O'Connell Street Bistro, Auckland

6 of us ate there twice whilst on a recent tour of new zealand. We ate well throughout our 3 week trip, but we found nowhere better than this. It is a prime example of how to run a restaurant; the owner, chris upton, was omnipresent; answered the phone, dealt with bookings, advised on the menu, and eating elsewhere in n z, and generally was the perfect host. His chef is top class and produced food of the finest quality, including some items such as veal sweetbreads, which we did not find elsewhere on tour. His staff are unfailingly charming, giving helpful advice, and generally we were left with the impression was that this was how a small top quality restaurant should be run.