If you like good ol' Pacific cuisine but be a bougee! Kai Pasifika is the place! Went with a mate and we were surprised at how beautiful the food was presented. BUT TASTE wise was if it was from a banquet at a Tongan or Samoan wedding/funeral. DELICIOUS!Had Raw fish, taro, passionfruit salad and some fried chicken. and NOTHING was BAD! Seriously, HIGHLIGHT was the raw fish was as if Dad was in the kitchen whipping up with coconut cream, spring onions, tomatoes... you know it. Getting 2 bowls next time I'm thereService was very good! Waiter made sure we were welcome and well served!
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Attentive staff who hovers around to ensure they bring us our main course when we are done with our starters. We ordered seafood chowder and raw fish for starters, pork belly and catch of the fish (medium rare tuna), and panna cotta for dessert.
The portions are huge and the food was so flavorful! I love the coconut-infused couscous in my tuna dish and I thought everything went together very nicely. I also like the roasted vegetables in my tuna dish. My friend and hubby got pork belly dish and it came with a kumara has. The pork crackling was on point and I like the smokey flavour that the crackling has. I mixed the kumara hash that my hubby gave with the coconut couscous that came with my dish and they tasted really good today. The panna cotta was, however, just average although I love the ice cream that came with it.
Overall I really enjoyed the evening at Kai. The only issue I had was that my water was only topped up once throughout the whole evening, so if more attention was paid to this small detail, I would have given it a 5. All in all, I felt that the place is really reasonable given the portion and quality of food that's served.
We had the duck confit and the fish of the day (tuna). Both were delicious and had a nice island inspired spin on them. Nice to have a Vailema too - just for kicks!
Such a great place to dine! Went here last week for my sister-in-laws birthday dinner and upon reading the reviews, I wasn’t expecting much. But that soon changed when we walked in. Our waiter was so kind and proactive with making sure our drinks were refilled and not to mention how bloody amazing our food tasted! Portion sizes were well worth the price we paid. For once I left a restaurant full lol. Highly recommend this place. Great staff, great atmosphere and GREAT FOOD!!!! Will definitely be coming back :)
I decided to treat my parents to a nice dinner and we were totally blown away. Great service by our waiter and the food was amazing. The octopus was my favourite followed by the pork with Koko glaze. My dad being the biggest critic of Samoan food, couldn’t believe the faiai fe’e (octopus) was done exactly how he remembers it back home in the islands. Thanks again for a great night guys. We’ll be back for sure. Nati.
We had medium size group of 8 people and booked table in advance. The food was great, and service was very good, too. I tried lamb ribs, octopus (starter), and raw fish (starter). The only little minus was a that main dish comes without side, so you need to order side; and they had run out of raw salmon starter. However, the taste of food was great. I enjoyed every bite of lamb, and octopus. Raw fish has a tiny portion, I shared that meal and had only two pieces of fish. My colleagues ordered cocktail, but they did not like the taste and asked staff to replace it, they got complement cocktail and they also give us complement half bottle of white and half bottle of red wine, which was a very nice touch. Overall, my experience with that place was very good, would definitely recommend to try this place out. Planning to bring my family on some occasion here soon.
It is a tiny restaurants but I'm so glad we've finally had Pasifika food in a restaurant. The food is amazing and would love a bigger selection. Great service and so much fun. Thank you for everything. This is a place where you need a big group to share.
Enjoyed it thoroughly.
Highly recommend the Ika Vakalolo.
The service is warm and welcoming and would come again. Constructive feedback I will pass on is the seats were hard and cold at night.
Service: warm & welcoming.
Atmosphere: beautiful and relaxing.
Food: fresh, appealing, flavoursome and tasteful.
Experience: pleasant, entertaining and a memorable experience of fine dining with a taste of Pasifika.
Fa'afetai tele lava!
Delicious food. Portion was big. We ordered a couple of main and side dishes. Fries were great. The lamb was nice and soft. The pork belly was great and crunchy. The beef was so soft and delicious. Priced around 30$ for the main. Surprisingly, this place was not crowded at all.
Food is delicious! Everything we had tasted amazing! I love how they've kept true to the Pacific Island flavours
A long awaited restaurant in Auckland. Our tastebuds have finally been blessed with flavours that were always a flight away. Robert Oliver and his team have brought that to Auckland and what an awesome place this is. I have already been here twice (they just opened a week ago) and no doubt will continue to go many times - I plan on taking all my friends and family to sample all the delights they have. This is a must try and even if you have not tried Island Food, definitely give this a go, there will be something you will fall in love with. A great concept and I look forward to the delights they keep pumping out of this kitchen :). My fav dishes are the Lu Soup, Pua'a Samoa, Ika Vakalolo and the Kokoda. Highly recommended and looking forward to the direction this place is heading in.
Great food, great services, great atmosphere. It's really good to a Pasifika inspired resturant in the cbd with food packs full of flavours.
Loved the beef short ribs which are slow cooked to tenderness. Try also their pork belly and fried chicken.
Service was great. Food are good. Prices is on a fine dine side..
The food was incredible. This is the duck. Proj and beef also spectacular. Tastes of the earth.
One of the best dining experiences I've had in Auckland! The food was all delicious, fresh, thoughtfully prepared, and the menu was developed using recipes, stories, and products from communities throughout the Pacific. The interior was bright and beautiful and showcased art on the walls from female Pacific artists. I know all of this because the story was presented throughout the dining experience. We were welcomed warmly and left happy.
Great food in good portions. Standouts for me were the steamed mussels, the whole roasted fish (yum!) , the cold smoked pork and the Fiji-style raw fish. Amazing tastes & good to see something distinctly 'south pacific' food-wise in Auckland.
Friendly and warm service with pretty decent food. Expected the portions to be a little bigger though. Good for sharing and medium to large group. Love to atmosphere and the feeling of being in a church hall. Legit!
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