Amore Italiano restaurant — Restaurant in Upper Harbour

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An absolute gem tucked away in Hobsonville!

From the moment we walked into Amore Italiano Restaurant, we felt like part of the family. You can instantly tell it’s a family-owned business — warm, welcoming, and full of heart. It’s the kind of place where you’re not just a table number, you’re truly looked after.

We started with the calamari on the grill and garlic pizza bread – and when I say 10/10, I mean it from the heart. The calamari was tender and full of flavour, and the garlic bread was perfectly crisp with that melt-in-your-mouth texture. It was the kind of start that makes you excited for what’s coming next.

For mains, the beef mince tortellini was absolutely divine — tossed in a creamy white sauce with mushrooms, garlic, and a touch of olive oil, then finished with fresh rocket. Comfort food at its finest. I had the “Agnello” – NZ lamb cutlets with a rich red wine shallot sauce that was so good, I could’ve licked the plate clean. The lamb was cooked to perfection and paired beautifully with seasonal vegetables.

And then dessert… wow. The house-made profiteroles were light and creamy, covered in velvety chocolate. And the tiramisu? So fluffy, so balanced, and clearly made with love.

Everything about our experience was top notch — the food, the vibe, the genuinely kind people. You don’t just eat here, you feel here. Can’t wait...

Mediocre food and terrible attitude. Went for dinner on a Friday night with my husband. We ordered Tagliatelle Bolognese (beef ragu) and Risotto Frutti di Mare (seafood pasta). We had to overhear the chef yelling at the poor waitresses while we waited for our food to arrive - which was late as the restaurant seemed to be prioritising takeaway orders. Both our main dishes had almost the same taste. We expected the ragu to have slow cooked beef but no, it was just mince in a creamy tomato sauce. The seafood dish had a nice assortment of seafood but again, the creamy tomato sauce was overpowering and too rich. The worst part was when the chef came up to us at the end and we gave him our feedback politely saying "the food tasted alright just not what we expected" and he just looked at us and said "mmm". Terrible customer service - I mean the basic customer service would be to say something respectful like "sorry it wasn't what you expected, we'll take your feedback on board" but he just seemed arrogant. Only one positive though - the waitresses were all really lovely, asked us how our meal was and actually apologies for the delay...

What a lovely local italian restaurant where all members of the family were all pleasantly surprised. Their wait staff was very attentive and friendly, she was so amazing. We ordered garlic pizza bread, spaghetti carbonara, penne Arrabiata, Canneloni, Calamari as in photos. Also we had Amore special pizza and lasagne that are not in the photo. Garlic pizza bread was somewhat lack of flavour, found them quite boring, thought they could have been more flavourful with flaky salt or something. Also the pizza was on a smaller side for its price. However we loved their pastas, especially their PENNE ARRABIATA, this was such a flavour bomb with a subtle and pleasant kick of spicieness. This dish deserves Chef’s kiss 🤌🏽 about 100 times! Even our Miss 10 yo enjoyed as well. Also had gelatos and tiramisu for our dessert, and man….their tiramisu was so moist and creamy, I could taste a good shot of Kahlua in there, we really enjoyed it very much. Gelatos were super tasty with all the right components you can ask for from a good gelato. Thanks for a beautiful weekday dinner, cannot wait to go try your cocktails on...