cibo

terrific food - terrific service - a bit pricey, however.  nevertheless, worth going back!   i see my review is too short......oh well i expect i will go back again soon as it is a mere three minutes' walk away.  last winter they did lunch specials - two courses at a very good price (forgotten exactly how much), which we tried several times.

only thing nice is the ambiance however not a place for vegetarians or vegans. another fine dining (not) restaurant with that does not know or understand vegetarian. not a single decent vegetarian dish, very disappointing.

had our staff do here, what a wonderful experience. absolutely gorgeous food, service and extensive wine list. we will be back next year for sure. thanks for being so accommodating to my staff and i. jack.

ample parking spaces, service was exceptional. great vibe, food was immaculately presented and tasted amazing as well. the surprise lies with the huge dessert! would recommend for a good night out.

cibo is the 1st restaurant i dined at on my first trip to new zealand -- 20 years ago. i had a great meal then and a similarly tasty meal on my most recent visit. cibo a ten dollar taxi ride from the cbd but easy to get to over on georges bay road.

first, i was pleased to see so many pescatarian options on their menu since i now eat lower on the food chain -- i only eat seafood and vegetarian.

however mains have crept up over the $40nz per plate and some of our mains were tidily tiny. so, it's not the kind of place where you go hungrily for for a big hearty meal.

our entrees were beautifully prepared and my co2 infused battered fish was most yum. fries pretty traditional parisian bistro frites -- similar to "golden arches" fries.

finally, my cherry and mandarin sorbet with dried fruit of each was a great finish.

awesome food, superb staff, and great ambiance. very considerate of customer's allergy. they made us a birthday cake and sang happy birthday song. love their hapuka and lobster dish.

cibos is one of those upper end restaurants but have the most lovely and friendly staff who you can joke with. most other fancier places the staff are usually snobs but here you feel so welcome. this is my family's go to place if we are going out, usually if we can't decide on a place we will always come here. they have amazing cocktail, last time i got queen of hearts and the time before was a tolberone one. could not fault this place, live it to bits

went as a group of 5 for a friend's birthday, service was great. the waiter who served us made sure we were well looked after and made the effort to check whose birthday it was and sang for us. keep it up boys!

food was fantastic. we ordered the steak and the duck, got 3 starters to share between us. meat was unbelievably tender and well seasoned. thumbs up from the whole table!

you'll find the interiors sophisticated and classy but still with an element of fun and quirkiness. the service is amazing and the wait staff have the best personalities. had mussels for appetisers, scallops and pork for entree, wagyu beef for mains, sides if greens and kumara in duck fat and valrhona chocolate for dessert. can't fault the presentation or the taste. if anything maybe the portioning can be reviewed a little bit - the caramel tiramisu, which my hubby ordered, was literally bigger than his face. pacing between meals was great and overall had a great time and a fab dinner experience.

by far the best dining experience i have ever had in auckland, this place is amazing! the service really set it apart from other restaurants. we had the same servers throughout and they really took care of us. they were attentive without being overbearing and definitely added to experience.

the food is excellent. it is great quality ingredients cooked and plated in a modern way that simple and not over the top. it is exactly my type of fine dining. one of our group was celebrating their birthday and the staff singing happy birthday was really lovely.

i wasn't checking my watch waiting for the food to arrive because it is such a nice place to be. the staff are casual and friendly but are also knowledgeable and professional. i want to come back for a degustation asap!

on 18/7/17 we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary at cibo. the staff made us feel relaxed and special. the food was divine. i had the scallop entree, lamb main and finished with the pavlova dessert.  delicious. thankyou cibo for a memorable and special night.

this is definitely the lowest i have ever rated for a fine dining restaurant. it was our first time coming to cibo and we were recommended to try their degustation menu. we ordered an additional half dozen of bluff oysters which was really delicious. definitely a highlight of the night along with the cured salmon and lamb. the lamb was cooked to perfection and the balance of flavours of the salmon dish was sensational. the biggest let down was the duck parfait for the entree. the duck parfait was super rich and salty, the flavours on the dish were too strong and overwhelming and quite heavy as an entree. i only managed to get through two cubes of the duck parfait. the duck ham pastrami was definitely an overload on the palette and there needed to be more raspberries to balance out the richness of the dish. the salmon would of been the best option to serve as an entree. we asked the waiter if we could swap out the char siu pork belly bai for something else and he surprised us with a tiger prawn dish w quail egg. the flavours were nice however the prawn was overcooked.
overall, our dining experience was good and the restaurant has a lovely ambience. the total came to $323 which is identical to other degustation places with other places having a lot more to offer so great value for money. next time we will try cibo's a la carte menu.

back for more. it really is the best place in town! cocktails are to die for. the cocktails "napalm in the morning" and " i'll have what shes having " were divine. the service is sublime. genuine and attentive. just right. the meal perfect. claudia.

really hard go fault. excellent service and food that exceeded my expectations. the ceviche was incredible, as was the tuna. one of my favourite restaurants in auckland.

a restaurant situated within an old chocolate factory certainly piqued our interest and we made a booking immediately. even better is the fact it is just at the bottom of our road!

two words that immediately sprung to mind upon entering cibo were decadent and atmospheric. moody lighting and elegant interiors combined with quirky notes here and there certainly set the scene for a very ambient evening.

to begin, we started with ora king salmon, smoked custard, artichoke and sea vegetables. the salmon was silky smooth and perfectly cooked and the custard provided a smoky flavour which really complemented the fish.

the duck liver parfait, spiced plum puree, raisin jelly and croutons was by far the best parfait we have tasted in all of the restaurants we have been to in new zealand so far!

there are many discussions surrounding where to get the best pork belly in auckland and this entree has got to be included in those discussions! the free range pork belly, pork doughnut, mandarin gel, pumpkin and pot sticker gnocchi was divine. the pork belly was crispy without being dry and the little pork doughnut was delicious!

cibo also offer diners the option to have any entree as a main course size and we’d definitely consider this for the pork belly dish next time!

for main course we opted for the seared wagyu hangar, watercress puree, heirloom carrots, short rib and marrow croquette. cooked to a perfect medium rare the steak was juicy and moist and the little marrow croquette added an element of texture to the dish.

next up was the hawkes bay lamb, shank pastilla, coco bean, charred onion and mint yoghurt. the lamb was also nice and pink and the mint yoghurt provided a lovely refreshing component.

the smoked duck breast, compressed duck, masala chickpeas, pressed pear and cauliflower was succulent and moist with the smokiness coming through ever so subtly. the pear counteracted the richness of the meat.

the only thing we weren’t 100% keen on were the kumara wedges. they were a little dry.

we were way too full for dessert but after perusing the dessert menu we know we have to come back! the staff were kind enough to give us a complementary little bite size treat each.

special mention must go to the wait staff. they were exceptional and this was some of the best service we have had in any restaurant anywhere.

for a special occasion or to treat yourself we wholeheartedly recommend cibo.