one tree grill

this is a lovely quality restaurant with fantastic service and excellent food. the fact that their menus are brought to you on ipad minis with pictures of eachmenuitem is very cool.

however, what i particularly want to praise this restaurant for is the way they handled my special dietary needs. at the time of dining, i was on a very strict diet regime of diet shakes, diet soups and non-starchy vegetables. the chef created a very tasty beetroot, babaganoush & rocket salad for an entree and then an absolutely divine vegetable stack for a main. this was completely not on the menu. the staff were also happy to make up my diet shake. i felt like i had enjoyed a quality dinner, even with the dietary restrictions. throughout the dinner, the wait staff treated me very well and made me feel like a valued customer. the chef and the staff went above and beyond to meet my specific needs, and for that this restaurant deserves high praise!

amazing food and service, thoroughly enjoyed it. good range of food which include the pork belly which was very tender, the angus beef steak which was cooked perfectly (medium rare) as it should be and the waiters were all friendly and helpful when deciding what to go for on the menu. themenucame on ipads and the atmosphere was quiet, relaxing and calm. would highly recommend for a great fine dining experience

my husband chose one tree grill to surprise me for date night and i have to say that i think it is one of auckland's better kept secrets. situated unassumingly at one of pah road's many intersections, parking was free and easily located in the side streets. we entered the restaurant and we were immediately struck by the cosy ambiance, ideal on a cold autumn night! we did notice the use of bifold windows however, meaning in summer the entire front of the restaurant could be opened to let in the breeze. the most striking architectural feature has to be the glass floor panel showing the extensive wine cellar below.

we sat and were quickly given our menus, surprisingly given through an ipad app. themenutherefore had accompanying pictures and i wondered whether each dish would have similar presentation. we ordered bread for our starter, and found these rolls ever so slightly on the too-crusty side but still definitely edible. better luck was had with the mains, with the pork belly tender and delightful while the salmon was cooked perfectly with a delicious crispy skin. we ordered accompanying sides; the roasted beetroot and the green beans, both were delicious. at this point we were surprisingly full and split a plate of petit fours between us; the truffle being by far the most delicious of the four. to accompany our meals we both selected from their craft beermenuwhich endeavors, without being extensive, to cover a wide range of beer.

the service for the most part was spot-on, as you'd expect in an establishment of this quality. the maitre d' seemed a little flustered upon our arrival (something we assume was nothing to do with us) but our wait staff were attentive throughout the meal. my one little niggle would be that the waitstaff seemed to disappear after bringing us our dessert - i always like to be asked if i would like a further drink or indeed, the bill.

this restaurant would make a fantastic place to bring that date to make that special impression. while it is kid-friendly (with a children'smenuand even high chairs) i'll be waiting a fair few years before i bring our ratbag along!

absolutely delicious, high quality, melt in your mouth experience. from the complimentary rolls with whipped salted butter to the gnocchi and dessert, each ingredient paired well with each other. staff were friendly, professional and engaging.menudisplayed on tablets for a sustainable touch and bright and comfortable seating were all part of the small details that made it an enjoyable and pleasant atmosphere.

superb dinner for a special night before baby

had dinner here the other night at it lived up to all the rave reviews
such a lovely relaxed but fine dining place , often we feel uncomfortable due to age etc but everything about the staff and vibe made us feel completely at ease
i love that you get a tablet as themenuand can see the options as they will be on the plate
lovely attentive and friendly staff always on hand without hovering . the food is so customizable too if you have any dietary needs which as a dairy free and pregnant diner i did and it was so easy.
the food was just amazing one of the best steaks we have had , and i had melt in the mouth beef cheek . great portion size and no tweaks i could imagine to be made . for starters we had the octopus that was cooked so well and a nice mix and the pork belly was amazing , crunchy skin but tender meat.

would come back again in a heartbeat

we. ate. a. lot.
worth every cent.
there wasn't anything i could fault with what i ate so i'll save you the reading and tell you:
food 10/10
service 10/10 took down wrong order and replaced it immediately and even gave us the wrong dish for free. now that's service!
ambiance 10/10
ordering off a digitalmenu10/10

come for a nice date night, an occasion, or if you just want some good food.

sophisticated fine dining restaurant, resides on manukau road. the beautifully designed interior provides elegance and an intimacy and conversational dining experience.

theirmenuisn’t forged much like some of the hipster restaurants, but you are guaranteed with prime food and service. their seafood are fresh and beautiful dressed. their red meat are tender and juicy. although last night the eye fillet was made to medium instead of medium rare.

been to this restaurant many times, i no doubtfully recommend everything on their menu. for entree: the raw kingfish, seared scallop and venison carpaccio. for main: the eye fillet, market fish, duck breast and lamb are my top choices.

super friendly and attentive staff.

they also have the most amazing wine cellar and an excellent wine pairing.

highly recommended to everyone.

food: 8.5/10
food presentation: 9/10
service: 9/10
location: 9/10
ambience: 10/10
price $80 per person

came here for my birthday dinner. this place blew me away on all aspects. the location is easy for parking, the service was top notch and even their digitalmenuwas a big help in deciding what i wanted. i ordered their eye fillet steak, which was by far one of the best steaks i’ve had in auckland. my partner got the mushroom ravioli which was flavourful and had some great elements to it. i felt like the entrees were better however. i ordered the prosciutto scallops which were perfectly cooked and their raw kingfish entree was incredible. the price is on the higher end in comparison to other restaurants but for a special occasion i could easily recommend this to anyone. overall perfect marks from me.

fine dining restaurant voted one of the top restaurants in auckland. lovely ambience, excellent customer service and quality of food.

they have a great desgustationmenuthat's worth trying. their selection of wines are excellent and pricing is also great. waiters/waitresses are very helpful in suggestions on the menu. would be one of my fav restaurants to revisit.

so here we are, the crowning jewel in auckland suburban dining in epsom.

it’s a midweek dinner in what is known to be one of auckland’s finer dining experiences, this is not the norm for us, nor is it a special occasion. a work colleague was heading overseas on holiday and had a $50 voucher to one tree grill and didn’t want to see it go to waste, thanks karen!

one tree grill is constantly brought up in conversation and magazine articles as one of the top 10 restaurants in auckland, i can tell you from one glimpse of themenuthat they’re prices are certainly in the top 10, now, let’s see if the experience can match …

their entrees are priced from $26+ and the mains are $42+. this pricing immediately puts them in the same company as the french café, the grove, clooney and  sidart.

at this price point, there are two main types of service you can experience while dining out,  warm, smiling, almost loving service that makes you feel like you could never overstay your welcome. or the accommodating professional, to the point, no fuss, efficient and stealth like, ensuring the evening flows flawlessly without you really ever knowing they’re there. and just sometimes on those rare occasions, you get the perfect mixture of the 2. one tree grill this night provided us with neither, plane waiters going about their plane jobs, no fuss, certainly not a complaint, just nothing that was memorable.

the menu’s arrive in the form of ipad’s ….. not a review or conversation goes by on one tree grill where this does not get mentioned, quite the talking point, and i take it they like it that way. for me, this schtick emphasises the confusion in this restaurant. it doesn’t match the ambience or the style of the place. if people are talking more about the medium that the menu’s are delivered rather than the food/service, that’s a concern for me.

lastly, the food.

the seared scallops were roll your eyes to the back of your head yummy, blissful eating.
  the lamb belly entrée has a lovely sear and with the garden peas to accompany, made for the perfect winter entree. 

it is once in a blue moon i order steak at a restaurant. the black angus rib eye was cooked to perfection, for $48, i would expect nothing less …. but …. i would expect a little bit more, as that’s all my $48 got me, a 450g piece of meat cooked mr.

the other main was the duck, with celeriac, baby beets, mandarin and pine nuts, all condiments gelled superbly, really well balanced, the let down here being that the fat under the duck skin hadn’t been rendered down properly, a slimy, chewy layer of fat with every bite.

i have eaten at clooney, the grove and sidart and am booked into the french café in a couple of weeks, before sid gets his hands on it.
  i don’t say this to gloat, no, i say it so i can legitimately compare one tree grill to similarly priced restaurants. and my conclusion is that it doesn’t stand up next to the other power players of the auckland food scene. after eating at those other establishments i felt like i had just been treated, i felt spoiled, at some point during the meal, there was a wow factor.  walking away from one tree grill i kind of felt like i’d been had, like they saw me coming. 

maybe i’m missing something about this place … maybe i don’t get it? am i missing the wow factor?

i’ve heard so many good reviews about this place! and i knew why! food and service was great! can totally recommend this place! it was a bit pricy but it was degustationmenuanyway.

i have been here twice now, once just picking from themenuand getting the matching wine.. the other doing a 6 course degustation using a voucher off grabone. both times have been amazing but the degustation was hands down the best meal i’ve had out ever. the service was amazing, being able to try fresh produce such as venison that i wouldn’t usually have was amazing. literally every dish my partner and i had was perfect and the wine pairings were amazingly matched. would go back here again and again!

last time i came here was for a work function many years ago but the place is just as swanky as ever. having a degustationmenuwe had to give it a go. the ambience is nice and relaxed with a casual formal vibe. service is your excellent standard, but particularly fast, efficient and time conscious here.

we came for the degustation, they gave us tablets to choose our main course and we opted to swap the tare tare for their lamb starter, we also had a perfect manhattan and a peach and passion smash to drink. revisiting my point, everything came out in good time and well timed at that, also all was very delicious.

it was a really really really good experience but i just didn't get that perfect feeling to give a perfect score. would definitely come back though.

from my experience restaurants with a "grill" on its name have well served portions of average food, bu i had a memorable night here.

tried the degustationmenuand all courses were surprisingly good. top notch ingredients, all meat cooked to perfection and a sequence of dishes that made sense.

the duck was amazing and with that crispy skin! desserts were also great.

being a fine dinning i expected a more formal service, but thanks god it wasn't. staff was very kind, friendly and professional.

came in on saturday night to try the degustationmenuhad booked for 2 people at 8.45pm and upon being seated we were informed by the manager that the chef doesn't like doing the degustation after 8pm as its a 2 hour experience and they want to close the kitchen by 11. slightly disappointed with that so we ended up choosing 2 entrees to share - the scallops and the salmon. the scallops were pretty bland but still ok. the salmon was really nice and had alot of flavour. we ordered the angus rib eye 400g and the canelloni. the steak was delicious although it was literally just a big steak on a plate with nothing else. the canelloni was an interesting flavour combination, not my favourite but it was a good size portion and it was interesting to try it. the presentation of the new was beautiful.