Duck Duck Goose is a family-run Vietnamese and Indonesian cafe, open since June 2017 with a strong community focus. As the family puts it, food and drinks are personal, and everything served — from fragrant broths and homemade satay babi to handcrafted breads and baked goods — is made with care, tradition and a deep love for sharing good food.
The cafe has become a gathering place for its local community, with the family's sons often helping out and getting to know regulars on weekends, and many local and international athletes stopping by to refuel. Duck Duck Goose's Vietnamese banh mi received a Top 100 Iconic Eats Auckland award, and the business's owner was nominated for Young Businessperson of the Year at the Business North Harbour Excellence Awards 2023.
Whether it's a hearty breakfast, a flavourful lunch, or just a coffee and a chat, Duck Duck Goose welcomes guests at their table, offering dine-in, reservations and online ordering.
Duck Duck Goose has been serving its family's take on Vietnamese and Indonesian cooking since it first opened its doors in June 2017, built around a simple idea: food and drinks are personal, and you are what you eat.
From day one, Duck Duck Goose has been about more than just the food — it's the community focus that's helped the cafe find its identity. Everything served, from fragrant broths to homemade satay babi and handcrafted breads, is made with care, tradition and a deep love for sharing good food. On weekends, you'll find the family's sons running food and getting to know regulars, and the cafe has become enough of a local fixture that local and international athletes stop by to refuel on its nourishing dishes.
Duck Duck Goose's Vietnamese Banh Mi, made with housemade bread, pate, mayonnaise, cucumber, herbs and pickle, won a Top 100 Iconic Eats Auckland award — a dish the cafe credits with putting it on Auckland's food map. For something richer, the XO Banh Mi swaps in a housemade XO sauce alongside a choice of crispy soft shell crab or five spice duck.
Alongside its Vietnamese dishes, Duck Duck Goose serves a genuine spread of Indonesian cooking. Madam Lili Satay Babi is a heritage family recipe of pork skewers with pork crackling and a sweet soy onion chilli sauce, while The Ultimate Nasi Campur Babi brings together crispy pork belly, a five-spice pork roll, charsiu pork, fried pork and prawn meatballs, and a pork skewer with housemade sambal. Nasi Goreng, in chicken or seafood versions, and Nasi Rendang — beef braised in housemade rendang spices — round out the Indonesian side of the menu.
Duck Duck Goose's Vietnamese Pho is built on a homemade aromatic beef bone broth, and the Housemade Curry follows what's described as Grandma's own recipe. Most of the protein-based dishes, including the pho, salad and curry, let you choose between lemongrass chicken, beef or pork, so regulars can build the version they like best.
Beyond the Vietnamese and Indonesian specialities, Duck Duck Goose runs a set of classic café breakfast dishes too, including a Fried Chicken French Toast finished with mascarpone and maple syrup, and an Oven Baked Omelette served with housemade garlic bread. The Vietnamese Big Breakfast brings the two worlds together, with beef steak, sausages and fried eggs finished with housemade XO sauce.
For a faster meal, the Lunch Express Deal comes served with vegetable and rice, with protein choices spanning lemongrass chicken, beef brisket, tofu, crispy spicy chicken, pork belly, prawn cutlet, salt and pepper squid, or chicken stir fry in satay sauce — with a coffee add-on option alongside it.
Duck Duck Goose takes reservations and also offers online ordering for those who'd rather eat at home. The cafe keeps in touch with customers through Facebook and Instagram.
Between an award-winning banh mi, heritage family recipes like the Madam Lili Satay Babi, and a genuinely warm, community-focused atmosphere, Duck Duck Goose offers something that goes well beyond a standard café menu — a family's own flavours of home, shared one dish at a time.