The Kestrel — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

Very attentive wait staff, great location and ambience. I sat at one of the benches outside at first to catch the last of the afternoon sun and whilst I waited for my mate. Eventually moved inside when it was time to eat as it got a tad chilly for me. The booth was nice and comfortable and the fish tank was quite interesting (and would be a good distraction if you're on a bad date). My mate and I ordered the duck and pork sausage roll, chips, croquettes, fried chicken and CC and dry. I really liked everything except the portion of the sausage roll - it needed to be larger and baked to order. Once it arrived on our table it was warm for a minute then went cold real quick. Highlights for me were the croquettes and chips (love a chunky chip and they're hard to come by I've noticed) and would totally order these again. The croquettes had a yummy, interesting flavour and texture. Fried chicken was a bit dry and could have been juicier but the flavour was decent - brace yourself for the sauce if you're sensitive to heat. I liked the heat as it adds a layer of flavour but isn't over the top. I'll be going back for sure and looking forward to trying the fish and chips next time! Am hoping they'll make it crumbed...

Well crumbed fish wasn't an option :o( not a fan of battered fish and chips as the batter is always too thick. This one also had no actual taste to it either. I really liked the chips, tartare and lemon that came with it though. Went with the apple crumble sundae for dessert which wasn't that great. Apple was too chunky for a parfait glass so tricky to navigate. I was expecting it to come in a bowl with a better quality ice cream. A hot apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream would've...

Nice place but service was patchy. First waitress took our drinks order, second one turned up a few minutes later to see if we wanted drinks. Took about 10 mins to get our drinks, in the end my wife pointed out to.anoger waitress that our drinks had been quite obviously sitting on the bar where we could see them for some minutes.

We ordered fish and chips and a raw fish that the waitress said was a main.

An entire size raw fish arrived so we shared that, then a single fish and chips turned up so we shared that too, end of service, no.one came to ask if we wanted anything else, drinks or food, so we left and paid, told the lady.on the way out we thought it was only average, her comment was 'thats no good'.

Didn't leave a tip that's for sure. The battery fish was great, generously sized and we'll cooked, chips were soggy, no salad or hint of green on the plate, just tartare.

Raw fish was nice, a bit gooey because it hasn't been cooked in the lemon juice long enough and then all the non absorbed lemon juice made the dish sour,not sure if kingfish is really a raw fish dish,?

Drinks were the highlight but hard to get a wine and a beer wrong.

If this restaurant is still there in a years time when I come back to Auckland I will...

Hey Guys, can I make a suggestion in regards to the menu lay out. It comes across as one thing, which is misleading to the reader, when the dishes are another. It's the placement of all the commers. For example, the Hallumi, fries. To the reader, it reads you'll be getting fries and hallumi. And for that price, you'd want to be. The pork belly "satay" how about pork belly skewers, and there was not a peanut in sight. If it's on the plate, use it as a garnish. The pork was well cooked. However, 3 tiny skewers for $29. Maybe use the fat small skewers. Someone is taking the micky. Again, the word skewers is not mentioned on the menu. I'm a chef myself from Whangarei, running my own kitchen, so understand the ins and outs. Paying near on $60 for some hallumi, fries, and 3 tiny skewers is, well, disheartening. The service was a bit slow for a quiet day, with a 30-40min wait on food. Yes, a few big tables came in. I hope their meals all arrived at once. Maybe fluff up the garnish as to create a bigger looking meal. Remove half of the commers, and rewrite the menu to give a more accurate detail of the meal. The burgers looked great, big and filling. Good luck with your venture, and maybe update your website...