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 each menu item is very cool.

however, what i particularly want to praise this restaurant for is the way they handled my special dietary needs. at thetimeof 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!

i’ve passed one tree grill many many times on the way from and to the airport. as solid as a meredith or french café, it’s been standing for years but never with the hype of the other two. needless to say, i was excited when zomato invited me out for a meetup.

upon arrival, i loved the variation of the seating options in the restaurant. yes it is a low-lit white tablecloth restaurant, but well thought out concepts break up the suffocating formality that normally lingers around these restaurants. for one, a large fish tank brightens the friendly booth areas suitable for groups of 4-6. also, below your feet lies an impressive wine cellar that glows through glass ceiling.

while waiting for others to turn up, we were invited to sit on the soft couches next to the fireplace - lifesaver given the recent cold snap in auckland. after the crew all turned up, we were lucky to be seated at the private room around the back with beautiful warm wooden hues. although we were there for a degustation menu, we were given these ipads to play with. one tree grill is the first restaurant that i’ve been to with ipad menus. perfect for visual people like me who glaze over at words. 

first course: we kicked off with a smoked duck and sweetcorn soup – great for the recent cold snap in auckland. the texture was smooth and velvety with a beautiful fragrance from the duck. i don’t normally like ordering soup for fear it’ll fill me up but not soon after the soup was served, you could hear the scrapping of spoons from everyone trying to get the last drop of deliciousness from the bowl!

second course: the tea dusted seared tuna was done perfectly the way i like it with the outside lightly seared so the middle is nice and pink. my favourite was the beautiful pops of wasabi roe giving it a light and fresh touch. paired with the sweet riesling, it contrasted with the subtle flavours of the tea. 
  
third course: venison carpaccio with pecorino, capers, truffle oil. it was a real flavour hit with the pecorino cheese being quite strong. our conversation turned to the topic of edible flowers and whether you would eat it as part of a dish. would you? personally i don’t mind smaller ones but i only had a nibble of the fuchsia before i wrinkled my nose and forked it aside. there was no real taste, but it was just too big for my liking!  

fourth course: black angus eye fillet with grilled sweet corn and black garlic. my favourite. simply satisfying with the black garlic being the most intriguing part of the dish - caramelised and tangy. the portion was so generous it could have served as a main itself instead of being part of a degustation.

fifth course: strawberry bavarois with meringue, mint gel, strawberry balsamic and pepper sorbet. hello dessert. and hello dessert wine! i loved the pepper in the sorbet – not enough to make you breathe fire but it left a playful tingle on the tongue. 

a special mention goes to the thoughtful wine matches. i should have known how serious they take their wines with the dedicated underground wine cellar but i was so taken back by how the pairings actually made so much sense. i’ve never had wine matched so well that it elevated the food and brought out the contrast in the flavours.

service was never obtrusive and our conversations gelled with the waitress everytimeshe discreetly came in to serve us. 

i would recommend one tree grill if you want to show off fine taste to business clients or for special occasions. it isn’t too pompous and formal, and the service would never make you feel that way.

it was a real treat to meet up with other bloggers. thanks zomato and one tree grill for hosting us!

went for a company dinner. food was good, i ended up with fish scales on my plate, quite a few of them. my plate was taken away and they cooked a new fish for me, by whichtimeeveryone else had finished eating and the sides were all finished. would have expected better from an establishment such as this.
in the end, dessert was god, and the drinks selection was fantastic. would be back actually, think the fish scale incident would have been a one off as no one else was affect on the night.
very comfortable seats and a lovely intimate atmosphere.

otg is a great business meeting venue as my offices are in central south. dinner is probably where they excel. twice here for degustations. as as guest the firsttimethen so impressed shouted my mum a degust. meal here. service is first rate and ideally get the booths if you have a party of four to six. won't bore you running thru the degust dishes but attached a menu.
don't get why they didn't make this year's metro top 50 as you won't see them in metros cheap eats edition.
revisited august 2015:
had a standout black angus eye fillet accompanying a beef cheek matched perfectly with a mushroom medley of some sort. recommended!! 5/5 ;
akaroa salmon again faultless. 5/5
found seared venison and seared scallop entree were a little underdone for my palate unless a good dose of sauce. im not normally big on sauces. ask for a more med rare rather than reject such divine produce. 4/5
ho ho ho creme brulee!! not too dominating or extreme in tastes and not too sweet quite a generous proportion.
dishes were a little slow between courses but the place was packed out.
wild fire pinot noir central otago at $19 a glass was dreadful. a rose (atawere) was good chilled and warmer.

visited one tree grill after meaning to dine here for quite some time.

we were pleasantly greeted and seated in an adequate fashion.

we ordered our entree and main.

whilst we waited a cute little cup of complimentary mushroom soup was provided. this was a nice touch we thought.

5 minutes later, the entree arrived in a timely manner.

thats about where the pleasant experience started to take a turn.

we arrived at 8:15am and the restaurant was not exactly packed to the brim.

40 minutes after our entree, the mains finally arrived. by thistimethe anticipation of waiting for a lovely meal had disappeared.

although the food was really we'll presented and tasted excellent, i feel it was over priced by about $10 per main meal. for what we received anyway.

when paying for the meal we were asked "how were your meals?" by the front of staff. my reply was "very nice, although the mains took 40 minutes". we were then advised that the reason why the meals took so long was all other restaurants microwave their well done steaks, but they cook theirs in the pan. pffffffffff, what sort of an excuse is that! i have eaten at many fine restaurants and have never had to wait that long for a well done steak. i'm sure other restaurants would not like to be thought of, of microwaving their steaks!

all in all, the experience was tainted by the long wait and i won't be thinking of one tree grill for my next dining out experience nor recommending to friends or family.

just booked in for valentines day and spoke on the phone with sam who was soo kind and took thetimeto even go through the whole set menu

have been a couple of times. thistimeby far was the best! beautiful atmosphere. comfy chairs. lovely service. and the food thistimewas a 10👌 could not fault a single thing.
seared scallops 10/10
kids market fish licked clean. and, she's a fussy eater.
pork belly 10/10
rib eye on the bone 10/10
and cooked perfectly. we asked for rare and rare is what we got.
sides:
mash 10/10
cous cous salad yum!
chip, you can never go wrong with chips lol
overall amazing staff and food. already planning another visit. 😊
no photos because it was a sneaky treat for ourselves. no evidence🤫

one of the bests restaurants for fine dining. when we think of good food and best service, one tree grill is always in my mind. this is my fourthtimeand i will keep on coming back either for degustation menu, first table or just dining out.

ambiance: classy yet cozy.
service: knowledgeable, professionals, warm & friendly.
food: tasty, good portions & well-presented

review: consistently perfect!

i always thinking about to try this restaurant and finally we made it. they food and service is very good here. and i like the way they use ipad for customer can see photo and details on menu. nexttimei will try different menu.

the lamb is cooked to perfection.
generous portion with a great mix of flavours.
the ambience of the place is lovely, warm and cozy.
this is my secondtimeto one tree grill and it did not disappoint.

lasttimei came here was for a work function many years ago but the place is just as swanky as ever. having a degustation menu we 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 andtimeconscious 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 goodtimeand 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.

we have visited here for a secondtimeinside a few months and once again it did not disappoint. food and service are excellent, staff are knowledgable and attentive without being intrusive. food is of a very high standard and would recommend to anyone, it will not disappoint.

have eaten here a couple times and eachtimethe dinner has been great along with the service. lasttimewe were here we had the degustation with matching wines and it was perfect.

secondtimecoming here and this place is still amazing. came here on a weeknight and the place was busy and had a great atmosphere.
we ordered two entrees - salmon and venison tartare, as well as some oysters. the venison was divine and had such a good combination of flavours.
oysters were fresh and also had to option to be served tempura-d.
for mains we had the eye fillet and duck breast. i reckon the duck breast is the best dish i've ever had, the meat was so tender, the other parts of the dish complimented it very well. also had the potatoes as a side and we finished the meal very satisfied and very full.
the service is absolutely amazing, the waitress tending to us was attentive without being annoying, and the staff that served up our food were friendly and explained each dish in detail.
we'll hopefully return here again anothertimefor dinner!

this is one of our favourite dining places- sitting perfectly between fine dinning and cosy night out. the food is always good and staff were friendly yet efficient. i know they try really hard to maintain their established position in such a competitive industry in auckland. i particularly loved the matching wine experience that we had this time. the owner was very acknowledgeable taking appropriatetimeto explain the background of each wine. they are definitely creative enough to put some unusual(but working well) ones in the mix. i enjoyed a chardonnay so much i finished the whole glass before the main arrived. the attentive owner came to top up for another glass -nice touch!