Often called the single best destination for dining in the whole of Tāmaki Makaurau, in Ponsonby we really are spoiled for choice when it comes to top notch eateries catering to all tastes and budgets.
With that in mind, we’d like to celebrate some of the Ponsonby News team’s favourite hot spots, which unsurprisingly, are almost all on Ponsonby Road.
Daphne’s Taverna, 71 Ponsonby Road
Opening just two years ago and consistently packed with diners ever since, delightful Daphnes Taverna was a firm favourite with locals from the moment it first placed its bistro-style tables on Ponsonby Road and welcomed us in.
The most recent labour of love from hospitality superstars, Clare and Joost van den Berg - the well-known restaurateurs behind Odette’s Eatery and Hugo’s Bistro (which they sold in 2019) – Daphnes was inspired by a blissful four months the pair and their young family spent travelling around Greece in pre-pandemic times.
They returned with a renewed love for the country’s culture and cuisine, and set about filling a gap in the local culinary offering for a modern Greek menu inspired by family-style sensibility. The menu of small, mid-sized and larger sharing plates spans everything from light snacks and nibbles to more substantial dishes, and their cocktails have to be tasted to be believed! The menu changes seasonally too, so rest assured that return trips to Daphnes are never a chore. www.daphnes.co.nz
Orphans Kitchen, 118 Ponsonby Road
The cool kid on the block when it first arrived on Ponsonby Road almost ten years ago, Orphans Kitchen is now a local institution for so many reasons.
Billing itself as “a partnership between two friends”, the sustainability-focused, always exciting dining destination is the work of Tom Hishon, Executive Chef, and Josh Helm, Manager, also the talented pair behind the incredibly popular Daily Bread and Kingi, in Hotel Britomart.
Their manifesto is a winning one, touching on things like “practically expressing the qualities of purity, simplicity and sustainability that we would like to see associated with New Zealand’s food culture”, working with regional produce that is cultivated with care, high in nutrients and holds the unique terroir of its area, and continuing to invent, challenge convention and produce the best dining experiences.
The fact that they manage to do the above and more, all within the confines of an all-day brunch menu is seriously impressive, and in addition, their coffee is amongst the best on the strip. www.orphanskitchen.co.nz
Little Bird Kitchen. Corner of Summer Street and Ponsonby Road
A long-time favourite amongst the Ponsonby News team, Little Bird Kitchen is the creation of partners Megan May and Jeremy Bennett.
Megan is the chef and creator of the Little Bird flavour and Jeremy, an award-winning architect and designer, is the brains behind the branding.
The pair aim to deliver “the best, most healthy, nutritious, freshest, unrefined, non-pasturised, non-pressurised, non-heat treated, pure, delicious wholefoods” from their chic but always-welcoming location, and the ever-changing menu is testament to how clever one can get with plants!
At Little Bird, the team believes food should not only taste amazing, but it should make you feel amazing too. And judging by the streams of regulars filling the café seven days a week, that feeling is most definitely infectious. www.littlebirdorganics.co.nz
SPQR, 150 Ponsonby Road
Proudly “serving the people” since 1992, Ponsonby Road would be a much quieter place without the iconic SPQR. Open all year round for long lunches, decadent dinners, a sumptuous snack or drinks, SPQR has become more than just a dining destination for so many locals over the years. It’s a meeting place, and just gets better with age.
Whether you choose to sit outside with a crisp white tablecloth in summer, or just inside the front door in the portico when the weather cools, you can always guarantee a good time will be had and yes, chances are high you’ll see someone you know wandering past and invite them to join you for a glass or two. A true local icon, SPQR bills itself as a “place for everyone, where all are welcome”, and we couldn’t agree more. www.spqrnz.co.nz
Sidart, 283 Ponsonby Road
Created by modern New Zealand culinary icon, Sid Sahrawat and his wife Chand, the divine Sidart is now helmed by Lesley Chandra, owner and executive chef.
Sid and Lesley had closely worked together for many years, beginning in 2014 when chef Ben Bayly recommended Lesley to Sid, who was looking for a head chef to help develop the menu and run the kitchen at his then-new restaurant, Cassia.
By 2017 he was working in a research and development role created especially for him at Sidart, then in September 2018, when the Sahrawats acquired Sid at The French Café, they appointed Lesley as head chef there. When it became time for him to branch out into a restaurant of his own, Sidart became available and was the perfect choice.
While Sidart had come to be known as an “Indian fine dining” restaurant, its new ownership under Lesley seeks to steer Sidart in a new direction.
He and his team now focus on local and seasonal produce native to both New Zealand and the wider Pacific region, reflecting flavours Lesley grew up around in both Fiji and New Zealand. It’s a winning formula. www.sidart.co.nz
KOL, 23 Ponsonby Road
Another regular haunt of the Ponsonby News team, KOL (pronounced ‘coal’ and inspired by the same word) is the work of Chand and Sid Sahrawat, the same masterminds who created Cassia and Sid at the French Café.
With a focus on fire, food and cocktails, KOL is essentially a fun and casual cocktail bar and Indian-inspired eatery, where you might come for a bite of tandoori and some of their legendary vindaloo fries, and end up staying for a drink or two; the list of innovative cocktails designed to beautifully complement the food.
Housed in the iconic villa that occupies the corner of Ponsonby Road and Hepburn Street, the menu is influenced by Indian flavours but also proves that delicious Indian food is more than just a perfectly executed curry.
The food is cooked primarily over fire, paying homage to a traditional style of Indian cooking using a chula (a mud or clay stove).
Cooking on fire gives the cuisine a truly addictive, smoky flavour, and we defy you to keep walking by when the smells from the kitchen start filling the air and drifting across Western Park! www.kolauckland.co.nz
(HELENE RAVLICH)
Pictured: KOL cocktails
credit Photography: Ally Macfarlane
#ponsonbynews #iloveponsonby #ponsonby #auckland #aucklandshippestrip #onlyponsonby #ponsonbyroad #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #coxsbay #westernsprings #kolponsonby #spqrponsonby #sidartponsonby #Orpanskitchen #daphnestavernaponsonby #littlebirdkitchen