Having seen great things about the Food Store on TV was expecting something special. However the flavours failed to deliver. At $35 for the crayfish I expected the crayfish to dominate not the additional flavourings. Steak was also very average & service below what was expected. A quiet evening when we visited but the wait staff seemed more interested in each other that the paying patrons. Unfortunately I won’t be back

We’ve been before and decided to visit again, this time there was 4 of us and it was Monday evening.
We booked a table in advance but we were still on a small table that should normally be used for 2. It gets difficult with the size of the plates that are used especially when sides are also ordered. In fact we used another table that wasn’t currently being used to put some side dishes onto.
Service was very good – as always. Attentive and went out of their way to make the skin on the pork even more “crackly”.
We ordered the bread… was nice, but not sure it needed all the name dropping for the description!
We skipped starters and ordered the creamed Paua (maybe should have been called a Paua chowder?), Eye fillet, Pork belly and the duck special. Also a couple of side salads of different types. All the dishes were really really good – no complaints at all.
Desserts were also really nice – White choc jaffa, pavlova and molten choc puddings.

One of the best locations in town, went on Sunday to enjoy afternoon drinks, good so far. Unfortunately the service was extremely poor, the maitre d is so arrogant that you feel leaving the place…. for those prices you expect a much better service, food is average , needs improvement.

Good service, very very average food and terribly over priced. Shame really since if you watch the Food Channel on Sky TV you would expect something a little more inspiring.

Not bad……just extremely average. Now the purpose of this review is not to dissuade anyone from dining at The Foodstore albeit to inform you of what can happen should all the moons not align when you do.

I decided to take my wife to The Foodstore for our 5 year anniversary and I must say things started off badly when I was told there was no booking under our name – even though I had booked through the restaurant website. However after having drink at the bar I was told the confusion arose from the booking being under my first name, not my surname(strange considering I gave both when I booked).

Now for those of you you who have not dined at The Foodstore there are 3 dining areas: inside seated around the open view kitchen, outside under the canopy on the patio area and “no man’s land”. This is the area, approx 2m in width that sits between the indoor and outdoor seating. It also happens to be about 3 inches lower than the two neighbouring areas giving the feeling of always been looked down upon and that your small metal BBQ table was just thrown here because of lack of space anywhere else. When booking ensure you are not in this area or you will be disappointed.

Now I’m all about equal opportunity employment but I also find it extremely frustrating when wait staff can not understand what I am saying when I am simply ordering off the menu or asking for a wine suggestion.

Nevertheless we soldiered on. To start we ordered the bread and balsamic. The bread was fine and the balsamic was amazing(Paul Holmes brand I believe). No sooner had we finished our bread than my pork belly and the wifes venison turned up at the table.

I hear you ask “did you not order a starter?” and the answer is “yes we did” but this was forgotten by the waiter/kitchen and so we were straight into the main course making the whole meal feel rushed.

The meals were luke warm however the venison was beautifully cook and had some fantatstic flavours with the pork belly being quite bland. We were also served mashed potatoes instead of green beans which was rectified but only meant our meals were even cooler by the time we started eating.

We didn’t dare order dessert and to add insult to injury was only made aware of the nights specials by over hearing another waiter as we were leaving.

Now I certainly am not someone who will kick up a fuss in a restaurant and to be honest this is the first review for a restaurant I have ever written. However on this particular night I was all ready to unload and let my feeling be known……..but I was never asked. There was no “how was your meal?” or “I hope you enjoyed your evening” from anyone. Hence why I am writing this review.

Again don’t let me dissuade from dining at The Foodstore and I’m sure I will be back again at some stage but for me the product certainly didn’t live up to the hype.

Absolutely loved The Foodsore. It’s got a great atmosphere and the food was fantastic. Admittidely the lunch was being taken care of by one of our work suppliers, but the price was fair for what it was.

I had the eye fillet steak – and finally – a steak that was served to me ‘rare’ as requested! I actually ended up requesting it blue, and it was rare how I like it.

The pork belly also had rave reviews from our table. Would definitely go back.

Not bad… Would have been allot more impressed if the side salad was not just four leaves of lettuce in a bowl with a couple of macadamia nuts.
The Venison was nicely cooked and well presented, as was the Lemon Tart..

Service was ok, but on arrival was made to feel like we were an imposition as we had no booking but they had NO customers.

Price is on the higher side but interesting that you can see your meal being made on the large TV’s around the restaurant.

Had a great meal! The food was delicious, snapper cooked superbly – wish I had got the mains size instead of the starter portion! The olive oil with Balsamic vinegar was wonderful with the ciabatta (Mr Holmes makes a wonderful olive oil). But the absolute best was the lemon meringue pie for desert. Gooey, very lemony and beautifully presented – I wanted to lick the plate clean!!!
Service was superb – spot on, from the welcome and being shown to our table, to the waiter who had an excellent knowledge of the menu as well as the other staff who were friendly and helpful. Will return as I wanted to try the meals my friends ordered!!!
Great location and loved watching the chefs prepare the meals on the big screens. Thank you for one of the best meals I have had in a long while (I am glad there were no children present as I choose to eat in places where there aren’t children)

Great location. Nice atmosphere and quite busy. however, not really child friendly for a viaduct restaurant. Wait staff are slow and not well trained. had drinks and some snacks but nothing that justifies the prices, better go to the overpriced Soul or Snapdragon.

On the night before the RWC Final the viaduct was buzzing and an ideal setting for our overseas visitors. The setting is great and our waiter was absolutely superb. The best I’ve seen in a long time – very attentive without being intrusive or over familiar.
I pitied him trying to shout the specials over the noise of the kitchen and dineUrs. We missed hearing most of them and of course no prices were given. Please, please, just print out an extra page with the specials, then our conversation isn’t interrupted and we get to actually see all the specials, and prices.

Our mains were all excellent – fillet, salmon, chicken, pork etc. We were advised to order sides which were indeed needed, but this added another $18 a head to the mains prices bringing the true price of a main to an average of $57!

Desserts were on a whole were just OK, but horrors of horrors, the pavlova ordered by our Australian visitor was more crisp meringue rather than a chewy pav texture. We will never live it down!

Overall a very good experience but with high Viaduct prices.

Jan ’12
Returned mid week with guests and was underwhelmed by both food & service. Ordered specials but they were lacking in size & flavour. Waiter needed a personality transplant. Disappointing.

Being a fan of the Food Network on TV, we recently returned a third time to The Foodstore in the viaduct for a quick lunch last Saturday. Sitting outside, it was like being a tourist in our own city, the Viaduct does enjoy the relaxing feel of vacation time. Looked after by a helpful, immaculately groomed young man, his menu knowledge and wine recommendation were good. Starting with delicious breads, moving onto mains of pasta for my wife and duck for myself, all were just as good as our first visit, didn’t take long to arrive which was great as we really did need to be on our way within an hour. All in all a great location with really good food where you can eat simply or more luxuriously, the menu allows you to do this and one MASSIVE plus on the menu style which we appreciate and this alone will get us back again – every single dish can be chosen as a starter or a main course.

The Foodstore has been on my TO DO list for a while now – the menu looked delicious, the location on the Viaduct is great and the added extra of TV screens and chefs doing their thing in front of patrons was a bit of a novelty.

We all really enjoyed our mains (my pork belly with tiny little crackling was superb). Personally I found my friend’s venison too rare for my liking but know that that is the way it should be cooked.
My two different glasses of wine (a rose and a riesling) were superb and my friend’s glass of sparkling was very generous.
We ordered sides to go with the mains (a recommended option to add some more on the plate). The creamy mash was yummy but the minted peas and beans didnt taste minty, instead they were very peppery. My friend’s fat chips ended up being large wedges, which was fine, there was a copious amount of them, but the description in the menu did not really fit. The desserts were enjoyable but not a “wow” must have.
All in all, the service was impeccable, the portions generous and the prices reasonable for a Viaduct restaurant. Definitely recommended. It will be busy during the RWC so get in now!

Not long after it opened I decided to head down to the Auckland Viaduct in the Harbour and check out the new restaurant The Foodstore. The kitchen is open plan and in the middle of the restaurant with giant flat screens allowing you to see everything that is going on behind the scenes. I decided to order a number of starter sized dishes with a friend and we picked our way through Kiwi classics such as the creamed Paua (Abalone) with crusty bread, poached Crayfish with celeriac and Crayfish remoulade, Marlborough Salmon on bubble and squeak and braised lamb with pearl barley and salsa verde. The food was fresh and innovative with a real New Zealand twist. I can highly recommend The Foodstore for its seasonally fresh Kiwi fare and great atmosphere in the bustling Viaduct Precinct. Go for the starter sized dishes and try as many as you can they’re yummy.

The best restaurant in Auckland, i just loved it, we had 3 different things and desert, and everything was delicious, and i love the idea of the kitchen in the middle, you also have a good spot in the Viaduct and the feeling that you can get of having a good meal out there is very relaxing and enjoyable. Just fantastic! Congrats!

Had the pleasure of eating here on Saturday night. 2 couples enjoyed a three course meal along with a couple of bottles of wine. $125.00 per person not too bad considering. The food was superb and met our expectations if not surpassing them. We tasted each others dishes and between us couldn’t decide if the creamed paua or the duck croquettes were the best. Then along came the crayfish. The menu selection was outstanding and the fact that just about everything was available in entrée and main sizes helped us enjoy a greater variety of food.
The décor was refreshing and bright. Fun watching the screens. Somewhat comforting to know the kitchen staff have pressure on them to perform to a high standard. Staff were friendly and attentive throughout the night. loved the place!

Unlike other reviewers, I’ve never actually heard of this place, so I had no expectation at all. In fact, I sat with my back to the open kitchen, so I can really only comment on its food and service.

The food is well prepared using high quality ingredients. The cooking style is distinctively Kiwi (i.e., light on spices and few “odd” ingredients), which I guess is fair enough, since the restaurant prides itself on everything New Zealand. While the portions for the mains weren’t particularly generous, the sides were larger than I expected, so you won’t leave hungry at this place. Having said this, the food wasn’t exciting enough for me to want to return on my own (hence the four stars). Great place to showcase New Zealand cuisine to visitors though, and if you have a timid palate, you will enjoy this place.

Prices are reasonable given its location and quality of food. Service is generally great, and although the waitress got my wife’s order wrong, she quickly resolved the situation to our satisfaction.

Absolutely fantastic – could not fault a thing – great atmosphere – good service – watched our food being prepared and plated then sent to the table. The desserts were divine can’t beat the jelly tip and Turkish delight foam just delicious, donuts were great and the apple pie just lovely all were generous portions. Left feeling like we had had a real treat and worth every cent we paid. Will go back again for sure thank you Foodstore.

After watching the TV shows we were really keen to try The Foodstore and their dishes.

The layout of the restaurant allows you to watch the preparation and plating of your meals either directly in the kitchen or on wall mounted TV’s.

The Paua soup and Pork belly is hard to go past and does not disappoint. An entertaining place to go with great service and faultless kiwi kai.

Ate with 3 others Easter Saturday and couldn’t fault it. Gourmet food, amazingly presented, a special treat place and worth every cent. M’s duck entree melt in the mouth and fresh lightly dressed salad all disappeared. J’s haloumi cheese entree was superb. W’s eye fillet steak cooked to perfection and melt in mouth.J’s main of salmom fillet was tender,tasty and delcious. M’s swordfish was a main worth having over and over again. The dessert M squeezed in was apple pie so crisp, sweet and yummy. Perfect in all ways. beautiful friendly helpful waitress made it a great night all round!