Review Tusk Thai Restaurant & Bar - Auckland Central

Choose from one of the choices on the $18.90 lunch menu, which is really good value. We ordered and the food was on the table in less than 10 mins after ordering. Clean environment and neat decor restaurant in North Wharf. Excellent service too

We had a fantastic dining experience at this Thai Street. The tom yum goong, pad thai chicken, and golden money bags were absolutely delicious, leaving my taste buds thoroughly satisfied. The gaeng kiew whan had a great flavor, although it could have been a bit creamier. The service was prompt and attentive, enhancing the overall experience. The only minor drawback was the $1 charge for takeaway containers, which might deter some diners. Nevertheless, it's undoubtedly a great place for a tasty meal.

Looking for a comfortable, authentic Thai restaurant in Auckland city? Found Thai St on Wynyard Quarter and love it. Atmosphere, staff and food top notch. Full bar as well with tap beer and spirits including a great rabge of whiskeys.

Beautiful Thai cuisine 🔥 Vibrant flavours that are expertly balanced - the rich umami and buttery meats cut with citrus and spice 🫠👌 The staff are incredibly helpful and welcoming and the decor is very chic. I will be back again and again. It’s really elevated and generous for a street food joint - really worth a visit and a great place to take the date 💞

This place is a gem. Staff are friendly and accommodating, atmosphere is superb, but most of all the food is exceptional. I’d say their papaya salad is one of the best and the most authentic around here. You could see them making it in a mortar and pestle right before your eyes, and it has the perfect balance of tang, salt, spice and stinkiness (for lack of a better word - but if you know you know). Their seafood dishes are fresh and made with top quality ingredients. If you are a tom yum enthusiast like me I’d also recommend their steamed fish - which has quite a similar flavour profile and plenty of broth to slurp. Every time when I visit there I just can’t wait to go back there again.

This place operates by Thai immigrants who migrate over from Thailand and settle down in Auckland. The food is authentic Thai but unfortunately, the restaurant tones it down to suit the taste of European.

If you are looking for an awesome place to eat, I can highly recommend it here. The food is delicious, and the ambiance is so beautiful, not to mention the great value for your money.

Delicious Thai food, good place to have working-day lunch there

Delicious food, yummy cocktails and great service!

Good service and food was really tasty, I had the Emerald Duck - roasted duck, seasonal greens, mixed spices with rice Would definitely go back, nice to find good places for dinner when travelling for work.

Authentic Thai food I tried in Auckland, especially Thai papaya salad! Mango sticky rice is sweet and nice dish but mango could be more better!

First time at Thai Street and it was amazing! Every staff member we dealt with from the moment we walked in, were absolutely amazing, so kind and friendly. Great atmosphere, beautiful inside and out. Food is to die for! The flavours, the tastes - incredible. Cannot wait to dine again.

We had dinner there on Fri night. Food was absolutely amazing, with awesome service! Will definitely go back again. Pork hock and Tom kha gai is a must order 😋

Highly recommend to this place. the food just Amazing, Great service. We will definitely be coming back to try more of the menu soon.

The food and service was really good and authentic. Highly recommended!

These guys deserve a high rating. Came here on a first table reservation and was an excellent evening. Very friendly and welcoming and the food was spectacular. Pork Belly Hot Pot was so damn good. Everything was finished and we’ll definitely come back again.

I just wanted to say I am very happy that I finally made up my mind taking the stairs down to take a look at it. Thai Street, just as the name says, you get to try famous street or night market foods in Thailand, at this basement food court. Amazing! I ordered the world-famous boat noodles soup, which you only get to eat this on the boat on Bangkok canel water market. Without paying airfare, you enjoy it here in Auckland, New Zealand. Very authentic, incredibly delicious 😋 I can't help drinking every drop of the soup at the end.

I can’t recommend this restaurant enough! They were able to fit us in on really short notice, and provide an amazing experience! The food is so fresh and flavourful, exquisite Thai cuisine. Please make the trip here if you’re in Auckland, you won’t regret it!

Our regular MUST-HAVES are Tom Yum Goong (comes in good number of large prawns, always ordered large portion as we never had enough), Crispy Pork Hock, Crispy Snapper and Chargrilled Chicken with Sticky Rice & Green Papaya Salad. Highly satisfied with these staples! The refreshing authentic Thai condiments magically spiced up the dishes to the next level! Not forgetting the Go-Tos Green Chicken Curry (loved that creamy coconut taste), Massaman Beef Curry and Sizzling Beef. Portions are a tad tiny compared above but comfort food overall. Rainy night, curries on Jasmine rice, voila. Super quick service despite ordering upon arrival for a group of 15. Reservation over the phone a few days prior was easy and hassle free! Children friendly, cozy atmosphere, clean and good communication from staffs. Good choice of music too. 2 rounds of Tiger on Tap summed up a wonderful Anzac weekend! A good place to be.

We tried this Thai place on a Sunday evening.<br/>It was quiet, only 2 people in the whole restaurant. We were greeted well and seated. We ordered Chicken Satay as starter which was tasty. The peanut sauce was crunchy which I liked. Then we ordered pepper Garlic prawn and Chilli Pepper Chicken.<br/>None of these dishes were upto the mark. Prawn was okay..Chicken dish was too oily.<br/>The service was not what I expected. We were having a feeling like they want to wrap it fast. We were still eating our starters and she took our plates without asking. While main course as well she grabbed our plates as soon as we had our last bite. I heard good reviews about the place so got the grabone coupon for this place. But after such service we might not want to visit or reccomend some one else.

Good food and atmosphere. Decent size servings. It’ll be better if rice is included with these stir fry n curry dishes as you cannot have it on its own.

Pretty overpriced for at best average food. Very dimly lit felt kinda unnecessary. Ordered the garlic pepper prawns and duck curry which were decent but not good enough to warrant another visit.

2 people ate dinner. We had no booking. Entrees were duck & pork dumplings and Tom Yum soup. Entrees were well presented, tasty & filling. Mains we’re Pad Thai & Massman Curry. Presentation was excellent, the service was brilliant and the taste was scrummy. Tusk is well worth a visit if your looking for a good value Thai meal. We’ll be back.

I found this place because of groupon. I bought a voucher there for $25 and we can spend it up to $40 and just pay the rest of the excess amount.<br/>We were welcomed nicely although the lady who told us that our booking was at 5:30 and not 6:00 even when we clarified to the guy on the phone that we changed it to 6:00 so they should communicate better about the bookings.<br/>We ordered their chicken pad thai and sizzling beef and mojito for our drink. Sadly they said they couldn't serve us any cocktails but thats okay. No biggie. The food was served within 10-15 minutes and it was nice and hot! So good job for the fast service even though there were a few tables :) the sizzling beef was full of flavour and we really enjoyed it and the quantity of the beef was generous. The pad thai tasted fine, it didn't really suit my taste. The servers were attentive and kept on checking on us if we were fine.<br/><br/>When we paid, the guy behind the counter was enthusiastic and explained us the bill before charging us. He also gave us a $10 voucher to spend on food and drinks. Thank you, Tusk! We will be back soon.<br/>Food - 4/5<br/>Service - 5/5<br/>Ambiance - 4/5

The service is excellent. The wait staff are quick, attentive and friendly. The dining atmosphere is much quieter in comparison to other restaurants in this area. It's perfect if you wNt something more intimate. The lighting is a bit dim, so at time it was difficult to see the food.<br/><br/>The food is your usual Thai food. The Green curry was delicious and a good sized portion. The chicken larb was satisfactory, I felt like it needed a bit more toasted rice to give that signature larb flavour. The satay skewers were tender and tasty. The sticky rice was cooked to perfection.

Reasonable food and services but certainly not good value for money because portions of food were very small. Without GrabOne voucher, I would hesitate going back.

I've been here a few times with my family over the years. It is where we first discovered deep fried ice cream! <br/><br/>The ambiance and decor are rich and in keeping with Thai culture, it has the photo of the royal family up. The service is polite and helpful albeit quite slow and leaves something to be desired in the area of efficiency.<br/><br/>The food... In terms of taste I would give it slightly above average scores as the taste has remained consistent and never disappoints if you're looking for a good Thai meal. In terms of portions... It is lacking. The food is by no means inexpensive and considering it's location with so many alternative options of competition at Balmoral it should give you more bang for your buck and it simply doesn't. They need to lower the prices or increase the portion sizes.<br/><br/>Would I go here again? It would honestly not be my first choice however if I were really pressed for options I would go back knowing that if nothing else the food would taste good.

After living in Thailand, and eating the food here, I was rather displeased at the fact that the food tasted but only vaguely like the real thing. I can dismiss that, however, because New Zealand lacks the fresh ingredients. Amazing Ambience, however, and kind staff.

Great Thai restaurant. Service is second to none and most of the food is tasty. <br/><br/>They do my favourite curry puff in Auckland and the flaming chicken is awesome.

Food was below average. We ordered two entrees, two mains + salad. There was no stand out dish. The chicken satay, red duck curry and mango duck salad were average (although a bit skimp on the duck). The fresh spring roll with prawns, had probably one prawn that was halved per roll. And the soft shell crab - which for me is always a draw card for any restaurant - should be permanently written off the menu. That was really foul - it smelt like an empty beer bottle on a hot day.  We dined here with first table - yes we are paying half the price (our bill was $80+ incl drinks) but it is the first time we felt like we received half the quality - unsure if this is normal or because of the discount. There are many great thai places in Auckland, and this is not one of them. The staff were lovely and attentive though.

It was great promotion on groupon! They look refined interior, kind staffs and delicious food! I would like recommend to go here with coupon!!

The food was very nice, but the portion sizes were so small. Considering how expensive this place is, would've been alot nicer if portion size was decent. Due to this, wouldnt come back here, or recommend.

The food tastes good but this place is way overpriced. $21 for pad thai that is half the serving of what I normally get at thai street on the viaduct for $15. Wouldn't recommend since there are many cheaper, more for your money thai places that produce the same quality food.

Excellent food. We had some issue but were immediately resolved by the wait staff. The manager was very generous and welcoming. Will visit again. Must try.

The best of Thai and Auckland meet in this restaurant! We started with the spring rolls which were crispy and fresh. I had chicken cashew nuts which my husband was begging to share with me, and he had the lamb massamun curry served with a mound of rice. Everything was delicious in its own right with the rice amount of spice. Extremely reasonable prices, we will definately be back.

We ordered hot dishes from the menu but when we got served it,it came out cold, also our rice that we got wasn't even hot...very disappointing considering when we told them all they could say was sorry. The manager obviously has had these problems before but fails to reassume customer of changes to fix the problems or maybe refund but instead just nods his head. There vouchers they supposedly give for drinks is photocopied vouchers printed at home...I had been to Tusk a couple of years ago but didn't realize how much the service and food has degraded since then. Quite sad.

The restaurant is great. It is in a good location. I went here for a dinner with the colleagues . There is a very good range. You can also get drinks here during your dinner since there is an in house bar. <br/>

Nice spot on Dominion Rd. Traditional Thai, good portions that weren't overbearing. Had black pepper tofu and was really pleased with my choice. Service was good. Would return

Awesome atmosphere to be in. Good Thai food. Nice and clean. Friendly, and responsible staff. what's not to like. Would definitely go again.

My second most favorite place for Thai food. The pricing is good for their generous portions. Plenty of meat in the dishes. We popped in for an early dinner so the service was great as it wasn't very busy. The owner was present and was happy to do a Groupon deal with a discount of $20 on the total bill. Only downside was they seemed to have the A-list pop song album on from Apple, the explicit version. Not the best mood setting atmosphere. Felt like I was in a club lol. 4/5 overall.

It was our first time visiting this place. Somehow we did not have much expectation on this this.<br/>We went on Saturday late night where the place was fulled. Nice atmosphere, lovely staff and most of all the food tasted really great. <br/>We ordered grilled chicken and whole snapper fish.<br/>We were quiet impressed with the price, value and taste of the dishes. We will definitely come back soon!

Beautiful deco and ample parking available. Tusk has been our local Thai restaurant for over 10 years. The service is great and the food is delicious. The red curry is one of my faves and the seafood soup is great to share. Heaps of different seafood in a spicy broth. Great to go with a group.

The food was amazing, so aromatic, so tasty and presentation was wonderful. Beverages were decently priced and the service was perfect. Absolutely loved our dining experience. Thank you for making my sisters birthday dinner a great one!!!!

Going to this place from ages.  Awesome Thai restaurant with good food and great value. Staff are always friendly. If going with kids need to go bit early or late as they are always very busy during peak time.

A regular diner at this beautiful thai place. It is located in the central Auckland city just 10-15 minutes drive from city centre.<br/><br/>Staff is always accomodating interactive and lovely with service.<br/><br/>Food is soo good, we love their entrées and mains; but never tried the desserts.<br/><br/>The prices are fairly good too.<br/><br/>Should try if you have craving for some hearty thai meal.

I found the menu to be overpriced for what it was. We had 2 entrees, 2 mains, and 4 drinks for $99. The portion sizes did not warrant the cost. The food was flavourful however, and the ambience was delightful. However, I think if you are going out primarily for good Thai food, Tusk may not be the best choice. There are other Thai restaurants in the area that are a lot cheaper and are no less in flavour and portion sizes.

The food over here is really good. <br/>The staff are super friendly! <br/>I had a red beef curry medium hot it wasn't that hot compared to other Thai restaurants. <br/>The place was packed when i dined in! <br/>They have alcohol too. <br/>Ps: you need a beer with Thai food can bring the heat down ha ha. <br/>I would def go there again. <br/>Compared to the other places in dominion road the prices are wee bit high but the service and the less wait time for your meal it makes that part reasonable

This is the only place I eat larb because they don't add much coriander and i don't like coriander. the quality of their food is really good, the place is clean and a little bit to the fancier side and the prices aren't too bad as well.

Tusk has been a stalwart on D Rd since the last millennium, and I remember it being trendy from way back when it was one of the first funky upmarket Asian places to set up in the area! Still a beautiful restaurant somehow incorrectly implanted into the surrounding melee that makes up the Dominion Rd food scene, with quite a tasty menu to keep any amateur diner happy. Definitely worth a visit if you are a fan of Thai!

Dined here last night on a voucher. Very glad I had the voucher as I wouldn't have paid full price for the meal last night. We were seated and ordered drinks, once delivered we ordered our entrees and mains. We waited almost an hour for my entree and after another fifteen minutes we had to ask them about the second one. It came out another 15 minutes later. I had the curry puffs which had nice and fluffy casing and the filling was tasty. My friend had the salt and pepper squid which was stringy and incorrectly cooked. I ordered another glass of wine and they gave me a different one to the first one I ordered. Our mains thankfully arrived 10 minutes after our entrees were cleared. I had stir fry beef and my friend had ginger chicken. The mains were nice but my friend found a shrimp in his meal which shouldn't have been there and if he had been allergic that could have been disastrous. The tables have paper, then glass, then table cloth. The table cloths haven't been laundered in a long time and had old gray stains on them. The waitress's English was very poor and we had to repeat our orders and point on the menu which ones we wanted. We weren't asked once if the food was OK. There are better Thai restaurants in Auckland to spend your money on.

Went to tusk tonight for a birthday dinner with family. Was a last minute plan and glad we did end up booking because it was quite busy even for a tuesday night! <br/><br/>Between the 4 of us we ordered 3 platters: the seafood, soft shell crab and the sizzling chicken. Just a note that these are SIZZLING platters rather than a platter - something we found out after seeing the portion sizing. The seafood platter was the dish of concern considering it was quite expensive for the size, but it certainly did make up for it flavour-wise. The chicken was lovely, not as flavoursome as the other two dishes but was a good experience to see the chicken cooked in brandy and then lit on fire. The soft shell crab was the highlight for me, was a reasonable portion size and was delicious. Had a nice sauce to it and the crunchy texture of the fried shell was great. We did order two serves of jasmine rice, but didn't really need it as none of the dishes came with much sauce/curry to eat it with. <br/><br/>I think what has stopped me from giving Tusk a better review was the service tonight. They were quite bad in terms of not giving us plates before food arrived, not asking the level of spice for our food (also our mistake as we forgot till our food came and it was mild) and just overall aspects of dining that you see at other places (asking how food was, whether anything was needed etc. I think having a large group seated near by did play a part in this - and must have flustered staff a little bit.

It makes me hungry just thinking about coming back here. The curries are delicious, and my favourite dish, the tempura prawns is done very well. Great, friendly service and I love the warmth of the fireplace. An excellent choice for Thai in the middle of town. We've already made our return booking for fathers day.

Nice and fancy looking for sure. But portion sizing for me was disappointing, especially since the meal wasn't the cheapest. I had the sizzling beef, tasted good ofc, but was full of vegetables, not much meat and left me still hungry and feeling slightly ripped off. My friend ordered the flaming chicken, major wow factor as it was literally on fire as they brought it out! I went as a group of 12 people so large group, probably played a part in our dishes taking a whole hour to come out which left us starving.<br/>I personally wouldn't come back simply because I like to eat more and yet not kill my wallet :)

.We came here for a birthday dinner with 13 hungry stomachs needing to be fed. Now I have been here about 2 or 3 times in the past and each of my last experiences were amazing.<br/><br/>This time I wasn’t so impressed with the food as I was before (literally raving on about the amazing pad Thai that had an egg omlette on the top, who else does that seriously?) anyway majority of us ordered chicken or prawn pad Thai and a few other dishes were the duck, crying tiger, drunken noodles and a green curry. <br/><br/>I ordered the prawn pad Thai so did my mum, when it arrived she had x3 prawns in her noodles and I had x6? Idk if we were meant to get 3 or 6 each but that doesn’t seem right. There was no egg on the top which is algood eggs must be getting expensive but that was my favorite part.<br/><br/>The prawn lacked flavor and was over cooked, after having my first one I couldn’t eat the rest and wish I had just ordered tofu -__-<br/><br/>As always the sauce and noodles are cooked beautifully and definitely don’t lack in flavor, however it is what you would expect in a takeaway shop, there were no vegetables just noodles prawn and a bit of coriander on top with a side or crushed peanuts. <br/><br/>Now the biggest let down of the night was the roti that was accompanied for the green Thai curry which was $4.50! You would think for that price it would be something special but it was honestly plain Jane. It was cold hard crispy and hard to each, sadly it tasted like a hard stale chip. <br/><br/>Service was fast and the staff are always attentive and friendly, I guess it makes up for the change in food. I don’t know what’s happened but this place has definitely changed, I miss the old Tusk.

Came here last night after a long time with a Groupon voucher. This place used to serve awesome food, but after what we were served last night I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon. Was excited to eat here again as me, my partner, and two others came to celebrate a new job, but by the time we left we probably won't go back. Service was ok but could have been better, especially as I have managed a few restaurants and bars in the last 4-5years, and know what to expect. Wait staff had to be called to the table to place orders for food and did not come once to check on how the food was. Food we were served was pretty bland, with not much flavour or seasoning at all. Don't know what's happened here, but this place really has gone downhill.....

We've been semi-regulars at Tusk for some time but sadly, this once brilliant restaurant seems to be going downhill.  Each of our last few visits have been a marred experience...<br/><br/>A birthday celebration, and one of the guests had every single course of his meal forgotten , including his drinks!  He effectively ate on his own because each of his courses had to be cooked well after the rest of the table had received theirs, and it was belatedly realised his had been forgotten.  We get it, these things happen, but surely a drink or dessert on the house to apologise for such a poor experience would not have gone amiss?<br/><br/>Another night and the waitress accidentally poured a glass of wine all over me.  She was extremely embarrassed and ran away.  She did come back with a replacement wine but then we had to ask her to also bring some serviettes so I could mop up a bit.  (Really, it's common sense, we should not have needed to ask!)  She was clearly embarrassed and maybe that's why she stayed away from us for the rest of the night, but given I never told her off (in fact, I was the one trying to comfort her!) it would have been nice to (a) get an apology at least, and (b) again, maybe a drink or dessert on the house by way of apology for the fact I had to sit there in wet clothes for the rest of the meal, but no, none of these were forthcoming.<br/><br/>It's not that I'm looking for a freebie, the point I am trying to make is that the service is routine, and the wait staff don't seem to think outside the square.  The manager runs the front desk but seems to make little effort to be aware of what is going on in the dining room.  When things go wrong, and they will go wrong in even the best of establishments, it's about how the staff handle it that matters.  Ignoring it is not the answer.  Just some small acknowledgement, "Hey, we stuffed up and we're sorry" goes a long way in dimming the memory of that bad experience for the customer.<br/><br/>Another night, another not so great experience...  Our entrees were cleared so quickly, I think some of our group were actually still eating off them!  But after our mains, we had to sit for 30-40 mins with dirty plates on the table, and no offer of dessert from the wait staff.<br/><br/>One of our regular group is a strict vegetarian and we've always been assured by the staff that the requested meals ARE vegetarian and do not include oyster sauce.  Last weekend, after being advised that the only (we thought) real vegetarian meal had sold out, we struggled to find a meal that was free of oyster sauce.  On leaving, the manager advised us that ALL of their dishes have oyster sauce in it, which means my vegetarian friend has been eating non-vegetarian meals every single other visit, despite being assured by the staff that the dishes were pure vegetarian, shocking!<br/><br/>Our friends had arrived earlier than us and had ordered drinks, but my partner and I sat there for 15 minutes trying to get the attention of some of the staff so we could also order a drink. It's a small thing, but it's that little attention to detail that makes the dining experience - or doesn't, in this case!<br/><br/>Also in this last visit, my partner's entree came out last, when the rest of the table had almost finished eating.  Yet his main came out almost immediately after he'd finished his entree (not even 10 minutes after), and a good 15-20 minutes before anyone else's mains came out.  My partner had finished his meal and the rest of us were only just receiving ours!   Not good enough Tusk.

We arrived early at 18:15 hours for a family meal there were 2 other tables in use so not busy. The table is set with 6 wine glasses and six water glasses and 2 bottles of water. The food and ambiance were fine although it could have been a little warmer the big failure here is service. After taking our drinks order 1 bottle of wine, 1 orange juice, 1 lite beer, 1 dark beer and a pot of tea. Our food order was taken for our table of 6, but staff are never seen again apart from dropping the drinks and food at the table. So by the time our food had arrived we had 6 shared dishes and more than 10 glasses and 3 empty bottles on our table. What this means is you have to call staff to replace cutlery and when we moved empty bottles and glasses to the table behind us to reduce the clutter the staff finally engaged. the conversation goes something like this:<br/><br/>Waiter - Please do not put glasses on this empty table<br/><br/>Me - If you serviced the table we would not have to<br/><br/>Waiter - Don't put things on the empty table it can mark the table (that's because TUSK have some paper covering the table cloth and I guess he was more scared of having to change a piece of paper than bothering to actually clear used dishes and glasses from our table) <br/><br/>Me - If you cleared them and serviced our table we would not have to<br/><br/>Waiter - Don't put glasses on the table<br/><br/>At this point I ceased to engage the waiter and he went on his way. After finishing our meal (we were never offered another drink apart from the first on arrival) we decided to leave no offer of coffee or dessert nothing. Upon paying the bill a little over $200 I paused and waited and then asked the cashier since she didn't appear to be interested: <br/><br/>"Do you want to know how it was?"<br/><br/>"How was it?"<br/><br/>"The food was great the service was appalling"<br/><br/>So that's my review of TUSK, my recommendation don't bother.......there are far better about and as a regular visitor to Thailand the Land of Smiles is dished out a shock in service standards by these folk. <br/><br/> Whoever the male waiter is thanks for not attending to us (that is doing your job) and then chastising me for trying to have enough room on the table to actually dine. Well done Sir!<br/><br/>Therefore Tusk you will not see me or my money again ever and having never made a review before, trust me you motivated me : )

I am a regular customer for this resturant but tonight's service was bit disappointed. <br/><br/>I book it with groupon voucher and i can tell the dish size is much smaller than other table for same menu. Means they put a special offer as 50% off and serving half size dish for voucher customer. <br/><br/>Food taste is still good but they dont come around during meal if food is ok and we need anything or order the dessert. <br/><br/>Asked for topping up rice and water but had to call three times to remind them when the resturant has only 3 table filled. <br/><br/><br/>

We had a very pleasant dining experience here recently. We ordered the Yellow curry and Ginger fish from the Bigger plates share menu. Both were very delicious and the curry had a generous amount of vegetables and chicken to sauce. The interior of the restaurant was delightful and the wait staff were very attentive. Keen to return and try more for the menu.

We went last night after the movies. Staff initially attentive. The meal was first rate, no complaints there, however no one came and asked us part way through our meal if everything was OK, and it was a long time after we had finished our mains that we were offered the dessert menu. Thanks carpet also felt very sticky underfoot. We will go back but will wait a while as there are so many s.all cafes around the Balmoral area that we want to try first.

Look, we all know the food here isn't comparable to authentic Thai food in Thailand, or at classier upmarket fusion asian restaurants here in Auckland. But they don't try to compete with that. Tusk offers great tasting dishes, wide variety, and fantastic service that is second to none. <br/><br/>Tusk frequently have voucher deals online, and we have taken up on these offers multiple times now and we'll keep coming back. The amount of food that you can get under these is incredible, and it's usually enough to pack some up, take home and have for lunch the next day (where between two people). Many places offer vouchers for sale and then aren't happy about accepting them - not here. They treat you just as well as any of their other diners, the food is brought out promptly, and available menu options are well explained. <br/><br/>Low level mood lighting in the restaurant makes this a nice dinner date venue.

Nice ambiance with good food and good service.<br/>We (4 of us) bought a deal and reached on a Tuesday eve. Great Thai food and good portions . We did not have to wait longer for food. Price wise it is OK. With the deal it was economical.<br/>Definitely worth trying, it may be difficult to find parking on weekends.

Place looks uninviting from outside but quite pleasant inside,spacious and sophisticated atmosphere. Food was reasonably priced. I only came here as I got a voucher off groupon but would definitely come back for the good service and great food! The cracklings to start looked boring but they had a very tasty dipping sauce that came with it. Soft shell crabs were amazing and a big helping for the price,too much sauce overpowered the crab taste but it was still delicious! The deep fried banana ball desserts was a great way to end the meal with a variety of different flavours with fruits and ice cream it was enough for two people.

Excellent food.. great service.. and we got a voucher for our next visit.<br/>If I could improve 1 thing it would be the serving size.. such nice food should be served in a slightly bigger quantity.

Been here a couple of times now. Both times greeted with friendly and helpful staff. Service was quick, did not have to wait too long for food. Nice atmosphere and really flavorsome food. My favorites so far are Tamarind tofu from from entree and black pepper tofu from mains

We went on a Friday night with a Groupon and were very happily surprised. The service was spot on and very professional with a big Thai smile. Our two platters (Rumb and Chicken and mango curry) were just amazing and probably the best Thai I ever had outside of Thailand. Very refined and flavorful.  The place is well decorated and has private parking at the back. <br/><br/>2 little points to work on were the appetizers, as they were not too special and the reservation system where you have to go back to the website to see if you reservation is confirmed.<br/><br/>Overall a very good experience and we are happy to pay the full price next time!!

We dined at Tusk on 15th April.  The food was ok.  The staff brought food and placed on the table.  There was no interaction and they never once came back to check on us.  Service was VERY poor.  Will never go there again.

Came to have a lovely dinner at Tusk and celebrate a special birthday but the evening was spoilt by the staff. We don't drink alcohol so brought small fizzy drinks and were told very rudely to remove our cans by the waiting staff. They were totally rude and we asked if wine was a boy and why not a fizzy drink? They sell both on their premises and I can't see why they had to be so fussed.<br/>Will NEVER RETURN !!!!

Went to tusk for the first time last night. Finding parking was a pain, had to park far away. But the food was delicious. Fish plater won my heart. The fish was cooked perfectly. My BF had the chilli pepper chicken which was also very good. Overall the food was really good. Will come back for sure !

I came here for a group BYO on a relatively busy Friday night. I liked the decor, traditional touches without being over the top. The staff were very friendly but we did have to ask multiple times for water and ice buckets. <br/>Our food was brought out very quickly, I had chicken pad thai (one of my favourites) and it was great. good portion size with lots of peanuts and sprouts on the side. <br/>We were seated in he back area, which was quite isolated from the rest of the restaurant and some music would have been greatly appreciated.<br/>Tusk was fine for a casual BYO but there are much better Thai restaurants around Auckland.

1st time experienced yesterday for dinner with my wife. Used group on deal. Nice interior. Had spicy fish which was sweet and sour too. Also had a tofu item. Yummy dinner. Wanna try again.

Such a disappointment. Bought the grabone deal for $29 which came with 4 entrees and 2 mains. <br/><br/>First of all, we were not greeted warmly by the man who looked like the owner. Great start. The server that we had was lovely though and she explained to us what we could order. For entrees we decided to order the scallops, salt and pepper squid, tiger prawns, and crispy chicken. They came fairly quickly but unfortunately the flavour for all the dishes were below average. Although all the proteins were cooked nicely, the flavour was just lacking and to me all of them tasted similar- sweet. The only thing that we both sort of enjoyed was the squid. <br/><br/>For mains we got the Penang curry and the BBQ beef. When the dishes came, I was surprised to see the BBQ beef were basically just slices of beef covered in another version of a sweet sauce (surprise surprise) with a spicy sweet dipping sauce. The Penang curry was yet again really sweet with some slices of beef served in a minuscule bowl. <br/><br/>We couldn't even finish the dishes and I felt sick from all that sweetness. I'm not one to waste food so leaving those dishes uneaten is saying something. I do not recommend this place to anyone and all I could think about at the end was thank god I didn't pay full price for this.

I have a passion for good Thai food but this restaurant misses the mark.<br/>Entrees the typical spring rolls, money bags etc but oily & all tasting similar.<br/><br/>The curries were very average & nothing really stood out.

A friend of me recommended this place and it wasn't disappointing. We ordered Thai fried rice with chicken larb and chicken satay (typical). The rice was very good and the chicken dishes were nice too. Reasonably priced and quantity was fine.<br/><br/>Very polite wait staff, we ordered extra rice dish just when it was closing time and she still managed to get that order.

I came here and the food was nice but not the best. The prices were reasonable. It was also abit crowded, so didn't feel that comfortable as it felt like we were sitting to close to the people next to us. It was my first time here and I wasn't that impressed. Normally if the place is great I would love to visit it again but sadly not this place. 😕

I went to Tusk tonight with my partner we had the fried spring rolls and chicken satay to start, both dishes were very tasty but took a bit too long to come out ( I think the waitress may have forgotten to put our order through). Our mains came just after we had finished our starters, they looked small but were actually a good size. The massaman curry looked and tasted good, the lamb had a great depth of flavour. My partners black pepper tofu was also good ( so I'm told.. I just can't do tofu !).

The guy behind the restaurant till was rude as hell, asked me its strange that one family ordered one dessert, its non of his business how many deserts we order, such a disgusting restaurant and arrogant/rude owner/manager. will tell all my friends not to go there and give this restaurant a bad name. asked him why did you order only one ice-cream told me why did you order one desert. instead of being apologetic showing me attitude stupid guy. The reasons we did not eat at your restaurant is because your service & food is low quality, learn how to respect other and there spending capacity. we went as a family and this is the experience he gave us. he made us look poor and needy. im going to give your restaurant a bad name you wait now.

Tusk is a Thai restaurant, one In the market of almost 30-40 restaurants along the dominion road in Balmoral. While most others seem run of the mill places, tusk seems a touch above them with comfortable seating and good decor. Service is really prompt and quick. Food was good and definitely worth coming back but portions were a little small. We ordered chicken satay, chicken pad thai noodles, chicken red curry and chilly pepper chicken. The chilly pepper chicken is hot so a warning for those with mild taste. Could not attach the pic of the chicken satay as we ate it as soon as it was served..sign of a true foodie, eh?!!

Food did not come out at the same time. Literally waited 20 minutes for my partners food after which I had almost finished my dish. Definitely would not recommend for a date. Food was not punctual and potions was very very small, for the prices.

I used to visit Tusk on a semi-regular basis many years ago & was interested to try it again. It had been through a few highs & lows with different ownership & new menus etc...<br/>We were seated in the newer 'outside' area which was great for our larger party - it was so much easier to talk & interact as there are only a few tables out there.<br/>Service was very good particularly from our main waiter. He was very efficient & engaging.<br/>The drinks list is good with a selection of most wines & juices. Also a good range of imported beers too such as Singha.<br/>We ordered several entrees - chicken satay, squid, & spring rolls. The dishes were small but tasty and at $6.50 the size makes sense. Other restaurants usually have larger sizes but charge around $10-$12.<br/>This is where things came a little unstuck which was a shame after such a good beginning. We had all ordered our mains at the beginning when ordering drinks & entrees, but they took so long to come & at such different times that some of us were waiting a while & others had to start eating as it was getting cold. There was only 9 of us so not exactly a massive party. I know some fusion restaurants deliver food like this (sharing platters that come as they're ready), but I've never had this in a Thai restaurant & if that's what they offer it should be pre-positioned too which it wasn't.<br/>It was even more annoying that the table next to us, who had ordered some time after us, started getting their meals at the same time as us i.e. The waitress would deliver one dish for us & 2 for the next table. They must find a better system as this does not work at all - very ineffective & if other Thai restaurants can get it right...<br/>The meals were quite nice overall although a little small compared to some places.<br/>We ordered a selection of vege curries, vege pad Thai, the BBQ beef, ginger chicken, chicken with pepper, prawns & some fried rice. Again a few issues, particularly the ginger chicken which the menu highlights comes with mushrooms that had none (for our mushroom lover), and the prawn with Veges that had very few Veges at all. I wonder if they need to consider increasing prices slightly so they can deliver what the menu outlines if they are concerned with costs.<br/>So overall not too bad but a few issues & errors that need to be addressed if they want repeat customers. Would visit again, but wouldn't go out of my way. I think others such as Spices Thai & Thai Me Up etc... outshine Tusk at the moment.

We had a lovely dinner at Tusk Thai restaurant last night. Like every other Thai restaurant, the interior was well-furnished and service was impeccable. Between the 2 of us, we had 4 entrées and 2 main dishes to share. The entrées were beautifully presented but lacked a bit of flavour. I really looked forward to the fish goujon which was meant to have a hint of wasabi flavour. It definitely impressed me visually but I could only taste the thick, bland batter coatinf the fish which I could barely taste. That being said, I loved the scallops and their pork and shrimp crackers-savoury with a touch of acidity brought in by the pineapples!<br/><br/>For main dishes we had the chicken "drunken" noodles and a beef red curry. The noodles were quite oily and heavily seasoned but the curry was really tasty.<br/><br/>Overall the atmosphere was nice, waiting time between the entrées and mains wasn't long and we had a good dinner for the price we paid.

Good place for dinner , their service is fast and food came quickly . Good atmosphere . Can add little more Thai flavours to their recepie.

We grabbed a Daily Do voucher for 2.....6 plates...with 4 entree and 2 mains.. back...which is great value for money..u even get $10voucher....salt & pepper squid is a must have..food was good and fresh....only let down is the gloomy interior and average service..as we saw servers drop..rice and fish gravy while serving the dishes... and yes...parking is a problem..even though the restaurant has customer parking.... but a very small one and is usually full ..and being in dominion road..u guessed it...goodluck

Regularly been to this fantastic restaurant. Every time I come back home to nz my parents take me here. What a treat. Big portion sizes and great promotional deals. I don't know what other reviewers are commenting negative about it.. <br/>Place is cozy with dim lights. Prices are reasonable too. Great wine. Excellent hospitality. Staff always remembers us. Food is delicious and authentic. Try their flaming chicken and steamed fish. Yum!:)

Time for an owner change!!!<br/>Came with a grabone for 4. Totally a diaster, rang to make booking but was forced to hang up and go online to book, as they do not take telephone orders. Was allowed to order 8 apitizers, which were all extremely small and  tiny. All the mains were super tiny, chef recommended BBQ beef was a big joke: only 10 pieces of beef slides on a small dish. Rice not included, $2.50 each. $20 return voucher says on grabone but was never given when paying for the meal! Will never come back!<br/>Time for an owner change, Tusk!!! <br/>Important things repeat 3 times:<br/>Time for an owner change, Tusk!!! <br/>Time for an owner change, Tusk!!! <br/>Time for an owner change, Tusk!!!

Came with a pretty good voucher. Walked in, sat down and went through the ordering process. After 20mins or so duty manager mentioned that we couldn't use vouchers unless we booked (fair enough, was on t's and c's). However we began to leave and duty manager allowed us to have the same deal for a cash price (good service on their part) so all was well. For starters, we got curry puffs, pork crackers things, wok tossed veggies and chicken satay. Cost around $7 each and they were small for restaurant standards. Very tasty though. Our mains came, ginger fish and also a massamun curry. Both the meals were delicious, but the curry was very small indeed( the pics make the food seem bigger) I know thai restaurants that serve double for a similar price. Overall, great service, quick and tasty food but the serving size is a little small.

Not too bad for a Thai restaurant. Quite busy due to many deals they offer on a frequent basis.<br/>Serving sizes are quite small for the price.<br/><br/>Food: 6/10<br/>Service: 3.5/5<br/>Ambience: 3.5/5<br/>Value: 3/5<br/>Overall: 16/25

I've walked past Tusk so many times every time I eat on Dominion Road. When I went in with a group of friends, we sat in the back which was like kinda outside but sheltered? The service was friendly and attentive. We ordered the flaming chicken, sizzling beef, a chicken curry, Tom yum soup and another appetizer between us. The food was actually pretty decent! I was pleasantly surprised. <br/><br/>Since then I've been back and tried the BBQ duck curry and a another chicken dish! Both of which I enjoyed. The inside of the restaurant is slightly cramped though, and it is usually busy on the nights i dine in (or walk past). I will definitely be back!

Food is great, especially their small platters. Prices are not too bad although portions are way too small especially some of their mains. I definitely recommend their flaming chicken! Customer service is not bad and are very friendly.

The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. The flavours were kind of bland and boring, not very representative of what Thai food has to offer.<br/><br/>The prices are a bit up there, but the portions are big and service very friendly.<br/><br/>I would only recommend going if you have a voucher.

I bought a grabone deal for 2 mains and 4 small plates as it looked like a pretty sweet deal! <br/><br/>Unfortunately the food was very average, nothing special. I was especially disappointed with the Pad Thai as its my favourite thai dish. The penang curry was quite nice however the roti they served it with was horrible - didnt taste like roti at all!<br/><br/>The service was great - staff were friendly and food came out quickly. Waitress always topped up our water too. Unfortunately the food just lets this place down.

After reading mixed reviews about Tusk Thai online my partner and I decided to ditch our inhibitions and snatch a $30 Grabone voucher. With such a bargain there was really nothing to lose. On arrival we were gratiously welcomed by the waitress and quickly allocated a table in the corner of the restaurant; a relatively secluded area. For our 4 smaller dishes we chose the crispy squid, king prawns, cucumber scallops and prawn fresh rolls. All of the dishes were beautifully presented and were incredibly aesthetically pleasing. In saying so, we were disappointed with the tastes of the dishes. It wasn't that they tasted bad, per say, they just completely lacked in flavour altogether. The main dishes again shared this lack of flavour. I had the garlic prawns and my partner had the beef main and much to our disappointment we couldn't finish the meals. Despite this, the atmosphere and lovely staff made up for the food and we had a great evening regardless!

Went on a Thursday night and tried 6 dishes (would recommend the soft shell crab), ranging from good to delicious, had a great time and would recommend!

My work team of 5 and I went along to Tusk for dinner on a rainy Thursday night. It was good. Good food, good service, good setting. Nothing remarkable, but good. A good option in Balmoral which has stood the test of time (I dislike that descriptor but it fits) in a often changing suburb.

I have been a customer of Tusk for years. Consistently some of the best Thai food around. From the sizzling beef to the duck salad, you cannot go wrong with the balanced flavours. Service is always excellent. Definitely one of the top choices for Thai in Auckland. We will surely continue to return!

Went to this restaurant with a Voucher and what a night it was! The staff are ever so attentive and the atmosphere is nice and relaxing.  The staff check and ensure that you are enjoying your meal, the best quality of service I have experienced in a while.  The food was delicious too, and I couldn't recommend this Restaurant enough to my friends and family.  I am looking forward to going again to this Restaurant.  The staff are super friendly and are always smiling, they obviously like working there too which is nice to see! Happy Customer!!

Came on a busy night - the service however was very good and staff were attentive. It was my first time here and I can't say the food was anything special. Would say cost is actually about $90-100 for 2 people when considering food (starter, main + drinks) rather than $60 as stated on Zomato.

Went there with a Grabone / Yazoom voucher. Quickly realised why they keep offering these discount vouchers. We had to send the dirty empty plates away and get clean ones. Service was attentive but the food took a while. That wasn't expected as the place was almost empty that evening. The food wasn't flash either. Actually the food wasn't very good at all compared to some other Thai restaurants. You get what you pay for I suppose. Or may be that was a bad day for them. The interior was well done up though. But as first impressions go, that was enough for me to make that the only one. Also, parking can be a major nightmare unless you know the area well.

Tusk was very busy which is normally a good sign, however busy or not long delays on a booked table and even longer delays for orders to be taken was far from a good start. Nice decor and a cosy feel for a cold winters night was great and the staff, when they got around to dealing with us, were helpful and pleasant. However delays, nice staff and cool decor don't make a fantastic meal and this is where Tusk has difficulties. The foods 'so so' - not good, not bad, just yeah. I ordered flaming chicken and it arrived, flaming, and well chicken. Tasted like chicken and was well cooked but virtually no spice, flavour or anything. Entrees and other mains were also lacking in taste and again - average. Slow service for great food is fine, slow service for average food, no so great. Nothing seriously wrong with Tusk but by the same token nothing seriously right with Tusk either and with so many other amazing Restaurants around I'll not be back.

We there for dinner on Sunday evening, just me and the girlfriend. Environment is always a nice place to start, quiet warm and intimate setting which ticked all the boxes! On the other hand the service was poor, our waitress was lovely, but she was obviously 'new' and had little to no English. Good wine and beer list, Although my girlfriends point gri tasted as if it was poured out of a bottle opened two weeks ago! Last but not least food, was average to say the least. I had the spicy Thai noodles..... The vegetables seemed as though they were from a bag of mixed frozen vegetables. And not enough to noodles! Chicken larb, I've had better, not too bad though! Overall wasn't to bad of a evening, doubt I'll be returning though.

I quite like it here, lovely set up and theres also a little room tucked away at the back to dine in which we enjoyed. Staff were very helpful and friendly:) we didnt have to wait long for our meals, i ordered chicken pad thai which came on a plate with a ommeltte slammed on top of noodles veges and chicken. Didnt look right at all and also the manager noticed it too but i dug into it and it tasted just fine so i was happy.<br/>Other than that, service was great and we were well looked after. Look forward to going back again.

Went there tonight, the staffs were very friendly the environment was nice. It was nice and warm in the cold weather. Food was amazing plus the cocktails❤️ will definitely return again

Second time going after getting Grabone vouchers for an Entree and Main for each person. GREAT DEAL! Went with the family for a dinner. Everyone got small enticing spoons of traditional tastes, and then an entree platter with curry puffs, satay chicken skewers, spring rolls and tofu triangles, one entree which was a soup option, I got the Tom yum soup was DELISH, we also ordered the full fish, cashew chicken, Penang curry, flaming chicken, sweet and sour chicken and a Pad Thai. Everything was perfect and there was so much food left over we took it home and had it the next day. Such good value for money and a great experience. Will go again for sure, love Thai, love Tusk!

Came here with my friend for dinner. <br/>The waiter was very helpful with portion sizes. <br/><br/>The seafood in the tom kha soup was very fresh and it didn't have that rubbery texture. <br/>The pad Thai came wrapped up in an egg omelette which was adorable!!<br/><br/>We were really keen for the Thai dessert selection but they were sold out! Must of been really popular :(

We had a Grab One deal for a five course dinner. <br/><br/>Five courses of very tasty thai food made with fresh ingredients.<br/><br/>Their service was quick and efficient.<br/><br/>Would definitely go back again!!<br/>

Been here a few times definitely one of the best Thai restaurants to go to. Great food and great service that hasn't changed for the years that this has been open .... Worth going to.

Best Thai I've had in awhile. Super generous portions and very polite staff who are attentive. Lovely food and they definitely made us feel welcome even with a voucher. Would definitely recommend and keen to take new friends to try other dishes!

Brought a grab-one voucher for a 5 course dinner experience. Food was tasty and had generous portions! The staff were absolutely wonderful; provided great service! We will definitely be back as we got our money's worth. To top it off, we got a $20 dine-again voucher which we will be using in the future!

Got a chefs dining experience voucher off grab one which was really good value for money. Food was good, but we are pretty easily pleased when it comes to Thai food. Restaurant was a bit cramped and quiet busy. Portions were relatively big. Prices are not competitive compared to other thai options on dominion road. Would definitely recommend going there if you can get a grab one voucher!!

Best lamb curry everrrrrrr, Meat was so Tender!! Only down side it was kind of expensive and slow with taking out orders ( we did have a quite a big table) if cost wasn't an issue I would totally go back all the time

been here several times.. great thai food. Best appetisers are the pork and prawn triangles, salmon skewers and sesame king prawns.. I would be happy just eating these. Mains we love the whole chilli snapper served beautifully covered in sliced spring onion and oozing their yummy sauce, the yellow chicken curry is a favourite of ours and has to be eaten with a roti each.. this is our go to thai place :)

Big mains portions! Had bought a deal online and was slightly wary as to the t&cs but was quite fairly treated. As it was a 5 course deal the entree and soup options were limited but decent enough including quantity. Ordered an entree tempura prawns which were very lacking in both flavour and quantity as only 4 provided. Garlic prawns in mains was another disappointment followed by the thai beef salad which really was much more a gravy dish than the way I have always had it including in Thailand. The whole fried fish was the star of the evening though best left to those who can handle spice - 5/5 for it. The chicken and coconut soup was good as was the green curry. The dessert was decent though would have loved it to have been more of an authentic thai menu. All in all a good experience especially when gifted with return visit vouchers where we can sample other items though the fish and the green curry will be a repeat order. Definitely pricey for thai but the portions were sufficient. Do light up the place better - near impossible to peruse the menu. Excellent also to not be charged separately for rice. Please put on a more authentic thai flavour across the menu.

Went for a drink and some entrees-very average. Wouldn't go back.

What a nice place. Quick, friendly, efficient service. A great meal. Gold bags, tempura prawns as an appetizer. Sizzling Beef and Chicken cashew nut with Roti as a main.

Tusk is a wonderful authentic Thai restaurant, cosy and intimate its perfect for family gatherings or dinner with friends. There is an abundance of different dishes to choose from, my family had the sizzling beef and a duck dish. The portions were generous, prices fair and the food was delicious, next time I will definitely order the flaming chicken, though I didn't order this dish at the time it looked spectacular on the plates passing by. The staff were also friendly and attentive, best part of the evening was our oven baked passion fruit cheese cake. It was absolutely divine, the perfect way to finish off our delightful meal.

Dining here was a less than pleasant experience. It was hot and the restaurant had many flies. We had to put our napkins over our plates to keep flies off. <br/>Waiters obviously were struggling to understand orders, when a beer was ordered the waiter turned up with two beers that were the wrong ones. <br/>A shame that we couldn't enjoy the food due to the heat and unsanitary conditionsz

Tusk provides decent Thai and reasonable pricing. Also the support for events is above average, we've had several parties here with upwards of fifty people with no hassles.

We booked a table for 7pm two days in advance. When we arrived at 7.08 pm we were told that our table was given to others and that we have to wait. In about 5-10 min we were offered a table in the back room and next to the opened back door. Not really what we hoped for. We ordered drinks first. A bottle of wine was chosen however after 10 min no signs of the bottle. The waiter came and apologised saying that chosen wine is not available. Ok, I selected my second choice. 5 min later we were told that our second choice wine is not available either. I had enough and went to a liquor store to buy a bottle of wine. Placing orders should have been simple as dishes are assigned a letter and a number (C5). But nothing was simple that night. The waiter had to repeat our orders (4) reading full name of the dish, none of them was correct and took him 3 min just to repeat. Three main meals arrived about at the same time, however the fourth main came 5 min later. You imagine four hungry people looking at three dishes and waiting one more to arrive. The food was ok. For desert we have had ice cream that came with some fruit. It was served on a flat plate with a fork to eat with.<br/>Next time takeaway from Tusk only.

Finally got the chance to dine in this restaurant and I wasn't disappointed. Their service was quick and efficient eventhough it was a fullhouse that friday night. Food was good. We had the lamb curry and pad see eew and i liked how fresh their veggies were. Quite pricey for a thai restaurant but it's good that they pulled off a fancy feel inside despite being in dominion road slash chinatown. :)