Best Auckland · Things To Do · Food & Drink
Father’s Day in Auckland
Image supplied by Esther
Quick Guide — Before You Go
Sunday 6 September
Most kitchens are taking bookings now. The good ones go first. A week out is already late.
Book by Saturday night
The $1 Dad ticket at Kelly Tarlton’s has to be booked online at least a day ahead, so Sunday means booking before 11.59pm on Saturday.
Free Option
Urbanaut’s mini record fair is free entry, 12–4pm. Beers and burgers on site if you want them.
Father’s Day doesn’t need to be much. A pair of socks, breakfast in bed, the kids making a mess of the kitchen. That’s most of them, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
But some years you want to do a bit more. If you’re anything like me, that tends to mean an experience rather than an object, something you do together, which everyone remembers longer than the thing they unwrapped. And once the family’s grown up and scattered, a lunch out is often the easiest way to get people in the same room, which is usually the actual point.
So this is what’s on in Auckland on the day, and a few things worth giving if a meal isn’t the answer. Some of it books out fast, so the dates matter more than usual this year.
On the Day: Where to Eat
Everything here runs on Sunday 6 September. Bookings are essential everywhere. None of these are walk-in propositions on the busiest lunch of the month.
Bistecca at Esther
WE WENT
Esther’s bistecca night normally only happens on a Tuesday. For Father’s Day they’re moving it to the Sunday, with a complimentary dram of Dalmore 12-Year-Old Sherry Cask Reserve alongside it, poured tableside into a Glencairn. Church Road TOM magnums are open on the day if you want to trade up, and BYO wine is welcome at $30 corkage a bottle.
I’ve eaten at Esther, though not this particular menu. It’s on the ground floor of the QT, and it doesn’t feel like a hotel restaurant. It stands on its own. An open kitchen with a chef at the pass, and when I went there was a whole autumn display, pumpkins and all. The service was warm without being formal, which is rarer than it should be.
The Bunfather at Rooftop at QT
WE WENT
A gourmet burger, bottomless fries, and a Heineken Silver, or a wine, or something soft if he’s driving. The cheapest sit-down option here and the shortest window, so it suits people who want lunch rather than an afternoon.
Same building, top floor. We went up early afternoon, which is when this offer runs, and it’s a proper outdoor terrace with heaters going, so it works in September and not only in February. The harbour and the North Shore sit right in front of you, from a seat rather than through a window.
We didn’t try the burger, so that part is on the menu’s word rather than ours. We went to see whether the space was worth the trip up, and it is.
Sunday Roast at The CUT
WE WENT
It’s Rydges’ restaurant, on Federal Street. Here’s what they’re doing for the day.
Twelve-hour slow-cooked lamb shoulder with smoked pumpkin purée, crushed peas, spinach and a rosemary jus, finished with a harissa rub. A glass of house wine, beer or Monteith’s is included. It’s built for a whole family around a table rather than two people at lunch.
We went in to look at the room rather than to eat. It’s smarter than a pub without being stiff about it: white tables and navy napkins, but timber chairs and banquette seating rather than anything hushed, and it feels warm rather than formal.
Urbanaut Brewing
WE WENT
Their Father’s Day setup looks like the most relaxed of the lot: a mini record fair from noon, free entry, brewery tours at 1pm and 3pm, and Burgernaut doing smashburgers. They’ve mentioned a Father’s Day special but haven’t announced what it is yet, so keep an eye on their Instagram.
We’ve been. It’s a working brewery, so you’re drinking beside the tanks rather than in a room built to look like one, and the smash burger is one of the best I’ve had in a long time.
Worth knowing it’s a real production floor, so there’s some machine noise depending on where they are in the brew. It didn’t spoil it for me and there’s good music on, but if there’s some when you arrive, the quieter end is near the front stairwell.
Parking is at the back entrance, 2B Western Springs Road.
Raw and Roast at Bivacco
WE WENT
Not a Father’s Day set menu. This is what Bivacco do every Sunday, a buffet lunch on the waterfront. I wrote about it when it ran as the Winter Feast; the format’s the same, with an optional seafood tower now on top of the usual spread. Premium seafood, $150.
BBQ for Father’s Day at Auckland Zoo
BOOKINGS CLOSED
Bookings for this closed on 30 August. It’s here so you don’t spend an afternoon trying.
A BBQ lunch with a choice of two boards, one for the carnivore and one for the herbivore, and a separate plate for younger ones. Zoo entry is included in the ticket price, which makes it better value than it first looks: this is a whole day out rather than a lunch, with the gardens, the tracks and the Dinosaur Discovery Track to fill the rest of it. Members get 15% off with ID.
I haven’t done the BBQ itself, but the zoo is the zoo and the Old Elephant House is a good room.
Give It Instead
If lunch is booked out, or if he’d genuinely rather be doing something than sitting down, an experience booked for another date is the better present. These aren’t tied to the 6th. You hand over the booking on the day and go whenever suits.
Titanic: The Human Story
WE WENT
Just opened in the old Smith & Caughey’s building on Queen Street, and I went on the opening night. More than 200 original artefacts: letters, personal belongings, things people had on them. It’s built around the passengers rather than the ship. There are recreations of the interiors too, first class through to steerage. Around 80-90 minutes, from $40, and it’s the only New Zealand season. For a history-minded dad it’s the best thing in town right now.
It’s a moving exhibition. It gives you a real sense of the people on board: their lives, and what they were hoping for in the new world.
Tickets were still available for the Sunday when I checked.
Eden Park: Stadium Tour
On the list
I went to Eden Park recently to watch Chelsea FC Women play Auckland FC, and it was terrific. The scale of the place, the energy, all of it. It made me want to go back and see it properly, which is what the tours are for. You go through the players’ tunnel and out into an empty stadium, which I’d imagine is a very different feeling from a full one on match day. That one’s still on my list.
Their Father’s Day tour has sold out already, and quickly. I’m told it’ll be bigger next year on the strength of this one, so worth watching for around the middle of the year. In the meantime the standard stadium tour and the rooftop tour both run year-round.
Blacksmithing at MOTAT
On the list
A new offering, and an unusual one. MOTAT has opened its forge to the public for the first time. Three hours with Caden Bostic, one of a very small number of practising blacksmiths in New Zealand, learning to heat, shape, join and finish metal, and going home with something you made yourself. No experience needed.
Strictly four people per workshop, so it’s about as exclusive as anything gets in this city. Sixteen and over only, which makes it a present for him rather than something to do with the kids in tow.
It’s $300, which makes it far and away the most expensive thing in this guide, which is worth saying plainly rather than burying. Whether that’s steep depends on what you make of three hours of one-to-four tuition from a specialist and an object you keep. It isn’t a casual gift.
The dates all fall after Father’s Day, on 20 September, 4 October, 18 October and 15 November, which suits the format: you hand it over on the 6th and he goes a fortnight later. It runs at MOTAT’s Great North Road site, not the Motions Road one.
If $300 isn’t the plan, the same museum is one of the cheapest mornings in Auckland. General admission is $19 for an adult and $10 for a child, or $45 for a family pass, and it covers both MOTAT sites. The Aviation Hall is the one to aim for, a hangar of aircraft and helicopters at the Motions Road end. SuperGold cardholders get in free, which is worth knowing if it’s grandad’s day too.
All Blacks Experience
On the list
At SkyCity, roughly 60–90 minutes, and the retail store at the end makes it easy for gifting: jerseys, caps, balls. Built around the haka, stories from All Blacks and Black Ferns, and interactive skills zones, and pitched wider than rugby: identity, leadership, teamwork.
I’m going in September and will update you.
Tickets were still available for the 6th when I checked, so this works as a gift or as the day itself.
Zeiss Telescope Experience
WE WENT
This one’s for the nerdy dads, and I mean that with total affection. The Zeiss is Stardome’s telescope, and you get it in a group of ten, with someone genuinely passionate about the subject talking you through the sky before you look through it yourself. I’ve written about what it’s actually like in more detail.
Sessions were still showing on Saturday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 9pm when I checked, so this one can be the day itself rather than a voucher.
Father’s Day at Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s
On the list
Dads, stepdads, grandads, uncles, father figures and primary caregivers get in for $1 alongside a full-price adult or child ticket. It runs from Father’s Day through to Thursday 10 September, so it doesn’t have to be the Sunday.
The catch is that it’s online only and has to be booked at least a day ahead. For Father’s Day itself that means booking before 11.59pm on Saturday. One $1 ticket per transaction, and general admission only.
I haven’t been yet, and it’s the one on this list I’m most keen to go and see for myself.
The Details
When
Father’s Day is Sunday 6 September 2026.
Bistecca at Esther
12–8.30pm, from $59pp. Dalmore 12-Year-Old dram included. BYO wine welcome, $30 corkage. Bookings essential.
The Bunfather at Rooftop at QT
12–3pm, from $39pp. Burger, Heineken Silver or alternative, bottomless fries. Bookings essential, Ts&Cs apply.
Sunday Roast at The CUT
From 12pm, from $50pp. Includes a glass of house wine, beer or Monteith’s. Bookings essential.
Urbanaut
12–7.30pm, last kitchen orders 7pm. Mini record fair 12–4pm, free entry. Brewery tours 1pm and 3pm, booked separately.
Raw and Roast at Bivacco
115 Customs Street West, Auckland CBD. Buffet lunch every Sunday, with an optional seafood tower at $150.
BBQ for Father’s Day at Auckland Zoo
Father’s Day BBQ. Saturday 5 September, 12pm. Sunday 6 September, 11am, 1pm and 3pm. The 1pm sitting is sold out. $73 adult, $33 child (4–14 years). Zoo entry included in the ticket price. Auckland Zoo Members 15% off with valid ID. Two BBQ boards to choose from plus a children’s plate. Bookings closed on 30 August.
Titanic: The Human Story
Smith & Caughey’s Building, 253-261 Queen Street. From $40 adult, $32 child. 80-90 minutes.
Eden Park: Stadium Tour
Reimers Ave, Kingsland. Stadium and rooftop tours run year-round. Concession $25. edenpark.co.nz
Blacksmithing at MOTAT
Introduction to Blacksmithing workshop in the MOTAT forge, led by blacksmith Caden Bostic. Three hours, no experience required. Strictly four people per workshop. 16 years and over only. $300. Dates: Sunday 20 September, 4 October, 18 October and 15 November. MOTAT Great North Road site. Terms and conditions on the MOTAT site.
All Blacks Experience
SkyCity precinct. Guided, approximately 60–90 minutes. Student and senior $49.
Zeiss Telescope Experience
Small-group sessions at the Zeiss telescope, Stardome Observatory, One Tree Hill.
Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s
Father’s Day $1 Dad offer. Sunday 6 to Thursday 10 September. Fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, uncles, father figures and primary caregivers get in for $1 alongside a full-priced adult or child ticket. Online only, not valid on walk-up, and booked at least one day in advance, so any day’s visit has to be booked by 11.59pm the night before. One $1 Dad ticket per transaction. Valid on general admission tickets only, not combos or experiences.
