Commercial Bay launches its first ever food awards—here’s how to vote for your favourite Harbour Eats and win
There’s a new kind of awards season in town—and this one is delicious.
Commercial Bay has officially launched its inaugural Fork and Fame Awards, a month-long celebration of Harbour Eats, the city’s beloved hawker-style food hall that’s become the unofficial lunchroom of office workers, date-night dwellers, and hangover wanderers alike. From its pretty outlook on Level 2 and open seven days a week, Harbour Eats is a fever dream of flavour—with 25 different vendors slinging everything from bao to burgers, spicy dumplings to sticky desserts. And now? It’s time for the dishes to earn their moment of glory.
Kicking off today, the Fork and Fame Awards are here to spotlight the cult favourites and unexpected hits that keep Aucklanders coming back. Over the next four weeks, six deliciously specific categories will decide which meals deserve the crown. Award categories include Bang for Buck (wallet-friendly, flavour-heavy), Don’t Need Meat (plant-based power moves only), Save Room for Dessert (the ones worth breaking your sugar fast for), Zero Forks Given (the best things to eat with your hands), Don’t Wear White (messy, saucy, shameless indulgence) and Best Date Eats (flirty, shareable, unforgettable).
It’s part food awards, part local love letter, with public voting and a panel of seriously clued-up judges including MasterChef NZ winner and modern Chinese cuisine authority Sam Low; food blogger/lawyer Tabitha Lorck (@fattab); Lazy Susan founder and food writer Anna King-Shahab; and chef Gareth Stewart (of Commercial Bay’s own Advieh). Translation: your lunch might be up for an award, and it’s being judged by people who know a thing or two about a good bite.
Of course, what’s a food competition without a wildcard category or two? Best Foods Mayo and Pic’s Peanut Butter are throwing down their own delicious challenges. These are the very coveted The Golden Peanut Award, judged by Pic’s Peanut Butter founder, Pic Picot and The Mayo ‘Mazing Award, judged by MasterChef grand finalist, Elliot McClymont.
Vendors like Wise Boys, Fatima’s, Loco Bros, and Ben & Jerry’s are getting inventive with special dishes built around these hero ingredients—and you can try them all starting today.
But perhaps the most important opinion? Yours—and this is where you can win big, too. The People’s Choice Award invites diners to cast their vote for their ultimate Harbour Eats dish via QR codes throughout the precinct or online. Every vote is a shot at winning lunch for a year (yes, really—a $5,000 dining voucher), which, let’s be honest, is the kind of prize that’ll make your sad desk salad feel even more tragic.
The winners will be announced from July 21st—but until then, there’s only one thing left to do: bring your appetite.
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