Cuisine Good Food Guide

Cuisine describes the Good Food Guide as a national view of New Zealand dining, spanning regional destinations, neighborhood favorites, metropolitan restaurants, and fine dining. The 2026 edition was selected by a national assessment team of writers, critics, chefs, and hospitality professionals led by Kerry Tyack. Cuisine launches the guide through its annual Good Food Awards, which also announce category winners and hat allocations. The guide is an editorial guide, not a numeric ranking.

The Cuisine Good Food Guide provides a nationwide assessment with destination entries, hats, and category awards.

Cuisine has covered New Zealand food and drink for decades and positions the Good Food Guide as a national guide to dining experiences across the country. The guide covers restaurants across multiple styles and regions for local and international diners, rather than concentrating on a single city or cuisine.

For the 2026 edition, Cuisine says a national assessment team of food-and-beverage writers, critics, chefs, and hospitality professionals, led by Kerry Tyack, assessed dining experiences around New Zealand. The publisher highlights consistency, innovation, and satisfaction, then uses the annual Good Food Awards to recognize category winners and allocate one, two, or three hats. Cuisine also notes that some restaurants are ineligible during the judging period after closures, reformats, moves, or chef changes.

The guide's value is its national lens: more than 400 venues in the 2026 edition represent dining destinations from small regional rooms to established fine-dining restaurants. Hats and category awards are additional distinctions within that broader guide, not a single linear ranking.