table is still being mentioned when people talk about the dish.
At Eat Now, pho remains our most popular item on the menu, but Le says she is confident that she has the “best bun cha in Auckland”.
“I cook the dish like how we do it in Hanoi, I do not take any shortcuts,” Le said.
“The meat patties are grilled to get the best smokey taste that is necessary for a good ‘cha’, and they are not pan-fried like some other places.”
In Hanoi, bun cha is the top lunchtime snack - beating pho, which is the capital’s most popular breakfast item.
Ingredients that make up the bun cha dish are thin rice vermicelli (the ‘bun’ in Vietnamese), grilled pork, marinated pork belly and meatball from minced pork shoulder (the ‘cha’).
It is served with a cooked dipping sauce made up of fish sauce diluted with sugar, lime juice, vinegar and water, pickled vegetables, fresh herbs and a side of crushed garlic and sliced chilli.
Other dishes worth checking out too are the Pho Salad, which comes with rice vermicelli, seasonal salad and vegetables with a special sauce and an option to add on char siu, chicken or beef, and also the caramelised pork belly on rice.
Eat Now, 8 Huron Street, Takapuna. Ph: 09 488 0055
