Hamilton spent a long time being unfairly dismissed as a place to eat. That stopped being true somewhere around the last decade, largely because a young city with a university and a lot of new arrivals eventually demands better.
Where the city eats
Victoria Street
The main spine, running parallel to the river. Restaurants, bars and cafés along most of its length, and the part of town that feels most like a city in the evening.
Hood and Hamilton East
Smaller, scruffier and more interesting. The university end brings cheap and good Asian food; the character streets bring the neighbourhood cafés.
The riverside
A handful of places positioned to make the most of the water, which the city took decades to think of doing.
Cambridge
Twenty-five minutes away and worth the drive — a main street of cafés, restaurants and delis that punches well above a town of its size.
Raglan
Forty-five minutes west. Fish and chips on the wharf, a couple of very good cafés, and the best coffee-with-a-view in the region.
The markets
Hamilton’s farmers market runs weekly and pulls produce in from some of the most productive farmland in the country. Cambridge and Raglan run their own.
The Gardens
Hamilton Gardens deserves its own paragraph, because it is one of the best things in the region and visitors never expect it. A series of enclosed themed gardens — Italian, Japanese, Indian, Māori, and a good deal more — free to enter and busy year-round. It hosts an arts festival each summer, and most residents end up taking every visitor there.
The everyday shop
Supermarkets
All the major chains, with the largest stores in the northern and western suburbs. Prices are among the more reasonable in the country — you are surrounded by the farms.
Asian groceries
Several well-stocked stores near the university and in the centre, serving Hamilton’s large international student population.
Furnishing a house
The usual big-box retailers cluster around Te Rapa in the north. For second-hand, the region’s small towns are a better hunting ground than the city.
Auckland when you need it
Ninety minutes for the things Hamilton does not have. Most people do this a few times a year rather than monthly.
Culture and the everyday
The Waikato Museum and the ArtsPost galleries sit by the river. There is a good theatre, a well-used events centre and a regional stadium. The university brings talks, music and a steady flow of people through the city, and Cambridge and Raglan both run arts scenes out of proportion to their size.
It is not Wellington. But the comparison is not Wellington — it is what you can afford, and what is within ninety minutes.
Where the region eats
Victoria Street & the centre
Hamilton’s main strip, and better than its reputation — a run of restaurants, bars and cafés that has improved markedly, with the river and the Waikato Museum at one end.
Hamilton East
The university side of the river. Grey Street has a village feel, good coffee and a mix of small restaurants, and it is where a lot of locals eat.
Cambridge
Twenty minutes east and disproportionately good — tree-lined streets, a busy high street, delis, bakeries and a couple of destination restaurants.
Raglan
Surf-town food. Cafés, a strong bakery culture, casual places on the main street, and the Saturday market. Worth the forty-five minutes.
The markets
Hamilton Farmers’ Market on Sunday, plus roadside stalls and gate sales across the region. Being in the middle of the country’s richest farmland shows.
The supermarkets
Pak’nSave for the cheap main shop, Woolworths for online ordering and delivery, New World for fresh and specialty. Four Square in the smaller towns.
A few practical notes
Finding what you grew up with. Hamilton has a good range — the student population and a long-established migrant community mean South Asian, East Asian and Middle Eastern grocers are all here.
Ask the community groups. People share sources readily, and it is faster than hunting supermarket shelves.
Bring reusable bags. Single-use plastic bags are banned nationwide.
The short version
A city that eats considerably better than its reputation, a garden that would be famous anywhere else, and Auckland ninety minutes away for the rest.
