What to Eat on New Zealand’s North Island

Updated June 24, 2020.

It’s been a while since I did a food post, so it’s high time! We recently got home from a whirl-wind trip to the Coromandel Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island, and wouldn’t you know: we had to eat. Here’s the run-down of all the delicious things we ate and what we recommend to you on your next trip to the North Island!

Breakfast

I’ll be honest with you, we mostly ate grocery store yogurt, fruit, and protein bars for breakfast, which is not too exciting for pictures! But we did stop by two of bakeries on a couple of our runs during the trip, and this is what we got!

Pizza for breakfast? You can have it in New Zealand!
Chicken and brie sandwich with peaches and mangoes. And since it was actually left over from yesterday’s lunchtime offerings at the bakery, it was only $2 NZD!
Steak and cheese pie: a very popular item for any meal on both islands of New Zealand!

Lunch

Lunch was definitely our largest meal of the day. Because we get up early and like to be active before the hottest part of the day, we are usually quite hungry by 1:00 or 2:00pm, when we typically have our lunch.

Local Fish Sandwich and curly fries from Bugger Cafe on our drive from Auckland to Whitianga!
Moroccan Chicken Sandwich with Bacon from Bugger Cafe
I thought I was being so very healthy with my shrimp and avocado vegetable salad… until it came out coated in a garlic butter sauce. But man, was it good! From the Espy Cafe on the Esplanade in Whitianga.
Steve’s veggie burger, including cornmeal pancake, cheese, sauce, and fries with “tomato sauce” (ketchup). Also from Espy Cafe.
“Potato Salad”, Kiwi style! Including salad greens, potatoes, thick bacon, topped with a poached egg, from Harbor House Cafe.
Spiced Mince with Poached Eggs and Parmesean on 5-grain bread. What is “mince” you ask? It’s a ground meat and vegetable mixture popular in Britain and New Zealand! This was after our epic Cathedral Cove hike, and it was delicious! From the Harbor House Cafe.
Root Vegetable salad with coconut curry sauce. Y’all. This was the best thing I ate the whole time. It was so tasty! And filling. They were definitely using full-on coconut milk, and the taste proved it! From the Harbor House Cafe.
Open-face smoked salmon sandwich with loads of veggies, crumbled goat cheese, and a balsamic sauce. From Harbor House Cafe. (Can you tell it was our favorite?)

Supper

If you don’t already know from my previous food blog posts we like to get takeout for supper. Steve likes to stay in nice places with ocean views, and as a result we get to have dinner with a view every night! Additionally, sometimes it’s nice to take a shower, put on your PJ’s, and have a private dinner for two! First up: take-out pizza!

Hawaiian Pizza from Mr. Pizza. This was actually the best Hawaiian pizza I’ve ever had, and I’ve had Hawaiian pizza in Hawaii! The little cubes of ham made it good.
We picked up some things from the grocery store this day: salad greens, fruit, brie cheese, garbanzo beans, avocado, amazing cranberry-nut bread, and New Zealand’s native Manuka honey!
Ham and camembert sandwich and salad with cheese, garbanzo beans, and plums.
We picked up one of these HUGE veggie frittatas at Harbor House Cafe at lunch and brought it back for our salad that evening:
Salad with plums and frittata. We also had the last of the bread and Maunka honey for dessert. The Manuka honey was creamy and sweet!

Want more? Check out my World Foods Page! And get everything you need to know and more on my New Zealand Page, too!

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Published by quickwhittravel

Welcome to the blog! We do things a little differently around here: no ads, no negativity, and no checked luggage, y'all. My name is Whitney, and Quick Whit Travel Blog is your one-stop shop for all the best travel tips, packing advice, and destination information. Click around or message me on social media @quickwhittravel for more!

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