*Renee Coulter, co-founder and owner of Coco’s Cantina*

There’s never a dull moment on Karangahape Rd, affectionately known as K Rd, for any of the senses – no least taste. The strip boasts an especially rich lineup of independent owner-operated eateries and drinkeries, lending plenty of character and soul.

Character-filled St Kevins Arcade built in the 1920s, boasts a number of excellent eating and drinking establishments.

Bestie

Tucked down the back of the arcade Bestie offers a mint view through lovely old windows across palm-topped Myers Park to the Sky Tower. Along with it, Eightthirty coffee and brekkie to lunch menu to suit carb cravings (Towpath Cheese Toastie – add a chilli fried egg) or wholesome (the Everything Bowl).

Gemmayze Street

Named after Beirut’s nightlife artery, this arcade establishment serves sophisticated fare inspired by owner and chef Samir Allen’s Lebanese roots. Save yourself the decision-making, just say ‘jeeb’ and a feast will roll out of the kitchen, finishing with knafeh – a far better use of kataifi pastry than that overhyped chocolate business.

Pici

A pasta-lover’s dream, Pici sticks to its knitting with a short menu of seasonal and classic housemade pasta dishes with a few antipasti (including life-changing focaccia), desserts, and fantastically interesting wines. If the restaurant looks packed to the rafters when you try for a walk-in (which is always), fret not, the wine bar area is the best kind of holding pen.

Sagrado Cantina and DEZA

When proprietor Jorge Nieto opened, his Mama travelled from Mexico to help bed the menu in, brimming with her family recipes from her native Michoacán. Nieto explains that while the menu picks from various Mexican regions, all dishes “Are treated through a Mexico City lens — with classic accompaniments like our onion and cucumber salad”. The way each salsa is built is something Nieto focuses on, going deep into the properties of different dried chillies, and proudly making a mole the traditional way which includes resting it for four or five days before it’s ready to serve.

In Shop 10 next door, Nieto is set to open DEZA any day now. Nieto says customers will explore “Parts of Mexican cuisine that haven’t really been experienced in New Zealand yet”, including dried chillies rellenos, mole de novias and mole rosa. With Nieto excited by the quality of masa now available here, DEZA will be pressing and cooking tacos fresh to order.

The White Lady

The first bricks and mortar of this near-octogenarian provider serves stacked burgers and toasted sandwiches that expertly fill the rumbliest of tummies.

Whammy/Double Whammy/Public Bar

If you’re looking for venues to catch live music with decent drinks and pop-up food offerings, put this trio of arcadian offerings on your radar.

Lim Chhour Food Court

Food courts (outside malls) have all but disappeared which makes Lim Chhour rather precious. Together with the large Asian grocery store at the rear, it tells a migrant business story – Lim-Nam Chhour fled the genocide in Cambodia, eventually arriving in Auckland in the 1980s via refugee camps in Vietnam and Thailand, and went on to build a chain of greengrocers. Chow down on donut burgers at Sneaky Snacky, Sichuan malatang at Swordsman, and beefy numbers at Japanese grill Jue Jue’s, where the collagen curry made with beef tendon is wildly popular. Sushi Bar Salmon, a survivor of the much-missed Mercury Plaza, has been serving the same great value bento and donburi for decades.

Otto

Formerly known as Cotto, this K Rd stalwart can be relied upon for robust flavours and portions at pocket-pleasing prices. Musts on the current summer menu include moreish zucchini fritti with lemon, and tender gnocchi with capsicum, basil, pine nuts and pecorino romano. The food and drinks menus are arranged in price tiers, offering excellent value with small dishes starting from $9. Three private dining spaces cater to groups of all sizes and you can even secure your own bar and stage.

Fort Greene

This sourdough and pastry artisan makes everything from scratch, running a short and sweet cafe menu including famous sandwiches like The Fish One (kahawai fingers with mushy peas) and The Reuben.

PieFee

Hot drinks served in a biscuit cup are the signature, but there’s also sandwiches, pastries and very good pies to warrant your attention at this hybrid bakery.

Coco’s Cantina

When it opened in 2009, this Italian joint quickly taught the whole city restaurant dining could be bags of fun at the same as being consistent, interesting, and delicious. These guys love a special – daily from 4-6pm you’ll find $15 pizza and pasta and $9 drinks, plus plenty more specials on certain days. Rather than rushing off after dessert, linger a little longer with a housemade chello of lemon and grapefruit.

Atelier

In a roomy, industrial-cool space, French tapas, wine and cocktails flow. It does a great happy hour and a sophisticated bottomless lunch once a month, plus holds late night DJ and dance dos occasionally.

Verona

Offering everything from eggs bene in the morning till drinks you really didn’t need way past bedtime, Verona has been of the fabric of K Rd since 1992, and has always played a strong suit in live music.

Pie Rollas

Young pie baker Lewis Mazza-Carson grew from making a handful of pies a day to operating a handful of sites (including this, the OG pie-hole) selling thousands of pies. Fillings include brisket, jalapeno and American cheese and apple crumble with mascarpone and salted caramel.

It’s Java

Make a beeline to this friendly spot for Indonesian streetfood cravings: satay, nasi goreng, fried chicken, and that all-in-one parcel of palate pleasure nasi campur.

Tempero

The vibrant and varied flavours of Latin America are celebrated at this bistro balancing a casual, welcoming atmosphere with expertly crafted food and drinks and honed service. Impossibly fluffy gnocchi nestle in lickable lemon cream sauce, and juicy pincanha steak comes with a side of Brazil’s beloved farofa (a cassava-based staple). Cocktails are made from scratch – no batch mixes which are all too common these days – and if you’re missing the famously good pisco sours of now-closed K Rd restaurant Madame George, Tempero has the fix.

Bar Magda

Duck down to wee Cross St, parallel to the K, and if at first you can’t locate the entrance to Bar Magda, keep trying – this subterranean speakeasy rewards your patience with modern Filipino fare and crafty cocktails. You’ll emerge from this red-tinged cocoon replete and having tried something new: suglaw, siyagul, kikiam, pyanggang and more. Best just opt for the set menu and try the lot.

Uncle Mans

This halal Malay restaurant serves the best roti in the city, stretched, spun and slapped in front of your eyes. It serves roti tissu too – ultra thin pastry shaped into a towering cone, served with sweetened condensed milk – a rare find in Auckland.

K Rd Food Workshop

Step inside this arcade to explore the options: Achos for snacky izakaya dishes and sake; bountiful bowls at Poke Poke, and the obvious at Banh Mi 77.

Satya Chai Lounge

South Indian street food – flavour-packed, spice-rich dishes like Chicken 65 – are joined by craft beer, cocktails and wine selected by tastemaker and owner Samrudh Akuthota. The space has just wrapped on a Hyderabad Hotel pop up but some of the favourite dishes have joined the Chai Lounge lineup.

Zeki’s

The borek at this Turkish bakery is banging – how they manage to make it light and flaky while also being so heartily filled I will never know. Turkish wraps stuffed with grilled meat and rainbow-hued salads are on offer, along with a sorely tempting array of sweet things including sublime baklava.

Open

The best coffee on the K, according to many, including me.

Miller’s

The best coffee just off the K, Miller’s has been roasting beans since ‘88

Mithawala

A kaleidoscope of mithai (Indian sweets) alongside savoury snacks like samosa chaat and pani puri can be yours to take home or to enjoy in the light-filled dining room on the upper level of the cute Norman Ng building which is slated for redevelopment (enjoy it while it lasts).

Apero

Where to dine in style on a Monday is a perennial problem to which the answer is simple: Apero. Open Monday to Friday, including for lunch service on Thursday and Friday, Apero dishes up the best local produce prepared with a French accent. You can peruse the impressive wine list, or better, let co-owner sommelier Ismo Koski gauge your taste and present you with gem after gem.

Lebanese Grocer

Tender meat sliced from a sizzling spit, freshly made hummus and toum, and pickles lovingly rolled in a blanket of pita – Lebanese Grocer’s shawarma are the real deal. Take home pottles of toum and hummus, crimson sumac, and za’atar made to the owner’s family recipe to weave Levantine warmth into your home table.

Northern Line Bar & Social

UK pub in bar form, this cosy spot pours an ever-changing selection of craft beer on tap, and the biggest and best G&Ts

The Frog

Forest green walls, a recycled matai wood bar, and pendant shades crafted from T-shirts lend a calming yet whimsical ambience to this wee wine bar which has moved in where the wildly popular Rose’s Dining Room stood latterly. Co-owners Tane Williams (formerly of Bestie) and Robbie Fraser (an artist) aren’t here to compete with the neighbourhood’s restaurants so it’s simple snacks on offer to nibble on while making your way through the wide choice of beverages. They range from cocktails (the herbaceous The Bush gives Chi vibes – go zero, or add a liquor), to low-intervention wines including drops they collaborate with winemakers on. The bar fits 40 across indoors and out front, and a courtyard space is in the making.

Adapted from an original feature by Anna published in NZ Herald Viva.

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