The exploration of Māori and Polynesian culture through kai (food) – Monique Fiso’s intimate Wellington degustation restaurant is locally and internationally acclaimed.

With a menu that taps into New Zealand's varied cultural influences, chef Michael Meredith's restaurant is contemporary yet comfortable and elegant without being stuffy.

Six seats. Seventeen to 23 dishes per sitting. This intimate owner-operated fine diner is like nothing else in Auckland.

For well over 10 years, this serene restaurant and its chef, Makoto Tokuyama, have been sharing the best of “new-style” Japanese cuisine, including sushi, sashimi, wagyu and a standout dessert of sake-chocolate ganache.

Thoughtful, creative five-course menus are the star at this Dunedin restaurant in a characterful heritage building.

Head to some of the South Island's prime winegrowing country for a meal at Arbour, a welcoming degustation restaurant set among the vines of Blenheim.

It may be in the centre of Auckland, but Ahi's menu and fit-out celebrate the entire country’s natural bounty in a quest to explore and refine our understanding of modern New Zealand cuisine.

Enjoy artful dishes in an elegant setting at this Auckland fine dining stalwart.