Porch Bar & Eatery — Restaurant in Ōrākei

Went for the Weekend Sessions menu ($79pp) and left pretty disappointed.

We were seated by the owner, who didn’t exactly offer a warm welcome, but things seemed to improve when we were served by a lovely, friendly waitress who did a great job throughout. I actually thought the place had changed for the better since my first visit.

But it all went downhill when we asked to takeaway our leftovers. The waitress—clearly uncomfortable—told us we weren’t allowed to take food home because they want patrons to “drink responsibly.” That sounded questionable, so I asked for any documentation or policy to back it up. She couldn’t provide anything.

Then came another excuse: apparently, we weren’t even supposed to be offered the Weekend Session because it’s “for groups of 4+.” Again, this is nowhere stated on the menu. As a “consolation,” they said they’d only charge us for two people—but because we “ate enough for four,” we still couldn’t take the leftovers. Seriously? That’s fat-shaming at a whole new level.

We asked to speak with the owner—who had no problem seating us earlier—but he refused to come over. When the manager finally did, he blamed everything on the waitress, which was just spineless. She was the only person there who handled the situation with any grace.

To be clear:

The menu didn’t state the Weekend Session was for 4+ people. It didn’t state that takeaway wasn’t allowed. Saying someone “ate too much” to justify not allowing leftovers is outrageous. The food was lovely. The waitress was great. Shame it’s run by someone who clearly doesn’t value...

4.5 stars, rounding down. You can’t beat the view on a beautiful sunny day. And the food was excellent. Fish tacos were generous and delicious, didn’t drip and ooze while still managing to be moist. Lamb and mushroom dumplings in a tom kai soup style broth were also very tasty. The dumplings, however, is what is keeping this from a 5-star rating.

There are three choices of dumplings on the menu. We would have preferred the prawn and chicken but the menu indicated that they come in a broth. We didn’t want broth, just dumplings, so went with the lamb and mushroom. And we had assumed they would come out first or, at the least, together with the tacos. Regardless, we were not asked our preference. Not only did the tacos come first but we were on our last bites of our third taco, and on the verge of cancelling the dumplings, when to our great surprise the dumplings showed up, sitting in a full bowl of creamy white soup.

The menu gives no indication that these would also be in a broth. Had we known, we would have ordered something else. In any case, if I’m having soup and tacos, it should be soup first. Or we should be asked. The soup and dumplings tasted very fresh as if made to order. Maybe this is why they took longer. But we should have been advised of this when ordering.

We did really enjoy our meal and will be back. But we’ll be sure to ask more questions and specify...

I've never written a Google review before but after my terrible experience at Porch Bar & Eatery this morning for brunch, I feel compelled to share. The menu looked appealing, with it saying "Our menu predominantly reflects the flavours of South East Asia." This seemed promising, as South East Asian food is typically bursting with flavour and quality. However, the food turned out to be so bland. We ordered a Fried Crab Benedict with bacon. The crab was overcooked and burnt, with hardly any actual crab meat in it and the burnt skin overpowered the entire dish. The eggs were severely undercooked, with the egg white still runny and transparent. The bacon was burnt, and was so hard that it snapped off like a chip. When we called the waiter to ask for another one, even she looked repelled at the sight of the burnt bacon. We also ordered the Egg Pancake with prawns. There was only two prawns in the entire dish and it was burnt and rubbery. The service was average at best.

Overall, save your money and don't come here. If you're expecting authentic South East Asian food, this is not the place to...