By far our favorite restaurant in Auckland.

Food is amazing, staff are the best, wine selection has everything you could want.

Steak Tartare!
Beef Carpaccio!

Two favorites and done so well.

Always consistent and welcoming.

Had a pre-theatre meal here last night and was left feeling VERY disappointed…..

First, as soon as we arrived we were told in no uncertain terms that we had to be out at 7.30pm and shouldn’t order any of the slower cooking dishes (lamb etc). Wasn’t too perturbed at this as we had an event to get to anyway. What was seriously irritating was the fact that they then took well over an hour to bring our mains!! It’s not like the food was the hardest to prepare either- scallops and gnocchi, hardly a slow cook!

When we raised our concerns, the young American waitress was very grumpy and unfriendly, and full of excuses. Apparently, the kitchen is small and only has two chefs and we ‘had to understand that.’ Ok- but an hour plus???? Give me a break. If you can’t deliver food in a reasonable time, you either need less tables or more chefs. An apology would have been nice, not a defensive, snarly rebuttal. The maitre d’ was just as rude.

We won’t be going back. There are too many good restaurants in Auckland to be putting up with places that have such a massive chip on their shoulder…….

The food was ok but a bit boring- definitely not a mind-blowing experience

Great food and intimate space. We must have caught our waitress on a dodgy day though as I found her to be quite unfriendly. Very professional but yeah, to the point of feeling unfriendly.

I’m all for fine dining experiences but I love a bit of character as well especially from someone serving. Will have to try again though as it sounds like this was a one off.

My beef was cooked to perfection however – fab food.

I have been dining at O’Connell St Bistro since the day it opened and have only had extremely good experiences. When ever I am in Auckland I dine at the bistro and my last visit was as good as the first. Fresh Bluff oysters, Serrano ham and figs, a crispy fillet of snapper on a perfectly cooked risotto finished off with an interesting selection of cheese. Great food accompanied by a wine list with breadth, depth and interest. Great service – I look forward to visiting when ever I am in Auckland.

We have eaten twice over the past year at O’Connell St. Its location in the centre of town makes it an easy choice, especially with business guests.

On our last visit the filet steak was perfectly cooked medium rare, with bearnaise sauce was beautifully made alas it came with only a very small portion which is healthy but one of Frances greatest sauces requires us to enjoy a little indulgence, pont neuf chips were also served.

A lovely meal, with attentive service and a wine list that has rightly made O’Connell st famous.

Very attentive service, four waiters continually came to our table – almost too much. Nice intimate atmosphere. Although I like salt, the duck was way too salty for me. The brussell sprout side dish was very good and so was the coffee. Sweetbread entree was very disappointing as there were hardly any in there.

well, waited long for this visit. Yet, left feeling ok, yet not whow! Agree with service,excellent, yet the proof is in the pudding as they say. In this case the rabbit dish,way too salty, for a delicate meat to be served in this way. I was advised that this had been on the menu for 9 years, time to refresh the run for the rabbit! Pasta too firm, disapointed. O’Connell’s obviously thrives on its reputation on serving professionals who are indeed in need of old fashioned comfort food and would be best to go home early and prepare something.So, I will gladly let my yearning rest comfortably knowing I have not missed out on anything wondrous offered at O’Connell’s.

The best restaurant I’ve been to in Auckland.

Before anything, the service at O’Connell is flawless. The staff makes you feel like a king. They service you with the best attitude, while making you feel at ease.

The four of us ordered all the famous mains: The duck, the lamb, the beef and the rabbit.

The maitre d recommended a few wines to go with our meals and we decided on a French Pino Noir. It was rich enough to match the taste of red meat, and yet smooth with a clean after taste.

We finished off with another wine and their famous creme brulee which were delicious.

The restaurant itself is quite small, but it provides quite a homely aura, and doesn’t get noisy.
The waiting staff were always attentive whenever we wanted their service.
And they also had wide knowledge about other bars nearby, and gave us much information about the place.
The pricing IS quite dear, but this is a high quality bistro with high expectations.

We were happy with everything for once.

This is my favourite restaurent in Auckland, its cosy, inviting and you only have a handful of choices (I hate overdone menus). I have had most of the dishes and they are all melt in your mouth delicious. Service is impecible and the best part of all….the creme burlee for desert!