I went there with my family for my husbands birthday last thursday night. We had a great experience and the quality of food was great. They could have a little more desert variety though. The waiters were pretty good.
What brought us into the restaurant originally was live Greek middle eastern music that a young guitarist was playing live, a truly amazing experience, we never heard music like that before. An entertaining experience! We will be back
highly recommended.

Not an experience I want to remember..

In short, we were offered very limited selection from the menu.(NO greek wines-half the menu was not available-no sol beer so settled for corona).
I gather taht our experiecne was very similar to that from the most recent review (june 2009)Waitress: ” let me just start with what’s NOT on offer”..

The most disappointing aspect i must highlight: – I ordered Scotch fillet which after 10 minutes the waitress returned with ” oh sorry, the menu hasn’t been updated for months, it’s actually sirloin” .. what!!?? BAD FORM.

Not a good look for ANY restaurant

The meatballs(koftedes) were undercooked..
My girlfriend felt ill for the next 2 days. VERY disappointing.

it gets better though( oh wait, i mean worse!)
As we were going up to pay, the waitress stopped us and pointed out, “sorry did we tell you that our eftpos is actaully down..there’s a hole in the wall just
across the road”..

ok understandable on the rare occasion, but on a night that’s played out like this..-an UNWANTED inconvenience to say the least!

the only positive aspect of the evening was a 2 for 1 meal card presented by the duty manager on paying for the meal.

Although thinking about it nowm i really should have replied with ” we really should be expecting to use this NOW after that experience”.

So excuse me for coming up with the next Tui billboard add.. “Dining at Platos again next weekend? Yeah right!”

Phone number listed is wrong.

Plato’s was recommended to us by an Aucklander for a dinner we took him to. The first dining experience was good.
On a subsequent trip the owner, Michael, recognised us from the previous dinner and fussed. However, most of the food we ordered from the menu was unavailable. In-fact the waitress said, “let me tell you whats not on the menu then you can choose from whats left”!
A third visit was appalling. The drinks are overpriced and again, (yawn) many of the dishes weren’t available and took forever to arrive.
Also a rather aggressive type man entered demanding payment for some account – oops might explain why there was no food!!
The poor waitress that had to deal with him was awful – the “manager” had disappeared.
Melbourne cup day dinner – what a hash!!!
The place was decorated nicely, but again tardy delivery of meals and drinks and out of interest who won the trip to Australia for best hat? the meal for friends and the wine? Chances are high the “Greek” Michael fudged the results as there was only about 10 diners in the 3 1/2 hours we were there and not at all enough guests close to covering the prizes.
Sarah Spicer was a nice singer.
Overall, not returning here again. Would advise newbies not to bother! Shame really.

The place had great atmosphere, and the service was fantastic. The traditional smashing of plates was great to watch when another birthday bash were celebrating as well. Really enjoyed the food, although my partner did find her salad non inviting. You really need to check it for yourself. I give it a ranking of a A-. Good stuff guys.

We went there as we visit Greece very often. There is nothing much greek about this place. The menu sounds good, but half of them not available. I don’t have to tell the greek part of it. The rest is pretty much french cuisine. The waiting staff cannot pronounce the food, they simply call it That one (pointing to the menu) No comment on the wine list. Must be a franchise or an asian owner have this idea about greek restaurants. Definitely no go again!

I read in another review that bad revs are coming from other restaurant owners I believe the opposite: good ones from friends.

I went with my partner and really enjoyed the evening. The mains were huge and delicious and with happy hour the wine is good value. The chicken breast and lamb shanks were great. I will go back again.

If there was a rating with no star thats what I’d give.
Total disgrace to Greek food.
My Grandmother was up from wellington and i wanted to take her for a Greek meal as she is from Greece. I’ve been to Greece 4 times in my life and I’ve never had food which shares the same name taste and looks so different.
The staff i don’t think new what they were doing? We weren’t served for 10 minutes or longer and when we asked for drinks we waited another 10 minutes before i went to the bar and asked where they were. Ohh sorry they forgot????? The place was empty, just the 4 of us????
I felt bad for my nan as i hyped the place up as a good friend said he had a nice meal there. Maybe he did but our food was below average and took over an hour to come from ordering, I don’t understand? i dint know anything about the hospo industry, it must be hard work but there were only 4 us in the place and to take so long for a crap meal pissed me off. Would never go back.
Overall slack service
below average food
The only thing they couldn’t stuff up would be the wine as it has a cork in it.

Went last night and loved it! The food was absolutely delicious and came on time. The menu would be good to be a bit more interesting but the food is certainly superb. I wonder what has changed.. maybe their chefs? This is certainly not the same place I went to some time ago with friends. It was a disaster back then but I thought i would give it another try and I’m glad I did. I don’t know what has changed but they should stick to whatever that is.

Well we have tried this place a few times now and have had a real mixed bag. When it opened, the food was excellent and the service good. Of recent we have had three consecutive visits where the service has been appalling and the food not much better.

First time our order was overlooked and we waited for more than an hour for entree. The main took even longer but fortunately we weren’t in a hurry and made a dent in a second bottle of wine. The food was nice when it arrived (Prawn Nicosia) but that might have been because of our anger at being forgotten. We only paid for the wine and tipped the waiting staff for chasing the kitchen continually.

Second visit, things were a little better, food arrived on time etc but wasn’t that great. The classics such as spanikopita and baklava are most disappointing.

Third time, same as the first – “sorry we have a big table arrive so theere will be a delay”. Now they remembered our earlier visit because of the fuss we made last time but they hadnt managed to communicate that to the kitche effectively. To say you are sorry for bad service, also means that you will try and improve. When you return, are remembered and get treated the same – well that is just rude. This time a 25% discount – but it wont be enough to get us back in a hurry. The food really is not that great – just not well cooked and certainly not consistent.

Now there is something really wrong with this place. The kitchen I think is not competent and is under staffed. There is no apparent restaurant manager and the staff seem to be running it in a haphazard manner. I have been to Greece for an extended holiday and sure they are laid-back but no where near to this extent.

My conclusion: I would like a place such as this to succeed and am prepared to be patient but the recent visit is our last until I read about some consistent improvements – starting with a replacement of kitchen staff who can cook and serve good food in an acceptable time-frame.

I spent a night in this place. The entreé we ordered came very slowly and not exactly what we wanted, we had to ask 3 times to get our drinks and the staff looked very unprofessional. The main was steak, but instead of medium we got it as blue…The dessert was terrible. Avoid this place!!!!

Great place for a casual fun evening. Loved the surroundings and atmosphere. Food and service was good. Only issue was that 5 of the dishes on the menu were not available on that night (Monday) which was disappointing. Still worth going to.

I cannot understand the bad reviews here, maybe another restaurant owner wrote them! We had an amazing night, a big group of very fussy Greeks and our guests who were important diplomats and well-travelled types. Food was spot on, service was skillful and friendly and the entertainment, a lovely singer by the name of Sarah hit the right note; entertaining without being overpowering. It is a lovely setting too, very european and we felt like we were home in the real Greece..stylish Athens, not the trashy tavernas of tourist town! Try Platos, you will love it.

Went for a quick bite to eat with a couple of friends the other night to Plato’s to try somewhere new in Ponsonby. Good food, nice bar staff, and a great cover band playing as well! So good we stayed on to enjoy the music and drinks till late. A staff member mentioned Rezin the resident band apparently plays most Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10pm till late. We really had a blast and will definitely be back again soon for dinner and dancing!

I spent a week in Greece last year so looked forward to the wonderful food you get to sample while there. Well, It felt like a week waiting for my food to come. While I waited i watched 50cent rap on the big screen? He must be Greek? and drank a Russian beer probably imported from Greece.
My Greek salad was not Greek, maybe Russian? my rare steak was so dry i couldn’t eat it. Maybe the owner should go to Greece and learn to wash dishes first. I’m sorry just being honest, total crap and would have rather stay home and ordered pizza while watching 50cent rap on my TV

If I was guided by the reviews I would never have gone to Plato’s. Fortunately I have an independent mind, lot’s of Greek friends and regularly cook Greek food.

The decor? Who cares.

The food? Great.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Go check for yourself and ignore the rancid comments of some of the other “reviewers” on this site.

Big hype for this restaurant in the Ponsonby circuit. Finally went in to dine and was appalled. The service is average but the food terrible. Entrees came in around 15 minutes and looked like they’d come from the microwave. The calamari was rubberry and tasted like it had been defrosted recently. As for the mains, the moussaka was awful with poor ratios of mince, sauce and eggplant. My partners food was flavourless, chicken kebabs and rice with mixed veges from a frozen foods sections meant a horrible experience. Seemed like the staff were bored also.
It seems like this place won’t be around for long. Good riddence

Well,we drove past saw the lights and were instantly fascinated,we found a park and went to book for a Saturday night special occasion with special friends.Then we went home and read the reviews what a dilemma should we cancel? or maybe just not turn up,but we decided to be brave and face up to our choice,so come Saturday night off we went,nervously,well were we in for a treat,everything was wonderful our Brazilian waitress was eager to please and very attentive nothing was too much trouble for her.We’d never eaten Greek food before so didn’t have any knowledge to base it on but our dinners were superb,maybe not authentically Greek but who cares we were there for the experience and that’s exactly what we got.Our food arrived promptly and was extremely well presented and certainly tasty,and after all when you’re out for dinner isn’t that the whole purpose.We looked enviously at each others plates and have already decided what we’re having next time because there definitely will be a next time!Thank you Plato’s for a wonderful dining experience.

This is an appealing and attractive restaurant from the out side. Very well lit up with the blue and white lites which look like bunches of grapes on the vine from a distance. The interior is classy as well and I loved the high backed black leather chairs, which some “professional” restaurateur’s obviously don’t. The staff were very welcoming and our Brazilian waitress was very attentive and answered all of our questions with regards to the menu and wine list. The menu was not extensive, but with a choice of about 10 entrees and 10 mains it was not too much for those of us who cannot decide what we want. The dishes were of Greek descent and we tried the chicken breasts, Lamb Koftas and Lamb Shanks which were all very good. For our entree we tried the Meze (mixed bread and various dips, pickles etc) which, again was very appealing. The prices were reasonable with our bill coming in at about $200 for four of us.

Reading the previous reviews made us wonder about booking elsewhere, but you have to try these places and make your own opinions. Plato’s for us was a well worth place to visit and sample a decent dining experience and I would certainly recommend it to others. I am certainly going to visit again….Lamb Shanks for me this time!!

One of the worst dining experience I have ever had! Im not going to write about the décor which has little to do with a Greek Taverna; its rather an up-market Ponsonby-restaurant with a Greek theme. But the food was disgusting! I’m not exaggerating, it was just terrible and I’m not comparing it to the food found in Greece, which is obviously not possible to reproduce exactly abroad, but to Greek restaurants around the world (UK, Australia, Malaysia and even the one in Wellington all serve superb food). The moussaka was like a microwaved disaster, the drinks were incredibly overpriced and the staff was ineffective and looked confused. I dont know how long this restaurant will last, but I will certainly not return when I visit Auckland again. If you plan a Greek experience, don’t expect to find one at Platos. Except a few decorations, there is nothing Greek about the place (not even music!), which is obviously a great dissapointment when they call themselves a Greek taverna.

I really wanted to like this restaurant but the only thing Greek about it was the name and perhaps the service.
The decor is Pon-snobby chic rather than the casual friendly atmosphere of a true Greek Taverna, they didn’t even play Greek music. Our order was taken within 20 minutes of arrival but our food failed to appear in the next 60 minutes. After talking to the waiter and having no explanation given to the cause of the delay we waited a further 30 minutes then gave up and left.
I can’t comment on the food as it never came but from what I saw on other tables it looked ok but not good enough for a two hour wait.

The best Greek restaurant I’ve been to. It surpassed my expectations; very classy atmosphere and environment, smartly dressed and helpful staff, an entertaining maître d’, and superb food.
All five of us truly enjoyed everything that passed our lips, which is uncommon. There wasn’t a vegetarian main, but there were plenty of smaller dishes that could be combined, and I ended up picking an Olympus platter. The stuffed dates were the highlight for me – they melted in my mouth.
My girlfriend and I shared the chocolate mousse and were impressed. We were surprised at the presentation – a layer of cream obscuring the rich chocolate.
Very good overall.