Ponsonby Road Bistro

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Address

165 Ponsonby Rd
Ponsonby
Auckland
Region: Auckland
Licence: Fully Licensed
Cuisine: Unknown
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Contact

Phone: 09-360 1611

Open

Dinner: Mon - Sat

Overall DineOut Score based on 14 reviews

Total		8.1
Food		8.1
Dessert		8.6
Presentation		7.7
Service		8.0
Environment		7.9
Toilets		7.4
Child Friendly	Kind of

Review by: QJS (1) on 9th December 2009

Total		8.6
Food		9
Dessert		8
Presentation		7
Service		10
Environment		8
Toilets		N/A
Child Friendly	Yes

I went to Ponsonby Road Bistro a few months ago on a Monday night with a friend. We got there early at 6ish and not many people were there yet. The waitress greeted us warmly and after setting the table for us, was more than happy to provide us another table further back after my friend said she was feeling cold by the window.
The waitress was also quick to let us know that the bottle of Pinot Noir we had ordered was out of stock, and recommended us another bottle that is 06 Surveyor Thomson which was excellent!! My friend and I took a while to finish our starter since we were talking so much, but the winter waited keeping an eye while filling up our wine occasionally - not overdoing it.
My market fish dish was really refreshing in a sauce I hadn't quite tasted before. My friend's lamb was also great! Both are in very good portion AND very reasonably priced. By the time it hits 7:30 the place started to fill up and the atmosphere was nice, not too noisy but feels warm and cozy - though the tables on either side were quite closely located. The dessert I ordered was chocolate fondant and was nicely done.
This is definitely a nice neighbourhood restaurant. Would highly recommend to everyone who wants a low key dining place. Plus it's right outside a bus stop for those who've had one too many drink.

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Review by: Easy-peasy (2) on 23rd November 2009

Total		9.1
Food		9
Dessert		9
Presentation		9
Service		9
Environment		10
Toilets		8
Child Friendly	Kind of

I've been to PRB four times now, and every time leave feeling pleased with the experience and like I've indulged myself. Their wine list shows good variety, nice viogniers and pinot blancs to go with their food.
I LOVE the display of wine bottles with the prices along one wall, plus the big black boards with specials and cheese boards etc. it really adds to the sophisticated yet casual chic style of the place. Plus the hand written menus are gorgeous.
The staff are very professional and knowledgeable. They are good at reading what every customer wants and then making recommendations. I went one Saturday night with 3 friends, and the waiter did an exceptional job of catering to 2 of us wanting pizza, 1 wanting a dessert and me wanting a wine (liquid diet!) all at the same time.
My favourite experience was for my Birthday lunch a few weeks ago with 2 friends. We got treated like we were VIP and were given time to have a goss rather than being rushed to order. The asparagus, pomegranate, hazlenut and feta creation as a main was simply divine!
Being a young one with a student loan to pay off, I will save PRB as a more 'special' place to dine, but in saying that, all aspects of the menus are well priced. But it's all so good you want to have everything from entrees to dessert! Better start saving for my next visit.

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Review by: frankie (10) on 16th November 2009

Total		8.5
Food		9
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		8
Environment		9
Toilets		6
Child Friendly	Not at all

Ate here a few times over winter and had some excellent rustic italian style dishes, always some interesting wines available - things like vouvray and pinot blanc. Chef is ex-Rocco so food is consistently good. Last week we went for a late-ish supper and had an excellent salt cod soup with parsley oil - wow!, charcuterie plate with great terrine and lamb cutlets. Toilets are a bit dark but the dining room has a great feel and the staff are professional but relaxed.

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Review by: gianouts (46) on 20th October 2009

Total		9.0
Food		9
Dessert		9
Presentation		9
Service		9
Environment		9
Toilets		N/A

We decided on the spur of the moment to go out for dinner tonight and decided to give the Ponsonby Road Bistro a go, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The restaurant had a relaxed but professional ambience and was remarkably busy for a Tuesday night. The menu was not large, but the variety of wines by the glass was extensive and quite different from the norm.
We started with the Oysters and the Soup of the Day. The Oysters were beautifully presented on a bed of Seaweed with both lemon and vinegar. The Soup was unfortunately a bit salty and lacking in flavour.
For mains I had a magnificent Fish of the Day dish which consisted of Gurnard on Indian spiced lentils with cress (I think), which I would very happily order again. Jane had a Charcuterie plate which had home smoked ham, chicken liver parfait, pickles, fig compote, terrine, salamis and was accompanied by a nice fresh bread.
We finished with some lovely desserts. I had a Chocolate "Eton Mess" with Chocolate Mousse, Valrhona Chocolate and Dark Cherries. Jane had an excellent Sauternes Custard with runny Caramel which she thoroughly enjoyed.
We will happily return.

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Review by: pumpkin (1) on 13th August 2009

Total		9.2
Food		9
Dessert		10
Presentation		8
Service		10
Environment		9
Toilets		7
Child Friendly	Yes

I have eaten at this place many many times since the name change from Magnum. The hand written menu seems to change every two to three weeks. It's great for a business lunch as you can actually hear what your guests are saying. In the evening it has a very sophisticated NY/London/Melbourne vibe. The prices for wines are good and the service always spot on! Well done PBR !

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Review by: Heather_SF (19) on 2nd June 2009

Total		6.9
Food		7
Dessert		7
Presentation		5
Service		8
Environment		7
Toilets		N/A
Child Friendly	Not at all

Went here for a business meeting on a Tuesday night. Not too loud so easy to converse among 4 people. Had a drink at the bar before all of our party was present. Nice wine list. Variety of wines at a variety of prices.
As a starter our table split the oysters which were pretty good. I'm not a huge oyster fan but thought it might be nice with the sparkling wine that we were sharing. For dinner the table order the pork belly mains as well as the market fish (mahi mahi) special and the beef. Hadn't noticed the beef on the menu but it looked really really good. The pork belly was good but not a large enough portion for my taste. Came with chili beans and some sort of yummy salsa. Overall the dish was still good and came recommended by our waiter. Tasted the mahi mahi and it was quite good as well. With our mains we had a side dish of the "stir-fried green in ginger butter". There was nothing spectacular about the broccoli with greens. It was good but not memorable.
For dessert we also shared one of their cheese platters (the brie). I love cheese so I was happy.
The costs for the mains were reasonable $23-30+ but the desserts were expensive $14. Overall though, the service was very good and the ambiance was lovely. I would come back. Great little neighborhood restaurant.

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Review by: pink (4) on 14th March 2009

Total		8.3
Food		9
Dessert		9
Presentation		8
Service		7
Environment		7
Toilets		7

We went to Magnum in January for dinner and then booked again for valentines night as we were pleased to see that whilst they had put a set menu on for this night, the prices had not been pushed up unlike other restaurants. Was surprised to see the other comments on bad service as we thought that the staff were welcoming and attentive. The food was very good, I had pate for entree, the eye fillet for main and the chocolate fondant to finish, the chocolate fondant is worth the visit alone, it comes with a hokey pokey ice cream which I found a bit much with the fondant but my husband thought worked really well. Looking around at the other diners, all the food looked great and the portions were of a good size, I could have just had the starter and the main but had my eye on the pudding! Overall, the experience was great and we will be back.

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Review by: dunedin3 (3) on 20th January 2009

Total		2.7
Food		1
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		5
Service		1
Environment		7
Toilets		7

My experience was bad, firstly the waiters were rude and let other people get a table beofre me and my friends, then when we got one we were forgoten about again, an hour later I had to ask for service! firstly to take our orders, then to get some wine, then to get refills! and lastly for the dessert. We ordered the deluxe burgers however mine was red raw, mushy and tastless, the waiter said I wouldn't die, so much for service! the second time we went we had similar issues with bad service and average food and arrogant staff thinking they are amazing. I personally will not go there again there are much better restaurants in ponsonby where the food is at least cooked! For me service is important when you are paying upto $40 for a main, aparantly not for the staff at Magnum. Thumbs down from me.

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Review by: Chilli Girl (26) on 20th December 2008

Total		9.0
Food		9
Dessert		8
Presentation		10
Service		10
Environment		9
Toilets		9
Child Friendly	Not at all

What a funky place - seven of us went on a really busy pre xmas night to be met by EXCEPTIONAL service - best ever - nothing too much trouble - incrediably professional - food fantastic - no complaints - receommend for a special night!

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Review by: AMG (56) on 20th November 2008

Total		8.4
Food		8
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		9
Environment		9
Toilets		9
Child Friendly	Not at all

First time i've been here, had never heard of it before (!!) It was a Wednesday night, nice and quiet, walked in and got a cosy table by the bar. Attentive staff. Great modern decor. I got the snapper with mussels and prawns in a chunky tomato sauce, it was great, the prawns were huge. My partner got the monkfish and said it was great. Good portion sizes. would def go back.

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Review by: phraser (8) on 10th November 2008

Total		8.6
Food		9
Dessert		9
Presentation		8
Service		8
Environment		8
Toilets		7
Child Friendly	Not at all

We wandered into this restaurant at random at about 7pm on a Saturday night (visiting Auckland, didn’t know of anywhere particular that we should eat, it was next to the bus stop) and therefore had no preconceived ideas as to what we would find. We were very happy with the experience.
As we hadn't booked and it was a busy time I was expecting to have to wait, but we were shown straight to a table even though the restaurant was almost full. Although the people sitting nearest the road were probably best described as "beautiful people", we were still treated courteously despite being dressed in jeans and t-shirts.
The service was friendly and personal but not overbearing, no request was too much trouble, and the food was excellent. Even though it was quite busy, service was at that balance point of being prompt enough, but not so prompt that you felt like they were rushing you out the door.
I enjoyed my Caprese Salad (tomatoes with real flavour, and proper buffalo mozzarella), duck and green olive pasta and the chocolate fondant (a real, fresh chocolate fondant). Everything tasted really fresh and the flavour combinations were excellent.
The atmosphere was pleasant - we were sitting inside, near the back - and was not too noisy, although you’re pretty close to the people at the next table. It sounded like the front half of the restaurant (the outside section and the inside nearer the road) would have been noisy, though.
The wine list was a little shorter than I had expected but everything was available by the glass, which made up for this, and my dining companion was pleased to see a good selection of stickies to go with his tiramisu.
If we’re back in Auckland, we would seek this place out again and would recommend it to friends. We'll probably ensure we're a little more dressed up next time.

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Review by: ron mcquilter [DineOut VIP] (79) on 18th August 2008

Total		8.1
Food		9
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		8
Service		8
Environment		6
Toilets		7

Went there on Saturday 16 August, x 4 of us. The girl who greeted us was one the friendliest staff I have ever met. The food was superb. I had the oysters and then the braised ribs, brilliant sauce. The girls had Hapuka and thought it was wonderful. The other main was the minthed lamb pie, again great. One downfall was the space between the tables and the bar which resulted in a few bumps on the back of the chair. Not a lot they can do about the sapce I suppose. The was a bit of up-selling by telling you there would be a wait for the mains so did you want anything else. That's why we had oysters. Hey, it worked and was pulled off so well by the staff you might not realise it's a tactic.

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