A great meal can make a holiday. A disappointing one can leave you paying $48 for something you’ll politely describe as “interesting”.
That’s why, when you’re exploring New Zealand, Cuisine Magazine is a handy companion. It won’t carry your suitcase, but it can help with the far more important question: where are we eating?
For anyone seeking out the country’s award-winning restaurants, the Cuisine Good Food Awards are an excellent place to start. The 2026 awards, presented by American Express, named 19 category winners, while the accompanying Good Food Guide features more than 400 venues across Aotearoa. That’s plenty of inspiration, and a compelling argument for extending your holiday. Explore Cuisine’s 2026 awards and guide.
Then there are the hats. Cuisine awards one, two or three hats to outstanding restaurants. These are dining honours, so please don’t arrive expecting complimentary headwear. The recognition gives you a useful starting point when choosing somewhere for a special evening, a long lunch, or a Tuesday you feel deserves better.
The guide’s appeal is its local perspective. It covers regional destinations alongside city restaurants and neighbourhood favourites, with assessments by a national team of food writers, critics, chefs and hospitality professionals. It’s a useful way to discover somewhere worth stopping, even if your original plan was to drive straight through with a packet of crisps and a mince and cheese pie. Read about the 2026 guide.
For travellers, this is where the fun begins. Look up the winners, browse the restaurants along your route, and let lunch influence the itinerary for once. A scenic detour is lovely. A scenic detour with an excellent meal at the end has considerably more persuasive power.
Use Cuisine for your shortlist, then add a little conversation. Ask your accommodation host where they eat on a night off. Ask the person pouring your wine where they’d book dinner. You may discover another local favourite, and you’ll have something more useful to discuss than whether the weather is “clearing up”.
If you want to seek out New Zealand’s Good Food Awards winners in 2026, head to Cuisine. It brings the awards and a nationwide dining guide together, making it easy to turn “we should eat somewhere nice” into an actual booking.
Just remember to book ahead, arrive hungry, and leave enough room in the itinerary for dessert. You can admire another mountain tomorrow.
Elle
