Think you know SkyCity Auckland and everything it has to offer? The chances are you’ve only scratched the surface.
With no less than 23 restaurants, cafes and bars inside SkyCity Auckland’s world-class entertainment complex, you’d just about need an atlas to navigate your way through it all.
It’s fortunate, then, that we’ve done all the hard work for you (aren’t we nice?).
This is our ultimate guide to SkyCity Auckland’s many excellent restaurants – with a separate guide to SkyCity’s bars available here.
We’ll start at the top of the iconic Sky Tower, that 328m behemoth that towers proudly above the Auckland city skyline. The aptly-named Observatory Restaurant and Orbit Revolving Restaurant both have food to match the spectacular views.
The former is a buffet-style restaurant specialising in seafood, the latter is a unique revolving restaurant with a stunning a la carte menu. Both are spectacular, both have views you wouldn’t get at any other restaurant in Auckland – or anywhere in New Zealand for that matter.
Who needs a view when you’re eating at a restaurant with a celebrity chef’s name on the door? Dine by Peter Gordon is chic and elegant, serving only the kinds of dishes befitting Europe’s father of fusion cuisine.
Less formal but no less impressive is Depot, the fast-paced eatery and oyster bar run by acclaimed New Zealand chef Al Brown, and The Grill by Sean Connolly, a SkyCity restaurant in nearby Federal Street serving good, honest fare with a Kiwi accent.
Complementing them perfectly is Blend, a stylish café-style venue on level three that serves premium coffee and juice perfectly matched to an array of chic food items, and The Terrace, a premium five-star buffet restaurant in the SkyCity hotel boasting al fresco dining in a courtyard.
And we mustn’t forget, Rebo Café & Bar, the perfect spot to enjoy a pre- or post-theatre coffee, beer or wine.
Bellota adds a bit of Iberian flair to the SkyCity restaurant line-up with one of Auckland’s most authentic tapas experiences. Take a trip with Bellota’s extensive menu, which brings together dishes from all over the Spanish countryside.
Or perhaps a trip to the Orient is more your style? The Jade Dragon’s a la carte menu ranges from authentic Chinese dishes to the finest selection of live seafood – with a beautiful designed Asian ambiance to boot.
And there are more Asian specialities at the Deli & Noodle Bar on the casino floor and at Fortuna, a buffet restaurant that also serves up rotisserie chicken, glazed champagne ham and a great range of fresh salads and vegetarian dishes.
The mind boggles at the thought of where to eat at SkyCity Auckland when there is this much choice.
The Jade Dragon provides a superb yum cha every lunch time. Chicken feet, pork buns, dim sums, salt squid, ribs ...... A huge range of dishes including all the usual suspects. The staff are attentive and will make up your requests fresh and fast. Yum cha is one of my favorite dining experiences and the Jade Dragon is the top of my list.
6:14AM, 27th Oct 2012