Review Banque Oyster Bar & Eatery - Auckland Central

Do you like shellfish? Why not to visit here. Oysters, clams... So good. Especially the time of Bruff Oysters, you have to go and eat some!!

This is probably our favourite restaurant. The steaks are superb and for us a must - we almost always order them every time we go. They have a good wine list and we like the combination of bar at the front and the tables at the back. Its busy and for good reason with helpful staff some of whom have been there for some years. Definitely worth a visit.

Great range on the menu and the steaks especially are excellent. Good range of drinks available too. Very busy almost every night of the week so it definitely pays to book. Seems to be a firm favourite of the Remuera locals.

Warm and trendy atmosphere, service was good. We had the $70 pp set menu for private function and the steamed crab entree was a bit small. The dessert took a while to come out but otherwise the food was amazing.

Pleasant interior, very good waiter. Kitchen was quite slow for mains of scallops and steak. Food was good when it finally arrived. Good wine list. $100 for two mains, one salad and 3 glasses of wine?

It's great place to catchup, service was good and snacks Well in time. Decor could be better and it can be very noisy to talk with mates. Space feels limited so probably the reason for noise but overall not bad.

Inconsistent service and decor is looking tired. The menu hasn't changed much since they first took heavy inspiration from Al Brown's Depot. And do they look after vegetarians? No they don't. Some of us vegetarian types don't want to eat pizza.

We've been a few times, our favourite "casual date night" restaurant (especially if you get the fire side table). Food is always beautifully prepped and never disappoints on flavour.

Got to try the oysters they were very nice. Also the eye fillet steak was cooked to liking. Great relaxing place for a nice meal and glad of wine

What a fantastic meal and friendly service. Thanks to Brittney for suggesting the venue and a big thanks to Oscar for looking after our family. We will be back.

Just had Dinner here tonight and it was fantastic. I was served by Peter whom provided some of the best service i have experienced. Would highly recommend.

Great food and atmosphere. Extremely consistent, never let's me down. The eye fillet is consistently excellent.

Service and food were really good. Well worth a visit.

I was in the area on a business trip and popped in for some food, had the steak which was cooked exactly as I asked. Good place.

Nice fish, pizza, pork ribs and belly, asparagus also good. Parking is so hard. A bit too noisy.

I came here the other day with my family. This place used to be incredibly expensive and upmarket however now that it's more casual, this place is an amazing place to come to for a dinner (it's still reasonably expensive so once a year type of place). I had the pork belly which was divine, incredibly moist and tasty. To finish I had the lemon dessert which tasted as good as it looked. If you want somewhere nice and reasonably fast for a special occasion here is the place to go :)

Last night was my first night here. We were a group of 5 in for a birthday, the restaurant is very well presented and has a nice cosy vibe to it. The food was incredible, I can't resist pork belly and it exceeded every expectation. How ever the service was very slow. Now I work at a "finer dining" restaurant like this one and I personally would never pay a table so little attention. We waited quite a long for each of our courses to be ordered, although in the presence of many others it wasn't too bad. The worst thing there was the noise level. The restaurant was in no way full or even half full. But the noise level was so loud that we could barely hear the others speak from across the table. All in all a pretty average experience

Tonight (19 June 2018) was my third visit to Banque in two years. The service was very poor and hence why I took time to write this review. We ordered two 'simple' Pizzas, both were poorly cooked (raw) with little to no toppings.  We politely suggested the Pizzas were not at all as they were described on the Menu. The waiter agreed and said he'd refer the matter to the 'kitchen'.  He never returned and nor will we.  We paid in full and left empty.  What a pity as we need good quality restaurants and Banque misses the mark by a long shot.  The décor is tired and worn, as are the staff.  I won't be going back.

Delicious snapper on risotto and my partner said his free range chicken was an excellent portion and tasted great. Really nice to see the same staff year after year. A rarity in Auckland. Must be a good place to work.<br/>

Have been twice recently. <br/>The first time the service was excellent. I had a 350gram scotch fillet. I’m not sure when they weighed it and settled on the figure of 350 grams. Presumably it was an estimate based on the animal still roaming free in the paddock. It was a disappointing looking meal on the plate. The taste was passable but it could have been a dried up minute steak from most angles. The fish of the day was exquisite and as I’ve said the service was excellent so we decided to go back for a second try. <br/>This time we had a dozen oysters. They were delicious. Vinaigrette was just right. A pizza and a salad to finish a lovely casual meal. The service was great. Friendly staff. Perhaps a bit quick in clearing the table. Though that’s preferable to being the invisible patron. <br/>It’s a good middle of the road restaurant.

Last night (15 November 2017) was my third visit to Banque this year, which says a lot considering my partner and I have been happy to drive from Titirangi to Remuera for good dining. As before, the service was faultless; decor and atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming.  But Banque let me down big time with my main.  On special was a wagu sirloin at $55 which is pricey for a 250 gram cut, but I can't resist a good sirloin so I was happy to go there.  However, it WAS NOT A SIRLOIN at all, but a cut of short end rump.  The rump was a good piece of meat and perfectly rare but it was unlikely wagu, not what I ordered.  I note that rump is not on the menu, so "mix up" cannot be an excuse.  Yes, I can tell the difference between sirloin and rump having been a grill chef for 8 + years at a top eatery in a previous life and no, I didn't send it back because I didn't want to sour a rare night out with my girl.  I won't be going back.

Get the oysters. The rest is Good but DON'T FORGET THE OYSTERS!<br/>It is often busy and loud, the staff aren't particularly great either but if you want a casual dinner with friends, worth a visit

The food were very nice~and the staff are very friendly~will definitely go there again~~~<br/>We ordered the yellow curry and 200g eye fillet ~ and there were very good~ but just little bit too pricey ~

Pizza and steak & chips are both delicious options. This is a very consistent restaurant and doesn't disappoint. Would highly recommend coming here for a relaxed tasty meal

Nice ambience and GREAT service with a very good wine list. Was recommended to eat here by a friend but the food was average. M friend ordered the charcuterie plate and I, the seafood pizza. The plate - ho hum and the pizza had spartan 'bits' of fish and calamari scattered on tomato base.  If you want an amazing seafood pizza, go to 'Archies' in Newmarket. It's the best!

This restaurant has some interesting euro-asian fusion dishes. The steak here is superb. I would also recommend pekkin duck spring rolls and duck pizza for you to try. The ambiance inside the restaurant is excellent.

We will come back to this place for a drink, for the raw bar and maybe a snack. The oysters and clams were fresh. The Peking duck and seated tuna were both acceptable, not great. <br/><br/>Though the sticky lamb ribs is the worst dish I have ever had in Auckland. They were boiled in a dark sauce, the ribs tasted bitter- disaster.<br/><br/>We were glad that we ordered a bowl of fries so we got some decent hot food in before movie night.

Banque is the best place in Remuera if you are looking for both delicious food and excellent cocktails!! Staff is amazing - super friendly, attentive and fun! 10/10

The oysters are the best I tasted in Auckland. Peking duck very tasty, over all a good restaurant, also the service is attentive and the wine list is complimenting the menu. Will be back.

Relaxed atmosphere, good food, great night out. I had the roasted duckling and raspberry creme brulee with raspberry sorbet which was very tasty. The oysters were also quite good.

We used to visit Banque fairly often before it changed to Oyster Bar years ago, but can't remember what made me stop going there for quite a while. We started with oysters both kilpatrick & tempura & the charcuterie plate with chicken liver paté, followed by double lamb cutlets, market fish with risotto rice & prawn cutlets, roasted duckling, Angus eye fillet with asparagus & bacon, Margherita & roast duck pizzas, and ended with a sharing plate with crème brûlée, apple tart & chocolate cake. All went well & it was really an enjoyable dinner with family & friends. (Food - 4/5; Service - 4/5; Ambience - 4/5)

It was a very good experience last night. Was jam packed but the service was still very good. Food wise high quality. The only downside was the pancake if the duck pancake was a little bit too chewy. My wife and I lwill come back as long as we can find a carpark.<br/>

GREAT oysters. Uncomplicated wine list.<br/>Overall, good atmosphere, attentive table service and judging by the number of people filling the bar  and restaurant on a Tuesday evening, very popular.

Always enjoy the food at Banque - especially the knowledge and friendliness of the staff - pity there is so much noise from the bar that it is difficult to have a converation with your fellow diners.<br/><br/>Food does seem to be on the expensive side - esoecially when all you get is a small piece of steak on your plate and have to pay extra for the vegetables.<br/><br/>Remember to take a torch (if you dont have a light on your phone) to help you read the menu.

Fantastic sharing plates, lovely wine selection and Bluff Oysters in season.<br/><br/>What's not to like!<br/><br/>We popped in for a casual early dinner and enjoyed the experience immensely.<br/><br/>

We really enjoyed our evening at Banquet and loved the delicious food. We had the oysters, steak, green beans and the soft shell crab. The wine selection was perfect for us, and we found the waiter was friendly and professional. Will defiantly visit again.

Banque is one of my favorite restaurants, i do not understand why the rating on Zomato is so low....<br/>The service is very attentive with a waiter per section style. <br/>The wine list has a good range.<br/>The food style is mainly European with a some Asian fusion. <br/>Recommended dishes:<br/>Roasted Duckling with kumera ( Best duck leg mandarin kumera combination i ever had)<br/>Peking Duck pancakes <br/>Pâté<br/>Steaks (Most tender eye fillet cooked perfectly)<br/><br/>Not Recommended:<br/>Spanner crab (It had potential as an asian style dish yet lacked enough flavor to pull it off) <br/>Laksa (Was slightly bland for a laksa) <br/><br/>Overall, Banque caters for a variety of flavors and types of dinners. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Great night. Oysters were great especially having tempura oysters on the menu. Sea food curry very good too. Sizeable proportions and good service.<br/><br/>Great option for Remuera area. Definitely recommended and is currently underrated!!

Spectacular food and great service. Although I went here with some friends with the purpose of taking advantage of their deal in the entertainment book which they refused to accept when we got their

We had the bluff oysters, seared tuna, akoroa salmon, haloumi cheese salad, scallop and pork hock french fries and two beers for around $130.<br/><br/>The Good:<br/>- Relaxed vibe and nice decor<br/>- Service<br/>- Bluff oysters<br/><br/>The Okay:<br/>- The food; Akoroa salmon, Haloumi salad and Pork hock was decent borderline bland, not spectacular. Nicely presented however taste did not justify price.<br/><br/>Giving it three Yums. Would eat there again if in the neighbourhood.

Strange - one orders a steak and that's all one gets - a steak. if you want side dishes you need to order them in addition to the steak - at an extra price. The steak is expensive anyway so adding on sides will really hit your pocket - be aware of that before going in hungry. The food is good but not incredible - strangely enough, this is one place where I found myself enjoying the sides more than the steak. Being trendy seems to mean high prices, small serving sizes, and poor service. There's a nice decor and ambiance, but that's about it. In terms of the food - there's plenty of other places around that do it better (and cheaper).

anque is a quiet, but trendy eatery found on Remuera Road. I had been meaning to try this place for weeks after the good recommendations from a cousin. <br/><br/>The inside is totally not what you expect. Don't be put off from this place, because its in Remuera and gives that upperclass vibe. The inside of Banque, is totally comforting and relaxing. Theres wonderful warm decor and an inside fire. Its a great place to have lunch or dinner with a glass of wine. <br/><br/>My dining partner and I went for a quiet Friday lunch. Banque's menu is designed for sharing. The menu has a slight Asian flavour. <br/>I would def recommend having the Bluff oysters and diamond shell clams. They were served with a delicious dipping sauce. Obviously Bluff oysters are only served to season, so if you have the chance to eat them, try them! I wouldn't normally order any kind of pizza, but seeing it was a pizza bread it was a good choice for a filler, but tbh it was really tasty. The dough was super soft and flavour was great. <br/><br/>The other two dishes were just a bit bland and lacked the same flavour excitement as the other dishes. I would recommend for Banque to just add more flavour to the ribs instead of just covering them in hoisin sauce. Although i think its a great idea serving lamb ribs as its pretty rare on other restaurant menus. Service was great, lovely guy who served us and I think i may have even tipped him. Would def recommend coming here, for good food, great atmosphere and service. Also good value for money, but Banque features in the Entertainment book if you want a good deal.<br/><br/>Rating:<br/>Food: 6/10<br/>Service: 9/10<br/>Value for Money: Average

I often meet my friends at this bar and it is really fantastic. Not too noisy but a great atmosphere, excellent service and really good food. Any night is good fun. It does not attract low lifes. People go there to meet their workmates and to have a few drinks without getting drunk.

Service was excellent and food very good. My drinks of OJ and coffee were first rate. Everything was priced well, too. Warmly recommended.

First visit since renovations and rebranded. Week before Christmas and arrived without reservations, but was politely told by head waiter that he could seat us even though the restaurant was nearly full. The menu has a good range of food including raw shellfish, sharing plates for entree, pasta, fish, steak and wagyu hamburger. Something for every size of appetite. Both the Vongole and snapper dishes were superb. We had ordered a sharing plate for entree which didn't arrive when our mains were served, and when we enquired, the head waiter admitted he had not written it down, and said he would serve it but it was on him. Throughout our meal from the moment he seated us and took our orders to the end of the night, he was especially attentive - even providing my husband with a pair of reading glasses when he noticed that he was having trouble reading the menu. Such service! We enjoyed the evening very much and will definitely take other friends to dine there again to share the experience.

This place was disappointing. The service was bad....our waiter Milo was rude, pretentious and thoroughly unhelpful. For a restaurant in Remuera you would expect class and great service but what we got was average meals, expensive drinks and most disappointing was the poor service from the staff in particular Milo. He argued with us when a meal order was wrong and did not apologise. When it started to rain on us and our meals he did not care and had an obnoxious attitude. This place is appalling and I would never go there again.

Lovely atmosphere and you have some of the best floor staff - articulated, courteous and professionally friendly. Food was delectable! Pizzas had a very nice thin crust which I liked and were a very decent size - perfect for sharing. <br/><br/>A little quip at the till by one of the staff member about us not ordering drinks and having food to share was disheartening. We were barely in there for 1 hour. <br/><br/>Usually, those comments are made after the customer leaves, not when they are in front of you.

A group of us decided to have dinner here last night and overall we were rather disappointed. While the atmosphere was nice (we sat close to the fire), and the staff were efficient, the food was really lacking. Our dishes looked nothing like the photos at the top on this website. We ordered a few pizzas and the toppings were few and far between. We also ordered some ribs, and thankfully they were more tasty than the rest of our meal. When we came to leave, we were presented a bill which was for another table. After 10 minutes of trying to sort out the error we were on our way to find a better place to have dessert. Let's just say we wont be returning any time soon.

I tried to book for dinner next week as we have a very important uest. They told me that they do NOT take bookings but I should be OK if we just turn up.<br/>Unfortnately we are not going to take that risk and have decieded to eat elsewhere. <br/>I find it hard to believe that the BANQUE Resturant feels that they can survive treating customers this way.

Meal and service okay but disappointed that they didn't honour their voucher from the Entetainment book.

Went for lunch. I was tempted to try the oysters but somehow you must have a minimum order of 3 oysters from the menu for them to bring that out, which I think is really silly since you're charging oysters by its individual price.<br/><br/>Do the math. Having your customers order 1-2 oysters on its own vs getting put off by having to order a minimum of 3 and not ordering at all! Honestly. All I wanted was to try the oyster - I cant possibly manage 3 over lunch!<br/><br/>So we ordered the pizza (average tasting) and something else (I can't remember - something with mushrooms, maybe? which is exactly my point - the food was so average it didn't leave a strong enough impact on me to remember it!).<br/><br/>Overall, if I didn't have my entertainment book voucher with me - it would have been a really really overpriced meal.

My partner and I bought a voucher for the degustation menu and I had very high hopes for Banque. <br/>We were seated at the back of the restaurant and it was so cold it was hard to relax and be comfortable, the waitress said she was putting us by the fire but because of where she seated us we couldn't feel any of the heat from it.<br/><br/>First course - crab soup - was not to my taste but that is purely based on personal preference and I can't fault the restaurant for that.<br/>Second course - duck liver parfait - the parfait seemed to have melted, although it tasted pretty good it was too soft, almost liquid, and was very messy to try and eat.<br/>Third course - seared kingfish - this part of the meal was good, very small but still enjoyable.<br/>Fourth course - Lamb shoulder - This was terrible, it was the largest portion of the evening but it wasn't very big and the meat was terribly dry. I had to keep sipping my water so i could swallow it.<br/>Fifth course - Sauternes custard - By far the best part of the evening. The dessert was exactly what I had been expecting for the rest of the meal. It's a shame only 1/5 of the meal met our expectations. <br/><br/>When we left I was still a little bit hungry and I am definitely not a big eater, I don't think many men would find the degustation provided enough food to satisfy them.<br/><br/>Overall it was a very disappointing night, 2 courses were not nice at all, 2 were just ok and only one matched what you would expect for a place that states they provide an "outstanding dining experience"

I would like to differ with all the bad comments posted on menumania, I have had an excellent experience with both the food and the service.<br/>We dined off the new voucher deal 5-course Degustation menu on Saturday evening and it was awesome!<br/>So thanks Banque we will be back!

This was our 2nd visit to Banque. The first time was a couple of years ago when we were completely underwhelmed with the service. So when the $99 degustation menu was advertised we thought we would give it another try.<br/><br/>Sadly, once again we were completely let down and will not ever return. <br/><br/>We were seated at the back of the restaurant where it sometimes serves as an open bar area and has a fire place. It is also the coldest part of the restaurant when there isn't proper heating. The ceiling heater closest to me was on low. I asked 2 different people to turn it up and nothing happened. It may have been faulty but neither of them came back to acknowledge my request. There were only 3 or 4 other tables occupied when we arrived so I don't know why the back area was being used.<br/><br/>We ordered wine and when it arrived the vintage was different to what was advertised on the menu - a restaurant of this calibre should have informed us of this change!<br/><br/>The soup was absolutely delicious - for me, the best of the 5 course - but when I tried to compliment the chef, the tall attractive waitress wasn't interested. She just whipped the empty bowls away without any acknowledgement or eye contact. She definitely did not want to be there.<br/><br/>The rest of the meal was fine, albeit very small portions, however the overall experience means we won't try to make it 3rd time lucky. <br/>There are so many restaurants in Auckland who provide good food and great service.<br/><br/>My suggestion to Banque? Withdraw your expensive advertising and get the basic right in terms of service first.

Haven't read the last few stark contrast feedbacks I feel a bit nervous about it all. Nonetheless, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt by having a first-hand experience tonight.<br/><br/>The food, wine, and service were excellent. The coffee was so good that I ordered a 2nd one. if only their serving size was reasonable my friend and I would have felt very satisfied. <br/><br/>I ordered seared tuna &amp; crab meat in a main size from the entry menu. When it came I told the waitress that I actually ordered a main size. She apologised for the mistake and agreed to take it back to the kitchen. Shortly afterward she came out with the same plate and said that was the main size. My friend and I looked completely dumbfounded by how small the size of the main dish - there were 5 or 6 super-thin slices of tuna each in the size of the old 50c coin plus two scrawny crab legs of half chopstick length. <br/><br/>Reading the complaints from this site I've started to understand why there are so many dissatisfied customers. The main issue is the serving proportion - embarrassingly small. it is not hard to fix. I sincerely hope the owner will do something about it. <br/>

Appalling service! I was shocked at how unprofessional and useless their wait staff were. We had the degustation and the staff were so unaccommodating towards us when we requested something specific. The whole time we were there (about 2.5 hours) and we were not offered drinks once. I wouldn't waste my money on mediocre food and terrible service when there is so much competition in Auckland.

Very rude staff - the bar staff are extremely rude - I enquired as to why a "special" of Calamari with rocket and aoili consisted of only 4 small pieces for $ 13, and the reponse was "well you are in Remmers, what do you expect". The staff need to learn some manners, and the bar snacks are very overpriced for their quality.

I had the pleasure of attending a wine makers dinner at Banque last week. The food was exceptional - cooked to perfection. The service was fantastic, with Oscar being as attentive as always.<br/>The wines which were delicious (Marisco Vineyards Kings Series) were matched perfectly with each course. A real pleasure to dine at Banque and I have recommended to all my friends.

We had such a wonderful dining experience, the ambience was great, the food was just brilliant, the service was attentive, polite and well informed.<br/>We were particularly impressed with the wine list which was very well thought out and delivered.<br/>The food was a very clean mix of beautiful textures and flavours to a high standard of complementarity.<br/><br/>I would rate this establishment a 5* and have already recommended it to 5 friends and we only ate there last night!<br/>Highly recommend to anyone wanting a beautiful taste sensation, great service and beautiful wines in a relaxed chic environment.

I have always enjoyed eating at Banque....It has a great atmosphere, the service is outstanding and the food is innovative with interesting flavours, always cooked to perfection and presented beautifully.

UPDATE 29/6/2011<br/>**I find it a bit suspicious that suddenly after my review, 3 new ones magically appear giving great reviews by NEW members and this is their First and ONLY review to date!**<br/><br/>Oh Dear!..this Restaurant sadly does not live up to the hype or its steep price tag. The menu is very pretentious, the food is average for the price you're paying and the portions are dwarfed by massive outdated plates!<br/>Service is also average. Location is what this place relies on...<br/>