{"id":420113,"date":"2026-05-09T23:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T23:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/420113\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T23:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T23:29:11","slug":"my-secret-auckland-laura-hill-shares-her-favourite-spots-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/420113\/","title":{"rendered":"My Secret Auckland: Laura Hill shares her favourite spots in the city"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Have to represent for my local out west: Burnt Butter. Even though they have more room now, they\u2019re still so popular there are queues out the door on the weekend. Honourable mention to the potato skins at Rosebank Kitchen. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Best restaurant for dinner with friends?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">To be honest, \u201cdinner with friends\u201d is usually takeout at home (shout out to the burger boys out west: Baby G and Lucky G \u2013 no relation) but if I\u2019m venturing into town, it\u2019s hard to go past Tanuki\u2019s Cave, a perennial fave. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">The place to take a visitor to?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">I was actually really impressed last time I wandered around the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter and I\u2019m excited to see what the new development (Te Ara Tukutuku) will look like. Farther inland, I have a real soft spot for Mt Eden for the views, followed by a visit to the village \u2013 some shopping at Time Out bookshop and a drink and a nibble at any of the great joints there. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Best spot to finish a night out?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">It\u2019s only just opened but I know it\u2019s going to become a fave: The Meeting Place by Tony\u2019s on Wellesley St \u2013 a brand-new lounge bar attached to a restaurant legend. Great for a pre- or post-show cocktail, or if there\u2019s a wait for a table next door. Love the Art Deco vibes and the details: Ice cubes with a bespoke stamp, skull heads on the cocktail sticks. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Best coffee?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">I don\u2019t drink coffee but even I know the best place is Miller\u2019s Coffee on Cross St. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Favourite fish-and-chip shop?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">The one near my house because it means I\u2019ll be home on the couch soon. They used to do fish, chips and a sausage for $7.50 \u2013 no more alas, but their serving of bami goreng will last you three meals easily.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Hiking trail?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">If it\u2019s not a rugged west coast beach, it\u2019s a western bush trail. Start at Arataki Visitor Centre, or do one of the dam walks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Venue for a gig?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">A theatre. Any theatre. From the Civic to the Basement, Tapac to Te Pou. Love the live experience. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Best spot for a bargain?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">Kmart. I\u2019m keeping it real, guys. For local gifts: Moana Fresh in Avondale, Crushes on K Rd, or The Green Dolphin on Pitt St for excellently curated second-hand books. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wrLLDwyWye\" style=\"display:none\">See Laura Hill in Tadpole Productions\u2019 The Queen\u2019s Nanny, on at The PumpHouse Theatre, Takapuna, from May 14-24. Tickets available at <a href=\"https:\/\/pumphouse.co.nz\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pumphouse.co.nz<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have to represent for my local out west: Burnt Butter. Even though they have more room now, they\u2019re&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6876,51,22398,2199,156,22397,1364,10938,31037,78,17211,4977,111,139,69,22399,9095,1963,180,10041,10809,1120,223,165,1961,208,686,12025],"class_list":["post-420113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-actress","tag-auckland","tag-aucklanders","tag-city","tag-entertainment","tag-favourite","tag-her","tag-herald","tag-hill","tag-in","tag-laura","tag-my","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-places","tag-secret","tag-series","tag-shares","tag-spots","tag-sunday","tag-takes","tag-the","tag-their","tag-this","tag-tour","tag-week","tag-wellknown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}