Taste of Auckland 2016 – An Event filled with Good Food, Great Wine and Awesome Crowd

Weather was not good this year unlike last year the whole 4 days of Taste of Auckland was all sunny, this year it was intermittent where it rained on some days while sunny on others. This restricted our visit as we were planning on a different day but ended up visiting the event on the last day, anyways like Broadways says “The show must go on”.

It was a sunny Sunday but it drizzled the day before it leaving a semi-soft lawn (few parts were muddy) but that did not stop us and many patrons to enjoy the day. There were lots of people on that day and it was quite hard to find some parking so I you will be visiting this next year try to use public transport (like what I did last year) or even park in a nearby place and hail some Uber to avoid frustration. The Sunday schedule was only for 12:00 to 5:00 PM and there was no schedule for the evening which was perfect since it was still breezy at night here in Auckland even if it is summer.

I sort of know what to expect since this was my second year to attend so I came prepared, with a hungry tummy. Tasting from roughly 100 fine food producers, wine makers, distilleries and brewers can be really filling then add to that the amazing food you can buy from restaurants like Depot, Artwok, Paris Butter, Ima Cuisine, Tok tok, and The Culpeper, to name some. I did not wasted time so the moment me and my daughter got out guest tickets we went straight to trying the amazing produce that were on exhibit. I will not be mentioning all of them but the ones that stood out for me were the burger patties from the Angel Bay, grilled pork from Fresh Pork NZ, grilled meats from Silver Fern Farm, dairy products of Puhoi Valley breads from Vogel’s, barbecues from Weber, and sausages from L’Authentique.

We also grabbed some paid for food and our restaurant of choice this time was Artwok where we tried some Rou Jia Mo / Braised Pork Belly (10 crowns) basically Knife shredded 3 hours slow braised pork belly presented in handmade pita bread with coriander and we also grabbed some Shui Jiao / Dumplings (12 crowns) which is boiled dumplings with pork prawn, spring onion and ginger then Served with black vinegar. The dumplings were great and the black vinegar complements it real well, as for the Rou Jia Mo I was expecting a different flavour as I got used to this dish with hints of sweetness, I was quite disappointed on the first bite because of a different expectation but after forgetting that it was not my style I started to enjoy it. It was quite savoury and delicious, I liked how the pita was toasted, very crispy outer skin and soft insides.

For dessert we grabbed some Kapiti ice creams, one sorbet and another one as scoops, I guess I don’t have to tell you how good this is but one thing to tell you that I like and trust this brand so I know I can expect good quality creamy ice creams from them.

The place was not just for food there were live music, cooking demonstrations as well as product demos. We even joined the cupcake decoration contest where everyone is given a plain cup cake and you can choose from their stand any topping you want. It was a good day and my daughter who experienced it for the first time had fun as well, she we so full during the first hour.

For more coverage on this event, my daughter covered it on her You Tube account so if the photos are not enough you can watch them below.

We will definitely go back here again next year, it’s a good place to get introduced with a lot of amazing products like food and equipment. Definitely will be buying some of the products I tried and like on a regular basis. If you are a foodie who lives in Auckland and haven’t been here, you are missing a lot but don’t worry this is a yearly event and just make sure don’t miss the next years one.