In general, the biggest differences between New Zealand eating and American eating are the portion sizes and quality of food. Portion sizes are much smaller, but more of a real meal size rather than the huge servings in America, and the food is much more fresh and produce based. Eating out is relatively expensive so you see a shift of eating in rather than take away here. I have most of my meals during the week in my on-campus housing since it is less expensive and we have a kitchen. Most weekends I end up eating out a lot since I’m only in New Zealand once it’s worth the splurge.
The main super market is Countdown, which is where I usually go to restock on average foods. There are also a lot of fresh markets on the weekends. About a 15-minute walk away on Saturdays and Sundays is the Parnell French Market, which has a bunch of French food stalls. You can get crepes, cheeses, pastries, fresh produce and bagels. My personal favorite is the paella booth that serves fish, vegetarian and sausage paella every week.
There aren’t many NZ specific foods but one thing I will miss a lot is the abundance of fish and chip places here. The chips are served wrapped in newspaper and most places are by the coast so fish is really fresh. Being a vegetarian, I usually get a vege burger which varies from place to place. Some have a vegetarian patty while others use a fried egg. Beets are really commonly found in burgers, which give them a very different taste but also a lot more healthy than the average American burger.
