Pakuranga Night Market — Attraction in Howick

It was our first trip to the Pakuranga Night Market. East Auckland is a bit of a hike from where we live but we were in the area so thought to try this out. We got there early, as the Sun was setting, and there was already a crowd; it got increasing crowdy as the evening wore on. There were long queues. There were also very few chairs and tables, so it is mostly stand- or walk and eat. Not very practical if you are sharing or having something that has gravy.

First of the bat, I ordered a Beijing pancake. Whilst it was great seeing it being made in front of you, I felt that it lacked flavour. The meat (choice of roast duck or BBQ pork) was unnecessary and so were the carrots, cabbage and onions. I fell like a more original recipe with sauce and crispy wonton skin would have been better.

Then we tried the curry. Once again, average. Probably akin to shopping mall food court standard. Edible but not worth writing about.

There were quite a number of stalls selling meat/seafood on skewers but I wasn't keen to try them. The skewers looked dry and have been on the grill for far too long.

Lastly, we tried the "fish" waffle with chocolate filling. By that time, there was quite a long queue. It wasn't as good as ones you could get elsewhere.

I probably sound overly critical, but having visited other night markets, I felt like Pakuranga fell below the standard...

I don’t usually leave bad comments due to one food stall but the Conny’s bulgogi at Pakuranga Night Market is so BAD! My definition of BAD does not come from the taste of the food but the moral things they do with their food. I went and bought the food at Conny’s bulgogi (there are usually 2 korean stalls and my usual-to-go one was not there yesterday so I decided to give this stall a try). My rating for this stall is 0, not even worth 1. My order was 1 box of 1 meat (chilly honey chicken) $14 and 1 small box of glass noodle $8. I was charged $23 instead of $22 !!??? I only realized that i was overcharged when i check my bank account for their stall name so thay i can write this review. Most importantly, the main reason i gave it 0 rating and spend my time writing this long review is that the box of chicken has got absolutely NO chicken in it at all. All the pieces in the box which look like chicken are all made of clumps of flour! I can understand if there are a few pieces since they need to make profit in this high inflation period but honestly my whole box was full of flour. Wanna check the legitimacy of this store? Try...

I have removed two stars from a really enjoyable experience (atmosphere, food, general friendliness) for the following reasons: The Korean restaurant that serves beef, lamb and pork put frozen lamb into the cooked stew. Also the water that went into the beef stew looked dirty/came out of a dirty bowl. One of the Chinese buffet style restaurants served the most vile food (yellow market sign). The rice was not cooked properly and then fried until burnt. The noodles also taste burnt. The flavours were no good The banofee desert at $10 (which was extortionate) had far too much cream and not nearly enough toffee sauce. The atmosphere is mostly great. Only let down by the food from a few stalls and people reserving tables for themselves and refusing to share when there are gaps. Selfish people, you know who you are!

What was really enjoyable: Pork buns at they $2 each stall. They also serve nice dumpling type food - with prawns on top. Chick-n-run Korean chicken and rice. The best!!! Doughnuts near the entrance Pineapple cake at a...