Hello Beasty is a New Zealand modern-fusion restaurant located in Viaduct Harbour, Auckland. Stuart Rogan and his team serve contemporary NZ cuisine with Japanese, Korean and some Chinese influences in a relaxed setting on Auckland
Set on Customs Street West in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour, Hello Beasty is a restaurant that doesn't take itself too seriously — until the food arrives. The name is cheeky; the menu is the team's earnest take on contemporary New Zealand fusion, inspired by what they call the warmth, freshness and 'delicious kind of complicated simplicity' of the cuisines of Japan, Korea and China. Everything is designed for sharing, so the table fills quickly and stays interesting from the first snack to the last donut.
The restaurant has, as the team tells it, been a long time in the making. Chef Stuart Rogan started cooking professionally in 1998, when he was just 15. Once he started, he didn't stop: he travelled and cooked his way around the world, from a grand Michelin-star hotel to a garage with six tables — and everywhere he went, he took his whites and his knives. He made his way by food, and that restless, well-travelled energy is written all over this menu.
Start with snacks: edamame with chilli and moromi miso, nashi pear kimchi with whipped cashew, shokupan milk bread with confit garlic and miso brown butter, and the kitchen's KFC — Korean fried cauliflower in a spicy gochujang glaze. Raw and cold plates run from Ruakaka kingfish with green chilli, coconut and Thai basil to a sashimi selection of Big Glory Bay salmon, market tuna and charred jalapeño kingfish.
From the hibachi comes gochugaru and annatto BBQ chicken with roasted sesame, yuzu and a pumpkin and sunflower seed crunch. Bigger plates bring the heft: slow-cooked Coastal lamb shoulder in red chilli and Sichuan sauce, wok-fried black pepper eye-fillet, roasted hapuka over South Island scampi and prawn bisque, chilli Sichuan noodles with wok-fried pork mince, and okonomiyaki with kewpie and bonito furikake. Dumpling people are looked after too — pork and ginger potstickers, spiced tofu and savoy cabbage dumplings, and nikuman sticky beef cheek buns. Save room for kkwabaegi twisted donuts with miso buttermilk caramel.
The bar keeps pace: a Bloody Kimchi built on vodka and the house kimchi blend, a yuzu-shu spritz, Sapporo and local craft beer on tap, New Zealand-brewed sake, umeshu and a tight by-the-glass wine list.
If choosing feels like too much work, the chef's selection 'feed me' menus come in two tiers — one running from snack to dessert, the other adding the sashimi selection, crispy soft-shell crab and hibachi chicken. Add-ons include fresh market oysters by the dozen, Sichuan tuna tartare and the bao. The kitchen can customise for dietary requirements and favourites, and the menus suit tables of two or more — with a dedicated group-dining format for parties of 8+, complete with champagne magnum options for celebrations.
A dedicated vegetarian and no-added-gluten menu is published alongside the main list, with dishes marked suitable for coeliacs or adjustable to suit, and some adaptable for vegans. Be upfront about allergies: the kitchen contains gluten, soy and other allergens, and while the team will always try to accommodate, they can't guarantee against cross-contamination.
Hello Beasty opens from 11am to 11pm, seven days a week, and takes bookings through its website, with a separate process for groups of 8+. Menus change with the seasons and are subject to change without notice, so it's worth checking the latest version before you go — and note that credit card and contactless payments carry a small surcharge. Whether it's a long harbourside grazing session or a full feed-me feast, come hungry and share widely.