New Garden Restaurant has served Flat Bush from Chapel Road since 2015, building its identity around traditional Cantonese and Vietnamese cooking with a local Auckland touch. The name itself refers to the greenery and growing community the owners found in Flat Bush. With more than a hundred dishes and a head chef whose experience spans over three decades, the restaurant is set up for both a quick rice or noodle meal and a broad shared-table dinner.
The opening sections move easily between the two culinary traditions. Vietnamese spring rolls and curry puffs sit alongside fried prawn cutlets and crisp squid, while the soup list ranges from chicken and sweet corn to combinations of dried scallop, sea cucumber or fish maw. Wonton soup offers a lighter individual bowl, and steamed, fried and golden lava buns add a dim sum element before larger plates arrive.
Main dishes reward a group that wants contrast. Cantonese staples include sweet and sour pork, black-bean beef, steamed chicken with mushrooms in lotus leaf, beef brisket pot and cumin lamb. Rice plates are more self-contained, with lemongrass pork chop, curry seafood, fish fillet with tofu and diced pepper steak among the choices. The fried-rice selection stretches from Yangzhou and barbecue pork to salted fish with chicken or prawn with pineapple.
There is room to finish lightly or make the meal more leisurely. Vietnamese hot or iced coffee, lime soda and milk tea accompany the savoury menu, while grass jelly with coconut cream and banana split sit on the dessert list. Separate vegetable, tofu and egg sections make meat-free ordering more than an afterthought, and the daily split between lunch and dinner service suits anything from a midday bowl to a large evening spread.
Address: 156 Chapel Road, Flat Bush, Auckland 2019, New Zealand
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