Pintu is the new kid on the block. And it all started with a sandwich.
Blink and you’d miss Pintu - they’re tucked away (they liken themselves to a hidden gem) in Ponsonby’s Lot 3 next to our friends The Street Food Collective and Miss Moonshine. They’re here to solve all your food dilemmas. Here’s how.
They’ve got a simple, fresh menu for breakfast and lunch (and soon dinner). For breakfast, you’ll find their fridge stocked with our beloved grab-and-go coconut chia pudding. Stay a little longer, and you’ll be tempted by their cacao muesli served with almond milk, seasonal fruit and spiced poached pear; or the ricotta hotcakes lovingly topped with berry coulis, lemon curd, pistachios and coconut yoghurt. Not to mention, they serve up Mojo coffee so good you’ll be forgetting any weekday woes in no time.
This may just be their favourite part. Stop by for lunch, and find yourself a spot at one of their marble leaners. Take a look around the salad bar (designed by none other than the Paul Izzard team), which is accented with white herringbone tiles and hanging flora and fauna. You’ll notice the incredible salad bar with handmade terracotta bowls filled with the freshest produce sourced mostly from local farmers’, markets. Here, they can take care of you with one of their chef-designed salads, like the ever so popular chipotle chicken, or, newcomer, pumpkin, quinoa and feta; or take a clipboard and create your own, choosing everything from your leaf, filling, toppings and dressings.
Thirsty? They’ve got their own line of cold-pressed juices made in-house daily. Try out Super Green, with spinach, kale, celery, cucumber, lemon and green apple. And, they’ve got a resident smoothie king serving up Snickers smoothies with cacao, cashews, dates and coconut water.
Now, back to that sandwich, if you’re looking for something that’s sure to hit the spot, they offer a curated selection of sandwiches. With mumblings of Auckland’s best sandwich, though, you might just have to try the sandwich that started it all: Angus beef with spinach, tomato, caramelised onion, provolone cheese, Dijon mustard, aioli on golden toasted sourdough.
Now that you know there’s something fresh in your neighbourhood, they’d love you to pop in and say hi.
PINTU, 1 Lot 3 Laneways, 80 Mackelvie Street, T: 09 378 0698,
www.pintusalad.co.nz