Where to go for icy desserts, perfect coffee, spicy bowls of noodles, and more, according to the trio behind some of Kirikiriroa’s most celebrated hospitality venues.
Hamilton is the self-proclaimed “city of the future”. Take this as a sign then, that its compact central city, which is spread alongside the western bank of the mighty Waikato river, is somewhere you really should factor into your own culinary future.
And few people know Kirikiriroa better than Hamilton-born locals, John Moughan, Alex Hudson and Matt Pedley. “We all grew up here, went to school, started businesses, closed businesses, got married, and started a life of raising our kids here,” they say. “We love Kirikiriroa.”
The trio now preside over what could be described as a minor hospitality empire, co-owning and operating Reggie’s, Mr. Pickles Bar & Eatery, Wonder Horse, Last Place, Everyday Eatery, Neat, Bird Man, Four Daughters and the Hamilton Hotel Public Bar & Bistro (alongside their partner and general manager Jonathan Knapp).
Who better, then, to direct you towards the city’s best things to eat and drink? These are the places they recommend to friends, return to on their days off and think best capture the pleasure of eating in central Hamilton.
Three words that sum up the food in Hamilton Central: Unpretentious. Compact. Uncompromising.
Everyone has a dining out pet peeve. Ours is: Bad acoustics. There’s nothing worse than a restaurant or bar where you can’t hear the person next to you. It’s not the volume, it’s the reflective surfaces: treble and mid-range clattering up the entire sonic space.
The best restaurant in Hamilton Central is: Without a doubt, Szechuan Style (spelled “Sichuan Style” sometimes – their branding isn’t consistent which is part of the charm). The only people we’ve met who don’t like it, suck. That’s a fact.
Why we love Szechuan Style: It’s the whole package, but the consistency of the food is where it really shines. Plus, the lighting is always garishly bright, and it’s devoid of music. There is nowhere for bad food to hide. It’s everything about Chinese food that we never had in our formative years.
Our go-to order is: If it’s for one – dan dan noodles. If we’re sharing, it’s eggplant stuffed with pork mince, tofu and peanuts; lamb with cumin; plain white rice (obviously); and something green for good measure. Bottle of Tsingtao. Bottle(s) of Baijiu if you’re brave. We’re not often all that brave.
The most underrated local gem is: Cafe Kopi. So many people go for coffee and sleep on the food. Dave, Sumin and Manjula are each masters of their craft.
Pub or bar of choice: Pub? The Public Bar at Hamilton Hotel. It’s got everything.
Bar? Amphora. Owner Kieran Clark was recently awarded best bar in our local hospitality awards and there’s a good reason why.
The BYO we keep going back to: Victor’s Place. It’s Hong Kong Chinese food and karaoke. Peking duck and poor choices. Also the salted fish fried rice.
For a late-night food fix you’ll find us at: Last Place. Single smash, add lettuce, tomato and jalapeno.
Hamilton Central’s best…
Coffee: Rocket Coffee on Barton Street. It’s not up for debate.
Noodles: Szechuan Style’s dan dan noodles.
Comfort meal: The egg pork katsu donburi from Donburi-Ya – it’s the best.
Fish and chips: OK – it’s not fish and chips (and we know it’s also technically not quite in central Hamilton) but the crispy eggplant from New Star Takeaways in Ham East (they also do fish and chips) is the best “I’m bringing a dish to a dinner party” power move.
And the best place to eat the crispy eggplant: Hamilton Gardens. They’re famous for a reason.
Baked treat: Any of the sweets at Cream Eatery.
For a serious sweet tooth, head to: Snowtown which specialises in bubble tea and tsuah bing (shaved ice). They have a dessert called the Tiny Little Monster: oreos, whipped cream, brownies…
The dairy with the best lolly selection: I would love it if someone could let me know this. A work-on for me.
A perfect place to linger over a drink: We’re biased, but we’d have to say Bird Man. There’s no signage, there’s no Google business listing, no website – so depending who you ask it doesn’t even exist. Just great drinks.
My favourite local hospo personality: Alex Hudson (Wonder Horse) – your favourite bartender’s favourite bartender. You’re gonna get what you need, whether that’s an earnest chat over a beer or three cocktails, or several shots of Fernet and a meticulously detailed breakdown of why the day that’s just ended was so damn tough.
For outstanding people watching, go to: The south end of Victoria St at 8pm on a Saturday – grab an outside table somewhere.
The place I’m most likely to bump into someone I know: Hamilton. Any place.
The place I go to avoid bumping into anyone I know: Impossible – it’s Hamilton.
A local spot I wish we could bring back from the dead is: Ward Lane. A back-alley underground/punk legend. It’s been years since it closed but my ears are still ringing and I can still smell the scuzz on the walls.
A restaurant I would love to relocate to Hamilton Central: Matterhorn (Wellington) circa 2009. I had a dinner there that made me realise restaurants and hospitality can be much greater than the sum of its parts. (-John)
The place we return to again and again: Are we just going to write Szechuan Style for all of these answers?
Why we love eating in Hamilton Central: There’s just so many awesome operators in our city. Everything is reasonably close together so you can wander from place to place, picking and choosing your delicious morsels. Like a foggy San Sebastian with heaps more dairy farmers. There are some extremely uncompromising region-specific Asian joints that will blow your mind. Like Szechuan Style. Did we mention that?
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