In partnership with 
Overview
Auckland Restaurant Month returns for its sixth outing this August with more than 100 participating restaurants and upwards of 25 special foodie events around the central city.
As well as returning favourites like free-wheeling feast Dinner by Bike, family friendly street food festival Street Eats and the collaborative Chef Dining Series, the month has over 100 special menus on offer showcasing the city's ever-evolving restaurant scene and giving visiting diners and residents alike an opportunity to sample brand new and distinctly 'Auckland' dishes, without breaking the bank.
We've rounded up ten of our favourite reasons from over 100 dining offers this year.
Ortolana
Garden-to-plate bistro Ortolana is a must for anyone looking to indulge in a fresh and vibrant meal in the inner city. This Restaurant Month, the Britomart establishment is offering a two-course dinner or lunch for $25. The menu includes beef short rib with agnolotti and mustard, organic chicken cotoletta with lemon and kale, and your choice of gelato on a stick to finish.
Federal Delicatessen
Another option that isn't going to break the bank and will leave your taste buds hanging off the edge of their seat is Fed Deli's two-course set dinner or lunch for $25. In true Al Brown style, the menu is heartwarming and straightforward, led by a quarter spit-roast chicken with potato and gravy and coleslaw. The choice of pumpkin, banana and toffee or lemon meringue pie is yours for dessert. If you're still yearning for more, Fed's poutine is a life changer. Get a large.
Scarecrow
Urban farmer's market Scarecrow are big advocates of locally-sourced ingredients and produce. Add in sustainable food chef Ben Barton and you've got one hell ova combination. Each evening during Restaurant Month, Barton will compare and contrast farmed and wild kingfish across two courses, with the menu changing day by day. Example preparations include: blow torched market fish with butter and ponzu and citrus-cured ceviche with smoked red onion, chilli, coriander konbu cure and olive oil marinade.
Cassia
Contemporary Indian restaurant Cassia has been on everyone's lips since taking out Grand Prize at this year's Metro Restaurant of the Year Awards. And there's no better time to visit than Restaurant Month. Throughout August diners will get to indulge in a full six-course degustation for $90. Chef Sid Sahrawat is keeping finer details of the menu under wraps but has said it will include a rotating selection of signature dishes as well as new items designed especially for Restaurant Month.
Ebisu
You won't find cabinet sushi and limp edamame at Ebisu; the Japanese restaurant offers enhanced versions of the fresh cuisine. For this Restaurant Month's special $55 menu, the kitchen will be pumping out special dishes like Angus beef tataki with black truffle, free-range karaage chicken and miso glazed warehou. A four-course vegetarian menu is also on the bill for $40, including options like miso glazed eggplant, mixed vegetable tempura and yuzu sorbet.
Besos Latinos
Aside from their boisterous long lunch, Brazilian restaurant Besos Latinos will be serving up a highlights list of Latin American cuisine. The five-course tapas-style menu includes staples like corn chips and dips and a cheese quesadilla to Argentinian empanadas, homemade soft tortilla tacos, chargrilled Mexican steak and a grilled vegetable salad.
Meat Fish Wine
With Restaurant Month falling within the opening weeks of Meat Fish Wine, you can rest assured they'll be pulling out all the stops to impress. The European bistro have promised a two-course menu for $40 across dinner or lunch. Alluring options include the Ora salmon with beets, mizuna and puffed tapioca, duck egg pasta with pumpkin and pancetta crumbs and brioche doughnuts with cinnamon sugar. Boasted as a wine lover's mecca, liquid suggestions come with every section of the menu. And if none of them stack up, they have a further 500 varieties behind the bar to choose from.
Clooney
This one is both for vegetarians and those looking for an absolute fine dining bargain. Perhaps one of the most generous offers of Restaurant Month, first-rate restaurant Clooney are serving up a seven-course vegetarian degustation for just $80. The set menu created by Tony Stewart and Desmond Harris includes: fermented tomato with gooseberry, gnudi with sweet and sour carrot, rye with shiitake and sweetcorn and burnt buffalo milk with Valhrona.
Ima Cuisine
You can expect to be bursting from the seams when you leave Fort Street institution, Ima. Their three-course Middle Eastern dinner includes a mezze of dips, pickles and falafel, main meal choices of slow braised Lebanese lamb shoulder or halloumi, plus the choice of three desserts and Ima's obligatory selection of sides. It's cultural comfort food like no other.
Misters Real Food
Inner city cafe Misters serve up honest whole food, without the wrath of gluten, dairy and spray. Only open during traditional work hours, the eatery is serving up a quick and easy two-course lunch for $25 this Restaurant Month. Those around for lunch and nine-to-fivers will be able to break up their day with the choice of coconut curry with confit pork belly, grilled king prawn or chicken. All served with a side of cauliflower rice, pickled roots, slaw and lime. To finish, the intriguingly titled cacao and honeycomb bomb awaits.
Auckland Restaurant Month 2016 takes place from August 1 - 31. Click here for more information.
