Gemmayze was one of my fav places to eat in Auckland (in spite of the low Yelp reviews, which seem Service focused and an area I fortunately had no issues with). We had a rez and were able to get seated ~5 min after arriving on time. Place was packed at 8:30pm on a Friday. Cocktails are delicious - really flavorful . Easy to order multiple. Orange Blossom Martini was good and easy; Jiddi Sour was unique delicious For food, Hummus and pide a great start. Bread is fresh, warm, and tasty. Lamb was delicious and filling. Carrots an excellent side - roasted well and the fennugreek sauce was on point. Chill vibe in what feels like an open atrium mall read more

Wish I saw all the reviews about how the rude host staff is before I went. They asked us to wait 30 minutes, which was no problem. I ask if we can leave our name on a waitlist somewhere and they say they don't do waitlists, so we have to just wait there on the side. Weird but again, no problem. 45 minutes pass by so I politely ask if there's an update to the table. The hostess literally yells "I told you guys the status of the table multiple times." And storms away. I'm from the States so I'm not sure if I was breaking some cultural rules, or something, but I was really polite when asking, and I only asked one time. I was never told the status "multiple times" and I don't know who "you guys" is. This place needs a reality check, the food was awful and service was miserable. I don't recommend this establishment to anybody. read more

I would love to share with you one of my favourite hidden gems in Auckland - introducing Gemmayze Street in St Kevin's Arcade. Here are five reasons why I love Gemmayze Street and why you should visit pronto. 1. The owners. Chef Samir Allen runs the kitchen and produces the most beautiful, divine, mouthwatering and moreish Lebanese food (more on that below), while his mother, Liane Farry, is front of house. I read in one review that said she was 'scary' - she is definitely quite the opposite. Always friendly, always welcoming, and once on a very busy night, Liane took over our table of five and we received great service! 2. The beautiful Lebanese food. I have dined at Gemmayze Street four times now, and the food has been excellent every visit. I generally order my favourite vegetarian dishes (a selection of mezze), and also a larger dish if I am feeling super hungry. These dishes come highly recommended: Hummus - this is my family's favourite dish, for it's beautiful flavour and texture, creaminess and lovely presentation. Dip your complimentary flatbread in it and I guarantee you will swoon. Falafel - served with parsley cream and pickled turnip, this dish is my second favourite, for its generous serving and overall deliciousness. I could literally eat Gemmayze Street's falafel everyday if I could and/or turn vegetarian if I had a limited supply of their falafels. Tabbouleh - I have fond memories of my Mum making this dish when my sisters and I were young, and she continues to make it to this day. It is a fresh, healthy and delicious salad made up of Bulgur wheat, parsley, mint, tomatoes and lemon. It is super easy to make too. I love ordering this dish at Gemmayze Street, not only because of it reminds me of Mum, but also because it is the perfect fresh accompaniment to all the other dishes. Frekkeh Risotto - In January of this year, Gemmayze Street updated their menu and this beautiful risotto was added as one of their larger dishes. It is served with broccoli, garlic, olives and a bright egg on top. It was a delight to eat and is a delicious vegetarian option. 3. The presentation. Each dish is perfectly plated, with a mix of different colours and textures. The food is made for sharing, so each diner also gets their own special colourful plate - every time I visit I am excited about which coloured plate I will end up with. Also, I love the unique wine and beer glasses! 4. The service etc. Consistently good service, with water glasses always topped up, and attentive wait staff who are always on hand to explain the dishes and make suggestions for both food and drink. In regards to booking, I would recommend booking online via their website in advance. Gemmayze Street are only open Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, so it does get busy and it is a popular place for work and celebratory functions. Even though when I have dined there (around 6pm) it has been quiet, after 30 minutes, the whole restaurant has filled up quickly. 5. The decor and location. Tucked away at the back of St Kevin's Arcade, Gemmayze Street takes up the space where Bestie is a cafe during the day. The restaurant is set up like a real Lebanese restaurant/cafe - there are rugs, colourful table settings, mix and match furniture, greenery, photos of Lebanese families by the bar area, and traditional artefacts, plus the tables occupy one whole end of the Arcade, making it a great place for dining al fresco. If possible, request a table near the large windows - you will get a full view of the Sky Tower. At night, the view is magical... just like Gemmayze Street is too. read more

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Five start for this place. Amazing service. Nice food. 5 start recommendation. I was touring around the city and found this place doing free meal to community. Really nice idea. The staffs were amazingly helpful and patient. Justin is superb read more

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We were pretty excited about this restaurant but unfortunately, it did not meet our expectations. Food wise, what we ordered was good. The hummus, malfouf, and ftayr were great. The goat ravioli lacked a bit of flavor - it was missing something. We had also ordered the chicken but we did not receive it. We had all the other items served within 20 minutes but continued to wait for the chicken. I had even asked our server if it was coming and she said yes but then we waited for another half hour and it turned out it was never ordered. At that point, we weren't even hungry. We also noticed that people were getting warm bread with their hummus - hot enough to seem fresh but ours was cold. So, we asked for hot bread and said ours wasn't warm. They gave us one piece that was still pretty cold and then charged us as well! It was unfortunate as I was very excited to try the dessert and never made it to that point. We also finished our first drink but glasses were taken away and never asked for more drinks lol. I hope it was just a bad night for them. I don't live in Auckland so I can't give this place another chance. read more

Only the starters are worth it . Main dishes are ok at best . The place looks authentic however the food is not .

An actually Lebanese restaurant, probably the only one actually owned and run by Lebanese in Auckland. The food was as good as in Lebanon even more artistic (I am lebanese myself) The service was good and the food with excellent. A bit pricy but worth it. I highly recommend it read more

Amazing new Lebanese place on K'Road. PROS: - Amazingly delicious food. - fantastic wine and drinks selection. - superb deserts. - impecable service. - great setting and ambiance. CONS: - You have to leave eventually, which will make you sad. Also: This place is particularly great for vegetarians. read more

Gemmayze St - Seating, very cool - Lebanese Near Me - Auckland, AUK

Worst customer service experienced in Auckland. I made a terrible mistake of visiting this restaurant on 22nd November Friday evening with my girl friend. The restaurant reception person was so busy that pointed us to to the side and "told" us to sit on side and did not tell us any information about how long will it take for the table to be available. We requested several times to please tell us how long will it take. He kept saying "I dont know just sit and I will give you something" After a terrible wait for 45 minutes he gave us the worst seats right next to the toilets which was busy with people going in and out. The young gentleman pointed us from far and told us to go and sit there. We requested the gentleman that we waited for more than 40 minutes and now you have given such terrible location out of everywhere he just said this is the best I can do and left. Then we asked for a manager he mentioned he is the manager and he cannot do anything at this busy time and it is because we dont have any bookings. We did tell him that we tried booking online but could not he just did not want to listen and kept rambling about what he had to say. Right after that he took another couple to their seats and moved the chairs for them in a location which we had asked for. The same couple had arrived after us and did not have a booking also. It is so sad to see that Lebanese restaurant had a poor Lebanese service also. I will never visit this place again and will not recommend anyone to visit this place. We ended up going to another restaurant with a great service and excellent food. Save yourself some time and there are plenty of good options apart from such restaurants with arrogant staff with poor customer manager skills. DONT VISIT THIS RESTAURANT. read more

Just finished up eating and, OMG, it was delicious! We chose the option to have our server pick our shared menu (two of us, one vegetarian) and we loved EVERYTHING! Fresh ingredients, masterfully prepared. We will come back at least one more time before traveling back to the US. read more

We came for dinner, two teens and two adults and had the tasting menu (Jeeb) and every single dish was incredible. Even lowly hummus was light and creamy with just the right level of garlic. The falafel was perfectly crispy on the outside and served with several tasty sauces. The teens sampled their way through the home made sodas, while we tried the various interesting drinks with generous portions of herbs in them. read more

We saw this from the end of the courtyard and had a good feeling. We asked for recommendations and packed in two great dishes into the short time we had. The lamb shank was rich with flavor and just fell apart in the mouth. The fish of the day was presented and tasted fantastic. The middle eastern spices were subtle and complex, working well with the red wine. Great experience all around. Highly recommended. read more

This place just tries too hard and in the process misses the point. Lebanese cuisine is so delicious that it speaks for itself with good ingredients prepared simply and true to the core flavours. Give the champagne volute a miss and get back to basics...and when those people from Melbourne said "that the've never tasted Lebanese food like this" I don't think they meant it as a compliment. read more

This restaurant has been recommended by a friend of mine so I decided to go there for my boyfriend's birthday. The food is good but the HOST GOT TO LEARN how to treat people and be nice! He was a JERK all the way through our experience! We made a reservation so we didn't need to wait for a table (that is usually the idea, right?!?!). We got there, the host was super rude right off the bat! He didn't even understood under what name the reservation was made under! He just very rudely told us to wait in the corner, while 2/3 of the restaurant's table was empty! We waited for 20 minutes while we watched him to attend people that got there way after us! The waitress that helped us was very nice thou so the food! But then it came the time to pay the bill and the only guy that does that is whom? The host! He was going to a table to present a wine, pour it etc etc while I had to AGAIN wait standing up for him to come back a long time after so I could pay my bill and leave! I told them I was going to give them a bad review about the host and the host himself started YELLING at me as I was a criminal or something! THE WORST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY WHOLE LIFE AFTER BEEN IN 70 COUNTRIES! So do I recommend this place?? HELL NO! If you want decent service, have a good time and being treated with respect DO NOT GOT THERE! read more

I was absolutely blown away by the delicious food tonight! We shared about 6 different vegetarian mezze dishes and each one was outstanding. I had a slow cooked lamb dish which was superbly tender and beautifully presented. My dessert of passion fruit with burned white chocolate, crispy honey things and God knows what else almost brought tears to my eyes. The service was impeccable. This is where fine dining meets delicious, generous bistro dishes. Despite the lack of any decent IPA or XPAs (best beer on offer was an ok local pale ale) I have to give this 5/5. The best meal I've had in a long time; perhaps ever! read more

Can't pronounce the name but the food was absolutely beautiful. Staff are cool too. Good times.