Mr Morris Menu

Mr Morris occupies the Excelsior Building on a busy Britomart corner, yet its outlook is grounded in growers, seasons and the people gathered around the table. Michael Meredith shaped the restaurant as an expression of hospitality and community as well as cooking. The kitchen describes its food as modern Pacific and New Zealand, but does not confine flavour to one geography. Local, ethical and sustainably sourced produce provides the base, while cultural inspirations are used with the confidence of a restaurant more interested in delicious connections than rigid labels.

The compact snack list reveals that approach quickly. Natural oysters are sharpened with verjus and lemon, while steamed oysters take a different direction with seaweed and spring onion. Crisp chicken skin carries parfait and pickled shallot; beef tartare is layered with mussel, hash brown and lardo. Lamb tongue meets quinoa, mustard and ponzu, and vegetables receive equally deliberate treatment through salt-and-pepper oyster mushroom or roasted carrot tartare with cashew cream. These are small dishes, but each establishes a distinct texture and flavour before the larger courses arrive.

Starters and mains move easily between the coast, farm and garden. Pāua appears with green-lip mussel, coconut, shiitake and roe, while salmon is set against feijoa cream, apple and horseradish. Pumpkin agnolotti offers a meat-free centrepiece; blue cod comes with pickled mushroom and yeast butter. Roasted duck, Royalburn lamb and Greenstone scotch carry richer flavours without abandoning seasonal vegetables. A separate vegetables-and-grains section, including new potatoes with togarashi emulsion and dressed lettuce with pear and walnut, makes it possible to build a balanced table rather than treating sides as an afterthought.

The Mr Morris Experience Menu lets the kitchen determine the progression, while à la carte dining leaves room for a shorter lunch or a meal assembled around favourite ingredients. Dessert remains just as individual: tamarillo is paired with honeycomb and pineapple, salted coconut with smoked banana caramel, and dark chocolate with lapsang tea and mandarin. Changing cheeses, sweet wines and digestifs extend the finish. The combination of flexible formats and finely judged dishes makes the restaurant suitable for both an exploratory evening and a polished meal that never becomes overly formal.

Address: Mr Morris, Excelsior Building, corner of Galway and Commerce Streets, Britomart, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

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