New Zealand restaurant guide · 2026
A guide to Chinese restaurants around New Zealand with recognition from established third-party restaurant guides, awards and regional food organisations. The source and year are shown for every restaurant.
This is not a ranked list and the recognition shown belongs to the named third party. Restaurants cannot pay to be added to this page.
MICHELIN Guide New Zealand 2026
Arrowtown · Otago
Set in a century-old homestead at Ayrburn, Billy's serves contemporary Chinese cooking in a series of characterful dining rooms. The MICHELIN Guide highlights dishes such as crystal prawn har gow, with refined technique at the centre of the menu.
Recognition: MICHELIN Guide New Zealand
Cuisine Good Food Guide 2026
Cuisine's 2026 guide includes more than 400 restaurants around New Zealand. These Chinese restaurants are among its current selections.
Auckland CBD
Behind the big red doors at SkyCity, Huami is known for handcrafted dim sum, weekend yum cha and fruit wood-roasted Peking duck, alongside dishes drawing on Cantonese, Sichuan, Huaiyang and Beijing traditions.
Recognition: Cuisine Good Food Guide
Ponsonby, Auckland
A lively Ponsonby restaurant built around Chinese cooking and Pacific produce. Dumplings and bao are central to the menu, with dishes such as bang bang chilli chicken, roasted duck, black-bean seafood and wok-charred vegetables.
Recognition: Cuisine Good Food Guide
Te Aro, Wellington
A family-owned Wellington favourite for dumplings and yum cha. The menu runs through steamed and fried dim sum, platters and classic Chinese dishes, with Sunday lunch a particularly busy time.
Recognition: Cuisine Good Food Guide
Metro Top 50 Restaurants 2024
Metro's 2024 Top 50 Restaurants list included two Chinese restaurants with very different takes on Cantonese dining.
Henderson, Auckland
A large Cantonese dining room with live seafood tanks, daytime yum cha and plenty of dishes made for the lazy Susan. Metro's favourites include Peking duck and steamed live fish.
Recognition: Metro
Albany, Auckland
Sum Made serves yum cha through lunch and a broader Chinese dinner menu from its spacious Albany dining rooms. Metro singles out the secret-recipe black BBQ pork and a stir-fry of green beans, dried radish and clam meat.
Recognition: Metro
Regional recognition
Strong regional coverage matters too. These restaurants have been singled out by official destination organisations or city hospitality awards.
Mount Eden, Auckland
A Dominion Road institution for Sichuan noodles and dumplings. Its dumplings in spicy sauce were selected for Iconic Auckland Eats 2025, an annual collection shaped from public nominations and moderated by Auckland's destination organisation.
Recognition: Iconic Auckland Eats
Christchurch Central
A family-run Little High eatery serving handmade dumplings, bao and noodles with influences from Taiwan, Sichuan and Shanghai. ChristchurchNZ recommends the dumplings and Sichuan dan dan noodles among its top local dumpling picks.
Recognition: ChristchurchNZ
Hamilton
A casual Hamilton favourite centred on handmade dumplings, with spring onion pancakes, Chinese burgers, noodle soups and sizzling noodles also on the menu. It was highly commended in the Tourism/Hospitality category at Hamilton's CBD Celebration Awards.
Recognition: Hamilton City Council
