Gilt Brasserie — Restaurant in Waitematā

We managed to get an impromptu lunch booking just before Christmas courtesy of another diner who couldn’t make it and gave us their reservation. I have been wanting to come to Gikt for some time and was super intrigued to see how lunch would go as I have heard very mixed reviews about the food / presentation and service. Service unfortunately was pretty awful - upon arrival we were taken to our seats and given menus but no wine list. Boone came by our table for 15 minutes not even to ask for water etc. considering the restaurant was still half empty there was no reason for the lackluster service. After trying and failing to catch any servers eye, my husband eventually got up and asked for a wine list and for service🫥. Honestly staff didn’t even care… whilst the service did improve a bit, it was very hit and miss. Think it’s coz we didn’t seem to have one dedicated server for our table so it was a bit all over the shop. Basic things like dirty plates left on the table for ages, water glasses not topped up, ages to order dessert. Eh was all in all not great for this style of restaurant. However when we got the bill, my husband noticed they had put the wrong wine on our bill and when he queried the price, they checked and it was indeed wrong so they removed the item altogether which I thought was a nice touch In terms of food, everything was actually pretty good! For starters we ordered the pork rilette (was delicious) as well as the baked oysters (this was fine, nothing to write home about) For mains we ordered the crab parpadelle (I enjoyed, had a subtle but strong seafoody bisque flavour with a hint of chilli - chilli could have been a bit stronger) but overall yum. Found three pieces of shell in our dish though which was a bit meh. We also had the lamb cutlets, fries and based on our server’s recommendation the tomato schnitzel. The tomato schnitzel was delicious, really yummy and different. Only issue was that having two crumbed dishes wasn’t great (but this is our fault for ordering and not the restaurants!). As such I found the lamb cutlets fine, but a bit too crumby For dessert we tried the Paris-brest and oh my this was a chocolate flavour explosion, absolutely delicious and balanced by the salted caramel. Excellent dessert to end on! Presentation for all food was excellent. Beautiful venue with great food - but let down by the service which unfortunately left a bad taste...

We were super excited about visiting as we had heard and seen so many good thing. In short - service was sensational, but the food was underwhelming.

We started with market fish crudo which was delicious. Fresh and well presented.

For entree we ordered the Wagyu tongue and 3 cheese soufflé. The tongue was “simple”. If you’re a fan of offal and little else, it’s a tasty dish but really was only 2-3 slices of deli meat on a plate with some micro greens and a little sauce. The soufflé was 8-9/10 according to my partner. Super light and cheesey and delicious. As someone who has had a soufflé before, it was a little underwhelming as it was more like a thick omelette. Wasn’t a soufflé at all, but still tasty.

For mains we had the duck and the king crab pasta. The duck was insanely overdone. To the point where it had little texture as it tasted like it had been boiled and baked and then cooled and simply reheated to be served. Wildly disappointing. The sauce was really the only thing that worked on the plate. The frites were delicious too. The crab pasta was something we were excited about as we had seen reviews and the waiter said it was her favourite. It was … well it was boring. The sauce was interesting but lacked depth. The pasta was average at best and the whole thing lacked seasoning. The crab itself was delicate and sweet but everything around it was a let down. For a $45 bowl of pasta - and quite a small serving - this was a let down.

I have to say that the table of two next to us ordered a second bowl of this pasta so perhaps it’s just not to our taste - or they complained and received another - can’t be certain.

Dessert we had the donut Sandwich and cheese selection. The donut was ok, nothing special and the vanilla ice cream tasted like store bought countdown grade. The cheese selection was sensational!

For drinks we had some wine and cocktails and they were yum. The staff were super attentive and very helpful.

It’s such a shame as this place is a cool vibe, great people and lots of potential but for $400 for 2 people - it falls well short of being fine dining and well short of being value for money as a brasserie.

We would not return...

We went for my friend’s birthday dinner this week. She had high expectation for the restaurant, but it turned out to be a disappointment. When she was asked for the feedback after the dinner, she did not want to spoil her evening by expressing disappointment explicitly so she said “Some of the dishes are interesting.” The cashier lady (or duty manager I presume) abruptly replied: “What do you mean!?” I sensed that she was not in the mood to take any criticism, so I brushed it off by saying “We never had combination of roasted pork and clams before, so we found the dish interesting.”

Four of us spent $380 on half dozen oyster, crudo, beef tongue and seafood cocktail for entrees, asparagus and confit potato squares for sides, king crab pasta, pork belly and clams and beef bourguignon and four drinks.

I find most of the dishes or the sauce (confit potato, beef bourguignon, clams) are bit too salty. If the chefs prefers to cook everything with excessive salt, then I worry about their longevity as high sodium diet will increase the risk of stroke and heart disease.

During our dinner, we never got water glass refilled even once. And I think putting oyster plate on a high stand is a poor idea. Our sight and interaction was blocked by a stand, and I had to find way to go either under or around the stand reach the food behind it.

We did not bother to check the dessert menu, as we had an inkling of whatever we order will most likely to be average. And we went to McDonald for takeaway afterwards. McDonald may only offer junk food, but I praise for its consistent quality.

In summary, the portions are relatively small for a bistro, however the taste and presentation is not refined enough to be considered fine dining. I’ve found the name Gilt Brasserie a bit confused. I would not call it a brasserie as it is not cheap. As for the food and service, I would only give it a bronze. There is still some room for improvement before the restaurant shines...