Kingsland Social — Restaurant in Albert-Eden

The atmosphere is fun bright and vibrant, with people laughing and birds twittering. Unfortunately there were also literally a dozen flies above the bar/in the dining room which was off-putting when I noticed and subsequently counted. The bloody Maria I ordered (bloody Mary with tequila) came out quickly and was not nearly as spiced as I would have enjoyed, tasting overwhelmingly of simple tomatoes even after a vigorously stirring. I enjoyed it non the less but certainly would have enjoyed it more with more hot sauce or worcestershire.

My mushroom Benedict took a while to come out, I had almost finished my drink by the time it arrived... and when it did arrive the texture was although it had sat somewhere the mushrooms' cream heavily saturating the toasted bread. Surprisingly for any eggs benedict it also did not seem like there was any hollandaise at all but I figured it had blended with the mushroom cream sauce. The lack of hollandaise was confirmed when 10 minutes after receiving my dish a young woman placed a side of it on my table announcing "and here is the hollandaise" without an apology as if I had asked for it to be on the side. The mix up in the kitchen is understandable but the sauce that did arrive was grainy and thick, with bubbles and seemingly split. They did come back to see if everything was alright 10 minutes after setting the sauce down.

From what I had heard and read about Chef Phil Clark who was in the kitchen this afternoon I was expecting better quality food but the consistency was off. I am sorry he was having a bad day, perhaps the load of people for the Rugby World Cup opener was more than they were expecting?

The sprout salad on the meal was fresh and delicious and the mushrooms had a perfect mouth feel without the bread. The poached eggs where slightly harder than I prefer but still properly cooked with partially runny insides. I really enjoyed being sat next to the bookshelf where I picked out a preserving book that had a lot of excellent information in it. My second/last drink was an espresso martini which was strong in coffee flavor the way I like it. The service was attentive and concerned, but the food and flies were not what I...

In the past I spent 10 years reviewing breakfast cafes in Sydney and while on holiday in NZ of all places I find a cafe that has impressed me more than anything else for a long time. The Royal Crumpets were ordered sans eggs. The combination of bacon, onion marmalade and parmesan was made all the more impressive because of the quality. The bacon was thick cut so it really stood out. It was all brought together by a near perfect hollandaise that was creamy as it should be, with the right amount of tang. And crumpets rather than the usual toast/croissant/muffin helped to set it apart.

It just got better with house made rosti and a beef sausage with dense flavoursome interior and a delightful snap.

Decadent mint hot chocolate and cappuccino to drink on the side coupled with fantastic service simply made for my favourite breakfast cafe after 2 weeks of dining out in NZ. Thank you, Kingsland...

We hosted my friend's baby shower here, as a normal table booking not function booking. The service was exceptional. Leading up to the day, Marine was so lovely to deal with, very accommodating and no request was too much trouble. Emails were responded to in a matter of minutes. We booked for 20 people for lunch and I made a special request for 20 cupcakes (from the function menu, not normal menu) which Marine had no problem sorting out for me. When we arrived the tables were all set with a cupcake in front of each chair and it was so beautiful. We were able to bring a few helium balloons no problem. The ambiance was so nice, the service was great, and we had an amazing afternoon. Thank you for allowing us to hang out for 2+ hours catching up with friends. Based on this level of service for a simple table booking, I would certainly consider booking this venue out for a proper...