cazador

everything we ordered was delicious! really good quality of meat and good selection of wine too. if only the portions were a bit bigger. service is top notch!

always a beautiful experience at cazador!! have come here multiple times now with my partner and have loved it more and more everytime. the menu regularly changes but the pasta is always there and its fresh and beautiful! the charcuterie platter is absolutely amazing with delicious breads and lovely meats and different things to try. the potatoes are to die for!!!!!!!!! theyre crispy, fluffy, perfectly seasoned and the best potatoes i've ever tried. its a lovely atmosphere, setting, amazing service, overall my favourite restaurant in auckland!

we’re so lucky that cazador is our local. this has to be one of the best restaurants in auckland. their seasonal variety of game dishes always leave you wanting more. rebecca and dariush are also excellent hosts. we can’t get enough of this place.

amazing meal, lovely lovely staff - had the parpadelle with slow roasted venison shoulder, hubby had ash coated venison, kids had quail and pork - all were beautifully presented and tasted exquisite- will definitely be back. thanks for a lovely evening

very interesting experience, this place offer great service and good selection of drink. most of all if you want to try quail, venison and liver parfait this is the place!

the restaurant offered the perfect atmosphere for a relaxing dinner on a wintry night. 

i wasn't a stranger to game but the venison heart wasn't like any offal i had ever had. it was absolutely delicious; there was nothing to fault about it and it was my favourite of the evening. my husband and son who tried heart for the first time loved it too.  

between us we also had: babaghanoosh, nan-e-bakhshi, octopus, whole quail, venison, which were all done very well. 

the let-down for me was the dark & stormy dessert. the spices in the rum & ginger steamed pudding overpowered everything else on the plate, which made the subtle flavours you would expect from the bay leaf ice cream redundant.

hate to say it team cazador but your service really let me down when i came through. i made a booking and arrived on time. i clearly had a coat and was never asked to check it in at all. yes i am still annoyed by the lack of service for such a renowned restaurant. i ordered the pheasant and it was well done and the flavours did not gel well, the mashed vegetable was heavy and made me feel abit too full, whilst the green verge was salty. my friends meals were average, if not below average for the type of food that was served with it. i finished my meal and my plate was not cleared and took a bloody long time to get cleared. i felt like i wasn't worthy enough of being given amazing service, no one came to ask if the food was ok, no one came to top up our water, our dessert and tea took forever to arrive at one point thinking they forgot.. the waitresses just looked like they weren't into it and was far too occupied gasbagging behind the bar. i watched the waitress open doors for other guests and i had to do this myself... being petty here but isn't this restaurant known for serving amazing food and the experience of service should come with its territory. i definitely will not be coming back here again, which is really disappointing as this place was recommended by all my work mates.

definitely a place to try if your "game"... not quite the place/atmosphere for a romantic dinner... friendly service. but really the food is pretty amazing.... we chose:
grilled venison heart
braised goat shank
whole quail
sides: potato & kale
finished with dessert: dark chocolate mousse and persimmon something which actually was very refreshing and yum.
did start with a vishnofka.... brandy..yum

went with my wife for my birthday. the food was very good and we enjoyed every course (we did the set menu) which was coupled with a superb bottle of wine but there was a lack of atmosphere and we felt a little rushed through our courses. would suggest going as a group rather than an intimate dinner. will definitely go back but with friends.

as a persian i have always grown up knowing about the reputation cazador entails. they are specialists in game cooking so it does have a specific taste. i love how the flavours blend together! definitely a great place to go to- theres a reason why it always tops the metro rankings!

my favorite auckland restaurant. no ocean views to be fair, but a lovely little garden area out the back, and an intimate, cozy feel. beautiful food. presented well, good portions, super-fresh ingredients and cheap for what it is. the service is perfect. the dishes dynamic, showcasing the incredible ingredients. it is clean, game themed but modern, and the bathrooms are a real delight. if you are vegetarian this place is not a great choice though, if only due to the decor. other than that, if you have not been then you are missing out.

came here having heard good things about their game food and because a couple of friends knew the owners, lived locally but had never tried the restaurant!  was a little bit tentative about there potentially being too much offal for my liking, but i needn't have worried as there were so many delicious options (and they were out of heart that week...........).  first, the charcuterie platter - apart from being very reasonable at $15 per head with alot of food on it, it was absolutely delicious and served well as an entrée.  our mains were also amazing, and the 2 people who had the desserts raved about those as well.  food and wine matching was amazing and when we went onto after dinner drinks, becks knowledge of sherries and other dessert wines came to the fore.  lovely level of service.  we didn't have the greatest table, kind of in the middle of proceedings - will know to ask for a different table next time.  also, well done to replacing my pre dinner drink free of charge, solely because the taste wasn't quite to my liking.  will definitely be back, and soon. might even be brave enough to try the heart if it's back in supply!

i cannot get over how amazing this place is! a true hidden gem! took a chance on this place as i'm a vegetarian! they accommodated me brilliantly and it was without a doubt the best pasta dish i've ever had! my partner is the biggest meat eater and had the venison and he was blown away as well by how great his dish was! i tried some of his sauce and it was so good! proportion was just enough to satiate us. can't stop raving about this place! having my birthday dinner there next month! xoxox

service was good and enjoyed the wine list. food wise i thought it was pretty average - boars neck lacked flavour, babaganoush was watery, and entree quantity size was small for price.

yum! this place is amazing! if you like game meats and trying something different come here! i had the game meat entree, hare main and the chocolate mousse for dessert. the entree was big enough to have shared and the main was so tasty the hare so tender and the chocolate mousse, well i cant stop thinking how good it was - rich and silky. service here was really friendly as well the whole experience was great.