Review Neo - Auckland Central

In short, the best restaurant in Auckland. My boyfriend and I have visited hundreds of restaurants in NZ in the last 2 years and we agree that our favorite is NEO. For the quality of the food, which is excellent, an explosion of flavors in the mouth. For the price, it's worth it, and even I would pay more for it. For the service, which is first class, the owner and the employees usually ask you how each dish was. What I don't understand is why this restaurant is not always full. Maybe the hours, maybe the location.

Great service! The deck is amazing. Unfortunately some of the dishes have room for improvement. Calamari over seasoned and parts were really dry, very salty. The veal was premade which was fine but tiny baby size pieces and extremely bland. The main and shared foods all have bread, which is not a good sign for a restaurant, only cafes should be adding bread to fill people up. Everything else makes up for it. Service: 5/5 Environment: 5/5 Presentation: 3/5 Food Quality: 3/5 Food Quantity: 5/5 Price per person: $30-$50

Location is pretty good though it's a little harder to reach and less visible, might be why there weren't many customers. The service was decent as well without anything to really criticize. The food was great, fairly original and tasty, but the portions are tiny. Pricing is on the higher end and the food presentation was great to get the feeling of fine dining but I walked away feeling hungry. Probably wouldn't go again, I think I'd need to spend at least $50 to get a full lunch from there.

Came in for lunch with my work colleague and we've been wow'd by the nicely decorated internal setting which is quite classy. The waiter has been friendly to us and we sat outside in the balcony area with a view of Queen St and the surrounding towers. We ordered the Wagyu Meatballs and Fish & Chips. Both meals are delicious and nicely presented as you can see from the photos below. The portions are a little small but that's probably because we unlocked our ZG discount, so fair enough... hope to come back to try out their other dishes in the future.

Great menu selection with delicious food. We had a yummy brunch with meatballs, sourdough and pancakes for dessert. Service was amazing too

I went to Neo for the first time with my family this week when visiting Auckland City. Not only was the service at an excellent standard but the food was amazing. We went for brunch and the food was displayed so beautifully. The eggs cooked to perfection. It was great that you could sit outside and watch all that is happening down Queen Street from up on the balcony or you could sit inside in the beautifully decorated surroundings. I would highly recommend this place for a meal.

The finest coffee on Queen Street, Auckland CBD!! Discovered this place for coffee approx a year ago and surprised by really good coffee they serve. The restaurant situates on the level 1 of arcade, facing out to Queen Street. Balcony seats look out 180 degree from Queen Street through to Auckland wharf. Dedicated chefs and great staffs. Deliciously great selection menu. Worth every second of joy every time we visit.

Overpriced desserts, but meals seem to be more sizeable. Overpriced, but to be expected as it's Auckland with great views (balcony overlooking Dior and some designer shops, Queen Street). Service was amazing, water constantly refilled.

The environment and the service is good. It was cloudy day. I wore a skirt felt a little cold. The clerk brought me a blanket and warm water. It's a good dining experience, but what I ordered is not delicious.

Breakfast until noon weekdays, 1500 on weekends. Reasonably priced food, artfully presented. Friendly staff, great coffee and booze. Upstairs at Queens Arcade, fabulous outdoor patio (which sometimes vibrates when a bus goes by).

NEO has it all; a cool name, cozy atmosphere and incredible service. I really enjoyed my serene experience by the window. The options available on the menu are extremely diverse and reasonably priced, and the staff are ready to offer accurate and friendly suggestions. NEO is a true shining gem of Queens Arcade.

If you love rooftop bars and restaurants with quality food and drinks this is the place for you. I recommend getting seating outside as the views on the balcony are beautiful. Although we mainly stuck to finger food and sharing plates the food was high quality and fresh. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly.

A great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner upstairs at Queens Arcade with a great balcony eating area overlooking Queen Street. Innovative menu - my favourite breakfast items are the Snapper on Toast; Bismarck Pancakes and the Eggs Benedict Waffles. Convenient location near Britomart Train Station, the Downtown Ferry Terminal, buses, Commercial Bay, Britomart and the waterfront. Great staff and reasonable prices.

Excellent coffee.. and the food was very good. I had the shiitake and it was so yummy, I not a big fan of mushrooms but I wanted a lighter meal, the combination of the sauce and salt was just nice to complement the mushroom which made it really tasty.

Great staff great food. Loved it. It’s on the list of Auckland spots to go back to every time. I’m super glad I tried the Bismarck pancakes they were amazing.

Fantastic atmosphere and ambience in this hidden gem. The coffee and food was fantastic too, so many small high quality touches

Gastronomic pleasure... Great service and super interesting flavours. A hidden gem really

We had a lovely luncheon of a tasty Bourride of fresh fish and mussels; my companion had a Cacio a Pepe pasta and we shared a bottle of Bohemian Pinot Gris from Hawke’s Bay. Fabian was our server - friendly and helpful. We sat outside in the sunshine on the first floor overlooking the pedestrians and traffic of the CBD. The food was elegant and well-prepared and great value for the expense. I’d say, if downtown, to make a beeline here for your lunch.

Super nice staff , stopped in for a late lunch, pork belly brioche bun, a deliciously great looking side of green vegetables and pinot noir..I couldn't be happier before I fly out of Auckland.!!

This place is amazing for date nights or for any other dates or nights. The location is perfect - in the heart of CBD overlooking Queen street. Food is great with nice presentation. Only a bit of a let down is the portion of the “Large Plate” menu which we ordered for crayfish and lobster was served... mixed up of the old and new menu probably. Our expectations were set for the Large plate as a plate full of seafood and can be shared but wasnt the case. They’re also a bit on the pricier side but understandable on their location and how food is prepared. All in all it was a good experience.

Lovely setting inside. Great service. The food was great, flavoursome and nice. Good as sharing plates.

After 45 mins the waitress could not tell us where our order was( 2x burgers).

A very nice brunch place with ecstatic view of the busy street. Serving is prompt and staff members are very friendly. I tried the egg benedict which was cooked perfectly. The coffee were also on point - one of the best I've had in a while. Would love to return for dinner.

It was so pretty and good. Honestly for $12 a dessert, it’s so worth it for the taste, experience and atmosphere

Beautiful decor and spot in the city! Great outdoor area & friendly staff. Very very yummy Swedish food. Meatballs, mash and ligon berry sauce just how Mormor makes <br/>

Beautiful interior and service. Just had coffee which was great but so good to find a good cafe/restaurant down this end of Queen St, close to h&m, cosy and intimate and everything you could want really!

The restaurant sets on a second story on Queen Street opposite the Dior boutique. Lovely ambience.<br/><br/>I ordered the snapper on toast. The fish was nicely grilled with a good mixture of spices, however the fish was a little stale. The chai latte was tasty, but the flat white was average.<br/><br/>The cheesecake with chocolate was divine. The chocolate base was soft and moist, topped with a rich layer of cream cheese.<br/><br/>Service was a little disappointing, we waited at the door and at the table quite a while before getting serviced. Food was a little slow and the staff were very inattentive.<br/><br/>Taste: 6.5/10<br/>Presentation: 8/10<br/>Service: 6/10<br/>Ambience: 8/10<br/>Value for money: 8/10<br/><br/>Price $25 per person

Came up for a coffee and lunch. It’s really nice inside, with a mix of booths and tables plus the benches outside (a bit cold on a winters day but there are heaters). Alot going on with the menus as they had a brunch, lunch as well as bar food menu. Ordered the beetroot and goats cheese salad at the recommendation of the waiter. Both the coffee and the salad were great! Keen to come back and try other items on the menu.

This location has always struggled being that it's upstairs and not too obvious from the street, but these guys seem to be doing Ok there. Had a burger and fries which was pretty good. We shared a fish balls entree and unfortunately it was frozen in the middle so we sent it back. The manager was apologetic and the 2nd time it was right. Will try again and if improves will revise.

Good coffee, amazing dessert and relaxing ambiance, all rolled into one! 👍🏼 <br/><br/>Ordered the black coffee and brownie with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. The coffee was flavorful and strong and was the perfect match for the dessert. The ice cream was plain vanilla but there was a fragrant taste to it, it felt like I was subtly eating flowers 🌸 <br/><br/>We opted to sit outside which was quite chilly, but offered a nice view of the city and its people. Loved the whole experience. Will definitely be back 😊

Service here was really good, both staff were quite attentive. We both got eggs bene but we felt it was quite a small portion - only came on 1/2 a bun and was $20. The outdoor area was quite nice

Always seeing people sitting on a roof top cafe/ Eatary when walking down Aucklands busiest shopping street really sparks curiosity, so we checked it out! Excellent location, great service and surprisingly well presented food with quality and taste to match. faily priced and with the advantage of its view and outdoor rooftop seating area, Neo is a winner!

Taste: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑<br/>Interior: 🌕🌕🌕⁣🌗⁣🌑⁣<br/>Service: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕⁣<br/>Recommend: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑<br/>⁣<br/>We ordered the 𝐒𝐦ö𝐫𝐠å𝐬𝐭å𝐫𝐭𝐚, 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐩, 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐚𝐦, 𝐞𝐠𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐨, 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥 and 𝐃𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐞𝐬, 𝐩𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐬, 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐲𝐨𝐠𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. The Swedish 🇸🇪 Smörgåstårta was really good 👌 super refreshing! The bread balances out the creamy savoury seafood spread in each layers so I won’t be too overpowering! Staffs were super friendly and the food was served up very quickly! This place also have balcony seating where u get a nice view of Auckland CBD! ⁣

Nice hidden little cafe spot just above Queen Street. The food and coffee was really fantastic. I'm quite keen to try more of the menu. Also have indoor and outdoor seating which is nice.

Can't say how much I love the ambience, it is warm and comfortable. I have ordered the soup of day with garlic bread. I was expecting it to be quite heavy in terms of flavour, but it turned out to be delicious! My friend was also happy with her chicken salad although the portion did not seem big enough for it's price.

We had the rib eye steak and egg bene. Although the steak is tender, it is bland. Chips were slightly soggy and a very small portion of salad. The eggs bene were bland and not runny. The place has a nice ambience and well setup. However the service is very slow. We were ready to order and were there first but the waiter served another table that came later. Perhaps the waiting staff should have better communication with the waiter. The only friendly staff was the nice lady working there. We won’t be in a hurry to go back

Nice environment, friendly staffs and the most important excellent food. The lamb shank is so delicious, so as the snacks. But will be good to increase the portion.

Really tasty food, great service, great decor.  Would love it even more if it the food was hotter. But yes the flavours were absolutely wonderful.

We were thinking about what to have at 11:15. The lunch menu looked more appealing. I chose the veal schnitzel with spaghetti noodles, anchovy & capers; my wife had the Wagyu meatballs with rutabaga mash. My dish was very nice - good meat, well-cooked noodles & tasted just right with the anchovy & capers. <br/>(Food - 4/5; Service - 4.5/5; Ambience - 4/5)<br/>Visited on 10 June 2019

Coviniently located in the centre of the city, upstairs of Queen's arcade, tasty food and friendly service. A good variety of dishes to choose from.

Came in for lunch with my work colleague and we've been wow'd by the nicely decorated internal setting which is quite classy.  The waiter has been friendly to us and we sat outside in the balcony area with a view of Queen St and the surrounding towers.  We ordered the Wagyu Meatballs and Fish & Chips.  Both meals are delicious and nicely presented as you can see from the photos below.  The portions are a little small but that's probably because we unlocked our ZG discount, so fair enough... hope to come back to try out their other dishes in the future.

Came in today for a birthday lunch with Michelle. Chose this place because of the beautiful view it has. Ordered the beans on toast with fried eggs and the bacon pancakes with ice cream. Friend originally wanted something savoury but saw the pancakes on the menu and could not resist. The combination of the bacon, pancakes and ice cream consumed all in one bite was interesting. Soft warm pancakes, crispy bacon and cold ice cream. Definitely worth experiencing. Beans were really delicious but the sourdough toast underneath was too soggy. Yolk in fried eggs were half runny half well done. Not the way I liked my yolks but the egg white was nice and crispy. Atmosphere was the best. Loved looking down onto Queen Street while enjoying my lunch. Lots of great photos taken with the view.

Lovely environment and food❤️<br/>We have sirloin steak and market fish to share between 2 girls. Prawn was a surprise - perfectly cooked, tender and tasty!<br/>Will come back for brunch.

Came here on a sunny Friday afternoon with some friends for lunch! <br/><br/>We were greeted with enthusiasm and smiles by a young man, and seated outside. He kindly wiped the seats (Rained before) and gave us menus and water so quick you barely noticed it! <br/>Between us we got: Lamb Shoulder Pappardelle, Beer-Battered Fish, Crispy Chicken Breast, Beef Burger, and Crumbed Confit Chicken. <br/><br/>Our orders arrived fast! My Lamb Shoulder was wholesome but the pappardelle could be more saucy and flavoursome. Likewise with the lamb, which was a bit bland, over cooked and a bit hard to bite (was expecting braised lamb that falls apart). Portion wise it is good for the price you pay. <br/><br/>Nonetheless, service here is really wonderful! You also get nice ambience and great outdoor views! <br/><br/>Food: 8/10<br/>Price: 9/10<br/>Ambience: 9/10<br/>Service: 10/10

A nice cafe & restaurant inside Queen Arcade. I really love the interior design of this place, very fancy and stylish. I & my partner wanted to sit on the balcony to enjoy the fresh air but it was so windy on the day that we had no choice but sit insides. Staff are friendly, welcoming and attentive. Food is nice too but we had to wait about 20~30 mins before it was served on our table. We came there around 2.30pm and it wasn't busy so you should expect to wait for ur food a bit longer if you come right on busy time for meal. I and my partner both love seafood so we ordered the same thing for our lunch. My partner so loves their seafood soup that he just wanted to order some bread to finish everything clean 🤣🤣🤣 Next time we definitely try something different 😅. Very worths the Zomato Gold experience after all :)

I really had a lovely time catching up with an old friend at neo. The view of queen street from their veranda was awesome! Service of the food (egge bene) took ages....but because we were fully hydrated with our water —the company and the ambiance made it worthwhile. Service too was good, they were attentive and friendly.<br/>I ordered fresh strawberry shake — which was in my taste— like theyve put more milk than actual strawberries — not worth $9 to be honest. <br/>I guess you mainly pay for the ambiance for NEO... but overall a good experience so im def coming back — as i can use my zomato gold here! 👏🏼👏🏼

Loved the location and the food was amazing, I forgot take photos, but our food was very pretty. Highly recommend, would definitely be back 10/10

A pretty restaurant tucked in the corner of Queen's Arcade. Very nice ambiance, lovely people. <br/><br/>The market fish was flavorful and had a nice crust. The mussels and shrimps were fresh. Delicious sauce. <br/><br/>The pork potato dumpling was very nice too. <br/><br/>The cocktail was refreshing, though I reckon it is a bit pricy.<br/><br/>Overall a lovely dining experience

Absolutely love this place! Found out today that the outdoor area has a massive rain cover converting it into a cozy area even when the weather isn’t great. Lovely professional caring staff and flavour-full food. Highly recommend, and a must try place.

Nice balcony if you want some fresh air on a good day , but it’s a rainy day today , so had to seat inside<br/><br/>Their brunch / lunch menu have a good range of choice from $10,$15,$20 to $25 items , my friend had a steak with dumplings and mine is a battered snapper with roasted carrots... food are tasty. <br/><br/>Will definitely come back and try their clam dish...

We menu-hunted with 2 things in mind: a) interesting menu and b) zomato gold included. Settled with @drinkeatneo and it was a such a welcomed surprise. Bbq'd sirloin, sweet sticky sauce and kroppkaka dumplings (meat filled dough). The meat tasted like it was flame-licked; smokey and sweet, proper maillard reaction occurred which makes it so delicious. If only all restaurant steaks taste like this I'll be very happy. Never had kroppkaka before and intrigued to find it had such nice flavours, complementing the meat. The crispy skin market fish, tiger prawn, fregola bouillabaisse and rouille (a beautifully balanced traditional Provençal stew) was 👌. The fish was moist and fresh and I want a bowl of that rouille!<br/>The space was nice - we sat outdoors on the terrace roof. The food took a bit longer than expected to come out but it was worth the wait!<br/>.

Wished I knew about this place earlier! This place is really beautiful with the option of sitting inside or on the balcony outside. I came early in the morning so it wasn’t that busy, just one other person was there. The staff are really nice and the food looked like their was effort put into it and seemed to be of good quality ingredients. The only downside was that it was quite pricey for a small portion, however I still left satisfied 🙂 <br/>Can’t wait to try other things on the menu

Ambiance & Decor : 4 out of 5 <br/>Service : 4 out of 5 <br/>Food Quality & Presentation : 4 out of 5<br/>Taste : 3 out of 5 <br/>Dishes Ordered : Lamb Shoulder & Market Fish <br/><br/>Taste was a bit lacking due to the food coming out lukewarm. Was happy overall as it was very worthwhile with Zomato Gold’s deal, otherwise it’s a on the pricey side.

Nice little restaurant with great atmosphere especially if you sit out in the terrace on a sunny day. <br/><br/>Service was great, fast and polite<br/><br/>Food was on par. We ordered the shrimp cocktail which was really good, favourite part of the meal, however $19 for a “snack” is a tad bit much, luckily we had Zomato gold. We also ordered the omnivore platter for $36, not filling at all if you’re sharing with someone, the crumbed balls were quite nice. Would not order the platter again.<br/><br/>Really good restaurant for vegans or vegetarians as there are lots of choices on the menu.

It’s located opposite from Dior, on the second floor. I wasn’t notice that there is a cafe upstairs before. The staff is very friendly and meet your requests all the time, score 5/5. The food presentation is fine, the flavour is fine, score 4/5. We use our gold membership card, so for us, it’s a value of money meal, otherwise, a little bit expensive.

Based on the excellent canapes served recently at a Champagne event, I am looking forward to enjoying a full dinner at Neo. The deck area over Queen Street adds a European ambience unique among Auckland restaurants. Recommended.

Nice place to go to for drinks with a view above Queen St. Ended up having a beer, prosecco and fried buttermilk chicken. The meat itself was tender and crispy, but a little on the salty side. Definitely a more upmarket place, and prices reflect this - although if we were talking value for money, i would say - definitely not (e.g. $19 for 3 pieces of chicken)? Anyhow, overall it wasn't a bad experience, just somewhat pricey

Service 5/5 Environment 5/5 Quantity 5/5 Quality 3/5 Price 4/5 <br/>Use zomato gold today at Neo, they got the best view of queen st, service was friendly and helpful, food have space to improve.

Great service! The deck is amazing. <br/><br/>Unfortunately some of the dishes have room for improvement. Calamari over seasoned and parts were really dry, very salty. The veal was premade which was fine but tiny baby size pieces and extremely bland. The main and shared foods all have bread, which is not a good sign for a restaurant, only cafes should be adding bread to fill people up. <br/><br/>Everything else makes up for it. Zomato gold membership makes it an amazing deal. <br/><br/>Service: 5/5<br/>Environment: 5/5<br/>Presentation: 3/5<br/>Food Quality: 3/5<br/>Food Quantity: 5/5<br/>Price per person: $30-$50

Friendly staff, cosy atmosphere and delicious food - very generous serving! My husband Nik Kho and I enjoyed our experience at Neo and we will definitely be back. Thanks guys!

This is a hidden gem on the second floor of the Queen's Arcade. Great double cheese burger with a super juicy beef patty and thick layer of Edam cheese. Each of the fries were equally crispy and well seasoned. The Burratta was filled with loads and loads of mozzarella strips and cheesy goodness. The outdoor seating overlooks Dior on busy queen street which can get a bit noisy.<br/><br/>Had a pleasant time here and I'm pretty happy to get 1+1 on food as a zomato gold member.<br/><br/>Service: 5/5<br/>Ambience: 4/5<br/>Food: 5/5

We had a late lunch there - ordered the baked feta salad, the fried confit chicken, and the chips w/ aioli. The salad was light, refreshing, and delicious. Very exciting and unique, each element added a new dimension to this dish. It was thoughtfully balanced in terms of tastes and textures, and definitely a step up from the usual restaurant salad. Personally, it was also cool to experience new ingredients such as edible flowers on this plate. This one’s definitely a winner. The fried confit chicken was also yummy - a light yet very crispy coating, and the confit ensured that the chicken remained moist and very very tender. However, the cucumber pickle that came alongside this had one very bitter flavour that dominated and made it very unpleasant. Neither of us enjoyed this. The chips were light and fluffy on the inside, yet crispy and crunchy on the outside. I loved the fact that they were quite chunky too! They were under seasoned for our liking, but this was easily rectified with the little salt bowl on our table. The aioli was nice yet simple, I’d love to see them make it their own by adding something to it (even as simple as roasted garlic and black pepper). The ambience was nice and upscaled. They have created a relaxed and luxurious place to dine. It’s location is also unique as it opens up to the second floor of Queens Arcade - reminiscent to the Queen Victoria Market in Sydney! The menu is a little bit pricy, but the attention to detail, extra prep of the food, and the thoughtfulness of the dishes deem it justifiable in my opinion. Good restaurant with a lot of potential!<br/><br/>EDIT: went back again yesterday and the food continues to impress! Snapper nuggets were light and tasty, the tartare sauce delicious! Breads and dips were nicely presented, generously portioned, and each dip was well made/something different. The fries weren’t greasy but crispy outside and really fluffy inside - still under-seasoned sadly, but fixed with salt on the table. Nice to see they’ve increased the portion size to justify the $10 price tag. Sat outside this time, lovely view of queen street and staff were very helpful when it started to rain and we wanted to move. Attentive service but still left us alone to enjoy our food, the view, and talk.