Auckland's top picks lean European pastry and ice cream before anything Kiwi, with Maison des Lys, Tart Bakery, and Duck Island Ice Cream stacking three sweet operations into the five essentials. Forest and East Restaurant carry the savory side, and the depth shows up in the 10-deep Indian and Thai lineups, with dosa, ramen, and bao all tied at 5 venues across the signature list.
Ranked by overall rating, signature dish strength, and how much reviewers praise the food. If you only have a weekend, start here.
Try the biscoff croissant and cinnamon buns
Must go · #5 Consider the "Trust the Chef" set menu for a sample of many dishes
Must go · #6 Try the almond croissant cookie with its creamy filling
Must go · #7 
Must go · #9 
Must go · #10 Expect generous portion sizes providing great value
Must go · #11 Try the Dirty Boy Burger and Cauli Wings for standout flavors
Must go · #13 Enjoy the wide variety of mock meat dishes, such as spicy chicken and duck stir fry
Must go · #14 Try the southern fried cauliflower wings and ranch sauce
Must go · #15 Try the vegetarian dosas, especially for their crisp texture and flavorful filling
Dishes ranked by how well this city's plant-based venues make them, compared to the other 157 cities we track.
5 places worth stopping for dosa
Avoid kati rolls due to presence of mayonnaise with egg
Try the vegetarian dosas, especially for their crisp texture and flavorful filling
Try the Thali for a flavorful and diverse vegan meal
Try the dosa with tamarind sauce as a vegan substitute
5 places worth stopping for ramen
Try the veganized tantan ramen
Request the dedicated vegan menu for more options
Get there early as only a dozen vegan ramen bowls are made daily
Try the vegan tonkotsu ramen
5 places worth stopping for bao
Try the vegan lychee pork and lemon vegan chicken burrito
Try the vegan jackfruit rendang bao
Consider the "Trust the Chef" set menu for a sample of many dishes
Vegan dumplings are a great quick snack before flights
spinach · Vegan Food Guide All 380 Auckland venues on the map. Filter by what's open, save what you'd return for, get walking directions in two taps.
Completely plant-based kitchens. No swaps, no asking, no surprises.
Try the savory pies like chicken and leek or mushroom
Try the biscoff croissant and cinnamon buns
Enjoy the wide variety of mock meat dishes, such as spicy chicken and duck stir fry
Try the Dirty Boy Burger and Cauli Wings for standout flavors
Mainstream restaurants where the vegan side of the menu is treated seriously.
Try the jackfruit rendang and vegan sambal dishes
Try the creamy vegan ice cream flavors like Coconut Caramel Sesame and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
Try the almond croissant cookie with its creamy filling
Try the vegan platter to sample many dishes
Open before 10, good coffee, the kind of place you walk back to on day two.
Try the biscoff croissant and cinnamon buns
Try the kimchi pancakes
Try the savory pies like chicken and leek or mushroom
Try the vegan scramble tofu and pancakes
Weekday fuel and weekend stretches.
Try the Thali for a flavorful and diverse vegan meal
Try the savory pies like chicken and leek or mushroom
Enjoy the wide variety of mock meat dishes, such as spicy chicken and duck stir fry
Try the tofu stir fry and Vietnamese summer rolls
The reason you planned the trip.
Try the jackfruit rendang and vegan sambal dishes
Try the banquets and sharing platters for variety and value
Try the tofu stir fry and Vietnamese summer rolls
Try the vegan lychee pork and lemon vegan chicken burrito
Ice cream, pastry, and the honest dessert case.
Try the creamy vegan ice cream flavors like Coconut Caramel Sesame and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
Try the almond croissant cookie with its creamy filling
Try the croissants, especially praline and nutella varieties
Try the hazelnut and matcha coconut vegan gelato flavors
Busy rooms with tables big enough for eight.
Menus kids recognize, staff who don't flinch at strollers.
Try the creamy vegan ice cream flavors like Coconut Caramel Sesame and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
Try the almond croissant cookie with its creamy filling
Enjoy the wide variety of mock meat dishes, such as spicy chicken and duck stir fry
Try the hazelnut and matcha coconut vegan gelato flavors
Cities where the dosa signature also earns a spot in the top essentials — pack a weekend around one.
Yes — Auckland has 380 vegan-ready venues. The top-ranked are Duck Island Ice Cream, Maison des Lys Pâtisserie (Grey Lynn), Forest. Spinach ranks them daily on overall rating, signature dish strength, and reviewer praise for the food.
Auckland scores 60.7/100 on the Spinach vegan city index. The city has 53 vegan-friendly venues and 80 high-quality restaurants out of 380 analyzed.
Auckland has 29 fully vegan restaurants and 31 vegetarian restaurants. 53 venues score B or higher on the Vegan Friendliness grade.
Auckland's top signature dishes for vegans are dosa, ramen, bao, and the city also does ice cream and cake well. Signature dishes are ranked by how the city's venues score against the other 157 cities we track.
The vegan scene in Auckland leans Indian, Thai, Mediterranean. Indian is particularly strong, with 10 venues serving quality plant-based options.
Duck Island Ice Cream is ranked #1 in Auckland by the Spinach Essentials algorithm, which weights rating, signature dish performance, and reviewer praise. See all 15 Essentials for the full ranking.
Spinach ranks vegan venues using the same algorithm the mobile app runs: a composite of Google Maps rating, the Spinach Rating (Wilson-confidence scored), dish-quality Wilson scores from extracted review signals, and city-specific signature dish strength. Essentials add a tier weighting; category lists add their own mood/occasion weights. No pay-to-play.
The ranking refreshes daily from Supabase. The last refresh is stamped at the top of this page. Venue data comes from Google Maps, HappyCow, and Spinach's own review-analysis pipeline.
