New Zealand food is good and has improved considerably since the 1990s. The country's size and climate produce excellent ingredients — lamb, beef, seafood, stone fruit, and some very good wine — and the main cities have developed proper restaurant cultures.
Maori kai (food) is worth seeking out. Hangi is the traditional method: food wrapped and cooked in an earth oven heated by hot stones. The result is slow-cooked meat (chicken, pork, lamb) and root vegetables with a distinctive smoky flavour. Hangi is widely available in Rotorua as part of cultural experiences. Kaimoana (seafood) is central to Maori cooking — green-lipped mussels, paua (abalone), kina (sea urchin), and crayfish are all indigenous to New Zealand waters.
Seafood is a national strength. Green-lipped mussels are cheap, ubiquitous, and good. Bluff oysters from the bottom of the South Island are prized in season (March to August) — briny, plump, and best eaten without fuss. Whitebait fritters are a seasonal delicacy in spring; whitebait here refers to the juvenile form of several native fish species, caught with nets in river estuaries.
Lamb and beef are excellent. New Zealand lamb is grass-fed and widely exported; eating it at the source, simply roasted, is one of the better arguments for visiting the country.
Wine has become a serious export industry. Marlborough produces around 75% of the country's wine and is best known for sauvignon blanc — aromatic, intensely flavoured, and reliably good. Central Otago, around Queenstown and Wanaka, grows outstanding pinot noir at the world's most southerly wine region. Hawke's Bay on the North Island makes good chardonnay and syrah.
Craft beer has had a boom similar to the wine industry. Hop-forward IPAs and pale ales dominate, but there are interesting producers across most styles. Most mid-sized towns now have at least one local brewery.
Coffee culture is serious in New Zealand — arguably more so than anywhere except Australia. The flat white was either invented here or in Australia depending on who you ask. Expect good espresso in any city cafe. Filter coffee is still rare.
The Māori Kai Festival circuit (various locations, various times of year) and the Kāwhia Kai Festival (February) are the best opportunities to eat traditional Maori food in a genuine community context.