Where to eat in Whanganui – an insider's guide

Tea while you read in the public library. Raw fish from the Four Square. Bagels named after famous authors. Pop-up dinners in a historic newspaper building. Kaputī founder Whitney Nicholls-Potts talks us through her Whanganui foodie highlights.

Whanganui has long been a place Whitney Nicholls-Potts (Ngāti Kurī) returns to. A self-described “māmā, writer and chief tea maker at Kaputī,” she has “O.G. whānau connections” to the river city. She spent two years of high school in Whanganui, returned for a stint after living abroad, and then settled there permanently in 2022 with her young children. Since then she’s opened a shopfront for Kaputī, her locally blended tea business, in the heart of town.

Nicholls-Potts is passionate about her town, and the many aspects that form its unique flavour, from its designation as a UNESCO City of Design, to the internationally recognised personhood of the Whanganui River – the result of generations of iwi leadership. “I am a major advocate for Whanganui as being the coolest little city in Aotearoa,” she says. “And I feel especially connected to the kai scene.”

Kaputī started unofficially at a stall serving freshly made chai at the Whanganui markets in 2014, several years before it became a real thing. It was serving those hot cups of tea from the market that planted the seed for what would become her tea business, first at Auckland’s Grey Lynn Farmers Market and now back in Whanganui. 

Today, Kaputī is as much a part of the local community as it is a tea company, hosting writing retreats, reading club nights, kōrero Māori events, collaborations with other businesses and providing tea for artists talks at Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery. “Kaputī is proud to be part of sharing how our city, centred on creativity, is an amazing place to live and visit – full of possibility.”

Read on for the most delicious ways to discover – or rediscover – Whanganui, according to Nicholls-Potts.

Three words that sum up the food in Whanganui: Delicious hidden gems.

My most controversial food opinion about Whanganui: Whanganui food culture is experienced in discoverable moments rather than a more typical dining out /cafe culture. I’ve had so many conversations about how the lack of good dining out hospo culture is a bit of a downfall here. But on the upside, it’s the most connected community I’ve ever lived in, and these connections are nurtured by getting together in the places that do it really well. Food culture is there but you have to be open to finding it in unlikely places. When you do, you’ll find the most delicious hidden gems that would rival a big city.

Everyone has a dining out pet peeve. Mine is: I’m going to go in on this critique because I think there is a lot of value in constructive criticism. In Whanganui I have had a number of experiences where I feel that the people who own the restaurants in town are not being true to the spirit of hospitality. I feel it everywhere at the moment – opening a restaurant and running it as a business rather than a place of manaaki. It can be both!

One example is La Quattro – branded as a “Mexican” restaurant (disclaimer: maybe I have a little bit of extra aversion to it because I lived in Arizona and came to love Mexican food and culture while I was there). The building itself is such a cool wee spot right on the bottom of the ave, and yet, the dining experience is overpriced, low quality and badly replicated Mexican food. The decor is just as careless with literal A4 80gsm sheets of paper with pictures of saguaro cactus and Día de los Muertos stock images from the internet. I say this with aroha – do better or pass the mantle over to someone who can do something with a bit more style and commitment to the kaupapa.

The local dish I crave most: OK – I would say that Flamin Dragon Pizza at the Whanganui River Markets every Saturday is the most craved kai experience in town. (Another disclaimer: the owner of this famous woodfired pizza oven is also my uncle Kirk Nicholls). He is also a fulltime artist, working during the week as a sculptor. His handmade dragon oven with pāua shell eyes has been pumping out the pizzas for over 15 years.

Being an artist-run business, of course he hand-makes the sauce with fresh herbs, hand-peels all the garlic cloves and nurtures the fluffy, bubbly sourdough bases each week – in between working on his next show. The secret ingredient is watercress which gives the pizza this tino Aotearoa flavour. He sells out every week. Sometimes you can find me out the back rolling out dough when his staff are away.

The best restaurant in Whanganui is: I couldn’t say. We don’t have one worthy of the title... yet.

A recent food discovery I can’t stop talking about: The cardamom tea at Geeta’s Spices & Veggies (now called Whanganui Spices and Veggies) on Guyton Street. Wander down Guyton street to browse Paige’s Book Gallery or see what new lovely things At Home With Rose has in store, and then grab a hot cup of this cardamom tea for the walk home. It is unsweetened so you can add your own sugar to taste from a jar of raw sugar behind the counter.

A place I’ve been dying to try is: The highly coveted Edition pop-up dining evenings which are hosted by Jack Mitchell-Anyon, Anthony Tonnon, James Schellenberg and Isaac Paurini in the historic Whanganui Chronicle Building (the same space that operates as our local gem Article Cafe by day). I just missed the seafood night recently and I’m still reeling from the FOMO. We have some amazing chefs and hospo legends in this town, they just tend to be pretty low-key about it so this initiative is providing space to bring them together. Tickets go quickly.

Pub or bar of choice: Porridge Watson. Big mihi to proprietor Tony Sundeman who has brought his eclectic vibe and many random hobbies together to make a place where we can experience great live music and an array of other random pub-based events. They keep a big, open fireplace cranking through the winter, and you can get yum burgers and fried chicken from Easy Tiger, operated by Isaac Paurini, within the bar. They do poetry reading nights the last Thursday of the month, Sunday jazz, and a highlight for me recently has been the bingo and beats night where the host had me cackling over the numerical commentary.

Got visitors from out of town? I’m taking them to: The markets! The Whanganui River Market every Saturday is the main food event of Whanganui. We don’t have much of a dining out culture here, which sucks, but it means we have adapted how we experience our food culture. So, when people are visiting, we get up on a Saturday morning, grab a pizza slice; some Thai dumplings; crackers, chutneys and jams from Jill’s Complements; and the OG mussel and pāua fritters. 

Whanganui’s best…

Breakfast: Little Curious Bagels, based in the former ‘old curiosity’ book shop. They make incredible bagels named after famous authors (highly recommend the Franz Kafka). I’m a big fan of cake for breakfast and on the weekends and they do the BEST special recipe carrot and chocolate cakes you’ve ever had – homemade by the owner Joel. Huge slices too.

Coffee: Article on Drews Ave is often described as the best coffee in Wellington (but it’s in Whanganui).

Sandwich: Big Moose. Local chef James Schellenberg makes these gorgeous po’ boy-style sandwiches at the market and he also delivers classic lunch sandwiches to Article during the week. He’s really brought together all the things that make a well-thought-out sandwich. Sometimes I have to get one, even if I’m not that hungry because they feel like being cared for. 

Noodles: Phở at Vietnam Kitchen, located adjacent to the carpark at Farmers. On cold and grim winter days I will sometimes go in here. The place will be completely empty and I’ll order the jasmine tea and a phở to fill my cockles with warm liquid goodness. And it will often have been the best damn thing I have done all week.

Pie: Butcharts’ Home Cookery are the O.G., ICONIC, #1 food spot in Whanganui. One of the only remaining relics of real-deal bakery pies: flaky pastry, quality fillings and creative flavours (e.g. hāngi and mussel) alongside excellently executed classics. They also do perfect sponge cakes. You can buy them whole, filled with jam and cream, for a morning tea shout. It’s also the ultimate afterschool cream donut run. All made to the quality we used to get in the 90s before the humble corner store bakeries became margarine and fried chicken focused.

Kai moana: Four Square Riverview. First of all this Four Square has, arguably, the best view of any Four Square in the country: sitting right at this magnificent bend in the awa, capturing the afternoon sun where the kānapanapa, sparkly water light shines the longest. They have raw fish snack boxes, fresh kina and oysters in the mini fridge, creamed pāua on Fridays, and it even has its own fresh mussels in the shell that usually you only find at the big supermarkets. We go there after kura several times a week for the hot chips too. Atu i tērā, not seafood but while we’re at it, you can get hāngi any day of the week – made locally and kept in its own little hāngi oven warmer by the till.

Fish and chips: Whangas is quite good for FnCs but I’m gonna have to shout out Alma Road Takeaway – particularly their giant fish burgers that are only $6. It pops off every night and is never more than a 10-minute wait somehow. The owners know everyone’s names and make you feel special and valued. Huge menu full of hidden little add-on gems. For example, I tried their banana fritter the other night too and it was SO GOOD.

And the best place to unwrap and eat them is: Castlecliff Beach in the summer (which also has an awesome playground/skatepark/basketball court). The West Coast beach is where the mouth of the river pours into the sea and you can be enchanted by the sunset and the grand silhouette of our maunga Taranaki, Matua Te Tapu.

Bread: I have to shout out Jackson’s Rēwena which closed earlier this year. It was a famous local gem that started out at the Riverside Markets. The bread bug that they used to make their rēwena was cultivated and captured up the awa a hundred years ago and passed down by the nannies and koro of the whānau for generations. There are so many beautiful businesses closing down at this time. It sucks.

Baked treat: Honest Kitchen does the best baked treats and huge slices you can share in the park across the road. The oat caramel slice is my fave.

What defines a great caramel slice? A chewy base with crumble on top and a plump caramel filling. Honest Kitchen’s is masterful – made for a cup of tea.

The place to go if you want to feel virtuous/ healthy: Honest Kitchen also makes amazing salads and nourish bowls.

The dairy with the best lolly selection: I feel like we don’t actually have great dairies here. However, we do have this lolly shop called Thistle Sweet Shop on the main street. It’s been a local family business for over 90 years and is one of the oldest sweet shops in Aotearoa (very Whanganui). They specialise in homemade fudges and edible cake decorations. You can also get cute little mixed lolly bags in clear wrapping paper with a ribbon tied around it – choose your own from the jars of colourful lollies that line the back wall. It’s giving Diagon Alley, Wonka, The Magic Faraway Tree etc. Whanganui is amazing for these kinds of shops of yesteryear that have managed to lock in and stay relevant in the now-time. Getting your goodies here makes birthday parties feel magical and more meaningful.

My favourite grocery shop: The Burrow. Sometimes living in a small town can get a bit hum-drum and so The Burrow is like a little place you can go to that makes you feel like you’re living a quaint existence in some mythological village, shopping with a wicker basket for your weekend family meal. It stocks all kinds of specialty pastas and cake mixes and dried goods and and licorices and Dolce and Gabbana christmas cakes and so on.

For the best produce, I stop in at: Laugesens Gardens. It’s a family-owned and operated market garden in the rural backing tracks of Whanganui (but only 10 minutes’ drive from city centre). Huge bright broccoli, cauliflower and tons of summer tomatoes that have been harvested straight from the garden and sold on site. Their produce is top tier and they even offer seasonal veggie boxes delivered locally for free.

A perfect place to linger over a drink: The Teal Lounge is one of Drews Ave’s little gems with the cutest fit-out. The custom built booths generate great conversations.

My favourite local hospo personality: Coco at Porridge Watson. She always has the best outfits and is a true original. When she greets you at the bar you feel like everything is as it should be.

The place I’m most likely to bump into someone I know: Article Cafe.

The place I go to avoid bumping into anyone I know: It’s hard to say because you really can’t avoid bumping into someone you know in this town. In saying that, I do go and enjoy the paper and a pot of tea with my fellow regular library patrons during the weekdays at The Whanganui District Library on Pukenamu Park. We give each other a nod and a how-do-you-do, and sit quietly alongside each other at the shared table which is the best way to feel a sense of belonging and yet, be in your own time and space. You can order a pot of tea for only $2 and they deliver it to you wherever you're sitting in the library. It comes on a tray with a lovely actual tea cup and milk pourer. They have a range of biscuits to go with it too if you like. It’s the sweetest!

A local spot I wish we could bring back from the dead is: The O.G. Red Eye Cafe (there is a phantom version of it still existing on Guyton Street, but it’s one of those things where the original kaupapa has not been maintained through new ownership). I remember it was the first cafe I discovered as a teen and we would sit in the courtyard when it was open in the evenings. We would feel all grown up and sophisticated with our mochas, paninis and ciggies.

A restaurant I would love to relocate to Whanganui: Coco’s Cantina. We need the streetside tables, the prosecco, the polenta chips, the pasta and the smart-casual vibey dining for all the post-exhibition openings, collab catch ups, parents on date nights etc.

Why I love eating in Whanganui: It’s a way of experiencing each other. It’s a very diverse community and because of the close proximity of everything here and the small size of the population we’re all very much side-by-side. Food is a big part of this. It’s nice getting to know each other through manaakitanga.