The Good Home — Restaurant in North Island

A review by an American for other Americans with American taste buds: go somewhere else.

The bad: Nothing we tried had any flavor at all. The ribs were served with gravy. GRAVY!! No BBQ sauce to be found, just very bland gravy. We ordered the chicken wings. They came out looking hot and flavorful but like the ribs, they had practically no flavor. Tasted a bit like MAYBE they were cooked in a honey based sauce but they were slimy and flavorless and just below the beautiful brown outside is an extremely off-putting sickly yellow. And they were served with aioli sauce… basically a less good version of mayo but they put some little green something in it to make it look like ranch but it’s not. Even the jalapeños on the burger my wife got couldn’t be tasted. They could’ve been avocado slices and the burger would’ve been spicier. It’s like the people here saw pictures of American food but never tasted it and just guessed. And then they charged us $120. I eventually just asked for a take home box and put some actual BBQ sauce on it when I got home but I wasn’t even going to mess with the chicken. It put me all the way off my appetite.

The good: Service was timely. Portions were large. Meat was cooked perfectly, fall off the bone. All of this was good so I suppose if you’re a Kiwi and you’ve never met a spice before, you’ll probably like it… but if you do I can’t help feeling a little pity that your taste buds are so...

Appalling service. Part of a big group was one of the first to arrive, explained the person I was supporting (because of a disability) needed to get his order in early when they did the group order because he was a slow eater. She said okay and Then got everyone else’s orders in first and ignored him and took his order last. So disrespectful and deliberately not accommodating someone’s needs because of their disability . Because they didn’t listen to us and blatantly refused to accommodate him he was left eating his dinner alone 40 minutes after everyone else in the group finished and left. Unacceptable. We weren’t asking to jump the queue for other groups just to make sure they took his order first in the group he belonged to so he could eat most of his meal with his friends.

Then when taking my husband and my order she took his and walked off, without taking mine, no explanation, to do something else before coming back. Very rude service. Food was very expensive for what we got. Not good value for money. Tasted sickly and overly sauced. Used to like the venue but I don’t think I...

I have had the best dinning experience at the Good Home last Friday thanks to the wonderful staff Kim.

I walked in around 4:20pm and was hoping I can have an early meal sorted before picking up my daughter finishes her ballet class at 5pm. Kim politely told me dinner starts at 5 but she was willing to talk to the kitchen for me so I could sit down and eat. Swiftly she got back to me and got a table for me & my son. And I have my order in right the way.

While waiting for my food (Surf & Turf sticks) , my 5 yrs-old needed the toilet(typical!) so we went & when we came back Kim was there looking after my food. She was there making sure my prawns weren’t overlooked on the hot stone. She’s just so wonderful! And she is aware I had to eat quickly and she’s always there ready for help. When I finished she said “ now you still got time to pick up your daughter :) ”

What can I say!? Food at Good Home was as great as usual but the experience with Kim’s amazing service has definitely brought the dining experience to next level. Thank you Kim...