Dice & Fork — Restaurant in Waitematā

I really enjoy playing board games with my friends on weekends and DNF has built one of the best atmospheres for it in the city. The space is warm, friendly, and inviting, with plenty of games to keep any group entertained. I’ve had many great weekends here over the past year.

The main reason I can't rate it higher is because I feel the experience has gotten less valuable the more I've gone. First is the pricing structure. They do it like this - each person spends “an average of $25 after the first 2 hours”. And this sounds good in theory, but there's so much gray area here that often the people I bring (who like to go for 2-3 hours) will ask 'wait, how much do I owe now'. And when I tell them to spend $25, I'm usually met with surprise, before people have to scramble to find something on the menu to eat thats $25. It feels like an unnecessary discomfort. Why should we be forced to choose a menu item as payment? Most people just come for the games and don't want to eat a whole meal. The other downside of this structure is that we feel the pressure to buy from staff, who regularly check in/try to upsell mid-game. And theyre not being rude, I want to ay. But you have to understand as introverts, I think we'd all just prefer you do a flat rate door charge and call it there. Otherwise it's too much of a headache for me as the organiser and for people who just want to play games.

Second, the food (and this relates to the pressure to buy menu items) - some of the menu items are great pub food (beef burger, katsu curry) and others feel straight up like a student meal from halls (im looking at you, mince tacos and chicken 'tenders'). For the price you pay, and because with the current structure you have to spend money, I just think the food should be more consistent, and not a lucky roulette every time I want to try something new.

And I love you guys at DNF, so please take some changes on board because I want to spend money here and tell people about you, but I don't want to be worrying about the bill while gaming and still want good value for...

Dice & Fork is the ultimate expression of Kiwi entrepreneurship. It is based upon a love for boardgames and good food, drink and companionship. The owners have lovingly maintained this iconic restaurant which really represents a hub for boardgamers in Auckland.

The premises are absolutely beautiful located within the historic Victoria market. There is appropriate seating for those who plan on indulging (booth) - and casual seating for those on a budget (stool). There is also an incredibly solid selection of boardgames for everyone.

The food is fantastic. I have been eating here regularly for almost 3 years and can say that it has consistently been delicious. It's not fine dining fare but the burgers are wonderful, tacos are super tasty and the dessert is serious yum! It is an extremely pleasant surprise given that the food isn't even the main draw! Their menu has changed over the years: pre-covid they had an exceptional selection of plated food but like most businesses, post-covid they have had to scale back. I anticipate that as Auckland and NZ reopens, that this will change back.

The best kept secret here is that the wine selection is actually decent and very well priced.

Dice & Lock is the child of this love story. It represents everything an Escape Room had originally inspired to be but never achieved. Most Escape Rooms are thematically inspired with loose and random attachments for the puzzles. So far, Dice & Lock has only produced one Escape Room: Murder at Emerald Estate but it is far more immersive and involved than typical Escape Rooms.

Dice & Lock is not a good experience if you have never done an Escape Room before. There are plenty of alternatives around the City if you have not tried it. Dice & Lock is the place you go when you have done all the other Escape Rooms in the City and are ready for the next challenge. In fact, after doing Murder at Emerald Estate, I can say that when I have friends in town, I am very tempted to do it AGAIN with them so that I can focus upon just the subtler story portion of this...

A cool idea to combine dining and board games together. Great for dates and group gatherings. The staff were helpful and friendly, and I was really impressed by the food.

I wasn't expecting a lot from the food selection (thought it would all be finger foods) since I thought the main draw was the board games, but the food was actually really good. The chicken burrito and Korean Bulgolgi bowls were very flavourful, well seasoned and had generous portions. I ate my cheeseburger so fast because I was so hungry but the burger was nice, it had a thick juicy patty with very beefy flavours. We also braved the spicy chicken tender roulette, it was a bit expensive, $20 for only 6 tender strips, but one of them was super spicy, and we had a ball taking turns to see who got it.

We played "Articulate" and it was a lot of fun. I did hope the board games were a little better maintained as ours was falling apart. I suppose the staff are busy and it's a bit difficult to keep track of the wellbeing of all of those board games. There was a wide range of game selection, and a great team bonding experience. I would love to return again...