\n82. Cheese sandwich<\/p>\n
Every bakery in New Zealand is a treasure. But not every bakery item is. Tom Augustine presents a massive ranking.<\/p>\n
Summer read \u2013 originally published July 25 2025.<\/p>\n
Ah, the classic Kiwi bakery. How often do we take the time to acknowledge this stalwart of Aotearoa\u2019s many great cities and towns? The bakery, earlier than most, welcomes any and all comers, with the promise of affordable comfort food, coffee or your daily bread. Glance about a bakery and you\u2019ll find lycra-clad walking groups, gaggles of old ladies, rushing businessmen, and, of course, the humble tradies. A melting pot, surely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet, who among us has not had the experience of walking into an unfamiliar bakery and being overwhelmed by the selection on display? How often have we opted for a sweet treat that didn\u2019t live up to the dream, knowing full well as we walked away that we could have gone for a superior tart or slice if we had just taken a few more minutes to consider? Fear no longer, dear reader. Here is a list of the best, most reliable items you can opt for at any bakery across our glorious nation. This is not a ranking of the best items at any specific bakery \u2013 your local may have a superior apple turnover, sure, but this is a ranking of the viability of the option across the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What gives me the honour, the privilege of presenting this ranking to you? In my usual field of work, I judge the merits of various works of cinema. I am no food critic. So? Well, I thought of it, for one. But also, I\u2019ve been frequenting these establishments my entire life, and I have the pounds to prove it. I\u2019m a big fella, and I love a bakery. Take it from a lad with some meat on the bone \u2013 I know what I\u2019m talking about here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A little on how this has been achieved: we\u2019ve collated the menus of a range of bakeries across Auckland to compile this list. None of the fancy shit \u2013\u00a0 nowhere where a cookie is going to set you back 10 bucks. We\u2019re talking classic, old-school bakeries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If it has \u201cGolden\u201d or \u201cSunrise\u201d, or heck, \u201cGolden Sunrise\u201d in the title, you\u2019re in the right place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If an item is available at one bakery, but none of the others, it doesn\u2019t make the list (apologies, Corned Beef and Palusami pie), and items must appear in at least three bakeries to make the cut. Factors that have been included in judging are general flavour, texture, reliability, cultural importance and general aura. Capisce? Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n
86. Cheese and onion sandwich<\/p>\n
This one is personal because I controversially am not a fan of onion. Onion lovers, this list is biased against you. I\u2019m sorry in advance. Slices of onion not only look like fingernails, but have the texture of them. In a sandwich at a bakery like the ones I\u2019m talking about, the onions are rarely cooked. As I am not Stanley Yelnats trying to stay alive in the desert, I will pass, thanks very much.<\/p>\n
85. Fruit cake<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t come looking for fruit cake revisionism \u2018round these parts. It\u2019s not going to happen. Stop trying to make it happen. Dense, flavourless, full of the bits that people put up with in other cakes and none of the good parts. The culinary equivalent of that one friend of your Nana\u2019s who had a really dusty house with ceramic statuettes of cherubs and a little yapping dog.<\/p>\n
84. Battered fish<\/p>\n
There is some element of risk in purchasing any of the hot food options at one of these bakeries. That it will be dry, chewy, greasy and perhaps somewhat biologically dubious are part of the appeal, but you have to be categorically insane to go for a piece of battered fish in a bakery. If this is you, I invite you to think on your choices.<\/p>\n
83. Ham salad roll\/sandwich<\/p>\n
Where are we at, as a society, on the subject of ham? I feel like unless we\u2019re doing thick slices of Christmas ham, there are endless selections of deli meats that would deliver you a better eating experience. When I was a kid my dad briefly worked as a bank underling, and we went on a corporate workers\u2019 lunch for families where they served ham salad rolls. That\u2019s the correct place for one of these \u2013 you shouldn\u2019t have to pay for them.<\/p>\n
A good classic bakery in Morningside, Auckland
\n82. Cheese sandwich<\/p>\n
Just\u2026 cheese on bread? Not even toasted? What? Are you five?<\/p>\n
81. Hot chips<\/p>\n
The fish and chip shop is right there, mate.<\/p>\n
80. Mince pie<\/p>\n
The starter pie, if you will. Only kids need apply.<\/p>\n
79. Blueberry tart<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t really have anything to say about this one. Blueberries are probably the worst of the berries, and thereby goes the tart.<\/p>\n
78. Choc chip cookie<\/p>\n
In the abstract, there are few things better than a chocolate chip cookie \u2013 but an interesting thing occurs when placed alongside its peers in a bakery. It loses its luster. It looks painfully inadequate, the chips meekly staring at you from behind the glass, as though ashamed to be there at all. To eat one is to seal the deal. You\u2019ve made a mistake \u2013 like Milhouse playing Mystery Date, you picked the Dud.<\/p>\n
77. Steak pie<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of pies, steak beats mince every time. It\u2019s more flavourful, there\u2019s more variety, more texture. A steak pie just by itself puts one in the mind of a peasant farmer from medieval England before they\u2019re drafted to fight the French and die miserably in a field somewhere. Last meal for the peasant folk kind of vibes. Which is OK, but there are better pies.<\/p>\n
76. Custard twist<\/p>\n
Custard is a delightful substance. But a custard twist is not the correct vessel for such a thing. You need a receptacle, not a gnarled piece of dough.<\/p>\n
75. Cheesecake<\/p>\n
The cheesecakes I encountered in my adventures typically were covered in a neon red berry coulis of sorts. Something vaguely sinister about the whole thing. It\u2019s one of those options that feels like it shouldn\u2019t be single serve, y\u2019know?<\/p>\n
74. Kids\u2019 biscuits, various<\/p>\n
These are the biscuit options obviously designed to appeal to children, usually in the form of a smiley face or some sort of animal. M&Ms are used for eyes, you get the drill. They can occasionally be a delicious treat, but you do have to make peace with the fact that you will be embodying this meme<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n 73. Banana bread slice<\/p>\n The owners of the classic Kiwi bakery are not going to be toasting anything for you, and that includes that slice of banana bread you\u2019re eyeing up. Have you ever had a dry, cold slice of banana bread? You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n 72. Apple donuts<\/p>\n Sounds good in theory, tends to be underwhelming in practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n 71. Chocolate mud cake<\/p>\n The latent trauma of the Bruce Bogtrotter sequence<\/a> prevents me from ranking this any higher.<\/p>\n 70. Chicken sandwich<\/p>\n Usually accompanied by some mayo. It\u2019s not bad, it\u2019s just that there are better options (see further down this list).<\/p>\n 69. Chocolate fudge slice<\/p>\n This is really the section of the list where it\u2019s not an actively awful decision, but it won\u2019t give you the electric highs of the best on offer. Mileages vary, also, but I tend to find if something is just chocolate flavour I always come away a little unsatisfied.<\/p>\n 68. Steak and pepper pie<\/p>\n Does this imply that pepper isn\u2019t used in other pies? Because that seems weird. Anyway, I don\u2019t really see the distinction. If you love pepper, I guess this is for you.<\/p>\n 67. Chocolate muffin<\/p>\n If you have a hankering for chocolate, don\u2019t do yourself a disservice by getting it in muffin form.<\/p>\n 66. Date scone<\/p>\n I\u2019m just not sold, sorry. If you\u2019re going to add an element of sweetness to a scone, that\u2019s what jam and cream are for. Shoving dates where they don\u2019t belong is not a key to my heart \u2013 there are subtler but more accomplished sweet options or mega-sweet options galore elsewhere.<\/p>\n 65. Bacon and egg quiche<\/p>\n Ah, the quiche. The pie\u2019s inferior cousin that tries to convince everyone that it is fancier and thus better. It\u2019s a lie. Usually it\u2019s unpleasantly damp, a strange combination of savoury flavours and a biscuity base. Bacon and egg, also, is the lesser option of the quiche flavours usually on offer. You\u2019re at a bakery, mate: may as well get down in the trenches with us working class people and buy a pie instead.<\/p>\n 64. Chicken pie<\/p>\n Offers a point of difference in that we\u2019re talking about a white gravy rather than a brown gravy. I love a chicken pot pie, which is basically what this (and other chicken pie entries on this list) are. A chicken pie, though, really requires the presence of some kind of vegetable. By itself, there\u2019s a lack.<\/p>\n 63. Ham and mayo sandwich<\/p>\n Mayo is doing an insane amount of heavy lifting here. The person who goes into a bakery, sees all that is on offer, and selects the ham and mayo sandwich is a certified nutcase; that said, if you are coming in at the end of the day and your options are limited, you could do worse.<\/p>\n 62. Steak, cheese and jalapeno<\/p>\n Call me crazy, I don\u2019t think pies should be spicy. It\u2019s just not in their nature. It\u2019s like seeing a dog wear a tuxedo. I\u2019d rather get spice elsewhere \u2013 a pie should be comforting, the warming effect the same you might get from a hearty stew.\u00a0<\/p>\n 61. Chocolate brownie<\/p>\n Brownies in general are a scam. How it weaselled its way into the upper tier of baking options I don\u2019t know. The dryness factor here is lethal \u2013 if a brownie isn\u2019t moist and chewy, it is absolutely diabolical. The occasional satisfactory one, though, is a vibe. Is it worth the risk?<\/p>\n 60. Spring roll<\/p>\n Most of the hot food selections here are in a fraught position \u2013 some are delicious, but they do have the feeling of being imposters, wandering in a land that is not their own. Tourists, I guess. Some fare better than others, though. The density of a spring roll (and its brother \u2013 yes, it\u2019s male \u2013 the curry roll) usually means that it will survive the long term heat racks of the hot food section of a bakery, and so offers a better culinary experience.<\/p>\n 59. Jam-filled donuts<\/p>\n Listen, I love a donut. Often, they will be my number one sweet selection at a bakery of any kind. But there\u2019s a top-tier donut, which we\u2019ll get to later, and usually it has jam involved. The jam-filled donut walks a fine line. Very easily, it can become a lamentable case of too much jam.<\/p>\n The meat skewers are interesting because, unlike a lot of the other hot food on offer, it doesn\u2019t have a corollary anywhere else. There\u2019s not a lot of fish and chipperies that offer a meat skewer, really. That said, it still feels weird, right? This one is for those who are looking to protein load, primarily.\u00a0<\/p>\n 57. Steak, bacon and cheese<\/p>\n Sounds like a party in your mouth, sure, but the bacon really lets the side down here. It is doing way too much. It eclipses the flavour of the steak. Usually it\u2019s in chunks, which is a bad way to consume bacon. Ultimately, it hogs the attention (forgive me) away from the rest of the pie.\u00a0<\/p>\n 56. Hot dog<\/p>\n Glad wrap is such a significant part of the bakery experience, but it\u2019s especially bizarre in this context, melting into the cheese, ketchup and bun of a traditional American hotdog under the unrelenting glow of the warmer lights. The ketchup is doing an extreme amount of work here to provide something akin to moisture when attacking this most patriotic of snacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n 55. Lemon and ginger slice<\/p>\n Thank god for the lemon, bringing a little zest to a culinary landscape where it\u2019s often in short supply. The lemon slice is for the fancy person in your life, the one likely to look down their nose at a bakery such as the one you\u2019ve just entered. Is it a true encapsulation of the bakery experience? No, but it\u2019s an important emissary to the bougie folk in our lives.<\/p>\n 54. Ham and cheese sandwich<\/p>\n A classic, there\u2019s no denying it. Solid, reliable.\u00a0<\/p>\n 53. Chicken salad sandwich<\/p>\n Unlike the inferior ham, chicken and salad are really doing something when they come together. Sometimes this offering includes a cheeky sprinkling of grated cheese, which is a fun time.\u00a0<\/p>\n 52. Pizza bread A very mixed bag. Some pizza breads can literally bring you back from the dead the morning after a big night out. Some clever bakers sprinkle olives on them. Others will try and sneak disgusting pieces of onion in under the cheese like thieves in the night. Some of the pizza sauces used may cause you to overdose on sugar, others are just right. Generally, my feeling is that if you\u2019re hankering for pizza, get some pizza instead.<\/p>\n 51. Rocky road slice<\/p>\n Very dependent on the ratio of marshmallow to black forest and nuts, and a bit of a chaotic eating experience. Doesn\u2019t quite work, but a valiant attempt was made.<\/p>\n 50. Custard pie<\/p>\n Not quite the superior custard offering, but a strong sweet pie option that can really hit if applied at the right time.<\/p>\n 49. Berry muffin<\/p>\n A stalwart, an icon. Countless office morning teas have flourished on the berry muffin\u2019s sturdy haunches. If there\u2019s some caramelized brown sugar on top? You\u2019re in flavour country brother.<\/p>\n 48. Chicken and vege pie<\/p>\n The equivalent of Sunday dinner at your grandparents\u2019. A portable chicken pot pie, it is warm and comforting and feels wholesome, like if you subsisted off of this alone you\u2019d flourish in all your endeavours. That wouldn\u2019t be the case, of course, but we can dream.<\/p>\n 47. BBQ pork roll<\/p>\n Really dependent on the nature of the pork within. If it\u2019s a pork riblet a la Subway, slathered in barbeque sauce, that\u2019s a ticket to processed heaven. Ditto if it\u2019s Chinese-style honey glazed pork. If it\u2019s strips of brown pork haphazardly stuffed into a roll, though, it\u2019s visually repellant and the flavour generally follows. Embrace the glorious unnature of the riblet, friends.<\/p>\n 46. Spinach and feta quiche The superior quiche option. I\u2019m agnostic on quiche at the best of times, but spinach and feta, firm friends, work hard to bring this one to life. It wouldn\u2019t be my personal choice most of the time, but I\u2019d respect the customer who opts for it.<\/p>\n 45. Rhubarb or apple crumble<\/p>\n How good must it feel to be a rhubarb being baked into a crumble? What other avenue is there, really, for a rhubarb to shine? How does it feel for the rhubarb to share the spotlight with its hyper-famous sibling, the apple? It\u2019s a real Solange\/Beyonce situation. Both provide excellence, neither can be entirely extricated from the other in crumble discussions, nor will they ever be quite the same.<\/p>\n 44. Chocolate eclair<\/p>\n The Kiwi bakery chocolate eclair is quite different to the dainty pastry you might find at a bona fide French bakery, mind. Usually it is bursting with cream, oversized, slathered in a shell of chocolate. It\u2019s all a little much, which is occasionally what makes it an ideal choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n 43. Fried chicken<\/p>\n The fried chicken you have at a bakery is rarely going to be the best fried chicken of your life. There\u2019s a grubbiness to it (which, to the fried chicken connoisseur, is part of the appeal), but the act of eating and the aftermath leave a lot to be desired. That said, few things can match the immediate rush of impulse-buying a fried chicken drumstick at the bakery.<\/p>\n 42. Banana cake<\/p>\n I love banana cake, but I rarely opt for it at the bakery. There\u2019s not even any really good reason for that. Usually the banana cake on offer is fluffy and moist, and has some delightful lemon or chocolate icing, wrapped as is custom in a thousand layers of glad wrap. The banana cake at the bakery is kind of like Rachel McAdams \u2013 should be a bigger star, but for some unknown, unfair reason, isn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n 41. Apple turnover<\/p>\n In all the bakeries I researched, few items sold as well as the apple turnover. I hadn\u2019t clocked that it was so popular among the people. Rare was the occasion when the turnover section wasn\u2019t completely bare by the time I reached it. It\u2019s interesting because I personally have always felt underwhelmed by the turnover \u2013 it\u2019s frequently assisted by ample helpings of whipped cream, but when the innards consist solely of stewed apple it feels entirely too close to the experience one could have with a McDonald\u2019s apple pie (and those, at least, are heated). I do like the aesthetic of the glaze on top, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n 40. Chocolate donut A stodgy piece of dough with a humble shell of chocolate atop. Nothing special, by design. Usually one of the cheapest offerings at the bakery, which made it my go-to in high school with a couple of gold coins jingling in my pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n 39. Kranskys and other sausages Few experiences are as strange as ordering a sausage at a bakery and walking out with it wrapped in a paper bag. There\u2019s no bread, this isn\u2019t a Bunnings fundraiser \u2013 it\u2019s just you, and the sausage. Nevertheless, the kransky adds the novelty of squirting liquid cheese, and, as with most hot food selections here, there\u2019s a certain, undeniably debasing pleasure in consuming it.\u00a0<\/p>\n 38. Chocolate lamington Not many items at the bakery feel as British as the lamington, and yet it constantly feels like it\u2019s in a state of identity crisis (perhaps apt, actually). Why is the chocolate wet? Is that intentional? The sponge inside is always a mixed bag, particularly if the chocolate has made the interior soggy. If there\u2019s cream involved, it\u2019s always too much. The desiccated coconut\u2026 you\u2019re good, I have no problem with you. All these drawbacks, and yet, it compels me.<\/p>\n 37. Chicken and mushroom pie<\/p>\n The superior chicken pie. Even a mushroom agnostic such as myself has to acknowledge that. Yes, even as early as here we are already acknowledging the astounding highs of your local Kiwi bakery. It\u2019s all up from this point.<\/p>\n 36. Chocolate lava cake<\/p>\n The chocolate lava cake is a saucy diva. Excess is the name of the game. I\u2019ve always respected the lava cake\u2019s commitment to absolute decadence, even if it causes nausea in the minutes following, and there\u2019s something about the visual moistness of the morsel that\u2019s undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n 35. Club sandwiches, various<\/p>\n Underrated? I think so. It\u2019s a sandwich that\u2019s also cute!<\/p>\n 34. Cookie caramel (or hedgehog) slice<\/p>\n If you\u2019re one of those perverts who likes raw cookie dough, this is the slice for you. I am one such pervert, and this slice holds more than meets the eye.<\/p>\n 33. Ham and cheese croissant<\/p>\n It\u2019s never going to be the best croissant you\u2019ll ever have, so I can hardly recommend opting for this if better, Frencher avenues are on the table elsewhere. However, as long as this one isn\u2019t counteracted by the presence of a ghoulish, pushy relish, there\u2019s the possibility of a savoury experience that isn\u2019t quite as burdensome as the heavier sandwiches or rolls.<\/p>\n 32. Sally lunn<\/p>\n Iconic Kiwi shit, this one. The fruit cake could do with taking a page out of the sally lunn\u2019s book. The presence of brioche, rather than cake, sounds like it shouldn\u2019t work and yet it does. The icing, ugh. Phenomenal. Never have I had a bad experience with sally lunn icing.\u00a0<\/p>\n 31. Curry roll<\/p>\n We\u2019re getting to the really top notch stuff now, and naturally we must salute this ingenious riff on the spring roll. A deep fried tube of paradise, it is one of the surest bets for a crispy, hearty good time in the fraught territory of the hot food section.<\/p>\n 30. Gingerbread man<\/p>\n It\u2019s never going to feel great, ordering a gingerbread man as an adult, but sometimes you just need to embrace your inner child and go nuts. The only bakery item that inspired a fairytale character, there\u2019s something almost punk rock about the strident, unapologetic nature of the gingerbread man. Am I reaching? Maybe, there\u2019s so many entries on this list.<\/p>\n 29. Ginger slice<\/p>\n A peculiar thing, the presence of ginger icing on a muesli base offers a slice experience a little more refined than its fellows, and perhaps a little less satisfying for the same reason. Nevertheless, this remains a decent choice \u2014 never too overbearing, stodgy or hyper-sweet. For fans of a subtler flavour profile.<\/p>\n 28. Anzac biscuit*<\/p>\n You must first set aside the minor sacrilege of eating an Anzac biscuit* when it is not Anzac Day, which always feels a little wrong. But the biscuit* itself is magic \u2013 the simplest of concoctions, the Anzac biscuit* doesn\u2019t rely on theatrics or showy flavours, just good, wholesome sustenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n 27. Raspberry lamington<\/p>\n The conservative social sphere of New Zealand could do with a bit more fruitiness in general, and if even our most colonial of treats can indulge, so surely can we. The superior lamington offering.<\/p>\n 26. Bacon or ham and egg sandwich There are better ways to have bacon and eggs at a bakery (see further down this list), but the presence of a nice egg really ties the whole experience together. Who hasn\u2019t been lured by the winking glance of a sunset-coloured yolk gazing out through, again, truly insane amounts of glad wrap?\u00a0<\/p>\n 25. Lemon meringue pie<\/p>\n Another essential offering from the humble lemon, this one with the additional, delightful presence of fluffy meringue. The only drawback here is stickiness. Ironically for such an elegant little morsel, I\u2019ve yet to see a gracefully eaten lemon meringue pie. Perhaps that\u2019s part of the appeal.<\/p>\n 24. Sugar donut<\/p>\n The simplest, cheapest item on this list, this is an item that is an ode to the power of baking in and of itself. There\u2019s little more to it than the labour of creating dough and cooking it. Eating one, you stop and marvel \u2013 look at this scientific miracle in your hands, one whose type has sustained the populace for thousands of years. Dusted in sugar and cinnamon, it\u2019s the bakery\u2019s simple charms distilled.<\/p>\n 23. Chocolate caramel slice<\/p>\n An extremely robust slice, one that is only slightly knocked down the rankings by the inherent glugginess of an indulgent layer of caramel. It is, inarguably, too much caramel.\u00a0 But while you\u2019re eating it, after you bite through that dense ceiling of chocolate, it\u2019s a lush experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n 22. Mince savoury<\/p>\n For one who seeks the joy of consuming a pie, but can\u2019t commit to the entire thing. A savoury is the same thing as a pie, for all intents and purposes, and yet somehow it just hits different. There\u2019s a real satisfaction in something so compact it nestles within the palm of your hand, a little morsel of goodness that prevents you from going overboard on a mightier option.<\/p>\n 21. Cheese scone<\/p>\n The superior scone. Liberal lashing of butter are essential, of course. If you can get it warmed up, even better.<\/p>\n 20. Carrot cake<\/p>\n It\u2019s the best cake, and your arguments for any other kind of cake are wrong. Whoever thought first to put the humble carrot, the most uncakelike of any vegetable, into a cake, should be granted sainthood. One of those picks where even a lacklustre one vaults over other options handily.\u00a0<\/p>\n 19. Egg sandwich<\/p>\n One of those things that shouldn\u2019t work, if you think about it. What do you mean you whipped up a slurry of mashed egg and mayo and chucked it on some bread? How many times, though, have I had one and found it to be a total delight? Countless. The overwhelming softness of the entire experience is unparalleled. There\u2019s no wrestling with an egg sandwich, it\u2019s just good eatin\u2019 all the way through.<\/p>\n 18. Potato top pie<\/p>\n A portable shepherd\u2019s pie. Cathedrals everywhere for those with eyes to see.<\/p>\n 17. Belgian slice<\/p>\n You\u2019d think there\u2019d be more Belgian biscuits on offer at bakeries, but not in the ones I sampled. Instead, there was the Belgian slice, which remained an exceptional baked experience, the gentle spices of the base mingling exquisitely with the spunky, sparkling raspberry icing. I could eat a metre of these and be ready for more.<\/p>\n 16. Frankfurter roll<\/p>\n A hot dog, but replace the bun with sesame seed-topped puff pastry. The ingenuity of the bakery knows no bounds. There is nothing in this option resembling even the faintest hint of nutrition, and your body will recognise that in the minutes and hours following. Those few bites of joy, though? Terrific.<\/p>\n 15. Bacon and egg muffin<\/p>\nA classic bakery inside
\n58. Meat skewers, various<\/p>\n
\nPizza bread of indeterminate quality<\/p>\n
\nSpinach and feta quiche in the sun<\/p>\n
\nA classic bad window photo<\/p>\n
\nThe kransky has a deeply threatening aura<\/p>\n
\nWe accidentally chose three consecutive items to photograph, sorry<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019ll tempt you<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n