Updated to remove The Engine Room which is definitely in the Metro 50 - apologies for this and any other oversights!
Congrats to the eating team from Metro on releasing their Auckland Top 50 today. We do an annual list ourselves at Viva but I think any decent international city should have more than one of these - only a big baby would treat a rival list as a threat or competition.
Still it is fun to compare! I thought you might be interested in the names of the restaurants missing from Metro’s list today - if by “missing” we mean “it was on our list but isn’t on theirs”.
There are some big names here for sure.
As Metro notes, “of course there are more than 50 excellent restaurants in the city, but the line had to be drawn somewhere”. It’s easy to say that one or more of the below restaurants should have been put in - much harder to say who they should replace.
The “Missing” Restaurants
Ada
Aigo
Amano
Azabu
Baduzzi
Bivacco
Butcher Baker
Bar Celeste
Cibo (!)
Culprit (our runner up to supreme winner in 2023)
Daphne’s
Depot
Duo
Esther
Hotel Ponsonby
Kingi
Masu
Milenta
Movida
Ragtag
Soul Bar
WakuWaku
Doesn’t this just demonstrate what a superb time of excellent dining we’re currently enjoying right now? If only we had money to go out.
Interesting how many are different - not much more individual than taste in food eh? Don't live in Auckland, but if I did it is YEARS since I could afford to dine out ... apart from your very basic pub cuisine for a special older person's significant birthday 🎉
But I know a lot of people who work in hospitality, so I hope those with enough money continue to eat at the all of these places & keep people in work. Just because I can't afford it, doesn't mean I begrudge someone else 🤷🏾♀️