Att Cafe

This is a reliably good Chinese staple, so don’t be put off by the outward style of things. I’ve been here off and on for many years. Try their boiled chicken (or soy chicken) drumsticks on rice (I prefer the former without sauce on the chicken but sauce for the rice). The sides look fast-​cooked to westerners on first glance, but they’re not – it’s fluffy steamed egg and spicy shredded potato. Also good is the shredded chicken soup and BBQ veggies (potato and garlic are my favourites – the cauliflower and broccoli are good but tend to be over-​salted). The lamb skewers, though a tad fatty to overly diet conscious westerners (even though that’s how they’re supposed to be, and it’s not as fatty as, say, Kung-​Fu noodle’s skewers in Balmoral), are really tasty and can hit the spot on a cold night (or any night). I’ve heard that the lamb skewers taste just like the ones from Beijing, too – when they used to be good, that is (now I’ve been told that Beijing skewers are in decline); this report comes from a true born-​and-​raised Beijinger. ATT Café also does delivery takeaway everywhere in town – the boss dons his fancy helmet and warm clothes and hits the street, rain, shine, or gale-​force winds. Nice! ATT’s dumplings could be better (and their wanton soup, too). But you can’t get everything! :) Update: there’s free WiFi here! That lets you work inside after a meal and sample their pearl tea late into the night; so it’s a great venue for students, given its proximity to UoA and AUT.