Review Le Chef - Auckland Central

Le Chef is a French casual bistro. The decor and ambiance is absolutely lovely when you walk in! The waitress is super nice, attentive, and quick in response! The dishes we got are really delicious as well as presentable! I would definitely recommend coming here!

This place is a cafe institution of the Auckland CBD for a reason. Popped in at 7am for an early breakfast. Service was prompt and friendly and the coffees were great. The big breakfast and omlette was also great. Just a tip, if you're ordering the big breakfast, make sure you're hungry because it's big. Overall, great spot.

Wonderful restaurant and excellent food. We ordered the french raclette which was very good but our first waitress had no idea what we should do with it so we had to wait until someone else came over. One young waitress is amazing and very knowledgeable and helpful, the other not so much. 😏 maybe she's new. Escargot is very nicely done and croque monsieur is very nice. We shared a chocolate mousse that was so nice that it was finished before I remembered to take a photo. 😁

Came at restaurant month and had the 3 course meal for $45. Food was brilliant for this price point. Had escargot for the first time and it was OK - a bit bland but passable with the green sauce. But the steak with blue cheese was out of this world - almost wanted to lick my plate clean. Place was a bit crowded, but had a cool ambience to it.

The food and service were great. I had the avio tartine and my partner had the eggs breakfast. We also had coffee and lattes. Evening was very good.

We went here for Auckland restaurant month and had their 3 course menu. It was very good value, the taste and portions were better than our expectations. The service was excellent and atmosphere was cozy. Had a happy meal!

We came twice during a one week stay as we really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Duck leg confit was cooked to perfection. Mussels (garlic and saffron) were full of flavours. Too bad there was no escargots available. There's a private room for function and we overheard that there's no minimum spend to get it. How splendid this place is.

Liked the atmosphere here, staffs are friendly and professional. Good taste of food, liked the snails, fish and dessert 😋 Highly recommended, nice place to enjoy after work.

Le Chef is the equivalent of a Parisian Bistro transported to Auckland. Just great food, attentive service & good people. Highly recommend.

Stopped here for a late breakfast. The menu is small, but clearly prepared with care. I got the eggs Benedict, which is served with thick bacon over a hash brown base, instead of bread. Every bite was exceptional. My wife got the French toast, which came with an amazing berry compote.

A cozy restaurant for dining and gathering.<br/><br/>Good food quality with reasonable price and portions.<br/><br/>Will come again to try more menus. The lunch menu looks very attractive as well.

A cozy, warm touch of France hidden in the heart of Auckland city. I love the new interior look and fell in love with their cheese fondue 🤩. It was my first time eating this and I definitely had way too much fun haha. The muscles were cooked so perfectly and the flavour just bursts inside your mouth 😝😌. So yeah, it’s a yes from me and I’m not even a seafood fan so that says a lot! Also, find yourself some authentic French Fries here drizzled with the sweet aroma of truffle 😍🥰🤩. From what I recall in my past experiences of dining here, I’ve always felt satisfied with the food, so I would say the taste is on point. But, one thing that ticks me off is when restaurants serve large amounts of supermarket salad, especially when nothing is really added to it to enhance it in some way. When I’m paying so much for a dish, I’m expecting more. :) But overall, I love this place and people here have always been super lovely. PS their amazing cheese fondue recipe is on their website. 😍

Ordered the restaurant month which was steak chips and a salad along with the lamb. The lamb was cooked great and fell of the bone. The steak was cooked well I would have liked more of a char on the outside and it could have done with some seasoning cause I had to put quite a bit of salt and pepper when we tried it. Good service <br/>

Came in on Sat, food was really good but the highlight was the coffee made by the young woman with dreads. I was a barista myself for a number of years and this is some of the best I've ever had in Auckland

We loved the French food. <br/>And French red.<br/><br/>There was a top chef in the kitchen, we concluded.<br/>Escargot snails. Fab.<br/>Lobster tail bisque was best I have ever tasted.<br/>Desserts were dramatic and tasted great. Flambe.<br/>Great new interiors.<br/>Recommended. We will be back.<br/><br/>One request - more dinner mains. Eg. Beef bourg. Duck lorange etc<br/><br/>

Rating 4.0 What’s more Parisian then a lane way filled with fairy lights and live music to greet you as you approach the bistro. The place was very lively for a Tuesday night, great casual atmosphere. The service was friendly. What better to top off a great French night then some escargots & French wine.

I've been meaning to come here for a while now and finally got around to it one Sunday morning, the decor is just as gorgeous as it is resourceful - they've converted old crates into lamps & even used them as wall skirting.The staff (the ones working that day) were either French or did a bloody good French accent, whatever the case - it helped to add a level of authenticity to the restaurant. As for the food...well, the croque monsieur is to die for! Served with fries & a side salad, that's good eating by anyone's standards. I'm sitting here planning my next visit as I write this. 5☆

Great food, great service. The escargot was exactly the same as what I had had in Paris last year. The cheese was also really good. (Thanks Romi!)

Snug and warm ambiance :) we were warmly welcomed by Romy (hope i spelled his name right), amazing suggestions from him and had a great time sampling the food. Lovely experience and I can’t wait to be back 🤩👌

I am very picky about bloody marys. Simply because I don't particularly like the taste of tomatoes. However, a Bloody Mary done properly is divine. And today, I found one of the best Bloody Marys I've had in New Zealand 🥰🥰 Everything was so we'll balanced... Sweet, but not too sweet... Tart, but not sour and most importantly, it had just enough kick of spice to wake me up from a very exhausting afternoon. It's perfect!<br/><br/>Definitely worth a try 💓<br/><br/>And to finish off, the paper straw 😍

I came here for dinner with my boyfriend while the restaurant month deal was going on. $40 for a 3 course dinner to me is extremely affordable and worth trying. We ordered the same dishes, escargots for entree, lamb shank for main and the crème brûlée for dessert. The escargots were beautifully cooked in garlic butter. What I really loved about this dish was the fact they gave you bread so you can dip it into the butter after to make garlic bread, really made it 100 times better. Next was the lamb shank, the portion was massive but it tasted a bit dry. Still a good dish though. Lastly, the crème brûlée was probably one of my personal favourites. They flame-torch the sugar in front of you so you can see the sugar starting to caramelise. The flavours were incredible and it wasn’t too sweet! The service was great as well! Definitely a cute little restaurant that I’ll go back to.

If I want some authentic French bistro cuisine I would go here. <br/>The environment is rustic and everything about it speaks French: menu, sitting, paintings, lighting, music ect.. <br/><br/>My favourite item on their menu is Le Canard du chef but once in a while I would go for other dishes. <br/><br/>

Excellent coffee and very quirky ambience. I often grab a coffee at Le Chef when I’m shopping on High Street and it never disappoints. The food options are great as well with $10 scotch fillets serving as a very tough value proposition to say no to. It’s an absolute hole in the wall so it isn’t the most obviously located but it’s not too hard to find and it does actually get rather crowded at times. But it’s always a good time on a late weekday morning.

For an authentic French brunch come to Le Chef! I’ve wanted to try this place for the longest time since it’s so close to my house. It’s cosy and seems very French. We got two croque madams, so basically cheese and ham toasties on the next level. 10/10

I usually love this place, the food is good here, but service really needs work. I believe that there isn't enough staff to accommodate the recent expansion and additional menu across the lane. I came in today and stood in the 2nd store area for a few minutes but couldn't find staff so I took a seat and started looking for free wait staff. It took around 10 minutes for someone to see me and bring a menu, after that no one came back. After another almost 10 minutes I tried to flag down the waiter who brought me the menu but he was busy wiping down empty tables. I eventually gave up and left. It wasn't peak hours, there wasnt any rush so I think the issue was just that I only saw one waiter across both spaces and he forgot I was there/didn't look.

Hwre we have the Tomato Seafood Chowder, Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur. I had the Croque Monsieur, and WOW I just loved the raclette cheese and the ham that was cooked and shoved in between the slices of bread. The melted cheese was divine, mouth-watering and delicious. Although, the texture of it was thick, I was impressed. The salad on top was satisfying and the fries were crispy and crunchy. Great place for brunch/lunch.

Had the scotch steak and fries, price is purposely low only because you have to buy a drink with it. Fries were good, peppercorn jus very nice, and steak was cooked well, although the cut wasn't particularly nice - lots of fatty parts. Overall enjoyable but portion-size was definitely small (especially for something as cheap as fries) and I was hungry an hour later, but that's city living these days in Auckland.

Easily the best coffee I've had in Auckland. We come here for "coffee on the go" regularly and it's consistently great. However never had food until today. My partner had the croque madame, which was really tasty and very generous with the ham and cheese. Plus the eggs were cooked perfectly. I had a steak and French fries....The steak was cooked to just how I asked - medium rare. The service was excellent and the price point for the portion is very competitive. Thanks for a great lunch.

Le Chef is always wonderful!!! Friendly staff, cozy atmosphere, great coffee and food. It is definitely my favourite spot, thank you Le Chef please never leave

Tucked away on Vulcan lane is this little French gem with a cosy atmosphere and lovely staff. We came here for my partner's birthday and ordered a Eggs Benedict on a Hash Beignet and an Omelette du Chef with mushrooms and goats cheese. Both dishes were very flavourful and filling.<br/><br/>The Eggs Benedict combination with the hash had a melt-in-your-mouth effect and the Omelette was almost like a frittata coupled with generous amounts of mushroom and goats cheese with every bite.

Amazing food!!! I been there two times already and tried different menu for breakfast and lunch. They made very good food with standard quality. I also like pastries there too.

Had the Pain Perdu (French toast) and Croque Monsieur. Even though the portion was satisfactory, I found the French toast overall a bit underwhelming - the brioche was burnt and the fruits (several pineapples, squashed blueberries) and sauce were lacking. Best bit was the bacon (they almost forgot to add it). 🤤 The croque tasted better. At the price paid, it was worth to try once IMO. Customer service was good and the staff were friendly. Atmosphere is nice, with outdoor seating. You can see the locals enjoyed their meal or coffee.

So-so restaurant. Dropped in for quick meal. Ordered the $10 steak (blue). Steak was tough and grisly. Others meals at table were average. Service was quite good.

We popped in for a quick bite to eat - we ordered the goat cheese and mushroom omelette, the Croque Monsieur and two glasses of the Drouhin Chardonnay from France.<br/><br/>The omelette was great but more like a frittata and the ham in the croque monsieur was too thick but they tasted good.<br/><br/>We got a table outside in Vulcan Lane which was very pleasant.<br/><br/>Nice French staff and if you closed your eyes you could almost be in Paris.<br/><br/>We will be back.

Cute little spot, we sat outside in the lane which was nice for a sunny Friday lunch. Good service - ordered and food came out in a really short amount of time, super cheap $10 steak lunch with a cold drink purchase! Steak was cooked well and very tasty chips. x3 pork Sliders were on a deep fried buns 👌🏾👌🏾 which was amazing. All in all a good cheap lunch under $20!

This place has very bad service. I ordered two beers and chips and the local staff dropped the beer and chips on the table and did not apologise. On top of that he retaliated and then complained that we dropped the beer and chips. After that the manager on duty came to enquire and then the people on the surrounding table said that that waiter was at fault. Still the manager didn't do anything and didn't offer to get a replacement and on top off that took the remaining beer and chips away and did not replace them. Really pathetic behaviour and very very disappointing and bad customer service. I suggest the owner/manager checks the cameras at their latest convenience.

How is it possible to have the beef scotch fillet with fries & coleslaw for $10. Well, you have to buy any cold drinks with it. But it is still a bargain, isn't it? I had a try & the scotch fillet was nicely cooked - thumb up! Croque Monsieur was creamy with cheese - another nice dish. Escargots du chef with baby pear, walnuts & blue cheese were also very delicious. What a lovely lunch it was! <br/>(Food - 4.5/5; Service - 3.5/5)

Rating was 0, i coundn't get through the gate, i bought a ticket for Thursday night and i had the ticket number, but my friends boyfriend got the tickets, and i didnt know that they were under his surname, and God knows what his surname is. So they wouldn't let me in. They could have let me in to find my friend to find out what her boyfriends surname was.

Absolutely fantastic! The people the atmosphere, and the food oh my! Le chef has set the standard for great Eggs Benedict 😍would 100% recommend!

Had a nice brunch at this French eatery.<br/>Everything we ordered was amazing and had massive portion sizes. Food was worth the price and this place has amazing customer service.<br/>A must try I believe.<br/><br/>

Cafe by the alley on Vulcans lane. Atmosphere of the cafe is good and staff is friendly. That's what I always like. 👍🏻 <br/>I had a mocha and Croque Monsieur with egg. <br/>Mocha was alright. It taste fine for me but I've tasted better mocha. <br/>The Croque Monsieur with egg was good. Had salad, fries, toasted bread champagne ham and fried egg. Good combination but the more I eat, it feels more oily and taste very odd. It's good but I guess I'm just not used to the taste.

We had an amazing evening at Le Chef. Everything, from the food to the drinks, the atmosphere, and the service, was excellent. We kicked things off with two small plates (salmon cakes and pork belly) and there was definitely enough for four people to share. I preferred the pork belly, but the cakes seemed to go down very well with our friends. The mains were utterly delicious: cannelloni, fish of the day, and lamb shank. My fish was lovely: delicate, yet very flavoursome. But the star of the dinner was the creme brûlée we had for dessert: sweet, creamy, and they brown it right in front of you at the table. Perfect! Thank you, Le Chef. We'll definitely be back.

Well, if you thought Le Chef could be a grand fine-ding place. Then you will be surprised by how tiny it turns out to be.<br/><br/>However, you will still be enjoying its coziness and home real food to light up your Friday night or even just weekdays.<br/><br/>Sitting down, taking a glance of the chef's cooking, trans-hearing the music from Empire Tavern, it would be a good start. Refresh your appetite with home-made pork rillette, French cheese & garlic bread. Or you will find yourself devoting to the salmon tartare freshness with herbs and rockets.<br/><br/>Mostly people go for rib of beef with roasted potatoes and thyme with beautifully reduced jus <br/>to add the flavor. The Brandade, which is salt blue cod puree is also a seafood option. Baked potato with mashed blue cod served in a hot plate, it really arouse comfort food feeling.<br/><br/>Dessert should be everyone's favorite part. Creme Brulee's crust is made by hand on the spot. You can still enjoy breaking it with your spoon like Amélie does. Vanilla mingles smoothly with the whole texture, a soft and sweet attraction. As for another surprise, it should go to the hand-made chocolate sphere. Chef walks by your side, pouring hot chocolate sauce to melt the shell for you to witness. Yes, sometimes the process is as key as the result, especially for dessert.<br/><br/>Crowded with people keen on trying Le Chef's homey and real food, you can set yourself in them, as one of the ultimate life-lovers. Great minds think alike, don't they?

If you like meat to be cooked tender and succulent, this is not a right place for you. Their meat cooked more like deep fried and tastes more chewy (a bit like jerky).<br/><br/>But really loved their fresh vegetables--- crispy& juicy!<br/><br/>Coffee and hot chocolate were average.<br/><br/>One thing is their current menu is slightly different from menu showing on zomato, so I couldn't remember what we ordered (kind of salad& double cooked pork belly).<br/><br/>Nice cosy ambience& friendly service.<br/>

This place is great. $10 bacon and eggs for breakfast and $10 steak and eggs for lunch. Coffee is great and at $3 is the cheapest I have found. Wine is quite pricey as are other mains so I stick to the specials. French owners are great guys and look out for their big parties on the fb page every few months

We are truly spoilt for choice when it comes to dining out in Auckland, in particular the CBD. But I suppose there is one cuisine which is lacking – French. Thanks to Le Chef, that void has now been filled! At Le Chef, they are all about using fresh and seasonal produce and you can sample their delicious food for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Lovely small yet aesthetically pleasing place. Came here for an afternoon snack and was not disappointed. We ordered their fries and homemade bread. The bread was delicious, and served with two types of butters and truffle oil. The French fries were crispy and well seasoned served with a tangy relish sauce which was delicious. The coffee was also very good but it was not as strong as I would've liked. When we were seated no one came to us and we had to get the menu ourselves which was annoying. Also it's quite pricey considering you are getting a small portion of fries for 7$ and 10$ for bread and butter. However the food did taste very good and I loved the atmosphere. Definitely worth checking out.

Love this place! I have been here about 4 times now for their wine matching nights. The wine and food is always a surprise to what you are getting but it is always presented nicely and tastes amazing. The service is always warm and friendly when I have come here and a lot of knowledge on the wine is shared.

Congratulations, B, on your graduation! Hopefully it won't be too wet on the day while you parade down the main streets of Auckland CBD from uni to the town hall, like it had been on mine. I can't actually remember where I had gone after my graduations. But I've got just the right place for B. Le Chef hadn't existed yet on my (second) graduation day, the small restaurant is relative new on the scene.

We are truly spoilt for choice when it comes to dining out in Auckland, in particular the CBD. But I suppose there is one cuisine which is lacking – French. Thanks to Le Chef, that void has now been filled! At Le Chef, they are all about using fresh and seasonal produce and you can sample their delicious food for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Le Chef is a charming spot on a narrow, cobbled pedestrian-only lane in the city. Tucked away from the bustle of Queen Street, Le Chef channels rustic and romantic French charm. I’ve never been to France but it’s on my bucket list (of places to devour) and Le Chef feels like the next best thing.<br/><br/>We began with glasses of bubbles and head chef Grant Kitchen brought out a selection of entrees and mains including 2 dishes that will appear at tomorrow’s special 120-head, long table dinner on Vulcan Lane. This event sold out last week so if you missed out, be prepared to snap up tickets to their next event. The weather is set to be wonderful and the menu looks enticing. Edouard assures us (we all missed out) there will be more events, though al fresco dining requires careful planning around weather so expect any future events to appear after winter has passed.<br/><br/>The menu is concise and well formed with 5 nibbles, 3 entrees, 4 each of mains, sides and desserts. I rather like a smaller menu because it reads like a to do list. Stand out dishes for me were the beef short rib, the lightly cured salmon and the tartare. <br/><br/>The beef short rib (Faux-Fillet du Chef pour deux) is dish for two. A whooping 650 grams of beef short rib with rustic French style vegetables to complete the meal. I would bring The Koala back just for this dish.<br/><br/>The tartare, made with eye fillet was beautiful with a charred egg yolk and truffle oil to add rich flavour.<br/><br/>The cured Salmon dish was delicately flavoured, served with edamame, squid ink, topped with a piece of crispy salmon skin.<br/><br/>The creme brûlée is torched table side providing for some light after dinner entertainment. The portion is generous so if you’re really into creme brûlée, get your own, if not it’s great for sharing.<br/><br/>Le Chef is great for intimate dinners with close friends or date night. I will be back for a short rib and creme brûlée combo. Dreamy. Just imagine me with love hearts for eyes.<br/><br/>We dined as guests of Zomato and Le Chef though all opinions are my own.

One of my favourite food memories is this little restaurant in Saint-Emillion in the Bordeaux region of France. It’s full of smokey meat smells and aromas of many things cooked in butter. One of the cooks is slicing charcuterie near where you walk in, and there are a zillion things hanging on the walls that you suspect might be edible and are in different stages of drying or curing.<br/><br/>I remember ordering the duck breast, which was so rare I couldn’t believe it, but happily tucked into it as I did say: “à point” when asked how I’d like it to be prepared. Up until today I thought this phrase meant: ‘how the chef chooses to cook it’, but actually it means rare. So go figure. Good I like my meat still mooing. Or quacking.<br/><br/>ANYWAY I digress. This lovely memory of France is not something that enters my mind very often here in New Zealand. There are some nice French restaurants, but not like my memory. I don’t really have anything to remind me of that food, style of cooking, atmosphere, SMELL – well or so I thought. Then I was introduced to Le Chef.<br/><br/>Le Chef opened their first restaurant on Victoria Street about a year ago but it was tiny and people loved it straight away and it only had a few tables, so they moved to a bigger busier location on Vulcan Lane about six months ago. I was generously invited to dine at Le Chef this week as a preview to ‘La Longue Table Du Chef’, organised by Zomato as a Blogger’s Meetup. Le Chef is throwing this amazing event on Friday, and check this out: one giant table set up underneath the stars and festoon lights. 120 people. One three course French meal with champagne. Live music. So of course it’s already sold out. However, given the response to their first one, they have assured us there are more to come so watch this space, and get on it quickly when the next one is organised!<br/><br/>The restaurant itself is really lovely and has a great atmosphere. Especially jam packed full of people. There wasn’t an empty seat on the Monday night we dined so clearly people have clicked that this is the real deal. Édouard, the owner, was gracious and spoke with clear passion about the restaurant, and the very experienced head chef, Grant Kitchen came out and explained all the dishes to us as we sat open mouthed drooling. (As an aside, if your last name is kitchen – were you always destined to be a chef?!?)<br/><br/>Below are the beautiful dishes we were able to sample. Check them out, and definitely visit Le Chef for a proper French experience, food, wine, culture, it ticks all the boxes.

If you're looking for great tasting food for a great price in CBD, Le Chef should be at the top of your list. in The food was fantastic! I had a $10 scotch fillet with peppercorn sauce, and my other food lovers had the eggs benedict and the salmon baguette. Service was great, the waiter was friendly and attentive even during the busy lunch hour. Would definitely recommend! <br/><br/>P.s. They also do a great and big flat white for only $3

If I could rate Le Chef higher, I totally would! My boyfriend booked us in for a special three course dinner for Valentines Day and each course was absolutely divine!! We had the following dishes:<br/>Starter - Beef bourguignon pie, Calamari with salad (both cooked to perfection)<br/>Main - Le cerf forestier (Venison), Le poisson du jour (fish of the day with scallops). OH MY GOODNESS - the scallops were absolutely spectacular! Both meals reminded me of eating at high-end restaurants in France. <br/>Desert - Coconut Panacotta, Creme Brulee - perfect way to end our beautiful three course meal!<br/>Not only was the food amazing, but the service was spot on. The staff were friendly, smiling, attentive, and made sure everyone was enjoying their dinner. We enjoyed our dinner whilst listening to live music just outside the restaurant.Highly recommended!

Customer service was good as the person waiting on us was attentive, polite and worked efficiently. Both my partner and I enjoyed the food thoroughly and it was of good value. My baguette was difficult to cut through as it had become soggy from the delicious hollandaise sauce, but it wasn't a big deal as the baguette had a fantastic flavour. Overall the flavours of each ingredient complemented each other.

Lovely little cafe on Vulcan Lane. Loved how the place was decorated and the nice atmosphere. We had our coffees there which were good and the breakfast. The croissants are definitely worth a try and the other types of pastry looked really good as well. I have also enjoyed my LAT (lemon, avocado, tomato) although the bacon and eggs had nothing special about them.

Very well presented and delicious meals, we had the chicken and bacon wrapped in puff pastry, and the fish and scallop. Great flavours, not overcomplicated, just well executed French fare. Server even brought us out some garlic bread while we waited. Wine prices ok, low teens for a glass. Will definitely return.

This cute little place has a simple menu and good coffee. A little disappointed with the avo on bread, over ripe bland avo and untoasted bread

I have been to this cafe around 4 times in the past few weeks. The food is normally excellent and the staff are really friendly. The prices are to the top end of what I would expect to pay for a cbd cafe however. The only negative is that the kitchen is a little slow and its not unusual to wait quite a while when it's busy.

We had lunch there yesterday<br/>The food was excellent<br/>Burger du Chef high quality and cooked to request<br/>Impressive indeed<br/>The other meal was the Caesar Salad with Chicken<br/>Looked superb and was mightily enjoyed<br/>The service was sporadic but courteous<br/>The atmosphere was alive<br/>It needs to be tried!<br/> <br/>Service better today<br/>Had the Chicken Burger and fries<br/>Nice Kronenbourg<br/>Weird they have a space across the lane<br/>But no licence for it<br/>Still good

My long weekend kicked off with an excellent coffee meet up at Le Chef. <br/><br/>Looking for a relaxing and chill spot to hang we decided on Le Chef. Our orders were quickly taken and they came out piping hot which was a awesome.<br/><br/>Showstopper: Great Vibe and character<br/><br/>Overall Grade: B, can't wait to come back to try the food.

Amazing little place.  The staff were so friendly , the food was divine and the prices were reasonable.  It was a haven in the middle of Auckland.  I will definitely go there again and recommend it to anyone who will listen.

Sorprendente. Un local pequeño atendido por dos franceses. Comida francesa genuina. Pedí cerdo marinado y créme brulee. Simplemente extraordinarios. El cerdo con mostaza exquisito. Él créme brulee caramelizado en la mesa por el mismo chef usando un soplete. Y toda la experiencia por un precio incomparable!!