depot eatery & oyster bar

i know this place gets awesome reviews, so hopefully mine was an “outlier” experience. came in for an early lunch. was rudely informed that it was another 20 min before lunch orders can be taken. was taken aback but asked for a table and a coffee. waited until the “official lunch start time”. given the menu. ordered oysters, fish; brussels sprouts and a glass of champagne. cannot fault the oysters or champagne. but the other two...hmmm..
fish - semi raw (yes there is a difference between “served rare” and “not cooked properly”. my greens died in a pool of oil topped with a mountain of salt. whilst i am not averse to culinary experiments, disintegrated sprouts in a salty “oil soup” are not appealing.
perhaps it was a case of wrong place, wrong time.
certainly not what was expected.
but i have to give it another go on my next trip to auckland to find out.

like what their site says “there’s an energy and passion about depot. not overly precious or pretentious – just fast, fun and fresh.”, and i agree 100% with it, i love this place, good food and great wine, i think that is why this place is quite successful and there is no lunch time that i passed by that this place is empty, always full to the brim but turn overs are quite fast, so think of it as the highest level of fast food, as they literally serve fast but fresh and of top quality.

if you’re looking for a fantastic dining experience complete with delicious food, brilliant service and a great atmosphere, then head to depot now!. we were a party of five on a bustling friday night. it was incredibly busy when we (my sister and i) arrived at 6pm, so we were put on the waiting list. due to our other friends arriving late, we didn’t sit down until 7.30pm. [note that your whole group has to arrive before they seat you]. if we were at any other restaurant, we would have left, but this was depot and we were all dead keen to try it out!

oh my dearest depot, thank you for the good food you're consistently providing :d went here on a friday night with my dad for dinner and as usual, the restaurant was fully packed! so we left our names there and got a call an hour later telling us a table was finally available, thank heavens we waited cos everything we ordered was worth it!

between the two of us, we had ordered just one oyster the turbot sliders and the skirt steak. the oysters came out first and we were pleasantly surprised to see they had given us an extra one due to how small the oysters were that night. holy moly these oysters meant serious business, served in salted ice with a wedge of lemon and a little saucer of some form of vinegary shallot thing. i think it's safe to say this was the nicest oyster i've ever had in my life, full of freshness and flavour yum! at $4.50 for one, these little treasures were worth every cent :)

the next thing that came out were the turbot sliders which i had been wanting to try for agesss since seeing photos of them everywhere on instagram. these were actually delicious! fish with a light crispy batter served with mayo and watercress in between two soft delicate buns, each bite was a tinge of paradise! definitely reccomend these if you're a fish fan !! this was my favourite dish of the night

the last dish that came out was the skirt steak which was actually my least favourite dish of the night, but mainly because some pieces of the steak were unswallobale due to its chewiness. however, the turbo onions it's served alongside with were to die for!! the dish overall was still enjoyable, but failed to shine in comparison to the sliders and oysters. 

overall, depot was an amazing experience and the bill came up to around 48 dollars for these three dishes. the service was extremely good too! will definitely return to try more of their dishes like the pork hock! yumyum

always on point. great food and attentive staff. make sure you try the snapper wings, only available during autumn/winter. turbot sliders and pork hock are also not to be missed too.

this is just my personal review - i had very high expectations because it is rare for a dining place to have an average of 4.9 stars. i tried the sliders and the crisp pork hock during my visit. i did like the amount of seasoning they put on the pork, not too salty and not too bland. however, i did not find it to be spectacular as it had been pointed out by many people.

sugar pie, sugar pie! definitely a winner for sure but that's no secret. came here after a show at 10.30pm friday night and got seats for two easily. love that they're open late.

i come for the pie and the availability of bluff oysters when no one else seems to be offering in may. on the dinner / savoury side of things i know you're paying for the cost of inner city rent so not value for money for me. also 3 out of 5 dishes were a hit which is too low given the prices and expectation. not the first time dining here either and same results last time.

after a glass of wine and some tapas at bellota for happy hour, i popped across the street to depot eatery & oyster bar. this was a recommendation from a friend who is from new zealand and i was certainly steered in the right direction! right near the skycity tower, depot is owned by al brown, a well known kiwi chef, author and restaurateur. after looking him up, i was very intrigued to find out that he also owns the federal delicatessen next door and best ugly bagels, which interestingly serves montreal-style bagels. i may have to venture over there before i leave.

it was a friday evening.
we made our entrance into depot. bam!
the waft of scrumptious smells from the kitchen hit our noses whilst our ears were drowned in happy/chatty diners.

we were recommended the fish sliders, squid ink linguine with clams, the bone marrow, and the warahou tortillas by our lovely waiter.

food did take 30minutes which was reasonable on a busy fri evening, but the service was amazing.

not to mention the food!
the turbot fish sliders were juicy with a hefty amount of lemon mayo. the perfect bite.
the squid ink linguine cooked to al dente with fresh clams. the broth was creamy and warm, perfect for dipping the bread in.
now to the bone marrow which one would normally throw away. this was rich and decadent. freshly baked in an oven to draw out and intensify the bone marrow essence which you then scoop up to be eaten with toasted bread and parsley. insanely good!
finally we finished with some warahou fish tortillas. again cooked to perfection, all sauced up with tomatillo.

all in all. an enjoyable experience and a must try eatery!
just be ready to wait up to an hour for tables on a busy friday or saturday evening.
also, servings are small so if your a big eater like me, you may leave hungry unless your willing to spend a fair amount

so amazing, i looked at the menu and wasn't too keen on anything but we just ordered 4 dishes to share between us and i loved every single dish, i was amazed as to how good it was. it was super busy and yet they only took 20ish mins maybe to make 4 delicious dishes. can't wait to go back, hopefully soon! amaaaaaazzziiiiinngg ?

great oysters and sliders. definitely an awesome place to take a first date as it's got a great vibe and lost of bustle and watching the chefs if any quiet moments in those first dates haha. this place got me eating oysters after hating them till i was 30. their vinegarette is the key to starting to eat beautiful oysters and especially their mahurangi oysters.

really loved this place. great service. i had some amazing oysters here - they were so fresh, plump and juicy! also ordered the nz meat platter and really enjoyed it. would definitely return.

amazing experience! my boyfriend and i are both meat lovers, we asked for the waitress's recommendation. the lovely waitress (blonde, really nice eye makeup :) ), kindly recommended the pork hock, fish sliders and bone marrow. all amazing dishes... i loved the pork hock especially. it is the perfect combination of juicy meat, crunchy skin, and slight fruity sweetness from the apple, aaand conveniently shredded of bone. 🥰

this must be the place to be cause there was an hour wait for the table.

the food was worth the wait. causal style share plates and fresh oysters. the oysters are shucked when you order and tasted as fresh as can be.

everything was presented and cooked perfectly. great wine selection really enjoyable night

luckily, we came here accompany a famous hk gourmet. and depot is his first stop in this food&wine journey. so you can tell the important status that depot has occupied.

on this sunny afternoon, people rushed into depot, for a drink, for a relaxing chat, for a bite with the sea essence or like us, for the fresh oyster.

one of the greatest achievement that al brown has made is changing the way new zealander eating raw seafood. due to his efforts and his foresight, we can have this opportunity to sit here, enjoying piles of shell fish, oyster, raw fish presented beautifully in ice. walk closer, take a deep breath, breathe in the true flavor coming from the sea, and then make up the mind to savor it all. in terms of civilization, we have made outstanding progress; however, when it comes to food and the way we eat, it is a different story. sometimes the original primitive way for food brings out the human nature. isn't it?

i think our hk gourmet craig couldn't agree more. sitting down in a long table with little plates in front of him, he asked us to start this taste journey together with him. the oyster from tio piont is definitely a good start. squeeze drops of lemon juice, a bit of sea salt flakes, then send it directly to mouth. hmm, here comes the sea breeze from marlbourgh sound. 

the king fish crudo is another surprise. pink cuite king fish aroused everybody's appetite. who wouldn't? take a bite, the fresh tender texture, with a bit sweet and sour flavor from the lemon was perfect. blessed that auckland is a city with seaport, we can enjoy this freshness from sea to table. 

yes, beyond all the sophisticated cooking techniques, best quality fresh food element is the key issue. depot has presented a right way for people to understand this simple truth.