This Rejuvenated Viaduct Hotel Welcomes a New Asian-Fusion Restaurant

Following a two-year upgrade, Auckland waterfront's Copthorne has emerged as the Millennium Hotels and Resorts' contemporary lifestyle spinoff, M Social. The property is the second under the M Social umbrella to open worldwide.

The 190-room hotel has been repurposed for the "modern traveller", equipped with all the state-of-the-art bells and whistles you'd expect from a new property and street art that stamps each floor. It also has one of the longest bars in the city.

The onsite restaurant and bar Beast & Butterflies is a casual all-day dining destination that comes complete with an outdoor terrace overlooking Princes Wharf and Quay Street. The large, 150-seat space is led by chef Scott Gaskin, a 20-year veteran of the hospitality industry who arrives at the property from residencies at Australian restaurants: Dining Room 211, Moo Moo and Ezard.

Asian-fusion is the core theme of the menu with influence coming from global street foods and dishes built around New Zealand's best seafood. Across lunch and dinner diners can expect everything from market oysters to kingfish ceviche, shiitake and tofu gyoza, short rib rendang curry and a 1.1kg rump steak. To wash it all down, a cocktail trolley makes its way around the restaurant during service to craft drinks table-side.

Chief of the drinks department is the oversized Beast & Butterflies Bar. The bar takes up a large chunk of the space and offers a range of classic and signature cocktails and a comprehensive wine list covering all regions of New Zealand and beyond.

Find M Social and Beast & Butterflies at 196-200 Quay Street, Auckland.

Image: Alex Wallace for M Social