Category Archives: Beer

Top reasons to go on a Food Tour with the Big Foody Food Tours

1. The Big Foody Food Tours, named in the World’s Best Destination for Travel Experiences according to TripAdvisor travellers and the only food tour provider in New Zealand to be recognised by this. Now that’s a good reason to join us!

2. We are a dedicated FOOD TOUR COMPANY, not a tour company that does food tours. It is what we do! We love it and wouldn't want to do anything else.

3. The BEST guides. Whether you get Elle or Colleen, they are local foodie experts from forever ago and experts in guiding, you will be entertained for hours. Bubbly and friendly, they know Auckland and it’s food scene, they will be able to make personalised recommendation for any foodie and their quirks. They are more than just food guides, you’ll finish the tour having made a new friend.

4. DELICIOUS stops! Taste Auckland like a local. We visit the popular, must do experiences of Auckland, but also the hidden delights only the locals know of. We take you where we take our friends and family, only selected favourites make the cut for their tastes and the best people and their stories. It’s not just about the food, it's’ about our people, our land and our producers. We serve up the stories behind our favourite spots and their incredible food.

5. Meet the LOCALS. Our suppliers and who we visit on our stops are considered part of our family. On our tours, we treat you like family too. Our relationships with our suppliers therefore make you part of their family. You will get insights into their passion and their livelihood so that after your tour, you will be filled with knowledge about New Zealand’s artisans and producers to take with you on your travels and back home.

6. Best RECOMMENDATIONS on dining in Auckland and New Zealand. Don’t end up at soulless tourist eateries, join a Big Foody Food tour for our insider knowledge of where to dine. Venture off the beaten path to experience the best of Auckland cuisine just like a local. As we have said before, we are foodie experts and we love food and dining out and we KNOW the restaurant scene. You can be guaranteed to come back from the tour with a loooong list of recommendations for dining out in Auckland and throughout New Zealand.

7. RELAX -  We lead the way around Auckland on our organised and customer focused tours and we are are pretty laid back and love to have a laugh! Rely on us to take care of everything and enjoy the tastes of Auckland. And even better, on our most popular tour, The Tastebud Tour we drive you around Auckland exploring the best spots in town. What better way than to explore and taste Auckland whilst sitting back and relaxing.

8. PERSONALISED service. Our tours are small and personalised, we try to customise (to a degree) to what you are passionate and interested about. It is about you, the customer after all. You will be able to hear every word that comes out of our guides mouth and there are always enough samples, no mass tour groups here.

9. HISTORIC SIGHTS - The Big Foody Food Tours is more than just a food tour - we take you to and point out the iconic buildings and architecture of Auckland. We talk about New Zealand’s and Auckland’s culture and what we have to offer on the entertainment scene.

10. TRUSTED AND EXPERIENCED Food Tour company. We have been touring around Auckland and tasting with our guests since 2009. We know what we are doing and work in the industry. We run food tours throughout New Zealand and in Portland, Oregon in the United States. We work with many large travel agencies and get referred to many private and media tours, as well as picking up many of the pre-arranged day excursions from the Cruise liners. Trust us to take you on a a food tour that is small and personalized, friendly and laid back but professional and in-the-know. We know how to create an unforgettable experience for you.

11. REVIEWS We love our guests and we treat them like family and the bestest friend. We thank every single one of them for the FANTASTIC reviews that they leave us. We are so thankful to them all for our Overall Traveller rating on Tripadvisor of 5.0. THANK YOU. Read some of the reviews here.

Come away with a new friend, a smile, a full tummy (puku in maori) and history and stories about places you’ve been and people that you have met, The Big Foody Food Tours is the Ultimate way to taste Auckland (and the rest of New Zealand and Portland, Oregon).

The Big Foody’s Tips on matching Cheese & Beer

Characteristics in beer and cheese are surprisingly similar; nutty, floral, earthy, dry, sharp, smooth and creamy are just a few of the words that can describe both.

Matching cheeses and beers can be a challenging task, but not only can they complement each other, they can also have contrasting flavours and textures which work well together too.

Here are The Big Foody Food Tours top tips in matching Beers with Cheese.

Hard Cheeses with poignant, aromatic and milky undertones are generally very beer friendly. We like Gouda and Pilsner matches or if are feeling adventurous try with a malty stout.

Traditional Cheddars with sharp, distinct flavours pair perfectly with fruity, grassy, aromatic pale ales. Our favourite Cheddar pairing is with an IPA or a Double IPA.

Sheep and Goats milk cheeses have a huge breadth of flavours and often match well with malty beers and amber ales.

Washed rind cheeses complement certain beers very well. Their pungent flavours can match equally strong beer.

Blue milky cheese’s with pungent, spicy tones are well-suited to aromatic and floral hop beers. The classic blue cheese and barley wine is hard to beat.

Feta and Pilsner are a great match. The saltiness in the cheese compliments the slightly sweeter pilsners.

Soft-ripened cheeses such as beautiful creamy and delicate Bries and Camemberts go best with light bubbly beers, such as pilsner and fruit beers but can match well with saisons and farmhouse ales.

So beer and cheese is definitely a thing. It is possibly one of the greatest things too!

Join us on one of our Big Foody Beer or Food tours for cheese tasting, beer tasting, local history and knowledgeable guides who will answer any of your questions.

Book now

Welcome to September in Portland! Finally we're getting a bit of the cool, drizzly weather that Portlanders love and long for during the hot slog of summer. Not that we don't appreciate leaving the house without jackets and boots or jumping with wild abandon into our favorite swimming holes, but that heat can be so oppressive! Luckily for visitors, too, umbrellas are finally cool again in this city!

Not to worry though, before the leaves start to change there are still some beautifully mild and sunny days ahead of us. It's also prime time for apples, pears, tomatoes and corn on urban farms and in rural parts of Oregon. In fact, everyone here in the Great Pacific Northwest tend to go out of their minds at this time of year celebrating our incredible bounty with farm dinners, special menus and food festivals galore. From the Taste of Latinoamerica at the Portland Mercado, to Feast - the food fest to end all food festivals - there is so much to do in Portland right now.

Not the least of which is the launch of The Big Foody PDX and the Central “Eats-side” tour which offers guests the opportunity to taste some of Portland's most iconic products and meet some of the movers and shakers who produce them as well. Historically the city is a blue-collar, industrial town that is surrounded by an abundance of breathtaking natural beauty, and nowhere is our industrial past more apparent than in the Central Eastside Industrial District. In recent years, however, city planners, long-time industry groups and local food and drink business owners have begun to open up the traditional meaning of “industrial” to include the creative, artisan and tech industries as well.

With the addition of multiple new public transportation hubs and the construction of Tillikum Crossing, the city’s newest pedestrian, cyclist and mass transit bridge, it is also easier and more fun than ever to spend time in the Central Eastside. From downtown’s hotels to world-class restaurants and truly-Portland shopping experiences, you can find it all here. So join us on a tour, we’ll show you around one of our favorite spots in the city and introduce you to some really cool people along the way!

*Insider tip – if you’re a photographer, or even just an avid instagrammer, the Central “Eats-side” tour is a great opportunity to get some urban photos - from street art, to some of the best views of the city from the ground – you’ll quickly learn why we’re known as Bridgetown and the most delicious city in America. 

Celebrate Father’s Day this year with 10% off our tours for all the dads out there!

Downtown Beer Tour - Is you dad a beer fan? Does he know his pilsner from his porter? Well why not send him on a craft beer tour of Downtown Auckland. We visit three very different locations, trying 12 + beers from all over NZ! email us here

Behind the Scenes at Auckland Fish Market - Is dad a keen fisherman? Does he grill a good bit of snapper on the BBQ? Why not send him on our behind the scenes tour of Auckland Fish Market. It’s an early start for the auction, but fans of fishing love hearing from the people who work in the industry.

Want to treat dad to something special - well let us work out tour magic and put something special together for him and you. Whether it’s a private tour on Waiheke Island or a behind the scenes at a brewery we can put something fantastic together for you! Just get in touch!

Get in touch or book directly through the website using the code "Fathersday" in the discount code box!