‘Feeding Fire in Belly’ Drives Exploration of Distant Lands

Days 58-59, 2026 Grand World Voyage

Tuesday and Wednesday, March 3-4, 2026; Auckland, New Zealand – the Food Edition.

I just had perhaps a Top 10 meal ever. Then I did it again.

Chef Ben Bayly may describe his restuarant Ahi the best:

“The te reo Māori word ‘Ahi’ means ‘Fire’. The open kitchen is centered around the historic wood-fired hearth. The cooking connection is obvious but, for us, Ahi also speaks of the fire in our bellies to deliver the best New Zealand kai in the most authentic way.”

Ahi came highly recommended by Bernard Jang, our recent guest chef, and we felt fortunate to snag a lunch table for four on our first of two days here. We didn’t even check the menu first, trusting completely Chef Jang after his stellar special dinner onboard a few nights ago.

Friends Martha and Bob joined my sister Elaine and me at the third-floor restaurant overlooking the Volendam.

To start, Elaine opted for a local beer, but the rest of us were intrigued by the gin drinks, some made with Ahi’s own gin. My Pink Pony Club won for beauty, with its perfect pale violet flower floating over the gin, vodka, strawberry, hibiscus, lemon and aquafaba foam. A tasty mix of sweet and sour. Martha and Bob raved over their martinis.

Our patient waitress walked us through the menu. Snacks offer a bite or two, and she encouraged us to order multiples for the table. A platter overflowing with rosemary sprigs delivered to the next table caught our eye, and she said the Scampi Corn Dogs had become so popular that the restaurant took them off the menu for a break. But now that we were “in the know,” we could order them.

I was intrigued by the marriage of a corn dog with New Zealand scampi, a crustacean akin to a slim, pink lobster. In this case, the delicious meat is encased in a cornmeal batter and fried – not unlike the famous Fletcher’s Corny Dogs (half a million served annually at the Texas State Fair). The comparison is carried through to Ahi’s “burger sauce,” based on In-N-Out Burger’s famous spread.

Martha might argue that her favorite snack was the Pāua, Maori for abalone, served braised with a pāua emulsion and crispy kumara, or sweet potato. Coming from New England, she knows that abalone harvesting is banned in the United States, and in New Zealand can only be collected by free diving.

Bob and I enjoyed the fresh Te Matuku oysters from Waiheke Island across the bay, served with a garden granita and cider. Elaine and Martha had wild goat tarts with sweet and sour mustard and a hot sauce.

I think we all skipped the starters – larger portions that including choices of salmon, crayfish or fire-roasted leeks with tapenade – in favor of main courses.

I was intrigued by the description of pickled mussels served on steamed fish with a garden puree and kohlrabi, or turnip cabbage. Bob ordered the same.

Elaine chose the lamb from Marlborough on the South Island, served with eggplant and a tomatillo salsa verde. Martha described her wapiti as devine. We assured her it was elk, per our childhood refrain of “hippity, hoppity, here come the wapiti” learned from park rangers in the Rocky Mountains.

By the time our sides came, I wished I had room for more of the incredible crispy agria potatoes with mushroom ketchup. I was amazed at the flavor of the simple potato.

The meal would not have been complete without dessert, so we shared a serving of polenta cake and sweet corn ice cream (yes, it was like eating fresh corn) and a dark chocolate mousse with fire-roasted apricots.

I can’t imagine a better group of foodies to have spent the hours with as we savored the meal. Of course, we didn’t stick with just one drink each – for my second I stuck with gin but chose the garden gimlet with Ahi gin, lime and garden herbs, dotted with herb oil.

Our other sister Eloise has a saying that “when I’m on a cruise ship, money loses all meaning,” usually said as she books another long cruise. I adopted that philosophy as we ordered, aided by my inability to convert N.Z. dollars to U.S. dollars in my head. Surprisingly, our entire bill for four was under $500 US – not cheap, but no more than the four of us would have spent for half-day shore excursions here.

And here’s the kicker:

On Tuesday, I stopped back at Ahi to get a better description of the off-menu scampi corn dog, noticed a two-top table open, and promptly sat down to do it all again!

This time I stuck with starters, but ordered all I wanted, adding sourbread bread with house-cultured butter and poached scampi in butter sauce with crispy wasabi to repeat orders of pāua (remember, abalone) and of course a couple more scampi corn dogs. I planned to order crispy agria potatoes again, but simply didn’t have room. The flower on my Pink Pony Club this time wasn’t as stunning, but that didn’t matter.