Celebrities have raved about them, politicians have bulk-ordered them, local people line up and tourists drive hours for them. The legendary pāua pie – a flaky pie filled with a New Zealand seafood delicacy – is enticing crowds to a remote cafe on the isolated East Coast.
The savoury pie may be one of the closest things New Zealand has to a national dish. From the basic mince pie found in corner stores and petrol stations to the more inventive gourmet pies offered in cafes and fine dining restaurants, wherever you go, there are pies.
But one pie, made at Cafe 35 on the shores of Tokomaru Bay, is standing out from the crowd. The NZ$12 (£5) pie, a light pastry filled with minced pāua – a unique New Zealand variety of black foot abalone (an edible sea snail) – in a creamy spiced sauce has gained cult status, drawing customers to the sleepy beach community, nearly 60 miles (100km) up the coast from the nearest city, Gisborne.
The cafe sells roughly 25,000 a year, and during summer, up to 350 a day, says Sue Clarke, who runs the cafe with her partner, Peter Cunningham. Not bad for a settlement with a population of 500.
“It can be nuts. We have people outside the door, we’re carrying them as quickly as we can make them, and people are grabbing them off the tray before we can even put them out.”
Pāua is treasured not only for its meat, but for its iridescent shell that shimmers blue, purple and green, and which has long been used in Māori art and adornments.
Customers frequently reminisce to the owners about their childhoods spent collecting pāua – something that has become harder to do with dwindling stocks. Demand for the delicacy and shifts in ocean ecosystems, brought about by climate change and increased ocean sediment in the area, following 2023’s Cyclone Gabrielle, is likely to have contributed to depleting numbers.
“[Pāua pie] does evoke a lot of emotion in people. It reminds them of their childhood; it’s nostalgic but it’s also rich and tasty,” Clarke says.
The former model Rachel Hunter has plugged the pie on social media, while the former prime minister Jacinda Ardern and the veteran broadcaster John Campbell have both stopped in for a taste, Clarke says. In 2022, the then Labour minister Kiri Allan ordered 70 of the Cafe’s pāua and pork belly pies to parliament to feed staff during the lengthy budget day announcements.
“That was a real highlight,” Clarke says. “It was so much fun getting down there on the plane and carrying these crates of pies … They went down a treat with the politicians.”
But it is everyday New Zealanders helping spread the word, posting their pāua pie experiences on social media, blogging about them and leaving glowing reviews online. The cafe does not advertise and its popularity relies almost entirely on word of mouth, Clarke says.
The pie is “black gold wrapped in pastry” and worth an “11/10” rating, according to one Tripadvisor reviewer. “On the coast for a holiday and when we heard there’s pāua pie we thought … why would you waste it in a pie? Well shut the front door, it is freaking yum,” they said.
Pāua pies have started appearing at various cafes around the country, but reviews on Facebook regularly herald Cafe 35’s as “the best pāua pie in the land” and a must-try – even if it means driving hours around the rugged East Cape to get it.
Pies are an iconic New Zealand dish and “the ultimate fast food”, Clarke says, adding she is not surprised the cafe’s unusual take on the classic has become so popular.
“There’s no pretence with our pies. It’s about people coming in, kicking their gumboots off, and enjoying the pie.”
