At an upstairs address on Wyndham Street, there’s a little bit of magic happening at the hands of chefs Kyle Street and Jordan Macdonald. The pair has been pushing Auckland’s culinary boundaries with their enticing interpretation of European style yum cha since opening their doors 18 months ago. Hence, they are increasing capacity to offer sittings every half-hour.

The setup —  similar to its Chinese counterpart — involves guests arriving at pre-allocated seating times and plied with trolley after trolley of appetite-whetting delicacies while the kitchen busies itself preparing the mains. But far from dumplings, shumai and salt and pepper squid, the tasty morsels comprise chicken liver parfait, sweetcorn brûlée with blue corn chips, heirloom gazpacho with smoked mussels and many more (subject to change according to the chefs’ whim).

With a new menu in place and demand compelling them to do so, the team at Culprit has decided to expand from what was formerly only three sittings per night, to sittings every 30 minutes with walk-ins welcome. So if you haven’t already tried this contemporary CBD eatery, we suggest you get in line, order yourself a frozen ginger mojito, and let the good times roll.