Where to find the best places to eat in Sandringham, from congee breakfasts, to midnight chaat, to tamarind-laced fried chicken, according to local winemaker Holly Girven Russell.

Greeting visitors with wafts of cumin, chilli, chai and all manner of scrumptious frying things, no suburb in Tāmaki Makaurau smells better than Sandringham. 

The delicious smells are only the beginning for winemaker Holly Girven Russell. She bought a tiny 70s townhouse in the suburb with her partner Max four years ago. “We were so excited to land in this suburb as we’d long been fans of the Spice Supermarket and the halal butcheries,” she says. Her great-grandparents had lived here too; her great-grandfather delivered newspapers, and her mother spent a few years with them while at high school. “Though that was all before the late-90’s/early naughties South Asian influx that has come to define the suburb, so I’m not sure the eating was quite as good back then.”

Girven Russell is one third of Three Fates, a winemaking project that began in 2020 alongside Hester Nesbitt and Casey Motley. The trio are now onto their fifth vintage, with the 2025 wines (including an exciting sauvignon blanc collaboration with trailblazing winemaker Jenny Dobson) available on their website and select outlets – including Puffin in Wellington and By the Bottle in Auckland. 

“I walk my dog (greyhound – get one!) through the Sandringham streets every day so we’re pretty up to date with what’s opening and who’s serving what,” says Girven Russell.  “It’s an ever-changing and increasingly delicious neighbourhood and while I don’t think you can take a wrong turn, I’ve got my favourites.” Read on to learn what those favourites are.

Three words (other than vibrant) that sum up the food in Sandringham: Aromatic, addictive, from-the-heart.

My most controversial food opinion about Sandringham: Please don’t send me hate mail; I know they’re totally beloved and iconic, but I don’t like Blue Rose pies. I’m a traditionalist with pies, I want a flakey top and a short crust bottom. I want a minimalist filling with loads of gravy and few add-ins. I want to eat it with my hands from a bag (ideally in a car, I’m gross and drive cross-country a lot). I do however LOVE the sweet treats at Blue Rose, very subtle twists on the classics and huge portions… Max and I will often gift each other a Blue Rose caramel slice as a sweet treat. 

Everyone has a dining out pet peeve. Mine is: Not knowing how much things cost and whether the sparkling water is free or not. I’m perpetually living week-to-week (tell me why I thought a mortgage was a good idea) so will order what I can afford and not a bite more. This is not an issue in Sandringham.

The local dish I crave most: Samosa Chaat from Shubh. I eat this for lunch almost every week – it’s my favourite rendition in the city and I’ve tried a fair few. It’s a textural wonder: crunchy samosa pastry, soft spiced potatoes, silky chickpea curry, cooling yoghurt, zesty green chutney, sweet tamarind, crispy sev. Every bite is heaven. And it’s $8.

The best restaurant in Sandringham is: I finally dined-in at Zood recently and it blew me away. I originally discovered the place when dog-walking past on their opening day and the smell coming out of there was unreal. I was there for takeout the next day and spent the following month working through their whole menu. The takeout is good, but dining in was a special experience. It’s a small and cozy dining room where you’re packed in tight but have all the space you need to slurp (zood) down a bowl of the most fresh and fragrant noodles in the city.

Why I love Zood: Balance – there’s not an ingredient amiss, each dish is perfectly composed with aromatics, depth, texture all in harmony. I’ve visited Thailand twice and had life-changing noodles in markets and train stations. This is of that ilk but sans any chaos – you sort of have to pause in awe while eating the food here, it’s that good.

My go-to order is: On a recent rainy day huddled into the steamy dining room Max and I shared the tamarind fried chicken, prawn wonton noodles, and the khao soi which was an exceptional wintery lunch. Only wish we’d added the prawn wontons which are ridiculously good – giant prawns, stuffed with pork mince, wrapped in a thin wonton, served with a chilli soy dip and a few crispy pork crackles.

When I’m craving something cheap and cheerful I head to: Chutneys South Indian Delights (Foodtruck) for a masala dosa. Love grabbing one before a movie when I tend to be in a hurry. 

Or, even cheaper, and usually when I’m crashing out at 3pm after driving round the city all day picking things up and dropping things off (winemaker stuff) I’ll pull up to Mithaiwala on Mt Albert Rd and run in for a couple of samosa with a wee bag of tamarind sauce.

The most underrated local gem is: Eggs and More. Why aren’t we all talking about this place?! It’s an Indo-Nepalese street food restaurant with a purely vegetarian menu, and a great mix of snacks and bigger dishes. I love that they lean into the name and have an egg section on the menu. Never disappointed, often surprised.

A place I’ve been dying to try is: There’s a sign above Chicking that advertises Flavours Five, which I believe is an Indo-Mexican restaurant inside Chicking. I take a photo of the sign every time I notice it, but haven’t remembered to pop in and figure it out yet. Must know more.

Celebrating with a group? Book a table at: Tianze Dumpling House which is a Northern Chinese joint. The eponymous dumplings are really only the tip of the iceberg – it’s the pork-stuffed eggplant (zha qie he), double cooked pork slices (guo bao rou), and the potato/eggplant/capsicum in soy sauce (di san xian) that I really crave. It’s BYO but they also do big bottles of Tsingtao which is necessary if you’re planning to down a dozen dumplings. If you’re with a group, you’ll get a big table with a lazy Susan – a recipe for a good time.

Pub or bar of choice: Lord Kitchener. Quiz night is Tuesday and they serve Decibel Wines by the glass. Order the albariño and thank me later. An excellent local pub with a fun selection of snacks to wash down with beers (big pints) I don’t follow sports, but they seem to play a lot of it.

The BYO I keep going back to: I recently tried to go to my old favourite, Satya, and they sat us in the cave-like back room at the Chai Lounge out the back, gave us the OG Satya menu, and let us BYO. A really good time was had.

For a late-night food fix you’ll find me at: The food trucks on Calgary St! They’re open late, late, late – and post-midnight is the perfect opportunity to try something new. Or hitting up Smartdeal Bazaar for snacks – they’re open until midnight which is very useful when the local duopoly shuts at 8pm. 

Got visitors from out of town? I’m taking them to: When I have guests from out of town  we’ll do a “Sandringham Snack Crawl”. It goes a little like this:

• Satya Chai Lounge for a tall can of Garage Project and a chicken 65/paneer 555. We won’t get another alcoholic drink until the end of our crawl, so this gets the palate primed and the appetite whet. Don’t be tempted to order too much food – though it deserves a visit of its own, that’s not what we’re doing tonight folks.
• Cross the road to Eggs and More and order a pani puri combo where you’ll get 4 each of dahi puri, sev puri, and pani puri. If that’s not enough puri (valid) grab a jumbo pani puri order too where you’ll get a mountain of shells, a bowl of spiced potato, and two big bottles of spicy and sweet water to DIY away with.
• Now head around the corner onto Calgary St for the food trucks. I recommend jumping into line at the Hot & Tasty stand to order chicken or vege joul momos first as they take a while to prepare.
• While you’re waiting for the momo call, go to the Chutneys South Indian Delights stand and order a masala dosa (and maybe a few vada while you’re at it). Set yourself up a table or leaner or space of pavement to enjoy.
• Optional: stop in at Lord Kitchener for a beer or glass of Decibel to wash everything down. 
• If it’s hot and you need something icy, I love heading to the freezer at Smartdeal Bazaar or Spice Supermarket and grabbing an imported kulfi to eat on the walk home. If it’s colder, you need chai. You’ll find various stalls in the area serving it and I’m rather partial to the caravan parked on Calgary Rd across from Chutneys, but if you want a little nibble on a nutty or citrussy biscuit while you sip, then you need to head to the always-busy Paradise Bakery.

An ideal date spot would be: A blockbuster at St Lukes and then head to RRK’s Madras Cafe for whatever takes your fancy from the sprawling menu while you debrief on the flick. The food here is awesome and while I’ve barely scratched the surface, I’m partial to the crispy chicken, vada, dosa, thali, idli, and have seen others ordering curries that look and smell unreal. The vibes are very low-key and it’s generally bustling. Hot tip: they do a mean lunch deal.

Sandringham’s best… 

Breakfast: This may be pushing the Sandringham boundary a little, but Grays Wine Bar is my favourite coffee spot in town – they love my dog, I love their coffee, cheese rolls, and almost-retro food menu that reminds me of accompanying my mum to Hawke’s Bay cafés in the 90s. Before all my friends moved abroad, we’d meet here every weekend and became friendly with the lovely Grayson who owns the place. I’m so excited that they’ll finally be getting their alcohol licence soon and will become my local wine bar.

Sandwich: Bread pakora from the warmer at Shubh. Bread stuffed with spiced potato, drenched in a chickpea batter and fried. Best paired with a pack of the cornflake chivda.

Comfort meal: Taiwanese-style congee and “stick bread” from Silver Lake Deep Fried Bread. The ultimate hangover meal. They often have quite a long wait for food, so I tend to order delivery. One shameful day I ordered it when I woke up feeling like trash (read: hungover), immediately fell back to sleep, and found it on my doorstep a few hours later. 

Fish and chips: OK, so there are two answers to this. If I want you to respect me, I say The Fish and Chip Shop where you can get a very decent fried snapper and chips that will satisfy most F&C snobs. But if I’m being real with you, I’m into Glitter Takeaways that does fried foods and that typical Kiwi-Chinese food that regional fish and chip shops serve. It reminds me of the local fish and chip shop in Bay View (Hawke’s Bay) in the 90s where you could get chips, fish, squid rings, fried wontons, sweet and sour pork, and fried rice to eat all together.

And the best place to unwrap and eat them is: At home! IDK if either of these are worth travelling for. If you must, Gribblehirst Park is just down the road and a great place to chill.

Bread: My absolute favourite bread in Sandringham is available next to the counter at the Spice Supermarket: a flavoured roti. It’s in an unmarked clear packet with four roti per pack and is tinted orange with green flecks. If they’re sold out, I cross the road to Shubh who always have a fantastic selection of roti – flavoured, stuffed, plain. 

Baked treat: La Voie Française is my classic Sunday morning dog walk; we weave through the Sandringham back streets and pop out on one of my favourite strips of Dominion Rd (Lai Fu, La Voie Francaise and Serandib!!), grab a few perfect plain croissants and maybe a baguette if I remembered a tote bag, and head home to eat them in bed with coffee. Heaven.

The dairy with the best lolly selection: I’m not really a lolly gal, but I want to shout out the Rose Cottage Superette for being the sweetest local shop. Chippy selection is up to scratch and they now have payWave.

A little local treat that always cheers me up: Anything from the snack warmers at St Anthony’s Food. I spent a month in Sri Lanka in 2019 and adored the snacks sold by vendors on trains and buses – the selection at St Anthony’s takes me right back. Their ulundu-style wade are my favourite – a savoury soft and crisp lentil flour doughnut with just the right hit of heat.

My favourite grocery shop: Sandringham has a great selection of specialty grocers and for no reason other than it was the first one I entered, Spice Supermarket is my go-to. The fridge is always stuffed with fresh herbs, homemade chilli blends, and giant hunks of paneer. The back wall is loaded with all the dried pulses and legumes you’ll need. There’s a great selection of spices. An entire aisle dedicated to snacks. On the far left wall you’ll find freezers full of heat-n-eat deliciousness and a pretty good kulfi selection. There’s also a fridge with fresh dosa batter if you want to try your hand at them (easier than you think). The breads and snacks at the counter always get me – I love the ghee-drenched, mustard-seed flecked boxes of fresh idli.

A local spot I wish we could bring back from the dead is: In the four years I’ve been haunting Sandringham, many favourites have come and gone. I’ve had to accept that as the nature of the place – sometimes they even come back, like Fusion Pizza which morphed into a burger bar for a short minute and then revived itself. Anyway, honorable mentions go to the following – many of which have moved on to other parts of the city, so enjoy them if you can.

• Mumbai Chaat (they’re now in Blockhouse Bay). 
• Eat, Love, Repeat (now in Avondale) which was a caravan making basic burgers with an Indian twist. 
• Mumbai Vada Pav Caravan (now in a shop in Mt Roskill). 

A restaurant I would love to relocate to Sandringham: I’d be pretty happy if we could move Bar Martin to the Sandringham side of New North Rd please. The 30 min walk is doable but a chic lil wine bar tucked up at the Gribblehurst strip of shops would be ideal.

The place I return to again and again: Really odd to have got this far and not mention Paradise. It’s a classic and famous for a reason: the food is great. We exclusively eat Paradise as takeout. When I’m out of town working, Max often orders a chicken curry, a saag, rice, and naan and subsists on those for a few days.  A regular easy weeknight eat for us is the Afghan or tandoori chicken entrees which we eat in roti wraps with lettuce and the green yoghurt sauce they come with. We barely ever order from the made-to-order menu because we can’t be bothered waiting, but when we do it’s the prawn masala and eggplant curry.

Why I love eating in Sandringham: It’s alive! In the village at 10pm there are people everywhere, roaming from one snack to another, supermarkets still open, moods high. The flavours are bold, moreish, and challenge me to learn more to be able to taste more. I love that you can be in a busy restaurant and not hear any English being spoken. I respect that these spaces are not built for me and try to observe and enjoy rather than disrupt the setting. It’s a very special place and I consider myself lucky to be allowed to absorb the magic.