Hospitality stalwart Geeling Ching\u2019s favourite downtown Auckland bites include wonton soup inside a mall and freshly shucked oysters in the ferry building.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have lived in the central city for over 20 years. I\u2019ve seen places come and go, the influence of our growing Asian population, explored the city\u2019s venues both big and small, embraced the diversity we now offer,\u201d says model, actress, hospitality maven and T\u0101maki Makaurau icon Geeling Ching.<\/p>\n
After decades working front-of-house at some of the city\u2019s most legendary \u2013 and occasionally notorious establishments \u2013 including Cin Cin and Ramses, Ching has returned to Soul Bar & Bistro as general manager. Ching was involved with the waterfront institution at its opening in 2001, spending 12 years helping to shape the restaurant before eventually departing. Now, she\u2019s back. \u201cI have come full circle and am back in my hospo home,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Of her affection for her downtown Auckland stomping grounds, Ching says, \u201cI love how cosmopolitan we have become. I love that we have such a great range of offerings to suit every taste and pocket, every lifestyle and every time of day (well, almost).\u201d<\/p>\n
Three words that sum up the food in downtown Auckland: That\u2019s too hard!<\/p>\n
Everyone has a dining out pet peeve. Mine is: Poor service, rudeness, lack of training.<\/p>\n
The local dish I crave most: The kingfish tartare, mango, jalape\u00f1o, avocado and lime corn cracker at Somm on Princes Wharf. I loved the kokoda here and when they took it off the menu I nearly cried \u2013 but this replacement is equally addictive.<\/p>\n
The best restaurant in downtown Auckland is: Soul, of course!<\/p>\n
Why I love Soul: It is warm, reliable and welcoming \u2013 the kind of place people always feel good coming back to. We\u2019re also incredibly lucky to have executive chef Gavin Doyle, who really gets to unleash his creativity here. The menu has that perfect mix of Soul favourites that people crave and fresh new dishes that make dining here feel exciting every time you visit.<\/p>\n
My go-to order is: It was the delicious fig toast with ricotta and cherry mostarda (the perfect bite) but sadly figs are out of season now; so maybe the pappardelle with beef short rib ragu \u2013 the ultimate comfort food. Or the green goddess \u2013 tastes delicious and it\u2019s good for you! And there\u2019s always the perla potatoes with miso beurre blanc \u2013 super more-ish.<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m craving something cheap and cheerful I head to: The White Lady. Either for a ham and cheese toastie or if I\u2019m really hungry a classic cheeseburger. Always reliable. The Lady has been around for so long for a good reason. And it\u2019s always a great place to people-watch.<\/p>\n
The most underrated local gem is: Ekiben \u2013 the takeaway sushi store located in the Waitemat\u0101 train station. Opened by a team of Korean chefs (who worked at Soul previously), the sushi is super fresh and delicious. They also have ekiben (little meals on rice), noodles, snacks. Try the \u201cscoop pies\u201d \u2013 perfectly sized desserts for a sweet treat. They do catering and helpfully, they\u2019re open till 7pm if I need to grab a quick dinner.<\/p>\n
A place I\u2019ve been dying to try is: Sumi at City Works Depot. I love Japanese food and I love that we are seeing more \u201cstreet-food\u201d style venues rather than fine dining-esque establishments.<\/p>\n
Also Trivet in the JW Marriot. Wallace Mua is an ex-Soul chef. He\u2019s creative, kind, a truly lovely human being. And he met his wife at Soul so it\u2019s a gorgeous love story. They are beautiful people in every way.<\/p>\n
For a late-night food fix you\u2019ll find me at: The White Lady.<\/p>\n
Downton Auckland\u2019s best\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sandwich: The b\u00e1nh m\u00ec at Nam Nam in Commercial Bay. Roast pork is my go-to; they have the balance of ingredients down perfectly<\/p>\n
Bowl of soup: Eden Noodles\u2019 wontons in chicken soup \u2013 a childhood favourite.<\/p>\n
Baked treat: I LOVE pies, so Roti Bros in Commercial Bay would have to be a favourite. A pie in roti pastry? Genius!<\/p>\n
What defines a great pie? A pie is a very simple concept so every part must be great \u2013 the pastry (or in this case the roti), the filling (all delicious); truly a sum of only two parts that need to be perfect.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re after spice, make a beeline for: Cafe Hanoi. Vietnamese food tends toward a softer kind of spice \u2013 but still so delicious.<\/p>\n
A little local treat that always cheers me up: A dozen freshly shucked oysters with a glass of bubbles at Shucker Brothers in the ferry building, while waiting for the ferry.<\/p>\n
My favourite grocery shop: Japan Mart \u2013 so many interesting things! I always end up buying more than I had planned.<\/p>\n
For the best produce, I stop in at: The Fish Market in Wynyard Quarter. Everything seafood-y in one place, from fresh to smoked to frozen, whole or fillets, shellfish and crustaceans, tins of great sardines, even lemons!<\/p>\n
Clockwise from top left: Roti Bros, Grand Harbour, The White Lady, Cafe Hanoi and Ekiben<\/p>\n
For outstanding people watching, go to: The White Lady after midnight on a Friday or Saturday night. Or, the front terrace at Soul any time.<\/p>\n
The place I\u2019m most likely to bump into someone I know: Ditto the above.<\/p>\n
The place I go to avoid bumping into anyone I know: Ah if I told you that then it wouldn\u2019t be a secret would it? But I\u2019m quite fond of hotel lobby bars\u2026.<\/p>\n
The place I return to again and again: Grand Harbour does the best yum cha in the city. A favourite with family and friends. It\u2019s a must when people say they have never been to yum cha \u2013 they are blown away by the experience.<\/p>\n
A restaurant I would love to relocate to downtown Auckland: Andiamo. Good Italian is hard to find downtown.<\/p>\n
Why I love eating in downtown Auckland: It\u2019s a foodie\u2019s paradise; you can always find something good whether you\u2019re looking to splurge, celebrate, eat cheap and cheerful, or grab something on the run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hospitality stalwart Geeling Ching\u2019s favourite downtown Auckland bites include wonton soup inside a mall and freshly shucked oysters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[225053,156,564,193225,141,111,139,69,42916],"class_list":["post-440807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-downtown-auckland","tag-entertainment","tag-food","tag-insiders-guide-to-eating","tag-kai","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-viaduct"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440807","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=440807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}