gao

was recommended by a friend and was very impressed with the decor and atmosphere when we walked in.
ordered the pork and prawn dumplings to start which were nice. for our mains we had a selection of the prawns, calamari and mussaman curry...unfortunately these arrived in dribs an drabs so rather than eating dinner together it was a bit of a relay! the calamari was a bit dry and the prawns were very overcooked, a bit disappointing! thecurryis very tasty but perhaps a bit too rich.
the restaurant was very busy so will excuse the food being overcooked and will give them one more go as the atmosphere is great. hoping they invest in some more heaters as winter sets in!

delicious food, cool atmosphere, super fast service. vegecurryis the best one i’ve ever had

gao is the best. the redcurryis absolutely delicious, and the spicy pork noodles is so good. wow i just want to come back, its soooo worth it.

had the most delicious dinner here previewing their summer menu. started off with a range of dumplings and peking duck taco (my favourite 😍) their deep fried eggplant was a surprising crowd pleaser for us too!

as we grazed through the starters we each had a summery cocktail to sip on. i had the lychee and mint which went down a refreshing treat!

as if we weren’t already spoilt by food and drinks we moved on to the mains, a selection of fried chicken, ribs,curryand noodles. honestly a great variety of flavour to share with the table.

would 10/10 be back to try out the other dishes and drinks. great place to catch up with friends or a family dinner!

service and flavour was 10/10 - loved the pecking duck pancakes!! and the dumplings! also my favourite dish was a chicken thigh and egg plantcurry😍😍😍😍

gaols at gao in albany 🥳 we tried their new summer menu, tasted some of the classics from the current menu and had our fair share of their amazing cocktails 🍸!

for entrees, we kicked off with different style dumplings 🥟 , fried calamari with really interesting dips and a super creative cantonese roast duck bao (made from roti bread)! the tempura with sweet fish sauce was also a favourite.

the mains were absolutely delightful too. we had a spread of asian fusion food and it was super exciting to eat! i loved the beef massamancurry🍛, papaya salad 🥗 and the pork ribs!

finally, all these delicious food were run down with some fantastic cocktails which are all very reasonably priced too (around $16 each)! my favourite was the pink gin 🍹 and aperol spritz (of course), the virgin mojito was also very refreshing.

dining @gao.akl is such a mood! the moment you step in, you can't help but say wow at all the wall and ceiling art! the 4 ladies mural reminded me of the artwork in mamasan restaurant in bali 😍

gao took care of us so well by treating us to the best asian fusion dishes on their menu.

some highlights were pecking duck pancakes made with crispy roti, crispy pork ribs with japanese style sticky sauce, massaman beef cheekcurryand crispy tempura battered eggplant with sweet fish sauce. 👍👍👍👍👍/5
all their dumplings are handmade and hand dyed using vegetable juices by a master dumpling maker from china 👏

it's not your typical asian food. their flavour combinations are quite creative and unexpected! it's definitely worth making a trip out to albany for! 👌

the best aspect of this restaurant is definitely the atmosphere. the wall art is amazing and even the bathroom is nicely designed! the soft shell crab here is not bad. although, the market fishcurrydid lack some creaminess.

had dinner with family of 5 adults, spent about $170. price abit on higher side, about $30s/main. we ordered fried chicken, soft shell crabs, beef curry, fishcurryand red chicken curry. side of three rice and two rotis. rice not that special or fragrant as i would like for $3/small bowl. roti it's again quite small and does not seem to be made in-house. fried chicken and crabs were our highlight, generous size and taste really crunchy. beefcurrytaste quite nice but beef cheek should be softer, quite tough. fish under-whelming, taste a bit fishy for my liking and watery curry. chickencurryon the other hand is very mild, it's on the sweet side, stir fry with beans, eggplants and odd choice of dried whole apricots. my in law came here before and ordered the duck and pork ribs, those mains however were quite small in size. overall great place to hang out with big groups. service is attentive. fusion good with good taste. keep in mind it can get quite loud when it's packed so arrive early if you want more peaceful dining experience.

average is the right word for this fusion restaurant. the pork belly is not crispy enough. the massamancurryis too mild thus lacks any standout character. the roti was overdone though it’s crispy. i’ve tried other fusion restaurants in auckland. this one is plainly average. the saving grace is that the portions of food are generous!

we heard about this place in instagram and came to check it out on a tuesday night with a grabone deal.

food/portion:
👍 crispy eggplant = must!!
the flavour and texture and the sauce marries well together and portion is generous too.

✌ gao fried chicken = average
i was expecting more, a bland for my liking but it was okey. portion was decent, enough for 2 people.

ambience: interesting and unique with wall and ceiling paintings and different textures inside. a perfect place for dinner out with workmates after work.

customer service: 5/5 got seated in immediately, staff were all friendly & waitress managed to keep refilling my glass with water when it gets empty, which i always appreciate.

✔ flavourbomb approved!
recommend this place. i will come back for their ladies night on thursday and try their other menu likecurryas well.

an absolutely gorgeous asian fusion restaurant located on dairy flat highway that’s pretty hard to miss! like most asian fusion restaurants the meals were quite pricey - the appetisers were small but the size of the mains definitely made up for it 😊 we ordered two sashimi dishes, the beef curry, chickencurryand fried chicken 🍗 both sashimi appetisers were delicious and fresh, though i found the sashimi king fish to be much more flavourful than the sashimi carpaccio 😅 while both were tasty, the portion sizes were tiny for a hefty $19 each 😬 if i’m being honest i’d probably skip on the appetisers next time or go for something other than sashimi! my fave was the chickencurry- decent portion size and packed with flavour, there was tender chicken, eggplant, apricots, and green beans that worked so well together 🤤 the beefcurrywas also delicious, and the meat fell apart with the touch of the fork which was all i could have asked for! the fried chicken was massive (yay) and was served korean style under a bed of chips 😋 absolutely delicious fried chicken if you’re into that style of cooking - but if you tend to avoid sweeter dishes then probably not for you 🤷🏻‍♀️ overall a great experience and i’m looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on their menu!

tried some dumplings, the beef entree, 2x buns, the massamancurryand the red curry. all of the dishes were amazing. the atmosphere is so funky and cool. will be going back.

grilled prawns marinated with redcurrypaste & coconut @gao.akl
the ambience was great. staff & service was also nice. they had a live dj as well.
the prawns were very well cooked but i found it a bit overpriced other wise it’s a nice place to try. asian fusion hidden in albany village. nice concept only the portions are less compared to the price.

another good thing was that they do mocktails and for non alcoholics like me can chose from cocktail menu certain ones they do mocktails.

i had the lemon lychee soda mocktail which was awesome & so refreshing.


#gao #gaoakl #auckland #aucklandfoodie #albanyvillage #albany #northshore #friday #tgif #foodie #food #fashion #travel #nz #nzfoodie #twinklingtaurus

tried out the new fusion eatery out in albany. the service, ambience and food were amazing. perfect as sharing dishes so you can try all their amazing food.
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🦐 grilled prawns 9/10
they were cooked to perfection with beautiful smokey flavours. they kept the shells on to maintain the moisture and flavours. the prawns were slightly hard to de- she'll but worth it.
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🥟dumplings 10/10
super thin wrappers with lots of filling, but the star was the chilli sauce. i have to say this gives eden noodles a run for their money. a must try when coming here.
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🦀soft shell crab 6/10
soft shell crab used to always be my go to dish to order. the crabs were crispy but unfortunately have bits of raw flour lumps in the fried batter. the radicchio (leaf) that came with it was really edible as it was very bitter.
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🥗 papaya salad 9/10
a great compliment to the other dishes. super refreshing and tangy. i could eat a whole entire plate of this.
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🍛vege greencurry8/10
thecurrysauce was heavenly! the rich coconut flavours, i could be happy with just that sauce and a bowl of rice. we order roti with it too, and that was light, buttery and flavorful. only downfall was the raw bokchoy, carrots and cauliflower. it just needed to be on the pan for 5mins longer.