I've only just started frequenting this establishment in the last couple of months…read more Don't let the shop front fool you, the dining area is an extension to the old building. There is even a fenced outdoor garden area with dining tables, chairs and potted plants in full bloom at the moment. The indoor area is large with a children's corner. Plenty of room for two diners and a couple of larger tables for dining groups. Since frequenting this place, I've only ever had their Butchers Big Breakfast. I absolutely love it. The poached eggs are just the right runny. The streaky bacon is crisp and the sausage is a good gourmet sausage which I would guess as being a Cumberland sausage. I usually buy their iced tea but on this visit bought their antioxidant tonic drink. If you have a sweet tooth like me, then you must try their caramel oaty slice. It is absolutely dee-lish. It is buttery, the caramel is well made and the oats give it a chewy texture...and is freshly made on site. I hate when I bite into a stale sweet treat which has been in the refrigerated cabinet too long. That has never been the case here at Butchers. As cafes go, this is moderately priced and well worth it. Their food has been has been made with care and attention. Highly recommended.

In the area already after visiting Wright's beautiful watergardens, we made a lunch stop in the…read morePatumahoe town and found this cute cafe along the main road. We all ordered from their cabinet and got the savoury muffin for myself and had a bit of my sister's vegetarian stuffed kumara as well as tried a bite of their bacon and egg pie. Was great to have all of these heated and plated with a stick of butter with my muffin and mayo/ ketchup with the kumara. The pie was stuffed with egg and bacon pieces which was great and the muffin was soft and also packed with vege pieces. The portions were fantastic- huge and very filling even though it wasn't a complete meal and was all tasty. They have self serve water in the corner if you aren't ordering drinks which is handy. They have great indoor and outdoor seating just behind the counter found in the main building. Small and large tables with backed chairs available for groups of several sizes and a lot of them were taken by the time we'd arrived. Looks like quite a popular place. Decent sized car park next to the seating area that you can enter through if not through the main butchers shop entrance door. If you're in the area, this is a good spot to take a break for re-fueling.

This is my favourite Thai restaurant in Pukekohe the mail is always good and it's also as good as…read moremeals and restaurants in the Auckland area definitely a very good restaurant together

This is my local Thai joint. I always get my takeout Thai meals from here. Green chicken curry and…read morered duck curry. The take out is cheaper than dining in. You certainly get a larger portion dining in though. My wife loves Thai food. So that means we eat more Thai than I can remember. Having eaten at all of the Thai restaurants in Pukekohe, I can easily recommend Muang Thai as my wife's and my favourite Thai restaurant. Great value bottled beers. The Decor is uninspiring. No biggie, I'd still eat here, day after day, after day.

Eccentric but awesome dining evening!!…read more We booked the day before, online over Facebook, explaining that one of our diners was soy intolerant (but still loved Japanese food.) The owner was cool about it and we organised to be there at 6pm. We arrived at the venu, just a doorway with an unassuming sign between two shops. This instantly reminded me of some of the places we ate when we were in Japan in 09. Walking upstairs it opens up to a two table dining room with a small kitchen at one end. The decor is quirky, with Japanese memorabilia adorning the walls and mismatched Japanese cutlery on the table. There is a Japanese cooking gameshow on the TV in the corner. The elderly Japanese cook greets you from behind the kitchen and motions for you to sit. Since we are the only table to book, Ochiai San is all the staff tonight. There is no menu. We sat down and ordered some Asahi super dry and prepared ourselves. Degustation/ omakase style, heaps of small plates with delicious Japanese food start appearing. The chef was quiet at first, busy behind the grilles, but warmed up with jokes and banter as the night went on. Food was fresh and delicious, made from whatever could be sourced locally and turned into savory creations. 12 different "dishes" served over about 10 plates ranging from Japanese pickles to brothy soups to dumplings to wagyu beef to choco-nanas. All very tasty. I don't normally like degustation style dining but I was happily full at the end of it all. After dinner Ochiai San came and chatted with us about all sorts of stuff, Japanese dining etiquette, what we liked about the meal, took goofy photos with us with some pre prepared photo frames, he really does feel like he runs the place because he genuinely loves cooking. Really great experience, looking forward to going back there again.

We had been planning to visit Sakura Kitchen for ages. We stumbled upon it years ago when going to…read morethe adjacent supermarket and called in to ask about a booking. However, from memory they were booked up weeks in advance at the time so we put it on the back burner. Since then we've heard so many good reports that we made a date to go with some old mates. The unassuming entrance to this restaurant is sandwiched between a pizza shop and a butchery and is actually easy to miss if you are focussed on the pizza or the meat shopping. There is no menu. The Japanese owner cooks for you, seemingly whatever takes his fancy on the day. It's a small and intimate setting and you can chat to the chef from your table while he cooks. There were only three people working there: the chef, and two others who helped prep in the kitchen and wait on the table. We were a group of 12 and we were the only customers, all seated at one table which filled the whole restaurant. The chef will also open the restaurant and cook for just one couple, as he did for some friends' anniversary recently. I don't think the waiting staff were there so he just served them himself. If you are a fussy or picky eater, don't bother going to Sakura because you won't enjoy or appreciate the effort that goes into the food. If you must go, please be well-mannered and don't pout or turn up your nose at things you don't recognise. It's really immature and insulting to the chef. And don't announce to your fellow diners why you don't want to eat it - they don't want to know! But really... just don't go. We had about 10 courses I think. Each course comes on small serving plates, like a Japanese degustation without the wine to match. There's everything from vegetable to meat (Wagu), chicken and seafoods. It's all very good. Not being Japanese and not having a menu to refer to I don't know what the dishes were called but everything was delicious and presented beautifully with accompanying dipping sauces and condiments. There was so much food that we were all struggling at the end, but had room for the unusual green tea ice cream at the end. They are fully licensed but the selection is very small. I was offered a red or a white wine! They also do sake which some of our party imbibed a little too freely.. A trip to the bathroom is amusing, there is a heated Japanese toilet seat which does other things, (see photo). Our bill came to approximately $70 per head but would be less without alcohol. It was a great experience, unique and special and we'll be going back again.

Love the Farmers Market at the Showgrounds. The food sold is grown or produced by the Owners…read morethemselves. There is high quality honey about half way around this market which we highly recommend especially with winter coming up. A nice Country outing to purchase food and produce.

Relaxed atmosphere, fresh produce, speciality foods, love music, and a large variety of food…read morestalls. We had a great time strolling through this farmers market. The permanently installed covered stalls made it even nicer. Less of a market, more like a great place to spend a Sunday morning.

As we walked into the bright and airy restaurant we were warmly greeted by the staff and Manager…read more We were served soon after seating, did not have to wait too long for our meals. I had the Flambeed Chicken and my wife had Lamb Shanks, we had enough room to squeeze the Banoffee pie and Sticky Date pudding in. The portions could have been a little larger, as you were not really satisfied after your mains, but then again those who enjoy dessert it left room. For me, the food was good, but the menu was limited. Still worth trying would come back again.

First time here for buffet dinner and LOVED IT! The lil gas burner with tasty broth to cook your…read moremeal in. At $24 all you can eat, fresh vegetables, leafy greens, meat, tofu, sauces,deep fried onion/fish rings, nuggets and incl. desserts the list goes on. This restaurant was worth my buck. This place carters for everyone incl. kids. The seating may not be flash but HEY! its good food if you're into the whole Asian style restaurant. They do have a menu which i didn't get time to have a look at. If ever you're in Papatoetoe area in the evening, you should try it out after 5pm. This place is pretty packed later on at dinner time, so get in quick.

enjoyed the meal fresh as and you can choose what you want and how much you can eat yum whanau yum…read moreas

Quite a spectacular meal.!! This chef is clearly very experienced and very talented…read more We went on a Weds, which is the night they have a 1/2 price tasting menu (so youay not get this food) We started with homemade broth that's fed everyday with leftover stock. The flavor was rich and delicious. It doesn't look like much but it's amazing We we went to a ceviche appetizer which was served with crispy cracker type (not a good explanation but I don't have a better word) very light accompaniment. You put the ceviche on the cracker and poof! Another delicious dish We moved on to venison and John Dory (fried). We got this with duck fat baked potatoes, carrots with special sauce, and zucchini. Flavor bombs ! Texture and taste were balanced and pleased the palate with every bite ! Dessert was 2 courses of light, refreshing but satisfying sorbets with special garnishes.... If I lived here I'd be back weekly Thanks chef and staff at team Aryeh!

I had dinner here with a friend when I was visiting Auckland. It's fine, but not great. For such…read moreprices you would quite reasonably expect more - the food is nice; I really enjoyed my Lamb Loin, cooked and presented beautifully... but other dishes on the menu were quite pedestrian. My companion had a pizza which was average at best. Other items are burgers, fried pastry things, fish and chips etc. Wine prices are high too. Service is very nice, but the atmosphere lets it down - who wants to eat dinner with a television blasting sport at you? So .. overall, it's very expensive for what it is. Hawkins595@hotmail.comHaw

We stayed at the Sebel for 4 days and ate at the Ora every day. I usually don't like hotel…read morerestaurants, but this was amazing. Fantastic fresh fish and veggies. Limited but great wine selection. The deserts were all good. Good thing I ran a lot while I was here.