The Esplanade Hotel — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

This property has the potential to be something special and amazing. There is history and charm in bucket loads. Although a little TLC to fix up peeling wallpaper and paint to keep it without ruining the character wouldnt go astray. When your paying $250 a night it would also be a nice touch to not have obviously broken night lamps in the room. The staff are what really lets this place down. Having travelled extensively I have never felt so frustrated with rude, condescending, in experienced staff. Reading reviews on other booking sites it is clear to me that emma is also not capable of constructing a professional genuine response beyond 'thanks for your feedback ' when a property is fully booked surely you would know better than to roster 1 staff member to handle front desk reception, a bar/restaurant and a be a waitress in the hotel breakfast room. Should you feel it absolutely necessary to run your property in this manner you could at the very least ensure that staff member knows a little something about customer service and communication. When you are assisting a guest at reception you do not walk off to serve coffees in your restaurant without a sorry excuse me please or a single word about what you are doing. After 10 minutes of waiting you do not come back and tell that guest you cannot help them because in a clearly highly stressed and incompetent manner. When moving rooms from 1 night to the next (which seemed to be the most complicated process!) I was told on Thursday my bags could be left at reception until ten room was available due to being at am event during the day and the room would not be ready in time. On requesting this on Friday emma isnt interested in leaving my bags at reception and suggests I leave them in an unlocked area outside the current room until she can move them later. On advising that it is Not suitable to leave bags easily accessible to the public Emma becomes flustered and defensive and has the cheek to ask me not to raise my voice. Perhaps consider how ludicrous your suggestions are. To further insinuate that you have spoken to my friend about our prior conversation I am not sure why this was necessary or what you were hoping to achieve from this. my interactions with you were about MY booking due Friday night which I contacted you to book and I am paying for, and it is with me you needed to resolve this issue. It is miraculous that after firmly being told by room would not be ready until later that within 5 minutes someone came and advised me it was ready, this shows it must have been clean whilst I was in reception trying to organize bag storage until it was ready. I would not want these staff as the face of my business and I suggest you consider their ability in coralation with the product you have on offer as they are at odds...

THE YEAR WAS * 1984 * AND I WAS SO GREATLY BLESSED TO HAVE BEEN RIGHT HERE BACK THEN WITH THE ❤️ OF MY LIFE ,, * TUNGANE KORE MARU * SHE WAS A FRENCH TAHITIAN RAROTOGAN DART PLAY"IN PRINCESS WHO ALSO LOVED TO DANCE & LAUGH THE NIGHT AWAY , WE SHARED THE ROOM OVER LOOKING THE OCEAN , I HAD NEVER KNOWN OR MET SUCH A MORE BEAUTIFUL , LOVING , GENTLE NATURED , HEART"N SOUL ,,,, AND NEVER HAVE OR HAD AGAIN , WE WERE BOTH THE SAME AGE IN OUR EARLY 2Os & MET AT AUCKLANDS DOWNTOWN CLUB TRILLOS ARDIJAH WAS PLAY"IN & THATS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN FOR US ,,, I REMEMBER IT AS IF IT WAS LIKE ONLY YESTERDAY ,,,,THAT MOMENT & THE MANY OTHERS THAT FOLLOWED WERE MY LIFE'S MOST MEMORABLE & LOVING EVEN TO THIS DAY ,,, TUNGANE WAS ONE OF THOSE ONE IN A MILLON THAT YOU MIIGHT HAPPEN TO MEET ONCE IN A LIFETIME IT WAS A GREAT HONOR & PRIVILEGE IN KNOWNING TUNGANE & SHARING THOSE MOMENTS IN TIME AS WE ONCE DID ❤️ CAUSE I KNOW THERE'LL NEVER EVER EVER BE ANOTHER YOU , YOU ALWAYS WERE THE GOLDEN JEM , A REAR AND PRICELESS DIAMOND , MUCH TO PRECIOUS FOR ME 💝

• I MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY * BY NATALIE COLE ,, FOR MANY , MANY MANY YEARS NOW I HAVE ALWAYS ,, ALWAYS FELT SUCH A GREAT LOSS ,, DEEP SADNESS & MASSIVE REGRET ABOUT LOSING TUNGANE BACK THEN AND ALSO HOW & WHY I LOST HER ,,, EVEN TO THIS VERY DAY MY HEART STILL DROWNS IN A RIVER OF TEARS ,, REST IN LOVE & IN PEACE NOW TUNGANE ,, GOD BLESS ,,,,, ALSO A VERY SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO TUNGANE"S AUNTY & UNCLE ,, JOHN & DORA WHEATER ,, & THEIR SON"S ,, , JOHN & BRUCE ,, TUNGANE"S KOOL AZ CUZZIES ,, AND ALSO TO BRUCE FEILD ,, YOU"S WERE ALL THE BOMB MAN & ALL SO ,,, SO VERY AWESOME & I'VE ALWAYS REMEMBERED EACH & EVERY ONE OF YOU IN MY OWN SPECIAL WAY,,,, & ALSO ALL MY LOVE , PREY"S & THOUGHTS & TEARS GO OUT TO THE MARU FAMILY IN TE KUITI ❤️ ♥️ TO THE BEAUTIFUL & LOVING MUM TE UKI ,, WHO MADE THE ABSOLUTE BEST EVER TASTING C / SEUY ,,, MAINESE ,, IKA MATA , TO HER FOREVER LOVING & ALWAYS HUMBLE HARD WORKING DAD TUNGANE ,,, & TO HER PRECIOUS & MOST TREASURED SISTERS ,, RIMA , EVONNE , TRISHA , NADINE ,,,, MY DEEPEST & WARMEST & SINCEREST CONDOLENCES & BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL ,,,, I HAVE NEVER EVER FORGOTTEN THIS LOVING & HUMBLE COOK ISLAND FAMILY & I NEVER WILL ,, GOD BLESS ,, I DO HOPE TO MAKE A VISIT & PAY MY RESPECTS SOMETIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE , REGARDS ...

Review for the restaurant.

My wife and I visited for a Sunday night dinner. Being Devonport locals, we really wanted to love The Esplanade. With one of the best locations in Auckland, it would so easy for the restaurant to be fantastic, sadly it was just okay.

The food was not terrible, but I feel like the chef really needs a bit of training and/or passion for food. We ordered the salt and pepper squid and the scallops for starters. The scallops were a reasonably well conceived dish, but overpowered with too much bacon and very unevenly cooked and lacked the lovely caramelization you expect from a well cooked scallop. The salt and pepper squid was pleasant, but it could have used a punchier pepper flavour. Also, why would you serve it with store bought mayo mixed with ketchup? It really is not that hard to make an in house mayo...

For the mains, we had the pasta of the day (creamy shrimp, cherry tomato and garlic) and the pork belly. The pasta was delicious and by far the best meal of the day. The shrimp were cooked perfectly. The cherry tomatoes were however almost absent with only a few skins hidden amongst the pasta. The dish would have been lifted to another level with roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine topping the pasta. The pork belly had been cooked at too higher temperature and while tender inside, was so caramelised on the bottom it was a little unpleasant. The mash was regular instead of kumara (no biggy, but best tell the diner) and cider glaze was a gravy that had been taken too far and felt almost burned. The crackling on the other hand was lovely.

There is so much potential at The Esplanade, it just feels like wither the chef has lost passion for food, or the ingredients budget has been slashed. I understand that these are really hard times in the hospitality industry and we would love to support our local restaurants, I just want to see some passion...