Paris Butter — Restaurant in Waitematā

Went a year ago on test kitchen Tuesday and had a fantastic night - excellent food, perfect service - attentive but unobtrusive, knowledgable without interrupting our evening.

Went last night and... post lockdown things seem to have slipped. We had the menu du chef with matching wines. The food is still imaginative and delicious - kitchen is 5 stars. Could afford to speed up timing between courses (or at least checking with dining party what their preference is) as all in all it took 4 hours, which was an hour too long for us. Minor gripe but the restaurant manager/ head chef should consider bringing this into practice.

Front of house staff on the other hand are simply too inexperienced, too rote and need training in fine dining service. It felt like we were on a production line, not in a fine dining restaurant. Waitress began by telling us at length about the bonus course of crayfish the chef had for us tonight - only to promptly then recall that they had run out and we would not be receiving this. Husband ordered a beer to begin which took 10+ minutes to arrive. Delivering food and wine - my husband and I would be mid conversation and interrupted by staff to explain at great length the food and wine. Which can be interesting if it is the unique details. But the scripted notes on the typical flavours of a chardonnay, and informing us that the duck breast is seared (obviously) is excessive and disruptive. Staff should be triained to read the cues as to what and how much info the dining party wants/ needs. If they're engaged in animated conversation - keep it brief. Other than the choreographed times they were to attend the table to deliver food/wine, it was difficult to attract the attention of the staff. They seemed task focussed and not scanning the room to look out for diners trying to get their attention to request drinks etc. Again, a training point. At the end of the evening, the waiter removing our dessert plates also took our napkins (?!?!) followed immediately by his colleague delivering the bill, EFTPOS machine in hand and ready for payment. No offer of tea/coffee/digestif. No time to sit and enjoy the end of the meal. No opportunity to review the bill discretely. NOTE- there were still 5 other tables going, so this was not a matter of them trying to close up. Just ineptitude.

Overall it felt like they had a run sheet of events that are supposed to occur, and in what order, and a script to follow. But no training on the subjective/ customer service side.

The above details would not fuss me at a low- or mid-tier restaurant. But at the price point, the above is simply...

Had the 6 course degustation here for a very special occasion, and it was a very good but not great experience. The service was professional and attentive from the start and generally faultless, apart from the somellier forgetting to give us our matching dessert wine until after the course finished - not a major. In terms of food, it was a bit hit-and-miss unfortunately. The 4 snacks to start were excellent, with a highlight being the chicken liver parfait bites. Splashed out by adding oysters, but glad we only got 3 between us as the foam on top did not really match with the oyster in both our opinions. Bread and butter course also mixed - the bread was great, as was the 'kiwi onion dip', but the treacle butter was disappointing - have had many flavoured butters better than this one unfortunately. The tuna sashimi was fine, but the next course, mussels was excellent. A mouthful of deliciousness and needed to scoop up every morsel. The following beef course was even better - the highlight of the night. Perfectly cooked and utterly mouthwatering - don't miss this one! Had a palate cleansing gingery shot (made in house) next which was good. All the matching wines were great actually - some really interesting stuff there. The two dessert courses were unfortunately the weak point of the night and rather forgettable (e.g. I think the 1st dessert was an orangey cheescakey thing but can't really recall). In particular the final course of a disc of peach jelly over other morsels was exceedingly hard to eat, as the disc was so rubbery it needed a knife to cut and we only had spoons. It seems like significantly too much gelatine was used in this and it wasnt a fun experience trying to pry it into bite size pieces with all the other stuff squishing underneath it - execution really disappointing on this one, and given it's the course customers leave the restaurant remembering, it lowered the whole night further. So, to summarise, it was a pleasant (if not very expensive) evening with a couple of outstanding dishes and great service, but not somewhere we'd return to in a hurry, as we've been to better places in Auckland. Maybe the chefs just had an off night though, so worth trying out yourselves - you could potentially...

Paris Butter is an experience of taste and elegance. It creates a perfect balance of relaxed friendliness with subtle attention to detail in both food and environment. From the moment you enter the restaurant you leave the world behind and enter a haven of French chic. Not only are the staff polite, and attentive, but more importantly they are expecting you! It's is refreshing to be genuinely welcomed. The interior is carefully crafted to relax diners. There are many little details, such as flowers and candles which further add to your feeling of being transported to another place. The table service team are knowledgeable about each item in each course. Everything is carefully described. The wine list is ample, and there is a good range for spirit, and non drinkers. The meal begins with snacks. This is a range of tasty bites. They are fascinating in themselves. I was delighted with the rice crackers with a twist in Kiwi onion dip There is a pleasant break between courses. That gives time to talk and anticipate the next set of dishes. The emphasis on both taste and presentation ensure the entrees and mains satisfy and delight. I could not fault either. There is one dessert in our fixed price menu, but that does not really explain your sweet items. It is a presentation of mousse, crumble, poached fruit, and sauce. All delicious. We decided to include on cheese plate. We were glad we did. The goat cheese, honey and pear was just the perfect final touch. This restaurant had quality tableware including flatware and cutlery. Napkins were cloth. The restaurant played a range of jazz music. The tables are French close, so don't go wanting to share your deepest secrets Overall, I loved it and would highly recommend to anyone who loves and lives food, and all the wonderful things you can do with it. Top...