AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Mekong Baby, the popular Southeast Asian fusion restaurant on Ponsonby Road, has closed after 13 years, with owners Jackie and Marcin Kulak saying the business was no longer financially sustainable after years of mounting pressure.
The couple said they fought to keep the restaurant operating and even sold their family home, putting their money back into the business before eventually accepting that continuing was no longer viable.
The closure affects staff, loyal customers and Auckland’s wider hospitality community, while also highlighting the difficult conditions facing restaurants across New Zealand.
Mekong Baby ends a 13-year run in Ponsonby
Mekong Baby opened in 2013 and became a familiar part of Ponsonby Road, one of Auckland’s best-known dining and nightlife precincts.
The restaurant was originally founded by French-born chef Dominique Parat, whose travels in Vietnam helped shape its Southeast Asian-inspired concept. Jackie and Marcin Kulak later took over the business in April 2019.
Over the following years, Mekong Baby continued serving diners through major changes in the hospitality industry, including the disruption caused by the Covid period and the economic pressures that followed.
Owners reveal the personal cost of trying to stay open
In their farewell message, Jackie and Marcin described years of long days, late nights and increasingly difficult trading conditions.
They said they had continued to believe that hard work and commitment could keep the restaurant going, but the financial strain ultimately became impossible to absorb.
One of the most significant details disclosed by the owners was that they sold their family home and reinvested the proceeds into the business while trying to keep Mekong Baby operating.
The couple said the hospitality industry had changed enormously over recent years and had not fully returned to the environment that existed before Covid.
Liquidation adds to the seriousness of the closure
New Zealand media reported that online company records showed Mekong Baby had been placed into liquidation on Tuesday.
That makes this case different from venues that close because of lease expiries, redevelopment or retirement. Earlier in 2026, for example, De Fontein closed its Mission Bay restaurant after more than 20 years following the expiry of its commercial lease.
Mekong Baby’s owners, by contrast, directly linked their decision to the financial sustainability of the business and the economic pressure that had accumulated over time.
Staff and customers receive an emotional farewell
Jackie and Marcin also thanked their staff, describing them as an important part of Mekong Baby’s story and acknowledging the support they had shown during an especially difficult period.
The owners expressed similar gratitude to customers who had visited the restaurant over its 13 years in Ponsonby.
For regular diners, the shutdown means losing a venue that had become part of Auckland’s local dining culture rather than simply another restaurant listing.
New Zealand hospitality failures remain elevated
Mekong Baby’s closure comes against a broader backdrop of financial stress across New Zealand hospitality.
According to figures cited from credit bureau Centrix, around 3,000 hospitality businesses shut during the previous 12 months, while 422 companies in the sector entered liquidation. That represented a 42% year-on-year increase in hospitality liquidations.
Centrix continues to track business credit conditions and insolvency trends through its Credit Indicator reports, which provide regular data on the New Zealand economy.
The figures provide useful context but do not mean every restaurant closure has the same cause. Lease arrangements, operating costs, debt levels, property decisions and consumer spending can affect individual businesses in very different ways.
Auckland’s long-running venues continue to face change
Other established Auckland hospitality venues have also faced uncertain futures in 2026. In Grey Lynn, the Gypsy Tea Room faced closure after 22 years, prompting a community campaign around the future of the neighbourhood venue.
These cases are not directly comparable, but together they show how the loss or threatened loss of long-standing restaurants and bars can affect neighbourhood identity as well as employees and customers.
Why Mekong Baby’s closure matters in Ponsonby
Mekong Baby had been part of Ponsonby Road since 2013, giving the closure significance beyond the end of a single business.
For Jackie and Marcin Kulak, the decision followed substantial personal investment and an attempt to keep the restaurant alive despite deteriorating financial conditions. For employees and customers, it brings an abrupt end to a venue that had built a 13-year history in one of Auckland’s best-known hospitality districts.
The wider Centrix data shows that Mekong Baby is closing during a particularly difficult period for the sector, but the owners’ own explanation remains central to this story: after years of effort, changing post-Covid conditions and growing economic pressure, they concluded that the restaurant could no longer be sustained.
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