This Auckland Restaurant Has Been Listed As One of the Best In the World

You might be feeling a little trapped in New Zealand at the moment, but we’re lucky to have some of the most lusted after geography on the planet. If Trip Advisor is to be believed, we also have some of the best restaurants and cities to explore as well.

Trip Advisor recently dropped its list of Best Fine Dining Restaurants in the World 2021. Of the top 25, New Zealand slipped into the list twice! Both the restaurants featured were based in Auckland, so sorry South Island, you’ve got the landscapes but Auckland’s got the eats.

The Grove, Auckland

Trip Advisor listed The Grove as 15th on its list with quotes about it being “A real taste of both fine dining and top service” and “Exquisite”.

M2 had the great fortune of having an opportunity to hang out with the owner of The Grove recently and share a meal. If you want to read the full interview and review you can do that here.

In interview with their head chef, Ryan Moore, he had this to say:

“He says the style of food he’s brought to The Grove is very flavour-driven: “That means I like to use a lot of fat as well. But obviously the way the world is going with all the allergies and everything, that doesn’t suit everyone so we’re adapting to that.” Ryan also likes to use unusual – at least to most of us – ingredients for his dishes on The Grove’s degustation menu because he believes it helps people get out of their comfort zone to try something new; “Degustation is great if you haven’t had access to many different foods growing up or you’re a bit scared to cook things at home that you’ve never tried before. On the menu now we’ve got all these random things, like duck hearts and pig’s heads. So it’s a good way to come in and get used to these things.” Not that Ryan himself has always been so open-minded about food, “as a kid I was really fussy until I started going to all these Michelin Star restaurants back home in England. My love for food grew from there.” This all-consuming love for cooking has seen him try all sorts of different combinations of ingredients; like red pepper, basil, watermelon and Szechuan pepper which I did try myself – and was quite possibly the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.“