the grill

this place does some of the best steak i’ve tasted. the steak tasting platter is well worth the money.serviceis lovely, cocktails are great. interior is outdated, but let that slide considering everything else.

i will remember it being very dark and noisy. the prior the result of black paint and decor with dimly lit cravasses for tables along the wall. a great place to wine and dine if you were say sleeping with your boss ladies! so dim that it was difficult to make out the faces of waiting staff. we were a party of 4 at table 35.
as for the noise its clearly popular so maybe not such a good idea for discreet redezvous. why i didnt run into anyone i knew the venue is similar to another federal st outlet the depot in being a cosy table layout and crowded. staffing levels are good with many serving staff.servicewas good only one minor fault when the entrées were served tge waiter served twi plates crossing over two of tge guests placing instead of going to tge opposing side. he then called out the dishes were "those are to share" as he walked away from the table while i glared at him. odd given they were not to share and we were not in the depot! ! otherwise all the mains were served by 3 waiters to the 4 settings very professionally and timed to perfection. this may have been important to maintain the steak after resting as those steaks were impressive. best delivery of mains al la carte but disappointing entree serving. 3/5.
my entree was the ox tongue. i didnt regret ordering it but is an acquired taste. large piece cut length wise. scampi sashimi was very good also with a light chilli. 4/5
for mains, three of our party had eye fillet from the savannah pastured fed angus. cooked to perfection. hope chef at annebelles st heliers reads my review. clearly slow pan fried nothing burnt. the fourth member of the party had a sirloin. this came attached on bone and looked superb. 5/5 note steak from the butchers block are priced solely for the steak and nothing else. so served on a plate there is no veges or garnish. further cost of about $14 for sides each. so its quite expensive all up when the steak was $45-$50 to start.
the sides were brocollini with walnuts and roasted pumpkin with a cream paste. both were very good but pricey. 4/5
dessert sadly no brulee that night. settled on a honey roasted figs with ice cream. a good dessert if you didnt want something too sweet. 4/5.
in summary flashy place to be seen in (lighting permitting) but for refined steaks excelkent choices better than say with tonys outlets where it's less noisy and to me i'd find more relaxing. price is high end $100 pp plus wine $100-$200 a bottle.

i had booked this restaurant four days before i visited but the reception girl said she couldnt find my booking. herservicewas extremely poor. other staffs provided goodservicetho. the foods are not bad but very small and not worth the cost. i dont think i will go there again, also will never recommend to anybody!!

great food,great service,great environment. have to be patient as the waiting takes some times. recommend their oyster, steak( we had medium grain-feed sirloin) which is the best steak i have ever had in auckland. price is reasonable given theserviceand food. the steaks is not ordered as combo as other steak resturant such as tony's. the side salad and chips cost us extra 24 dollars.

take a deep breath. the grill will break the bank, but you will never look at steak the same way ever again. the steak served at the grill is superb. bursting with flavor, succulent, tender and excellently cooked, it is the steak of the gods. we ordered a study of beef ($150) to share and you didn't need a steak knife to cut the meat it was so tender. the sides are also delicious and complement well. theserviceis chic, slick and professional. you will have a good time at the grill, but you expect nothing less at the price you pay. to dine here is an amazing night out, an experience you will never forget.

i would give it a 3.5 if i can (can't do it on the app?). it was a busy friday night so while theservicewas good. i met with some rather awkward experience. i.e. i wanted to get some water for myself and my friend, the lovely waitress pour water for my friend...but not me and my glass was empty! i am sure it's because it's busy but it's a bit off.

the food is good. the study of beef is a beautiful showcase of how tasty beef can be....but it's too salty! it kind of ruined the beef for me and my friend thinks the same .

overall it's good but at the same time i feel somewhat disappointed. i will definitely go back and hope for a better experience.

for "fine dining" this place really needs to up its game. theserviceis bistro grade at best and the prices are way over the top. waiters reaching over you to clear the table and taking drinks away before you have finished is not impressive and not what you should accept when paying prices this high. i booked it for my partners birthday as a last dinner out as she is heavily pregnant. they promised some kind of complementary desert over the phone but forgot on the night. my food was nice. pork belly starter $28, nice but small. carpet bag steak main was really nice but it should be for a $58 steak. partners meals were both disappointing- crab cocktail $32 and bland! and snapper main 5/10. all in all this place was a let down and definitely not worth the money. i wouldn't return

good food and a nice restaurant. but we were disappointed with theserviceas no one offered us to top up drinks neither dessert. i wouldn’t recommend to my friends as i don’t want my friends experience the way we experienced.

fresh oyster, king crab legs are good, steak definitely the best , greatserviceand convenient location

the grill is a well known steakhouse with a extensive range of premium quality meat and seafood.

located on the ground level of grand hotel, the restaurant is cleverly designed. contrasting to the vibrant entrance, the dining area is dark but luxurious, with an enormous open kitchen and seafood bar appealing to the guests.

arriving at our table, we started with the seafood platter, which contained a variety of fresh and sizable queensland prawns, cloudy bay clams, coromandel mussels, king salmon and bluff oysters (as the bluff season commences in march).


then our meat has arrived. i ordered the kagoshima a5 wagyu sirloin (medium rare) accompanied by 3 sauces. the wagyu sirloin was sliced into pieces and grilled perfectly, fatty yet flavoursome, melting like butter in my mouth.

i highly recommend sharing this dish between two, as the richness of one portion could be quite substantial.


kagoshima a5 wagyu paired with a glass of pinot noir
to finish off, i had the chocolate souffle with blood orange sorbet. the souffle has an airy outer layer with a hot and slightly runny center conveying the tastes of chocolate, the orange sorbet creating a balancing act to the chocolate flavours.

infamous by signature chef sean connolly, whom has left end of last year, i was pleased for the persistent quality of food.

theservicewas non-complainable. our waiter was professional but slightly impersonal. i did feel a little mistreated when we weren’t provided with warm hand towels like the other guests.

overall our dining experience was excellent, but considering that the restaurant is priced at the upper end of premium dining, i would have excepted a little bit more.

food: 8.5/10
food presentation: 8.5/10
service: 8.5/10
ambience: 10/10
value for money: 7/10

$180 per person (excl alcohol)

very authentic, hygienic, delicious and yummy food. customizedservicewith attention from owner specially the grilled food is yummy. staff is polite and very much attentive.

excellent chinese dishes with authentic and distinctive taste. also enjoyed quickserviceand general ambience of the place.

came here for dinner last night.servicewas amazing- the staff were so lovely. the drinks were delicious and the waitress was very knowledgeable when it came to the different wines they served. the sashimi was melt in your mouth. the salmon and steak were good ... salmon wasn’t cooked well done like i requested and the salad was just cos leaves with oil and vinegar (i ordered a side salad- no dressing. instead of potatoes) ...but you can’t win them all.

i came to the grill for my birthday dinner on a tuesday night. it wasn't very busy but we made a reservation in case anyway. i was very excited to try the food from here as i heard it was very good, especially the butter. theservicewas alright but could have been better for a fine dining restaurant.

the first course was the bread and butter, which lewis road creamery made just for the grill. you could either choose rye bread or sourdough bread, i chose the sourdough. honestly, i couldn't taste the difference between the special butter and regular butter but i don't use butter a lot, which may have been why i thought it tasted the same. the canape was the mushroom cigar with garlic aioli. it was so flavoursome and crispy, in fact, it tasted a bit like a spring roll.

for the main, my brother and i each got the queensland wagyu eye fillet (medium rare with red wine jus), my mum got the mt ruapehu angus sirloin (medium rare with red wine jus) and my dad got the snapper. for sides, we all shared the duck fat fries and confit mushrooms. my steak was absolutely perfect! it was perfectly cooked to medium-rare and it was probably one of the best steaks i've had. i didn't even put salt and pepper on my steak because you don't need it and i regret pouring the sauce on my steak before tasting a piece of the meat without it. the wagyu meat was so delicate and i used minimal effort to cut it with my knife. i tried a bit of my mum's sirloin and the fattiness made the meat melt in my mouth. the duck fat chips were good, super crispy and hot when it came out and they give you tomato sauce that is spicy. the spiciness of the sauce was addicting and i highly recommend getting this if you've never been to the grill before. the confit mushrooms were pretty average, quite a simple dish that isn't very unique. i've read reviews where some people who had their birthday celebration at the grill got a special gift but i didn't recieve one so that was a bit disappointing.

overall, i would definitely come back to the grill but only for the steaks as that is their specialty.

fornth price charged you's expect them to get the basics right, for example, food would be served hot (lamb was warm at best), beans would be trimmed (they weren't), maitre'd would know better than hanging around looking sullen with his hands shoved in his pockets (he didn't) etc. the same maitre'd then plonked himself on a nearby seat and proceeded to play around on his phone. for reference this was the slim, 20's dude, not the bigger older guy.

it was a quiet lunchserviceso perhaps regular floor manager wasn't on duty but man, if it were my restaurant, i'd be giving the staff a rev up.