British food in Auckland: Sunday roasts, pub footie at 4am and where to buy Hobnobs

Auckland does a cracking flat white, but sooner or later you'll want a roast with a Yorkshire pudding, a packet of Rich Tea and somewhere to watch the footie with people who care.

The short version

• Sunday roast: The Fox on the Viaduct serves a weekend roast with its own Yorkies, roast potatoes and gravy, with a pint thrown in, for NZD 36.95 (about £15) [1].
• Pub grub: the Lord Kitchener in Sandringham does shepherd's pie, beer-battered fish with mushy peas and pigs in blankets [2].
• Footie: The Fox and The Paddington in Parnell show live sport; The Paddington shows selected Liverpool games [1][3].
• British groceries: UK Grocer in Browns Bay and UK Foods in Rosedale, both on the North Shore, sell biscuits, tea, gravy and Christmas puds, in person and online [4][5].
• Marmite warning: the jar labelled Marmite in a Kiwi supermarket is a local spread with a different recipe.

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = NZD 2.40). Prices are the ones we saw on each venue's own website in November 2026 and can change.

Pubs for a roast and a pie

Kiwis love a pub, but a proper British-style one with pies, roasts and the Premier League on the telly is rarer than you'd think. These are the ones we checked are open and serving in 2026.

The Fox, Viaduct

The Fox calls itself "the Viaduct's home of all things British", and the menu backs it up [1]. It's at 85/87 Customs Street West, on the waterfront in the city centre.

• The Fox Weekend Roast comes with roast potatoes, maple-roasted root vegetables, greens, a Yorkshire pudding and "lashings of gravy". You choose sirloin with horseradish cream or rolled pork loin with crackling and apple sauce, and it includes a pint or a glass of house wine: NZD 36.95 (about £15) [1].
• East End Pie & Pint: steak, ale and cheddar pie with a pint, NZD 36 (about £15) [1].
• Shepherd's pie with mash, English cheddar and gravy, NZD 34 (about £14) [1].

It also runs quiz nights and has a live sports schedule on its website [1]. Book for the roast at the weekend.

Lord Kitchener, Sandringham

A neighbourhood gastropub at 6 Kitchener Road in Sandringham Village, open from 3pm on Mondays and Tuesdays and from noon Wednesday to Sunday [2]. The menu reads like a decent British local:

• Shepherd's pie with cheesy mash and minted lamb gravy, NZD 28 (about £12)
• Beer-battered daily catch with twice-cooked chips and mushy peas
• Pigs in blankets, NZD 24 (about £10), and chips with a pot of curry sauce on the side [2].

Chippy curry sauce, 18,000 km (11,000 miles) from home. You're welcome.

The Paddington, Parnell

A sports bar at 117 St Georges Bay Road in Parnell with six screens and two projectors for big games [3]. More on the footie below. It also runs a Tuesday quiz night and Friday happy hour from 4pm to 6pm [3].

Watching the football

Here's the hard truth: the time difference is brutal. A 3pm Saturday kick-off in the UK lands in the small hours in Auckland, roughly 2am to 4am depending on the time of year. Evening kick-offs and Champions League nights come through on Sunday or weekday mornings. Expect bleary-eyed fans in replica shirts at breakfast time.

• The Paddington says it's showing selected Liverpool games through the Premier League and Champions League seasons, opening its doors 30 minutes before kick-off. It notes that its licence limits when it can open, so check its sport page before you set the alarm [3].
• The Fox publishes its upcoming sports schedule online, covering football and rugby [1].

For the Six Nations and the Lions, you'll have a lot more company: rugby is the national religion here. Our guide to rugby, Kiwi culture and te reo explains why you might want to keep quiet about who you're cheering for at the All Blacks game.

A proper cuppa and afternoon tea

New Zealand is a tea-drinking country, so a decent brew isn't hard to find, but builder's tea in a café can still come as a pot of hot water with a bag on the side.

For a treat, the Chandelier Lounge at the Cordis hotel on Symonds Street serves a seasonal high tea with TWG teas, scones, savouries and sweets, with bookable sittings [6]. It's a good one for a birthday, or for showing visiting parents that you haven't gone completely native.

For your own kettle, both British grocers sell Yorkshire Tea. UK Foods listed an 80-bag box at NZD 16.99 (about £7) and UK Grocer stocks Taylors of Harrogate teas [4][5]. Neither listed PG Tips when we checked, so stock up on your next trip home if it has to be the chimp.

British shops: the Marmite question and more

UK Grocer, Browns Bay

UK Grocer started as Bramptins in 2002 and is still going strong on the North Shore, with a shop in Browns Bay and an online store that posts around New Zealand, plus click-and-collect [4]. When we looked it had:

• McVitie's Rich Tea, Custard Creams and chocolate digestives, Jaffa Cakes and Jammie Dodgers at around NZD 6.99 (about £2.90)
• Tunnock's teacakes at NZD 8.99 (about £3.75)
• Henderson's Relish for the Sheffield crowd
• a Christmas section, including Matthew Walker Christmas puddings [4].

UK Foods, Rosedale

UK Foods imports British groceries and sells online and at pop-up shop days at its warehouse at Unit 3, 11 Orbit Drive, Rosedale [5]. When we checked it had Bisto gravy granules at NZD 8.99 (about £3.75), Walkers crisps, Monster Munch and that 80-bag box of Yorkshire Tea [5]. Watch its website for the next shop day.

The Marmite surprise

Pick up a jar marked Marmite in a New Zealand supermarket and you'll get a local spread made by Sanitarium. It's a different recipe from the British one: sweeter and less punchy, and Kiwis will defend it to the death. If you need the real thing, ask the British grocers what they have in, or bring a jar back in your suitcase. Vegemite, from across the Tasman, is easy to find but isn't the same either.

Making it at home

Kiwi supermarkets make a British Sunday dinner easy. New Zealand lamb is superb, beef and pork are easy to find, and roast potatoes are a national institution. Swap the Aunt Bessie's for home-made Yorkshires, buy the Bisto from a British shop, and you're sorted. Christmas is the odd one: a roast in 25°C sunshine feels wrong at first, which is why plenty of British families switch to a barbecue and save the pudding for the evening.

Know a chippy that does a proper battered sausage, or a café with a real full English? Tell our community group for Brits in New Zealand: join here. We'd love to add more places we can check.

Sources

1. The Fox, Auckland: menu, weekend roast and live sport
2. Lord Kitchener, Sandringham: menu and opening hours
3. The Paddington, Parnell: sport
4. UK Grocer, Browns Bay
5. UK Foods NZ and Business North Harbour listing for UK Foods
6. Cordis Auckland: Chandelier Lounge high tea

Keep reading

• British life in Auckland
• Nightlife in Auckland
• Rugby, Kiwi culture and te reo for Brits
• The emotional move