Luntian — Restaurant in Waitematā

I've been wanting to try this place for months now, but since I don't live in Auckland it took a while before I was finally able to try it. I was flying from Perth to Tauranga, I decided to change my flights so I could stay in Auckland for a few days and finally try it before they close next week. I was excited.

I booked for 1 person at 5:30 pm on 4/5/2024. I was seated outside. I ordered within 5 minutes of being seated. I got the Kilaw as a starter and the Manok as a main. And I also ordered a Copacabana beer, which never came out 😢

When I ordered my food, there wasn't much people there. It took them more than half an hour to bring out my starter which was Kilaw/ceviche, so it's obviously cold and didn't need cooking. I saw another table who ordered after me get their cua pao/bao first. The Kilaw was good, they used konjak jelly instead of fish so it didn't need curing like fish I assume. Flavours and textures were really nice. I enjoyed it.

After I finished my starter, they took another long bit before giving me my main which was Manok, I assumed they used seitan as protein since it had a nice texture. The seasoning on it was nice. The breading was perfectly seasoned and it was nice and crunchy. It was accompanied with mash, gravy, and slaw. All were good. I also enjoyed this dish.

After waiting almost 20 minutes, no server came out to check the tables outside. It was getting closer to 7 pm. I wanted to order desserts to try and save the night, but alas, no server checked the outside tables which only had 3 tables. After waiting for so long I decided to just get up and leave.

The food was really nice. But the service ,for the outside tables atleast, was appalling. I really wanted to enjoy my time here and enjoy the food, but the lack of service got in the way.

So if you wanted to dine here before they close up, sit inside. They might have better service then. I've only tried 2 dishes, but they were both really tasty.

Gusting gusto ko sana ma-enjoy kaso,...

Had our recent trip to Auckland to visit family. What brought me to Luntian is my sudden craving for Filipino/Asian food. Been following this business on social media and I read that they're closing at their current location in Lot23 which is within close proximity to where I'm staying. Luckily I got a table! I'm a huge foodie so i make sure to try most, if not everything, on a restaurant's menu if it's my first time.

Man, was i mind blown! Everything I ordered was very delicious. Oh and did i mention everything was plant-based? I wouldn't mind going vegan or vegetarian if i could cook tasty dishes like those of Luntian 😅 but I haven't been blessed with a talent like Luntian's chef so... i'll just come to this place from time to time to get my healthy Filipino food fix. I hope they can offer party platters or ready-to-heat meals in the future so I can enjoy Luntian dishes at the comfort of my home or serve during get togethers with family and friends.

Bottomline is, food's impeccable. Service is warm and friendly. Just an opportunity to expand the place so lots of people will be accommodated. I'm hoping they re-open at a bigger place in the future.

Sharing photos of what I ordered. I shared these with my partner who's a big carnivore and needless to say, he enjoyed every bite despite everything being plant-based. 😅

Starters: Talong, Lumpia Mains: Kare Kare, Sisig, Manok, Inihaw Dessert: Turon

Kudos Luntian...

I had known about them for a while but was able to stop by when they started their restaurant. The restaurant is fairly new and is quite hidden in the back of Eden Terrace. There are a few street parking spots outside and a few parking spaces in the lot in front of the building. It didn't have a sign yet but it was situated in the bottom level of Lot 23. We did book beforehand online. The menu is quite interesting with a vegetarian spin on Filipino flavours. The menu wasn't too big and there were quite a few interesting items, particularly the dessert. I was quite surprised that the adobo arancini tasted like adobo. The devil tongue kilaw was also interesting, mimicking the texture of fish. The kabute was really nice, deep fried crispy mushrooms. The kare kare was my favourite main dish, a nice variety of textures with a nice peanutty flavour. The tofu sisig was ok but it wasn't sizzling which was a bit disappointing. The inihaw was interesting. I really liked the mango sago topped with crispy pinipig. The ube cheese cake was nice but the ube flavour wasn't very strong. The turon was also nice. It is quite hard to find vegetarian Filipino food and they do it really well here. It is worth a try since the Filipino flavours are a bit different and it...