Prego Restaurant — Restaurant in Waitematā

My fiancé and I went here for a Friday date-day lunch. Slightly awkward entrance, as there seemed to be no greeting stand or clear direction as to where to wait. The maître d' swept in quickly though and treated us as if we were family! We were seated straight away and the server swooped in with a wedge to stabilize our wobbly table.

The server rattled off plenty of specials to make our difficult decision even harder, as there were SO MANY delicious things on the menu! We started with the arancini and the wagyu meatballs. My partner, being from a dairy farming family, has been around beef his whole life - so when he closes his eyes on the first bite and grunts in amazement at how delicious everything is, you KNOW it's good!

We followed this up with the fettucine alfredo and the Prego pie (beef cheek inside, served with mash and gravy). The alfredo was so rich and creamy, with the bacon, chicken, and mushrooms providing a burst of flavour. The prego pie was perfectly crispy (no soggy bottoms here), and everything on that plate was so rich and smooth and dreamy, it screamed luxurious comfort food.

On the side we ordered an espresso martini, an "italian" (limoncello concoction), and a chilli margarita. The martini was perfect with nice foam, the limoncello cocktail was just okay (perhaps not to my taste), and honestly the chilli marg was the best I've ever tasted. Not so spicy as to overwhelm, but it provided the perfect balance to the pie and cut through all that richness.

Service was brilliant! Atmosphere - definitely an electric, fun, relaxing vibe, but also very loud. Great for a casual meetup, to have some food with friends, to have a fun time. Not so great if you want somewhere quiet for your hard-of-hearing parents - but that's all part of the show anyway. Crowd was the "I probably own a yacht, and business casual is my everyday" type, very trendy.

Partner declared this is his new absolute favourite restaurant in Auckland, would highly...

After waiting for one and a half hours with my business partners, we finally arrived at the restaurant, full of expectations. I never thought I would write a Google review, but here I am. It was an incredibly busy Saturday evening, so crowded that we couldn’t even hear each other. However, something felt off from the beginning with the older gentleman wearing glasses who took our order.

First all six of us each ordered a pasta dish and three sides. Then we decided to add few pizzas and when we asked for a pizza recommendation to a waiter, he simply said, "You read and tell me what you want." We were shocked.

We then decided to place the current order and asked him "if we could call staff to order more" , but he replied, "You don't call me, I go around the table and get the orders," leaving us all stunned and awkwardly smiling.

After a while, tall gentleman served our pasta without a word, practically dropping the plates on the table with such a loud noise that it silenced the nearby tables. He disappeared without an apology, leaving us wondering if this level of rudeness was standard here. However, we saw him being extremely gentle with another table, which was hard to believe.

Fortunately, the first gentleman who had been rude at the start seemed to notice and attended to us more carefully throughout our meal, ensuring our water was filled and behaving more courteously.

I've visited many fine restaurants in New Zealand, but this was the first time I had such a disappointing and unpleasant experience. When we were leaving, we saw the automatic prompt on the EFTPOS machine asking, "Would you like to leave a tip?" and could only laugh.

As a business owner who always strives to be polite and has never written a review before, I felt compelled to share this experience after spending over $360 on a meal that left us all feeling so unsettled. I hope that if we ever decide to return, things will be different.

Thanks for reading this...

Having heard from some friends that Prego is one of the best Italian spots in central Auckland, we were keen to give it a try! It definitely lives up to the hype!

Getting there was easy—though depending on the time and day, parking might be straightforward or involve a short walk. The venue is surprisingly spacious and seats a good number of diners. According to their website, they don’t take reservations, so we walked in for dinner on a Monday evening. Even though it was still busy, we were seated right away. The staff were attentive, friendly, and quick to top up our waters throughout the night.

For two people, we ordered the calamari fritti ($28), linguine alla marinara ($42), and filetto ($48). The standout for me was the linguine—partly because I’m a sucker for seafood, but also because the pasta was perfectly cooked and generously loaded with prawns, mussels, cockles, and tuna. The seafood was beautifully tender and fresh, adding real depth to the dish.

The filetto was served with potatoes au gratin that were crisp on the outside and beautifully layered—absolutely delicious. The steak itself was topped with chimichurri and a rich jus, and we were pleased to receive it exactly as ordered: a perfect medium rare. No complaints—just a perfectly executed dish. The calamari fritti was also cooked beautifully—light and tender and perfectly paired with some greens and lemon.

To end the night, we couldn’t resist trying the tiramisu ($18), especially after seeing a few go past to other tables. I’m glad we did—easily one of the best we’ve had. The sponge was nicely soaked with espresso and marsala, and the balance between the whipped egg and mascarpone cream layers was spot on. Rich, but not overly sweet—something many tiramisus struggle to achieve.

Dining here is definitely a treat, but it’s an experience worth having. We’re already looking forward to coming back to explore more...