Pot Luck — Friday 18 April

Apr 18, 2025 Metro Eats

Kia ora,

Restaurants, cafes and bars, no matter how beloved or how detested, will come and go — that much becomes clear when compiling the city’s openings and closings for this newsletter each week. Closures, for better or for worse, are a feature of the industry, and of free-market capitalism for that matter. For every exciting new opening, there’s the inevitability of something folding. A rare few say goodbye amid a sea of misty-eyed tributes and melancholic media coverage. Most just quietly slip away, closing their doors without ceremony or periods of mourning. It’s difficult — and maybe even a little futile — to attempt to keep track of them all. For all of these reasons, this newsletter tries not to dwell, to catastrophise or to be overly sentimental about these inevitable closures.

That said, I found myself wondering how many of the places we reported opening last year were still around. In 2024, this newsletter covered at least 162 new brick-and-mortar openings across the city. Of those, 18 have since closed (according to their Google profiles) — that’s 11.11 percent. To be completely honest, I was a little surprised the number wasn’t higher.

In possibly poor taste (but with curiosity as my excuse), I’ve gone ahead and ranked these closures from most surprising to least.

1. SUSHI AND SANDO: Opened on the corner of Halsey and Madden Sts in April last year, but by October it had already closed. The location is, admittedly, a tough one — but as I’d only heard good things about the food, and Aucklanders’ love of sandos (and anything else eaten on the trips to Tokyo) only seems to grow by the day, I’d have predicted they’d stick around for a little longer than six months.
2. DINO HAMBURGER STEAKS: While niche, I genuinely thought that Japanese-style hamburger steaks would have resonated in Henderson — especially ones that looked as good as this. Sadly, this place, which opened in July 2024, announced its closure in February.
3. The Cuban Sandwich shop in Queens Arcade: I had a very good Cuban sandwich from this tiny stall in Queens Arcade shortly after it opened in August last year. It was a delicious creation, but unfortunately I’m not even sure if the stall made it into the new year.
4. BB.Q CHICKEN: This South Korean fried chicken chain opened a branch on Queen St in July last year — but their Google profile says they’re “temporarily closed” and they’ve not posted on their Instagram since March. Though fried chicken is generally beloved in this city, Queen St is a shaky territory for eateries. There’s also a proliferation of Korean chicken spots in its general radius, which perhaps contributed to its downfall. Maybe it’s a sign that we’re reaching a saturation point for fried chicken?
5. SAMMY’S: Started operating in Ponsonby Central in July, but closed by December. Casual, tasty food like deli-style sandwiches and soft serve, plus cocktails, in a modern space for under $50 per person — it all seemed like a clever concept, but alas.
6. Le Musang: Yes, this Dominion Rd spot that opened last February specialised in desserts spiked with the very contentious durian, meaning their audience was limited. At the same time, I’d have presumed there were enough durian superfans around this city to make it viable. Apparently not, as they seemed to have closed quietly sometime recently.
7. Fancy Buffet: I believe this place opened in July last year (quite close to Le Musang), but as far as I can tell, they’re now shut. The offering looked generous, but I guess the buffet restaurant competition on Dominion Rd these days is pretty hot.
8. Miss Pancake: They served jianbing, toasted sandwiches, crêpes and brightly coloured jelly cups filled with things like mango or taro or rose syrup to take away at this spot located in the Queens Square building on Queen St. I thought it looked cute, but it’s an awkward part of the city. It also seemed very much geared toward students, who, from what I can tell, are far less present in the central city post-Covid-19 lockdowns. So I wasn’t exactly shocked when I noticed that it had changed hands only a few months later.
9. Lucky Cat Hot Pot: This hotpot place took over the teensy space that housed Miss Pancake, but I think they also only lasted a few months. The shop is now sitting empty.
10. Dragon Kitchen: The offering at this Ponsonby Rd takeaway spot didn’t look particularly inspiring when it opened in July last year, but I wondered whether their menu of dumplings, noodle soups and stir-fried rice dishes for under $30 might do well in a suburb lacking in affordable takeaway options. The answer, it seems, was no.
11. BB’s Bagels: Shortly before this bagel-centric shop (doing hojicha, matcha, Biscoff and pistachio numbers) opened on Ponsonby Rd, THE NEW YORKER had heralded the beginnings of a bagel renaissance. But it wasn’t to be, and they closed late last year. It’s not all doom and gloom for bagels, though: at the other end of Ponsonby Rd, Auckland Bagel Club persists.
12. Noodle & Bistro: Took over the old Luna Bakery address on Chancery St in May last year but they didn’t seem to last more than a few months.
13. Kai Cafe: This spot on Shortland St did some nice-looking pancake stacks, but it can’t be easy competition-wise to be so close to Hugo’s.
14. POLYNESIAN ISLAND FOOD AND CAFE: I was curious about this Pukekohe eatery which served panikeke, steak and egg rolls, sapasui, keke pua‘a and coffee. But they closed before I had a chance to visit.
15. Ariana: We REVIEWED this Afghani restaurant, located in the infamous Wharf building in Northcote Point, when it opened last year. My main takeaway was that the food was absolutely delicious — but with its awkward location, grand scale, formality and lack of online presence, it didn’t seem feasible that it would last too long. Sad but not shocked.
16. LuLu’s Ark: This dinky little Newmarket dessert shop offered an eclectic range of desserts from ice cream to taiyaki to egg tarts to various milky teas — but have since ceased operations.
17. Nala: There’s no evidence online that this cafe(?) in the old Agnes Curran on Franklin Rd even existed — so when exactly it opened and closed, I cannot say. Word on the street is that the space will soon be occupied by an exciting new opening, so keep your eyes peeled.
18. Deverauxs: I liked the boldness of the concept behind this Newmarket spot, but it is not exactly surprising that a place focused on “couture conutes” hasn’t withstood times of economic uncertainty.

Hei kōnā mai,
Charlotte

Comings and goings.

As I was zipping around Dominion Rd the other day I spotted the bright-yellow signage of a new Chinese eatery called Mr. Bo Restaurant at the Mt Roskill end (near Tapsi). Unfortunately there’s not a whole lot of information online, except for a few images of the menu on their Google listing. Lots of hotpot dishes and meaty rice plates going on, it looks like — plus, a roast salmon head in chopped chilli or black bean sauce which sounds tasty.

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Further along Dominion Rd, I also noticed that the Big Beat Cafe looks to have closed and been replaced by a new hotpot restaurant called Tang Huo Kungfu Malatang. I could have sworn that Big Beat was open and running just a few weeks ago, so it must have been a swift changeover. Presumably it will be the typical self-service malatang situation, whereby you select what you want from a range of ingredients, choose how you want it cooked and pay by weight. However, a few Instagram food influencers have posted about a deal here where you fit as much as you can into a small bowl for a set $19.90 price.

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Oh, and Vietnamese food truck Phở Yến Gia Truyền, who make some of the most talked-about bowls of phở in the entire city, have announced that they’ll be opening a permanent outlet at 617 Dominion Rd very soon. Hooray!

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In the central city, SUMI is a new “Modern Japanese Grill” in City Works Depot . They’re open for lunch for snacks, sashimi, donburi and deep-fried bits and pieces — but it’s probably best to go at dinnertime where you can get all of this plus their selection of binchō-tan-grilled chicken thigh fillets, salmon fillets and so on.

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It’s a big week for Japanese food in Tāmaki Makaurau. Remuera has a new neighbourhood Japanese restaurant called OHMIYA with a big, people-pleasing menu of dishes that are good for eating alongside sake, like beef tataki, unagi roll, nigiri, yakitori, renkon chips and opulent-looking sashimi platters. But they also have more offbeat options, like pickles with cream cheese, whelks and a dish of seasoned vegetables and scallops called “chinmi” (a word which in Japanese means rare taste or delicacy). Helpfully, they’re open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.

Hot.

• The Chè pudding at CHÈ VIET on Courthouse Lane.
• The Ao Cacao chocolate-filled panikeke at COFFEE PEN’s Little Crossroads market last weekend. (Sadly these were a limited edition thing, but I just want to put it on the record that they were delicious.)
• RADENSKA MINERAL WATER. Perfect sparkling water in a perfect CAN.
• The dry-pot cabbage at In Your Flavour on Symonds St. Their other food is good too, but this was a standout.
• The Scotch egg at GALBRAITH’S.
• HANDPICKED COFFEE ROASTERS’ go-chu-jang pasta.
• The seafood tom yum hotpot at PUEN. The lighting here is phenomenally bad, but it’s worth it for this majestic, seafood-spangled, spicy broth.
• Lamb sweetbread with radicchio escabeche and raisins at PARRO. (Note: this was part of a gifted meal, but it was genuinely wonderful.)

Not.

• CEASE-AND-DESISTS OVER CINNAMON BUNS.
• That Wattie’s have seemingly discontinued their creamed rice.
• MACKEREL STOCKS.
• RISING FOOD PRICES. But more specifically, the rising price of Easter eggs.

Where we’re going.

The Ate Ate Ate podcast hosted by ex-Metro food editor Jean Teng and MasterChef winner Sam Low and are hosting a congee pop-up on Saturday 3 May at Ozone Grey Lynn. Tickets are $60 per person and include Sam’s signature congee, plus sides (potentially including dishes like five-spice boiled peanuts, chicken liver pâté wonton with plum, char siu pork roll, silken tofu with century egg and black vinegar and fermented fruit), and a scoop of ice-cream by Side Scoop. Drinks will be available to purchase on the night. Buy tickets HERE.

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Head to Sculptureum in Matakana from now until Wednesday 23 April for freshly churned, handcrafted ice cream from GIAPO. The ice cream pop-up will sit within a marquee on the Sculptureum grounds from 12pm to 4pm daily and will be open to all visitors (no Sculptureum ticket required to visit the ice cream pop-up). For more information visit WWW.SCULPTUREUM.NZ.