The Kimchi Project

Cafes key icon.
Cafes key icon.

MondayClosed.

Tuesday11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 – 8:30 pm.

Wednesday11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 – 8:30 pm.

Thursday11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 – 8:30 pm.

Friday11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 – 8:30 pm.

Saturday11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 – 8:30 pm.

Sunday11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:00 – 8:30 pm.

20 Lorne Street, Auckland

021 222 7172

This is possibly the most wonderful cafe/restaurant you will go to this year. The Kimchi Project offers Korean inspired breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner with a menu full of delicious surprises (without forgetting more classic meals for the dedicated conservative).

Re-imagine food- ‘waffle fries’ = pan-fried kimchi, sriacha yogurt and bacon, or experiment with classic Korean desserts- red bean puree, vanilla and lychee. Crab buns, mushroom buns, tempura chicken buns and off course- pork buns. They also offer a kids menu with some less daring options.

The restaurant looks like a small CBD cafe from the entrance, and there are a number of tables in the front in a café style layout serving delicious Red Rabbit coffee, smoothies, matcha lattes, and Noble and Savage tea. But if you venture further, you’ll find a courtyard out the back with an open glass roof and walls covered with foliage with an air of an oriental paradise.

You’ll be looking for any excuse to get taken to Kimchi- work functions, birthday parties, quiet dates, coffee catch ups, breakfasts, anniversaries, desserts, cocktails. Tuatara beer, Garage Project cans, Asahi on tap, and a range of wines and cocktails are available in the beautiful courtyard bar.

The perfect spot for those trying to uptake the intake of probiotics- there’s a million ways to eat kimchi here- and the spicy delicious fermented cabbage is sprinkled all over the menu. But don’t fear if that’s not your appeal- there are many other Asian fusion dishes on the menu. Worth the trip downtown for those dwelling in the suburbs (you may find yourself coming from as far as Orewa)- there isn’t anything like this in Auckland. No one can get enough of Kimchi.

Words by Abigail Egden & Photography by Sable Heath

Information not correct? Report an error

Location

20 Lorne Street, Auckland

Nearby Places

Ebisu

Japanese food on a table.
Place Auckland
Restaurants key icon.

Located on the waterfront in the city centre, Ebisu also lies at the heart of Japanese cuisine in Auckland.

Swings

Bird eye view image of a tray of food from Swings on a tiled surface.
Place Auckland
Restaurants key icon.

Tastebuds at the ready, the Korean cuisine legends behind OCKHEE have opened up their new venture on Kitchener Street; Swings.

Perch

Curtains in the restaurant.
Place Auckland
Bars key icon. Restaurants key icon.

Well worth a visit for its impressive dumplings and cocktail lineup.

kingi

A staff member working behind at the bar inside a lush restaurant.
Place Auckland
Restaurants key icon.

With a name short for ‘kingfish’ and an ethos committed to sustainability, kingi is representative of a brighter future for New Zealand’s fisheries.

Similar Places

Bar Magda

A staff member working behind the bar at Bar Magda.
Place Auckland
Bars key icon. Restaurants key icon.

Tucked away on Karangahape Road is Bar Magda.

Little Bird Kitchen

Red brick walls inside.
Place Auckland
Cafes key icon.

100 percent plant based 100 percent whole foods 100 percent of the time.

Ortolana

Hanging bulb lights inside Ortolana.
Place Auckland
Bars key icon. Restaurants key icon.

This inner-city Britomart offering is nothing short of brilliant.

Peach's Hot Chicken

Chicken burger and side from Peach's Hot Chicken, Auckland.
Place Auckland
Restaurants key icon.

Don’t fact-check us on this, but we’d say a mouthful of Nashville Hot Chicken has been proven to send serotonin levels through the roof.