Which eateries made Auckland's best food list?

Most weekends, you can find Zeshan Bari serving pizzas at one of Auckland's many food markets.

The enterprising 22-year-old has been running Bari's Pizza out of his home kitchen for the past year.

Now he has been recognised as one of the city's top restaurateurs for his halal pepperoni pizza.

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"I've loved pizza since I was a kid, but I could never find good halal pizza because pepperoni has pork in it a lot of the time," Bari said.

"We use 100 percent halal beef pepperoni, we get that from ... somewhere I can't say, because I don't want people buying my pepperoni."

With little-to-no hospitality experience, Bari started touring his pizzas around Auckland, finding success at markets throughout the city.

"I basically operate out of my home kitchen, we've got it all approved for commercial cooking," he said.

"At home, we just prep all the ingredients, get everything ready, and then we cook all the pizzas to-order on the site."

The pizzas were gone in a flash, Bari said.

"We can only take a limited amount of pizzas to the market, so a lot of times we end up selling out before the market finishes."

That unique business model helped the up-and-coming chef find his market with little overhead.

"I think it's really good for anyone wanting to start something," he said.

"Doing a market stall is a really good way to just get your product out there and see if it resonates with people without committing to fitting out an entire restaurant.

Bari's Pizza was just one of 100 restaurants that had made it on Tātaki Auckland Unlimited's list of Iconic Auckland Eats.

Head of tourism Karen Thompson-Smith said the list included eateries from all corners of the city, from sweet treats to fine dining.

"We often say we're a melting pot of cultures here in Auckland and I think you're seeing that across the dining spectrum," Thompson-Smith said.

"[The] 100 dishes that have been chosen... It's really a great testament to what's on offer here."

Bar Magda in Newton had made the list every year since it opened in 2021.

This year, it was for Noel's charcoal steak, which head chef Carlo Buenaventura said was based on a family recipe.

"My dad's name is Noel, he lives in the countryside [in the Philippines] and the rest of the family is in the city, and back in the day roads were quite hard and it wasn't easy to travel so he would be with us fortnightly," he said.

"When he was with us, he'd always make an effort to cook for us, and that was one of his dishes - and my favourite."

Buenaventura used wild venison sourced from Fiordland, served with a mix of Filipino soy sauce and New Zealand butter.

It was one of their most popular dishes, he said.

"It's pretty simple, it's delicious," he said.

"It might not be a traditional dish to many, but the flavours just have a sense of moreishness and it takes you to a place... It's just delicious, really."

Ahi in downtown Auckland's Commercial Bay remained a fixture on the Iconic Auckland Eats list, having been featured every year since both started in 2020.

It had previously been famous for its Scampi Corn Dog, but this year owner Ben Bayly made the bold decision to strike it off the menu.

"We've taken the Scampi Corn Dog off the menu, but secretly this corndog is [available] for people in the know so if you do love that dish you can ask for it, it's just not on the menu," he said.

"I think you just get sick of doing the same thing all the time and I think we need to keep moving as a restaurant."

Bayly felt he owed it to his kitchen staff to keep letting them try new recipes.

This year, Ahi was featured on the list for its eel dish, a tuna hūhunu.

"We want to sort of push the boundaries and let our guests discover new ingredients," he said.

"A lot of restaurants don't serve eel, but when it's handled correctly, it's one of the most delicious seafoods or fish you could ever eat. It's fatty and delicious and it goes so well on the barbecue."

Bayly said it was easy for a chef to fall back on their greatest hits, but the key to a restaurant's longevity was its willingness to try something new.

Other dishes to make the list included the bacon jam toastie from Cheese on Toast; beef tongue with preserved lemon and olive from Alma; fresh steamed mussels from Bridge House Lodge in Warkworth, and chilli fried eggs from Burnt Butter Diner.