When we visit Taupo, we often visit this restaurant. Every time without exception we have found the food and service very good.

I am very surprised with some other less than complimentary posts about this eatery and I wonder if we are actually talking of the same place!!

It is very Italian and has a good atmosphere. We would definitely recommend this place to one and all.

Stay away from Portofino Taupo!
Not only was service bad but the food was definitely not up to the “Portofino Takapuna” standard, where we have eaten before and loved it.
We ordered a pasta carbonnara and it was overcooked with too much sauce in it, in other words: a mushy mess. We didn’t think much of it since we are not usually ‘complainers’ and we continued trying to enjoy our evening.
After trying to get any of the 3 waiting staff to pay some attention to us for about 10 minutes, we finally ordered a cheesecake and a tiramisu and they may just be the worst desserts we have ever tasted!
We told a waitress that we were not going to eat the cheesecake because it was tasteless and she said literally: “don’t worry, you don’t have to finish it if you don’t want it”… ha!!! We could not believe our ears! My partner stood up and went to talk directly to the owner and when he complained to her about desserts (without even mentioning the pasta) her reply was rude and completely out of line saying that everybody loves their desserts, that it wasn’t her problem that we didn’t like them and that we had to pay for them. My partner could not believe he was being treated in such a way, however he is not the confrontational type so he paid a very pricey dinner that we didn’t even enjoy. Will never go again.

Agree with some of the other comments; lack of service – had to ask for water, had to ask for our byo to be opened, then had to asked for wine glasses, had to ask to order, not offered desserts, coffees. Food is good after a big day of biking round Taupo but very very salty – could really use that water right about now…

Service from the head matron was definately something that would make me think twice about dining here again. Specifically seating us next to the door when requested otherwise. I sat and ate only to watch her direct other “walk in” couples to tables further back. The food was not well prepared with the size of the bacon and onion pieces cut to something that would be expected from a primary school child rather than a chef. Take your hard earned money else where.

Hi I attended Portofino Restaurant last night I thought the service was top notch very happy with it. The waitress was helpful and very cheerful…Now the food was delightful to a point had chicken pasta dish I found the chicken was dry and tough my partner had the steak meal it was great to the taste. other than that a good night.

Dine here every time I visit Taupo. Great food selection. Pastas are very filling and are very flavourful. Great food and atmosphere!

I have to say that we had rather high expectations when we went to dine at Portofino Italian Restaurant, after being given a rave review of their Veal Parmigiana which was apparently ‘to die for’.
When we arrived we were impressed with the lovely smell that greeted us at the door, the décor and the friendly and efficient waiting staff.
Sadly, this is where our positive experience at Portofino’s ended.
We decided on sharing a couple of mains, Veal Parmigiana and Prosciutto Pizza, with some garlic pizza bread to start with. The Pizza bread came out the same time as the mains.
We started into our meal with great anticipation only to find that the Veal Parmigiana, while nice enough, certainly lacked any real flavour. I requested salt as there was none on the table and seasoned it generously to try and get some oomph out of it. The vegetables that came with it were very nice though – roasted courgette and carrot with potatoes and a bit of salad.
Both the Pizza and Pizza bread however were so extremely salty (not to mention rubbery) that it left us gasping for water (I love well seasoned food but this was beyond the joke – especially when the previous meal was under seasoned)
I thought that this may have been a mistake on the chef’s behalf and that they may not have been aware that it was so salty – and when I went to pay the bill, I took the pizza bread up with me to get the head waiter to try it to get his opinion – his opinion was that ‘it was how it always is and how it should be’ and the chef, who seemed affronted my bringing it up, tried it also – his reaction was to smack his lips and say mwwwah whilst using a grand hand gesture as if to say that he thought I was crazy to be complaining!!
There was no effort taken on behalf of the staff to say that they were sorry to hear that we hadn’t enjoyed our meal – if anything it was me saying sorry… isn’t customer always supposed to be right?!

My partner and I left the restaurant very disgruntled and incredulous (not to mention bloated from the huge amounts of salt that obviously went into the pizza base and the subsequent water that we needed to consume to counteract the salt we had eaten)
Upon leaving we noted that the overweight surly chef was sitting outside not only smoking like his life depended on it, but drinking a coffee and also a beer! (Could if be possible that his taste buds are shot?!?!?!?!)