They don't understand vinegar here. I ask for it a lot and usually get blank stares. A few times I've been given a little suacer or bowl of vinegar and been closely watched as to what I do with it - they seem amazed that I pour it over the chips.

At least it's all cooked fresh. You go into the chippie and they cook it there and then. It takes longer but at least it's not soggy. I can't eat F&C when I go home now - it's been spoiled.

Yes they do! Guy at a cafe used to go to near Ruapehu always gave us a vinegar shaker with our bowl of chips.

HaHa. I can related to this. My husband loves chips ! No salt .With Vinegar.
Chippies here always want to douse with salt and no vinegar in sight. It's the devils own trying to stop 'em giving it some welly with the salt and he gave up on the vinegar a long time back.

I live in welly and have found a great place for sausages: Island Bay Butchery. They do all the English bangers, South African vors, Italian pork and fennel, Spanish Choritzo etc.

Best chippy has to be Ponsonby fish and chips - Awesome. almost a reason to move back to Auckland. Amazing snapper burgers!

Also, best pie shop too. Ponsonby pie shop. Amazing!

Moore wilson worth a look too.

And if you want decent authentic South African food there is a shop in Petone run by an ex saffer who does authentic billtong.

Yep, if you shop around you can get just about anything here!

I went out for lunch yesterday. A rare treat. Me and some expats. I had soup. Cauliflower, blue cheese and pear - YES PEAR! soup.

Not a combination I'd have put together. But it was very nice.

Lots of good food for thought here. I'm now the supermarket/food shopping person in the family so I can add a couple of things that I like.

The crumpet toast is nice, just pop it in the toaster from frozen, yum with honey
The Burgen bread is tasty - a meal in itself and their fruit bread is also yummy toasted with butter. You can tell when its on special as I grab a bagful!
We like the honey and cheese from the local producers in Rodney - Puhoi for the cheese and the honey place just south of Warkworth.
The biscuits seem to be better here as does the cheap ice-cream although there is no soft scoop (agree with Owen on that one!) - does anyone know of a soft scoop - the nice ice cream in small (1 litre) green tubs is very nice - I forget the brand......
Fruit & Veges are great in season - I have the official season chart somewhere and can scan it in - been meaning to do that as a resource....pester me!!!
The coffee, honey, seafood, asian food, fine wines and dairy products all seem the equal or better than UK but for me the price of some meats (esp. my favourite, lamb!) is suprising given the budgets we have. Not sure whethere the best/cheapest is going overseas ? However, the racks of lamb should be cheaper this season as the US market has dried up so NZ National report said this morning.
If you are prepared to look hard and invest time in cooking then NZ is great but the processed food, kids food and sweets are not as good as the UK!
Good luck, LL

How are the Tofu and Lentils in NZ, then Lardyl ?
I will try the Budgens Bread asap , but currently on a diet, due to NZ food being so tasty! Agree with nearly everything you say about NZ food (at least)

I never ate pumpkin before moving here.
Pumpkin was for carving at Hallowe'en, not for eating I didn't really like it the first time I ate it in a restaurant here - bland and tastless and soggy. However, I have developed a real taste for pumpkin soup. I use a supermarket squash, add a bit of carrot, potato and onion, a fair helping of chilli powder, seasoning and herbs and Bob's your proverbial

I love the pies here - I can feel my arteries hardening just looking at them I particularly like the cheese and steak ones - and sausage rolls! Instead of the pencil-like bit of sausagemeat to be found in a UK one, there is loads of filling in the Kiwi version.

And the oranges off my very own orange tree simply taste sublime - all the better because they are grown on my very own bit of New Zealand

Touche - And when you have burned all of that aviation fuel what will you have - an airline lunch, yummy............
And the rest of us, we'll be one step closer to the tipping point on resources and climate change.........that doesnt go down too well, even with a nice Marlborough White.

Pumpkin soup yummy!
I like the Chicken Gumbo too - reminds us of being in the Deep South!!
TBH the fresh soups are probably the best of the ready meals/processed foods in NZ.......
And frozen sausage rolls in about 18" lengths great for catering!! Yummy too in a sorta shouldn't be way!!

I agree.... the ready made soups here are really good!! Sometimes as a treat I make fresh homemade bread to have with the soup.... that always goes down really well!

Yep... the pies here are very good.... cant have too many now as trying to get rid of the mummy tummy at long last!

Supermarket squash is a type of pumpkin! I make my own soup with that as the main ingredient

Just a thought re lamb.
Back in April when on our recce we had supper with some farmer friends who served us some tasty lamb - (hubby enjoyed it) they told us they always buy lamb from the local farmers direct and get it cut into serving sizes then freeze it. I know that's probably not possible if you live it the city but I know I'll be on the look out for farmers stalls and markets when we arrive next month.

Perhaps my taste buds adjusted to Aussie/Kiwi foods from having to eat it when we lived in Singapore. The only food I never enjoyed was the 'Sanitorium' cereal wheatbix.

I agree about the Weetbix, it resembles a slimline supermarket own brand cheapo version of it's English near namesake .
But the lamb, don't the farmers have to have animals legally killed in a slaughter house , like in EUrope ? Where it will go in with the hundreds of others ? I may try that , but just wondering, farmers do tend to, erm, exaggerate a bit

RE lamb- no even in UK a friend in Devon has a small farm with a few lambs, pigs, and hens for the eggs. She has them taken to the slaughter house then butchered by a local butcher and put into her freezer.
I guess you can but try the local farmers