Service was brilliant
Made booking on line and MoV followed up with call.
Menu was more than adequate and waiter made offer to embellish meals as required.
Ambiance was perfect although we were a little cold upon arrival and warmed up during the meal.
Waiters and Staff exceed expectations. We will come again

I was with a party of four that thought this menu looked great for brunch last Sat after flying up from Wellington for a weekend of shows in Auckland. The service was terrible! We were seated at 10:45 ordered our juices then as they arrived ordered our meals – all before 11:00. By 11:30 we were wondering just how long it took to cook four breakfasts and asked how long – we were told we were next – the meals arrived at 11:45! In between other than my asking the question of how long did we get any other attention. Shortly after the meals arrived I was asked did we want anything else and I said yes four juices on the house for having waiting so long – she looked surprised when I explained but they did arrive and thank you were on the house. When I went to pay (and the bill had one to many mains on it) I asked what had happened with our order and basically got told they put it in and then it was up to the kitchen front of house has no view of the kitchens sequencing – no apology. While the menu looks great until they can sort out the service I won’t be back. I simple apology would have worked and I won’t be writing this review.

First problem they ran out of the wine we ordered, secondly the beans were recommended to have with the lamb at an extra cost yet they were included with the salmon at no extra cost. The beans were ordered but forgotten and when reminded were delivered when the meal was nearly finished with no apology for forgetting them. We asked for salt and pepper and had to remind them again for the pepper. We asked for another wine glass and ended up after 5 minutes helping ourselves from another table. Unfortunately a car alarm right next to our table went on for over an hour and they said they were trying to sort it and didn’t as the owner finally turned up after we paid our bill. The maitre’D never came near us and when we went to pay the bill an arrogant waitress was more interested in advising us of the philisophies of life than apologising and/or sympathising with the service and unfortunate experience we suffered with the car alarm. The waitresses attitudes both serving at the table and at the till leave a lot to be desired – their rudeness and disinterest should be addressed!

Love this place!

My dad and I thought we would try something new, we ended up sitting at the bar for about 6 hours, as we didn’t want to leave!
The food was exquisite, I had the most perfect piece of fish I had probably ever had from a restaurant, I’m in the hospitality business so that’s saying a lot.
The staff are awesome, very friendly, and accommodating.
Can’t wait to go back.

First of all thanks for making our meal fantastic.

Ate there on Saturday night, was very busy which was really nice to see, the ambiance was just what we were looking for.

But then the food, wow that was delicious, Our table ordered for entre, suppli romana, the calamari ripieni and the mozzerrella burrata, ine was the Suppli, and I have never eaten theses yummy treat since I was in Rome(well I have been in places who think they have suppli but got it wrong), they were just like in Rome, and nicely presented, my friend is big fan of calamari and she loved her entree, I pincked a piece coz it looked yummy too, even the mozzerella looked lovely, and friend was showing a smile.

I ordered the Risotto all wild mushroom, and mmmmm, the truffle was delicious, my friedns ordered, the Hare papperdelle, and Gnochetti alla crecia, and I tried all there were so tasty and full of flavour. We had a beautiful dessert, the profitteroles were the best, and the marsala wine made them just right, My friend wanted another casatta, but was too full.

The food was really good size, and I definately be going back next time I eat out, I have finally found myself a restaurant i can go to that is authentic Italian.

Thanks Chef that was an awesome meal, and thanks to rest of MoVs for making our girl’s night out the best.

A friend and I dined here on a friday night. The service was good and friendly. Help full in negotiating the comprehensive menu. I have Italian friends and enjoy good Italian food having also travelled around Italy and enjoyed eating off the tourist traps.
The food here was define and certainly Italian. I had the Venison special and it was cooked to perfection. Top marks to the Chef(s).
I also walked past on Sunday lunch time and it was packed out with people waiting at the bar. This clearly shows that in a short space of time it has become appreciated for its quality, of service, the excellent food and the ambience.
Grazie MoV

Been here the second time, they changed menu recently. The food was excellent executed my first time here, this time were superb.
A wonderful selection which took a long time to deliberate over as pretty much everything appealed to me. My final choice was Petti di pollo Napoli, and the Cassata Siciliana for dessert. I was in gastronomic heaven. Few course including our choice are the chef signature dish. To me a modern Italian cuisine more then a traditional. Thanks for that!!
We where one of the first table to arrive just after 6pm. Our early booking was a blessing as the restaurant was packed and getting quite stuffy and noisy by 7:30.
The staff were pleasant, attentive and unobtrusive. The food presentation was excellent. But nothing can surpass the quality and taste of the food itself. Top marks to the chef and kitchen staff!

After 3 days of eating at fabulous places around Auckland this was a big disappointment. Slow, 20 minutes to get a coffee and over an hour for breakfast. When I asked for our food I was told it was always going to be 3/4 hr, waiter certainly didn’t tell us that when we arrived. Comedy of errors with coffee when it did arrive, incorrect order then delivered twice. Food clearly had been forgotten and was rushed through – toasted ciabatta was in fact cold untoasted sliced white loaf – nondescript origin. Pork and fennel sausage tasted more like a sizzler from a packet and overcooked. Meal was offered free of charge, I wouldn’t of paid for it anyway.

We are a group of Italians who returned to Auckland after a few years. couple weeks ago we discovered Merchants of Vernice, Italian food as his best. We have been here a few times already, the funny thing is that I just discovered that the chef of merchants of Vernice was the chef from our favorite Italian restaurant that closed Few Years Ago, and like us he returned in Auckland recently.

Fantastico

We had dinner last Tuesday at Merchants of Venice; we had the semolina roman gnocchi, the eye fillet with wild mushrooms and truffle, Both DIVINE, also as entree with the Rotolo of pasta and perfectly cooked prawns, zucchini and saffron risotto. To us Merchants of Venice was a truly modern Italian food experience

The service was awesome. We had a lovely waitress who took the time to explain to us the menu. However, we did not enjoy all the dishes. My sons risotto tasted of chlorine! I did make mention of this but left soon after. The steak dish was cooked to perfection and was the highlight of the 8 different dishes we all had. MOV is not a restaurant we would visit again. A disappointment considering the wonderful reviews on here but food lacking in taste and not moderately priced for portion sizes.

Definitely wouldn’t recommend for large groups due to the unbelievably slow service – went as part of a group of 23 and we only had one waiter attending to us (despite the fact that there was virtually no-one else in there) so obviously it took ages for him just to take our order! We eventually received our mains about 90 minutes after arriving (we didn’t have a starter).

The food itself was pleasant and of good quality, and the menu was certainly extensive, but most people in the group were disappointed by the small portion sizes. My dessert was actually larger than my main!

This is one of the best Italian food I have eaten lately. We had pizza, calamari, mozzarella, antipasto.. It was all excellent and of great quality. I particularly loved the bruschette with capisicum and the calamari on rocket salad.. Food presentation was pleasing to the eye, and the taste of everything was great. The quality of the ingredients used is clearly very high.

The coffee was also excellent and all was rightly priced.

I will recommend to friends I will certainly be back.

This restaurant is a smash, we were greeted with warm and friendly staff members, we were seated over looking the harbour views which was superior. the menu was easy to read and has such a huge variety. We had the Bianca Pizza which was divine, good size portions for one or two people, the kids menu was simple with a few ranges that they could choose from, Home made pasta went down as a treat leaving our son wanting more, i must say our son is a fussy eater. This place has alot to offer from water to top of the range wine, we also had a cup of tea just to top this experience off and it was delicious. i rate this place very high in my books and we will definitely visit it again…..

I enjoyed the atmosphere, real friendly staff, excellent food, the wood fire pizzas are delicious and the home made pasta was a smash with our son. The seating arrangements were excellent and the view was brilliant…..couldn’t be better….HIGHLY RECOMMEND…..The music was great with abit of modern and classic sounds.

Great spot that could only be backed up by good service and really nice food. Gorgeous Saltimbocco with a fabulously tasty Roman Gnocchi….oh my goodness. We were warned that meals take 20minutres….I like that…so ordered the bread and dips all made on the premises. Probably the only wee gripe was that the bread was a wee bit stodgy..oh no. I do love great service and it didn’t disappoint…I’m still dreaming of Roman Gnocchi with sage butter.

The service was friendly and the food was great. They make their own pasta, which is good to see, and the steak dishes were cooked beautifully. There’s a great selection on the menu with some really interesting dishes. The food is good value.

On the down side the chairs are too low for the tables and the meals were slow to arrive. We would have stayed for desert and coffee but we expected another long wait so we paid up and left.

I’m likely to go back but next time I will order bread and dips to start.

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I have been back to this restaurant since writing the above and the food was just as good as the first time plus the service was excellent.

Friendly Staff, good food.
Nice to see a good Italian Restaurant in the city, and fantastic views with a great atmosphere.
Hope they keep it up for the tourists that a around, as well as us Aucklanders.

Wow!! The food was absouletly amazing, only went for lunch and had the most divine gnocchi in gorgonzola and Walnuts, had a beautiful memory of Italy my friend is vegetarian, and said he was really impressed with the spinach and ricotta dish, can’t remember what it was called. Beautifully presented. I saw pizza go to one table, and wow just like they do in italy. I think I found my new dining spot, will be back next week for sure. Thank you for such beautiful food.

Had a great lunch yesterday in the sun, great staff, lovely food – I had the Mozerella salad – the mozerella was the best I had ever tasted.

And a lovely Rose – the place was full and buzzing. I will be back with friends for sure.

The staff were busy but that did not stop them from making sure we had the best experience

So glad we have some new fresh restaurants in AKL.

For a place that’s only been open since Friday I’d say they are doing a fantastic job. Doesn’t appear to have any of the glitches the other restaurants in the wharf had on opening. Staff were friendly and professional. Service was excellent. We had a sharing antipasti platter which was more than enough for 2 and perfect for lunch. The menu is vast and I could see from other tables that portions were big. The table next to us had cocktails which looked lovely but we stuck to the plum and peppermint teas.
Definitely recommend it here – a restaurant that stands out from the crowd.

We had a table of four last night, I would say you wouldn’t believe that it was their first night, they tried so hard. A very good first night.
We look forward to seeing the full menu once all the settling in process is sorted.

We thought everyone else was having a good time.

Tony

We had a most enjoyable evening at Merchants of Venice. Apparently it was their first night, so we expected that there could be challenges. We got a surprise with most attentive wait people and noting their full menu was not yet available, that their blackboard menu was very satisfying.
The music complemented the occasion and our time there went by most enjoyably.

Opening night wasn’t perhaps the best time to have a booking, but the restaurant promised a lot, looking at their menu and the location. It underdelivered.

Food was at best bland, at worst terrible. There’s a major problem with the new pipes tainting the water supply too, but that’ll iron out over time. Unfortunately too late for the vegetables and tap water in the meantime. Stick to the grill.

Service was attentive, and polite, but slow.