Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is a city brimming with over 7000 food outlets this is a city of eaters
in this video we're hunting down some of the best spots for hidden eats the food gems which are in
the most unlikely of suburbs and places that are tucked away and waiting to be discovered
we take you behind the scenes of a tiny window where an ex-fine dining
chef is serving the city's best roast pork belly sandwiches we share traditional
mexican street food from a taqueria nestled within an industrial area and discover a
small restaurant at the back of a car park creating delicious dim sum for cantonese brunch
these are auckland's tastiest hidden eats hit subscribe and get ready for some mouth-watering
food i'm Thomas and i'm Sheena and we're Chasing a Plate we hope you're hungry let's eat
there's something a bit special about finding hidden places be it hidden food
a little hidden bar or hidden museum and no matter where you are in the world i think that feeling of
discovery is really neat but it's no different here in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland we love finding
hidden gems here in auckland so right now we're in an industrial estate so we're on the end of a
little peninsula surrounded by industrial buildings there's even a dump just down
behind me at the end of the street but amongst all these buildings is a little traditional
mexican place and i think it's so neat that it's tucked right amongst this industrial estate
so today's video is all about hidden gems here in auckland but we're starting with some
mexican and it's in this awesome little brightly colored building here so let's get eating
so this taqueria also doubles as a cafe to cater to the clientele that work around here but we are
strictly here for the mexican food i can see all sorts of things on the meny so there's sopes quesadillas
tacos we spent a lot of time in mexico and we have missed the food so much since
being back in new zealand so today's the day we're going to eat our fill
the kitchen is quite open so we've got a great view of the food getting cooked up
we've ordered tacos and sopes so antojitos which are known as little cravings or snacks
i'm clutching a jamaica as well so this is a classic drink in mexico it's hibiscus water and oh
Eliseo is the owner and chef here and he has got our goods so sopes and tacos can't wait to get in
i've wanted to come to this taqueria Cielito Lindo for so long it's been around for about 10 years
and it's tucked away hidden away in this unlikely location in this industrial estate it's awesome
so we have ordered up a feast we've got some sopes so sopes are you can see quite a thick masa base
which is fried and then it's topped with a heap of toppings so we've got chicken and we've got mince
there's lettuce on top and then crema which is like a thin mexican sour cream got some guacamole
on the side and then we ordered three types of tacos so we've got nopales which is cactus cachete
which is beef cheek and also a slow braised lamb topped with coriander or cilantro and raw onion
and then we've got two salsas one super spicy and one a little bit mild and then the jamaica or the
hibiscus water to wash it all down i'm going to go for a sope i'm going to go for the
picadillo one which is mince so i can see onions and also carrot cooked in there and i'm going
to add a ton of spicy salsa alright it is loaded up so you've got that that disc of masa which has
been fried it's quite thick in order to hold all of those toppings on the top so piled high with
mince um the crema or the sour cream i've added guacamole the salsa there's some lettuce in there
holy moly that's good it's very easy to eat the sofa is soft it's got a beautiful
texture but it still stands up to all of those toppings on the top the mince is
beautiful and juicy it's got lots of flavor there's salsa packs the perfect punch it is
delicious i'm going to try some of this jamaica or hibiscus water
that takes me back to mexico that's what i love about food you eat something and you're
transported to that place so jamaica is the most thirst quenching drink when it's hot in mexico
you're walking the streets you stop for a jamaica oh it's lovely and sweet and it's got quite a
floral taste wow this is good look i've got these tacos look so i'll get some lime all over there to
start us off so drench it in lime i'm gonna eat the nopales taco so this one is a great example
of how traditional this place is so it's hard to find things like this outside of mexico so it's a
it's a cactus taco but it's a paddle cactus so it's not your traditional sort of cartoon style
cactus with all the spikes on it it's a flat leaf which then gets cut into these little strips i'm
going to get some salsa all over there double tortilla as you should know as you always get in
mexico and now head down to the taco to keep all that juice in there this is the the tacos style
the mexican style of eating tacos you you take your head to the taco
oh that's so good
great flavor in the tortilla and the nopales just
it's a smoky flavor i love that about nopales they're sort of they're a little bit soft so they're
kind of like overcooked green beans in their texture but they
they burst with a freshness and a sort of a natural flavor and a smokiness and that salsa i've got on there's very punchy
not too spicy and chilly but punchy in flavor
oh this is a cool place
super hidden in this little industrial state and really good traditional mexican food
everything was incredible that place is an absolute winner such a hidden treasure
now as we've said this video is all about hidden food but as always with our videos
it's all about the best food so we're not just showing food because it's hidden
we're showing food that's incredibly good but just happens to be hidden this next one is sort
of hidden in plain sight i'd say so actually just behind me there is one of the sort of go-to strips
of food in auckland so everyone knows about it it's about 30 meters from where i'm standing
but just here tucked around the back of a sort of some shutdown shops hidden in
a car park beside a liquor store and a bedding agents there's the dim sum and dumpling house
and it's just it's very tucked away very good food though so let's go check it out
so this spot is famous for its dim sum dim sum are little um snacks savoury and sweet that
you eat as part of yum cha or cantonese brunch so this place is famous for their dim sum we've
ordered four different types and the owner um was just telling us that they make them fresh here
each morning can't wait
dim sum have arrived so dim sum is essentially a collective term for the
bao or the buns the dumplings the pastries that you eat at cantonese brunch
and we've ordered four classic traditional dim sum
this place has maybe about 11 or so types of dumplings and buns on the menu so very small range but all classic
like the true really traditional dim sum that you find at yum cha
so at the front here
we've got a pork shui mai pork mince and then it's got a dumpling wrapper wrapped around the outside
we've got har gow which are prawn dumplings
we've got prawn and coriander dumplings and we've also got one of my favorites which is Teocheow fun gor
and this is a peanut and pork dumpling
and the first thing i noticed when the lady or the owner brought over the dim sum
was that they look really homemade so in a beautiful way they're they're really dainty
all of the folds and the dumpling skins are perfect they look fantastic i've got this har gow
to start me off so a prawn dumpling it might have bamboo shoots inside
and it's got this translucent dumpling wrapper on the outside one bite
holy moly that's good it was the perfect har gow the prawn is really
bouncy it's got a ton of flavour and the the dumpling wrapper is really soft and
and sticky but still has great chewy texture that is fantastic
i'm gonna get a little bit of this
chili sauce or chili oil just pop it in my bowl and then i'm going to go for the Teochew fun gor
my favorite so pork and peanut and again it's so beautifully wrapped
oh that's yum so spring onion pork mince i think maybe a little bit of um bamboo
shoot in there and then peanuts oh this is a great spot
whoa these are good oh
we eat a lot of dim sum we go to yum cha a lot
and these are very very good and we have never heard anyone talk about this place
so that sort of adds to our idea that this is a hidden place so
hidden in plain sight like i said it's it's not like it's an undercover doorway it doesn't have a sign it's got all of those things
but it's just in an area where you don't go on foot you don't see it from a car because it's tucked in a car park it's not on a street
a great hidden gem so that's two absolute winners so far i'm loving this hidden food tour today
auckland is a super multi-cultural city and so the food scene is really diverse as well so
today we've had mexican food we've had cantonese brunch and now we're heading for a delicious pork
sandwich so we've come to the central suburb of newmarket and this cluster of shops where
we are is made up of a lot of high-end fashion boutiques jewellers hairdressers and restaurants
but buried deep within this cluster of shops is this tiny little window
selling pork sandwiches and you have got to get a load of these follow me
this is the hungry swine essentially what it is is just this tiny little window and it's so
easy to miss so you walk you're basically walking through this alleyway there's hairdressers there's
jewelry shops there's other restaurants and then there's this tiny little space
serving these epic slow roasted pork sandwiches so they've got a very succinct menu it all sounds
delicious but i have honed in on the kiwi so mayo tasty cheese salt and vinegar chips
gravy rocket and in a slow roast pork belly so let's get in an order okay hi dean so this is
dean the owner operator of the hungry swine um the kiwi please that sounds so good
dean let us into his kitchen and like holy moly this piece of slow roasted pork belly is picture
postcard perfect it's been slow roasted for three hours actually just in here
and it's the perfect piece fat meat fat meat and then crackle which just looks
sensational and now the blow torch is coming out
epic and then it's cheese on top there
wow
oh my god looks epic thank you so much
awesome here we go thanks dean cheers
get a load of this sandwich
i love the makeup of this thing so you can have it with either pork belly or bacon
we've gone for the pork belly that's the original for the hungry swine this place started as a food truck
they started with the pork belly and then they added the bacon so you've got the two options though
so now they've gone from being food truck well they still have the food truck
but now they have this great little super hidden window and they're churning out sandwiches like this
so we had to go for the kiwi so salt and vinegar chips that crazy juicy looking piece of pork belly
which has been all blow torched up so it's bubbly as on the skin
got some cheese mayo some rocket whoa
but this comes with a tub of gravy and so dean was saying you can pour the gravy in
or you can dunk he's an advocate for dunking
and i'm going to follow that lead because that sounds like a great idea so
whole sandwich in that pottle
that is a flavor sensation oh i love it
the crackle
i love it with pork belly because you get that
meatiness you get the burst of fat you get the crunch
of the skin and then this has those added things like the salt and vinegar chips
add so much to this tanginess you get from those and the gravy oh wow the gravy soaked through
the bread oh man this is a winner what a sandwich dean the owner was saying he came from fine dining
and so he's brought a lot of those skills to sandwiches and it shows it really shows and
the quality of that pork belly that is roasting here on site and the makeup of ingredients far
out there is good and how cool is that window that tiny little window in this little laneway this is
a another hidden gem of auckland food and so much great food in auckland and these hidden options
are just fantastic it's been a joy to film today so we hope you enjoyed the video hit subscribe
hit that bell icon drop us a comment if you enjoyed it far out this is not going to last long