RFK Rankings · Auckland
Best Restaurants for Business-Lunch in Auckland (2026)
Weekday business lunch · Auckland CBD · 6 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published March 18, 2026 · Updated June 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
A working Auckland lunch lives or dies on whether the kitchen can land two courses inside an hour without the table feeling rushed. The CBD does this better than it used to: Princes Street and the Viaduct now hold rooms that take a midday booking seriously, run a tight prix fixe and let you close a deal over the water rather than a hotel atrium. These six, ranked, are where to seat a client.
1.Onslow
Josh Emett's 100-seat Princes Street room runs a daily table d'hote lunch; book it to close a deal over wood-fired produce.
Josh Emett opened Onslow in the heritage Grand Hotel building at 9 Princes Street, a 100-seat room with an open kitchen and a table d'hote that lands at lunch and dinner from noon. The cooking is seasonal New Zealand, wood-fired and "refined but not fine dining" in Emett's own phrase; the set lunch is the order, with a la carte alongside and a deep local wine list.
Emett, who cooked at Gordon Ramsay's three-star rooms before returning home, runs a service built for the long midday meeting: tables spaced to talk across, a room that quiets at lunch, and a kitchen that can move when the diary is tight. Book a window table by phone and ask for the set menu to keep the timing predictable.
2.Cassia
Sid Sahrawat's two-hat modern-Indian room runs a Wednesday-to-Sunday prix fixe lunch; book the new Wyndham Street home for a sharp client table.
Sid Sahrawat, of Sidart and Sid at The French Cafe, runs Cassia, the two-hat modern-Indian room that holds its place in the Cuisine Good Food Guide. After flood damage closed the Fort Lane basement, Cassia moved through SkyCity and reopens in August 2026 as a standalone CBD room on the corner of Albert and Wyndham Streets. The lunch prix fixe, served Wednesday to Sunday, runs lamb seekh, tandoori chicken and the black daal that built the room's name.
This is the spice-forward business lunch when a steakhouse feels tired: confident cooking, a wine and cocktail list that holds up, and a kitchen that can turn a two-course midday table without hurrying anyone. Reserve ahead for the new room, which books out fast on its reopening, and take the prix fixe for speed.
3.Metita
Michael Meredith's two-hat Pasifika room for a standout Sunday lunch or private weekday booking; reserve it to impress a visiting client.
Michael Meredith named Metita, at The Grand by SkyCity, for his mother and built it around the Samoan food he grew up with, a refined modern-Pacific menu that won two hats and Hotel Restaurant of the Year at the 2025/2026 Cuisine Good Food awards. The room runs a Sunday lunch from 11.30 and takes private weekday lunch bookings for groups.
It is the room to book when the client is from out of town and you want a meal they can't get anywhere else: octopus, taro and coconut treated with three-star technique. For a standard weekday midday table, call ahead to confirm the private-lunch arrangement; otherwise hold it for the Sunday service or a booked group.
4.Masu by Nic Watt
Nic Watt's robata grill on Federal Street runs a fast bento lunch built for sharing; book it for a relaxed team table.
Nic Watt, who cooked at Nobu in London, Tokyo and the Bahamas, runs Masu on Federal Street, the modern-Japanese robata room that anchors the SkyCity dining strip. The lunch is built for the business diary: bento boxes, robata skewers off the charcoal grill and sushi to share, all priced and paced for a midday table rather than a three-hour omakase.
The grill and the shared format make this the easy team lunch, the one where nobody has to commit to a tasting menu before an afternoon of meetings. Sit at a grill-side table, order the bento and a round of skewers, and the kitchen does the rest at speed.
5.Soul Bar & Bistro
The Viaduct's long-running waterfront bistro for a deal over the marina; book a deck table for a relaxed, see-and-be-seen lunch.
Soul Bar and Bistro has held the prime corner of Viaduct Harbour since 2001, a waterfront room and deck looking straight onto the marina that has long been Auckland's see-and-be-seen lunch. The kitchen runs a modern bistro card built on local seafood, the market fish and a raw bar, with mains in the mid-to-high range and a wine list deep in Central Otago and Hawke's Bay.
It is the Auckland power lunch in the old sense: a table on the deck, the boats in the harbour and a room that fills with the city's deal-makers from noon. Book the deck rather than the inside room, and time it for a clear day when the marina does the work.
6.Ostro
A first-floor brasserie above Britomart with harbour glass and an oyster bar; book a window for an easy waterfront client lunch.
Ostro occupies the first floor of the Seafarers Building on the Britomart waterfront, a big brasserie with floor-to-ceiling glass onto Waitemata Harbour and an oyster and raw bar at its centre. The lunch leans on shellfish and a market-fish board, with mains in the upper-mid range and a long list of local and French wines by the glass.
The harbour view and the central Britomart address make it the convenient client lunch when the meeting is downtown and you want a room that looks the part without a long booking lead. Ask for a window table on the harbour side and start with the oysters while the table settles in.
Not for a working lunch
Great rooms, wrong for the midday diary
Sidart. Sid Sahrawat's tasting-menu flagship in Ponsonby is one of Auckland's best meals, but it is a long, attention-demanding degustation built for dinner, not a two-course midday table with an afternoon of meetings to follow. Save it for the celebration dinner and take Cassia's lunch prix fixe for the working version of the same kitchen.
The Grove. The fine-dining room off Wyndham Street runs a serious, multi-course lunch that is wonderful and slow. If your lunch has a hard 2pm finish, the pacing will fight you; book it when the afternoon is clear and you want a long, celebratory table rather than a quick deal.
How to run a business lunch in Auckland
Auckland's working lunch splits by district. The Viaduct and Britomart waterfront, at Soul Bar and Ostro, is the see-and-be-seen end, best for a relationship lunch with a view. Princes Street and the SkyCity strip, at Onslow, Cassia, Metita and Masu, is the tighter CBD cluster, closer to the towers and built for a faster, set-menu midday table. Pick the side nearest your afternoon and you save the cross-town taxi.
Order the set menu wherever there is one. Onslow's table d'hote, Cassia's lunch prix fixe and Masu's bento are all designed to land two or three courses on a predictable clock, which is the whole point when an afternoon meeting is waiting. Book a day or two ahead for a weekday window table, ask for a quieter corner if the deal is sensitive, and confirm Metita's private-lunch arrangement before you rely on a midweek table there.
Frequently asked
Where is the best business lunch in Auckland?
Onslow on Princes Street is the marquee pick, Josh Emett's 100-seat CBD room with a daily table d'hote built for a long midday meeting. For a spice-forward alternative, Sid Sahrawat's two-hat Cassia runs a Wednesday-to-Sunday lunch prix fixe at its new Wyndham Street home, and Soul Bar on the Viaduct is the waterfront see-and-be-seen table for a relationship lunch.
Which Auckland restaurant is best for a fast weekday lunch?
Masu by Nic Watt on Federal Street is the quickest, a Japanese robata room running bento boxes and grill skewers priced and paced for a midday table rather than a tasting menu. Onslow's set table d'hote is the next most predictable, landing two or three courses on a clock, which makes it reliable before an afternoon of meetings.
Do you need to book a business lunch in Auckland?
Yes for the CBD rooms. Onslow, Cassia and the SkyCity restaurants all fill their weekday lunch tables, so reserve a day or two ahead and ask for a quieter corner if the conversation is sensitive. Metita runs a Sunday lunch and private weekday bookings, so confirm the arrangement before you rely on a midweek table there.
What is a good waterfront lunch for clients in Auckland?
Soul Bar and Bistro on Viaduct Harbour is the classic, a deck table looking onto the marina that has been Auckland's power lunch since 2001. Ostro, on the first floor of the Seafarers Building at Britomart, is the other waterfront pick, a brasserie with harbour glass and an oyster bar. Book the deck or a window seat and time it for a clear day.
How much does a business lunch cost in Auckland?
Expect roughly NZ$45 to NZ$90 a head for two courses before wine at the CBD rooms. The set menus at Onslow and Cassia sit at the lower, more predictable end; the waterfront brasseries at Soul Bar and Ostro run higher once you add oysters and wine by the glass. Metita's refined Pacific menu is the priciest, best held for a special client.
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Browse the full Auckland dining guide, read the Onslow profile on Princes Street, compare the city's client tables in the Auckland impress-clients ranking and its deal rooms in the Auckland close-a-deal ranking, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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