Paul McCartney and Beef Teriyaki

I spent most of my life as an ethical vegetarian and only returned to meat around the middle of last year. People often ask me what it felt like to eat my first steak after a 20 year hiatus, and the only parallel experience I can think of is that of a newly liberated gay man enjoying his first ever kiss with a bloke: a strange collection of unfamiliar and discomforting sensations followed by a rush of adrenalin, mild nausea and a guilty curiosity for more.

One More Indian

Some time ago I offered a list of three good Indian vegetarian restaurants in Auckland. Since then I've discovered Bikanervala in Mt Roskill, which I have now visited four times without spotting another white person. It's the sort of cultural island which makes cities like London so cool to eat in and explore, and based on my most recent Google Analytics report, I can safely share its location here without unduly endangering it with gentrification.

Kokako – we'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow

God bless Kokako Cafe for offering a good organic option in the culinary wasteland that is Newmarket. Kokako's coffee is excellent and the service is fun. The food is good too, although I'd like to suggest a couple of changes, and these apply to other cafes as well:

Incredible Indian

I reckon you can judge a restaurant by the respect its menu gives to vegetarians. Making food tasty without the help of meat can be a challenge, but it's the successful meeting of this sort of challenge that justifies charging customers $30 each for a main, so a tasteless eggplant stack simply won't do. Good vegetarian food should be exciting, indulgent and packed with flavour. With this in mind, here are my favourite three Indian vegetarian restaurants in Auckland, in no particular order: