Cafe Ditto is known above all for its matcha, especially the earl grey matcha and matcha latte, alongside chocolate chip cookies and Thai milk tea. The space is calm, warm and thoughtfully designed, perfect for a slow coffee or catch-up, with a collection of books to browse.
Cafe Ditto keeps things simple and sociable. The motto running through everything — meet, eat, repeat — says most of it: this is a walk-in, order-at-the-counter kind of place turning out bold, vibrant South-meets-East Asian street food with a Kiwi twist. No bookings, no fuss, just fresh food, a serious drinks list and a room that fills with regulars.
What anchors the menu is a stubbornly local pantry. Ditto works with fresh New Zealand ingredients, chooses seasonal produce where it can, sources sustainable and fair-trade products and counts community connections among the priorities. The flavours roam across Asia, but the raw materials taste of here.
The bao buns are the signature move: one large, fluffy steamed bun, a style the menu happily explains comes from Northern China. They come six ways. Feathered stacks buttermilk fried chicken with pickled red onion; Porky layers slow-cooked pork belly with crackle; Ocean uses fresh market fish with capers; Breaky hides breakfast in a bun with bacon, hash brown and egg; Toufie is the vegetarian option, crispy tofu with shiitake and beetroot relish; and Bambi might be the most local dish in the room — Fiordland wild venison with silver beet, mung beans and peanuts.
Sushi bowls — chirashi, the traditional Japanese 'scattered' sushi served in a bowl — arrive topped with chashu pork belly, karaage chicken, spicy raw tuna or crispy tofu, most flagged dairy- and gluten-free, with a cauliflower rice swap for anyone who wants it. Around them sit a Japanese crispy katsu chicken meal with slaw and basmati rice; beef lomi, a Filipino-inspired noodle broth with rice noodles and mung beans; lumpiang Shanghai, crispy Filipino pork spring rolls; and a Japanese slaw that can be upsized with karaage, tuna or tofu.
Comfort food has a place too. Loaded fries come Vietnamese-style with roasted peanuts and chilli, poutine-style with house gravy and cottage cheese, or as the kimchi-topped Kim Grass — and any of them can take added pork, chicken or tofu. Plain fries with house seasoning, garlic-and-sriracha tofu chips, prawn crackers, pork crackle and edamame fill the edges of the menu, and a weekly specials board keeps regulars on their toes.
The drinks list reads like a small tour of New Zealand. Reds run from a juicy Central Otago Pinot Noir to a Hawkes Bay Syrah and a Bordeaux-style Gimblett Gravels blend; whites cover a mineral Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, an aromatic Otago Pinot Gris and a buttery Hawkes Bay Chardonnay, with a dry Central Otago rosé alongside. Sparkling wine comes in 200ml bottles, spirits pour at standard and top-shelf prices, and the beer fridge is bottles and cans only — no tap — stocked with Sawmill, b.effect and Panhead alongside Asahi, Tiger and Corona.
More curious orders include an Awa sparkling sake with apple and pear, brewed in Queenstown by Zenkuro with a little help from Altitude Brewing, plus ciders, an alcoholic ginger beer and a shelf of low- and non-alcoholic options. Coffee stretches from flat whites and macchiatos to iced matcha and a Vietnamese coffee that takes a patient ten minutes to filter, with vanilla, caramel and hazelnut syrups and almond, oat, coconut or soy milk on request. Loose-leaf tea, kombucha, Karma soft drinks and juices cover the rest.
Come in, order at the counter and pay as you order — a quirky table paddle marks your spot and the food finds you. Families get plenty of space, and furry friends are welcome on the courtyard. Everything on the menu can be taken away, ordered in person or online, for nights on the sofa. Dietary needs are marked across the menu — vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free — and the team asks you to flag allergies first, since the kitchen handles allergen foods and wants to keep cross-contamination out of the picture. Gift vouchers are available in store.
In summer the room gets busy — first in, first served — so come early, settle in, and follow the motto: meet, eat, repeat.