Awaawaroa Bay is a restaurant on Waiheke Island, Auckland, holding a 4.9 rating on Google. Island restaurants live by the seasons and the ferry timetable: summer weekends bring a tide of day-trippers across from Auckland, so tables book out well ahead, while a midweek winter visit is a calmer affair. The best island kitchens keep their menus close to their surroundings — fish landed that morning, produce from local growers and, on Waiheke, wine from the vineyards down the road. It pays to confirm booking arrangements before you cross, and to ask what is freshest rather than ordering from habit. Regulars time their visits around the light, because a waterside table at golden hour is half the appeal of dining by a bay. Set in the Waiheke bay that gives it its name, Awaawaroa Bay makes an easy case for letting island time take over.