Depot — Restaurant in Waitematā

Getting a seat at Depot always makes me feel like one of the cool kids. Which for a front heavy, slightly stocky, post-menopausal woman is always nice. To add to this joy, we got a high table outside which is the epitome of people judging watching. A balmy Saturday night sipping bubbles pretending we’re hip is fun. Eating until fit to burst; foolhardy. It was with great gusto that we set about ordering. But to my immense dismay they no longer offer Bloody Mary oyster shooters. Pre-menopause, Botox free and a size 10, I was introduced to Bloody Mary oyster shooters at this very place. It was at this point that I realised my life was now complete. Hopefully they’ll bring them back. I love how Depot give you a sneaky little appetiser on the house whilst you wait. A charred pita bread with a smoky dip. We went with the Marlborough oysters and they were really nice. The shallot vinaigrette was perfectly balanced. We had Bluff oysters elsewhere last week that whilst superb, the vinaigrette didn’t hit the mark with the required sharpness. This one was perfect. Then we had the trevally sashimi. I wasn’t convinced by this choice, but I like to permit the Favourite Husband a small win once every 13 years so here we were. He really enjoyed the dish, but it wasn’t my favourite, more a texture thing for me. We also had the snapper sliders, because there’s no such thing as “too much” when you are hormonal and rotund. I loved these, I particularly loved the lemony aioli. Delish. These were my dish of the day. But we were three drinks in by now and still an hour away for our show (Six at The Civic - superb) so it required a main and the Favourite Husband is never one to pass up a steak. I assisted him with the deep friend shallots because I’m a floozie for anything deep fried. Oh and a cheeseboard. Because at this point all bets were off. The flavour of the steak was a deep char and perfect seasoning. I loved the iceberg wedge with ranch dressing, him not so much. The service was effortless, friendly and professional, the ambience is a vibe (it’s what the kids say; so …) and in my opinion it’s worth splashing out. I have decided that if they bought back the Bloody Mary oyster shooters then Depot would be my favourite spot for a night in...

We are visiting Auckland and stayed close to Depot - over the 3 days we stayed here, we dined here 3 times!! We sampled a big portion of the menu so here is my review (in order of our favourite dishes). Needless to say, we loved our experience here so we have kept coming back!

MAIN DISHES TO SHARE Trevally sashimi - best dish on the menu in my opinion, superb flavour combination and very fresh! Snapper sliders - another hit - the snapper fillets are grilled to perfection, while the texture of the bread and delicious mayo made the perfect pairing. Trevally and sliders are must orders!! Salmon tartare - the NZ salmon sashimi was really tasty and fresh. I liked the contrast of the cold sashimi against the freshly fried potato scallop on which it was served. Lemon butter sole - this is a grilled fish served in a lemon butter sauce with salty fried capers on top. The fish was cooked perfectly! It was served with some slices of cooked bread which we didn’t end up touching much. Mussels - I thought this was a creative dish, mussels paired with nduya and crunchy topping. It is a bit heavier than the other seafood dishes on the menu due to the oils from the nduya. Fig with straciatella - this was delicious, all ingredients used in this dish were very high quality. This dish was a bit smaller than the others and perhaps was not as good value for $28 NZD. Potato skins - crispy, truffley and cheesy, and served with a unique spiced tomato sauce made by Al Brown. This is the perfect bar snack. Roasted eggplant - delicious and saucy with a crunchy fried onion topping! Just note this veggie dish isn’t exactly healthy! Steak - this was a little chewy and served lukewarm, I thought this was okay / more average compared to the others dishes. Marrow - this looks impressive and i thought there would be a huge burst of flavour… but i didn’t quite get the hype with this dish.

OTHER / DESSERTS Oysters - I sampled 2 oysters (one of each variety, which were delicious Sugar Pie - similar to a caramel slice Cookie skillet - my pick of the two desserts we tried, would suggest sharing as it is...

Really disappointed with this place now. Im sure Al brown is no longer part of it because it's gone down hill so much. None of the dishes have a wow factor any more and when the food is bad all the other floors are more visible. We ordered sliders. Buns have changed completely, smaller in size no body to it, Mayo too sweet and lemony which overpowered the nicely grilled hapuka. Wood roasted sole just tasted like old melted butter as it was drowning in it, steak was chewy and still running around the paddock,onions were the hero of that dish, lamb neck covered with a whole lot of sickly sweet crap, the potato skins normally a safe bet were burnt and not seasoned.we asked for remaining steak to be grilled cooked more, they decided to replace with a whole new steak but again it was still running around the paddock.instead of serving all the meals at the same time, they bring them out one at a time so if someone does eat fish they have to wait until it's finished before the next dish arrives. We had sliders and then sole so my wife still couldn't eat until the steak came out but then it was raw. Finally the chips came out but tasted like leather boots. They didn't even change take our plates that were covered in fish bones when we held them up in mid air for them to take when they collected the fish plate. They took one plate walked away and left us hanging in mid air holding our fishy plates. We put them on the table next to us and took new plates also from that table.Best part was the $30 shots of brandy. Cost over $360 for three people. We've easily dined here over 100 times, spent thousands over the years and will...