Review The Cav - Auckland Central

Highly recommend. A great pub 1/2 way up College Hill (which I’ve never noticed before 😳) Great atmosphere and recently redecorated. I had pint of Emmerson’s Haze and Dazed with their Fish & Chips for lunch. A great meal, everything tasted great! I will be back.

Very nice place, delicious food and drinks, great people!

One of my favourite spots to stop in for a Friday lunch. Great pints on tap, lovely outdoor seating and fantastic chicken tacos 🌮 (soft shell). The staff is really lovely, they have nice bathrooms and play all the sports without bringing the lads-lads-lads sports bar vibes. It’s clean and fresh feeling. The meals are a bit pricey but it’s worth it for a treat. Big fan of the Zeffer cider on tap 🍻

Top lunch tucker, and plenty of it, for our bi-annual work reunion at The Cav. The staff are always friendly and take our photos for us... frankly nothing ever seems to be a hassle for them. See you mid May 2024 <3

We went here to watch the league and had a nice night. The food was pretty good, position was amazing.

Superb pub. Gets busy at peak times (after work and weekends) but worth a booking if you need to. Staff are super friendly and professional. The food coming out of the kitchen is standard pub fare, but it's considered and high quality. For example, their polenta on the sharing platter is quite possibly the best polenta I've had in years. Take time to go here, a good time is guaranteed.

I decided to give The Cav a 2nd chance after visiting earlier in the year, and am pleased that I did. This time the food and service was a lot better than the previous time I visited (last time entree and main both brought out at the same time, and a few tables were having issues with orders being taken, getting water etc). Tonight even though busy, service was really good, no delays in orders, getting drinks etc. The pork belly bits starter was good - I would have again. The steak main was a bit closer to medium than medium rare as ordered, but was not bad, and still very eatable. The mash and onion rings were good. I probably would have had a desert, but the limited menu for desert did not have an item that appealed to me on this occasion.

Great food, tastes high quality and very flavorful. Service is very good, waiters are quite attentive and friendly. Nothing to complain about here, they also have a good selection of beers.

My partner and I ordered fish chips, steak and arancini and gin, peach and rose gin is good, steak and fish are fine, arancini was good but salty, we like the onion rings as well.

Excellent Auckland pub. Lots of room and different spaces with Guinness and Mac’s Good on tap.

Great atmosphere & friendly service. Food are ok too. A good old sports bar😀

Bald Bartender could try smiling once in a while and learning some customer service. Venue was pretty cool. Good for large groups.

Strolled over for lunch in my work break and ordered the double beef truffle burger... It was way above expectations. Also it was a good size and I kinda struggled to finish it... But glad I did... Actually enjoyed the whole experience and will defs be back there in the near future... Also, there's a lot of gluten-free options for those that need it which was cool to see... Everything washed down well with a brew. GGs

Lovely food and great view. Staff is superb and their beer is ice cold here. How could I say no?

This has been a great venue for decades with a great array of seating styles, a great view out over the city and always lovely food

3rd time to come and eat here today!! Their FOOD never fails to amaze me each time!! Love the presentation. Love the taste. So succulent - you can taste all the ingredients and flavours. And the serving is huge. Or maybe I just get full so easily. Lol. All their main courses are yummy, tried most of them already coz it's my 3rd time now. Even their salads are delish! And their desserts are heavenly!! I love the ambience and the vibe too. Though it's always packed with people everytime I come over, nevertheless overall service is still satisfying. It's hard to catch a waitress when the place is packed, so I recommend to get a seating near the counter. Food takes a while to be served as there are so many people, but the waiting is always worth it 'coz it's just so scrumptious. Shout out to Chef Fadden!! Food is A-mazing!! Two thumbs up for the seasonal menus too! Oh and they also have menu selections specifically for kids so bring your kids. The Cav is for everyone. The waitresses are sweet, bubbly, and always smiling, just don't grab a table too far or they'll forget you.

Had a great day with the awesome food n service provided. I do recommend to try the best in town for healthy food lover “The Naked Britto”. Wo wo Wo wo........

Nice looking place and staff were lovely, but I was pretty disappointed with my meal. I ordered the Southern Fried Chicken, which was dry, lacked flavour and seemed to be mainly batter. The onion rings were ok, but the accompanying mash was also pretty dull. Not good value for $28. My friend however had the naked burrito, which looked great - wish I'd ordered that!

I've been a couple times, first time trying the chicken burger. Full of flavour great seasoning. Highly recommend.

I called in on way home from work and was pleasantly surprised, place is really cool looking and food was 10 out of 10. I had home made corn chips with a guacamole dip followed by the fried chicken...Good sized portions plus really tasty food...Loved it

Really enjoyed our afternoon Christmas function I was invited to. The service was great which I was not expecting as most pubs have crap service, in my experience. Food was amazing (sliders, chips, calamari) and we sold the place out of Veuve. Was very nice.

Had a catch up lunch with a friend and baby unfortunately we created a mess but the staff were very understanding . Staff were helpful food was great

Really top class food and excellent service highly recommend!

Waited 40 minutes for a dessert. Our dessert was sent to the wrong table. Unfortunately putting food in a mason jar doesn't make it nice. Great place for watching the game, not if you're hungry.

Had a great night. Met friends for drinks and decided to stay for dinner. We shared the chicken burger, pork belly, eye fillet and fried chicken. Wow, That fried chicken is amazing! Shame we couldn't finish everything. The service was also really good. Liked it so much going back tomorrow.

Great location, staff efficient and friendly shame the pulled pork tacos only had a teaspoons worth of pork , not much consistency in portions around the table. Left one hungry customer

Really enjoyed The Cav. Great that you can book, the food was good & great atmosphere to watch the rugby game on TV. Even better when the All Blacks win. Like the decor as well.

Best deck in town but its closed at night. Needs more than one entrance due to bottleneck. Great beer. Emmersons is the best.

Awesome evening out with the lads. Great staff, good music, and good beer. Had a taco board and the bar chicken, awesome for sharing!

Great pub, beer and atmosphere. Just be aware that you are in Ponsonby and paying Ponsonby prices. The food is expensive and small potions e.g. $20 for a small chicken salad.

Very nice pub with great ambiance and fantastic views of the city from the deck. However, the food experience is totally mediocre. Had the angus eye fillet - while it was very tasty and flavoursome, the portion size is very small and apart from a small chunk of meat you only get a wee bit of mash and THREE onion rings. It's a bit of a joke really, considering they priced it at $38 - not great value for money and certainly not what pub food is about. Having said that, I need to highlight that staff acknowledged negative feedback and offered to make up for it by offering free sides or dessert - that's great to see. But still, I don't think I'll go back there.

Honestly pretty mediocre. I got the fried chicken and the apple pie. The chicken was a touch underseasoned, the onions were pretty underseasoned, and the mash was very underseasoned. Was better after some salt but portions were mediocre. The apple pie was good to begin with but got pretty sickening sweet after a few bites.

Recommended by a friend, great food and nice ambience. The outdoor tables gives you a lovely view of the sky city tower. <br/>The tuna salad bowl was fresh and nicely flavored. Prawn was cooked just right. The deconstructed chocolate cheese cake was very yummy and innovative. Great for what you pay for.<br/>Apparently their menu changes quite often, so definitely will come again.<br/>Food: 7/10<br/>Food presentation: 7/10<br/>Service: 8/10<br/>Location: 8/10<br/>Ambience: 6/10<br/>Price: $40<br/>

Food was good, ambiance great, music great and service good too. Maybe a bit expensive. We payed above $90 for dumplings with a side salad and chicken with chips.

Had to kill an hour or two last night so I went to " The Cav" poor timing on my part. All Blacks vs Springboks was on.. so packed out I sat near 3 very vocal Bok supporters<br/>I ordered the Snapper meal which duly arrived in about 15 minutes beautifully cooked and presented ($28.00) I will happily revisit when there's less sport on TV. Great outlook from the East facing deck was a bonus<br/>

Paid $20 for fish tacos. I get two tacos, each with one piece of fish about 3cm long. Cold fries. And some shredded cabbage. Tasteless and overpriced.

Yummy food, friendly staff, fun atmosphere and great music, banger of a playlist 👌🏼 <br/>Easy to get to, however not much parking... good place for a casual drink or a nice dinner and quiz nights are always a fun time

Lovely staff, food delivered quickly but a little disappointed with the snapper burger. Waffles with chicken were very good but the portion was not enough for even one. Ambience is good :)

We ordered the naked burrito and the pork belly. Food was fantastic. Fresh ingredients, well executed and a cool,modern spin on classics. Good service and big choice of gluten free options available. Will be back!

Fantastic service, vibrant environment. Delicious menu especially the salads. Recommend the pork belly. Good music, good location but parking isn’t ideal. Great spot to catch up with friends.

The Cav, formerly known as The Cavalier Hotel, and before that The Suffolk Hotel is an Auckland institution dating back to the 1860s. Ponsonby has seen many changes but the Cav has always been around to offer locals good food and drinks.

A group of 6 of us, sorry to say the menu read way better than the food presented and tasted. All of us were underwhelmed and surprised how average our meals were. Pub food in Auckland is easily found much better than this.

Came to The Cav for a birthday lunch. Atmosphere is great, the outdoor area looking over the city was perfect for the summers day. Food was ok, great little kids box and had an ice cream machine inside. Cocktails were delicious though.

Amazing how you walk into the place waiting to place a drink order when the bar staff takes no notice and then have a shot with a customer then continues to have another laugh amongst as if they aren't working ? Great service 0/0 !! Very disappointing!

Had a great meal here. We were  greeted by one of the wait staff with a warm welcome and seated straight away.It took quite a while to order as the selection of meals was in our opinion was really good but made it hard to chose. Finally settled on the venison pie, fried chicken waffles and naked burrito. the pie was really good as was the naked burrito, however the consesus was that the fried chicken waffles was the star of the show! To give yo a bit more info its crispy fried chicken on sweet corn waffles with fresh herbs dill & mint finished with a spicy maple syrup and a jalepeno cream fraiche everything about this dish was sublime and a definite must try if you go there. To summarise, the staff were very friendly, service was promt and attentive, a cool looking bar and food well worth the visit.

This place is well located, good parking and a good drinks selection. <br/>The chicken burger was the bartenders recommendation and it didn't disappoint. Wasn't keen for the lettuce cups, they were too much hard work but they were fresh and if I hadn't had to build them myself idv most likely enjoyed them more - if I'm eating pub food it's because I'm feeling lazy. <br/>Ambience was nice - service was pleasant. Didn't have a wow factor but was a nice place to hang out.

Had to come here after the feature The Cav made on the Urban List but was slightly disappointed. First I must point out that the Cav is more of a bar than a restaurant so before you go bare that in mind... The food is pub food quality. We ordered the taco board which looks impressed and tastes pretty good. We also ordered half a slider board but were a bit disappointed when the flavours were exactly the same as the tacos. We got asked for ID three times and the music was excessively loud, making it very difficult to have a conversation. The waitresses were very friendly and very helpful. Don't know that I would return on a busy and loud Friday night for dinner but maybe for a casual night out for a few drinks and snacks.

Great local pub to watch sport and grab a feed and a brew. Nice view over the city as well whilst enjoying the outdoor deck. Definitely recommended.

Really good southern style chicken burgers! Friend didnt know if they could handle the spiciness so the waitress offered to put it on the side. Quiz night was really fun too so we got dinner and entertainment. Only downside was this lady who had an unfortunately loud laugh. Cant pin that on The Cav though. Good food. Good music. Good entertainment. Prices are good for what you get 😊

First impression: expensive<br/><br/>Second inspection: worth it<br/><br/>I got the tiger prawn salad and it was TASTY as hell. Fresh and delicious. A friend ordered a kids meal and it came in a bento box! Great idea. Fun atmosphere, accommodating staff. Would come again - but maybe after I win some money.

Great location, gorgeous deck with views over the city. Pity the staff are unattentive & ignore you, they scatter when approached. If you want a drink or a bite to eat you'll have to go to the bar & wait for some one to realise you are waiting. Platter of food was excellent, good value too. I wouldn't go back when there are so many other bars with good service just up the road.

Came here on a Friday for lunch. The place was fairly busy, but not overly busy. My friend and I were seated and given menus in a timely fashion by the guy at the bar, which was nice. However, nobody came to take our order. We had been seated for well over 10 minutes, and despite waitresses walking past us many times, they never stopped to take our order. I had to leave my seat and ask one of the waitresses to take our order. Very disappointed in this.<br/><br/>I ordered the pan fried snapper, which was quite delicious. Very well cooked and nicely seasoned.<br/>I would like to come back here again. The food in general is pretty good and I like how there are heaps of TVs put up around the place, so everyone in the restaurant can watch the TV. But the next time I come back, I really hope for much better service from the waiters/waitresses.

Recommended by many of my friends I finally got chance to try out this gastropub. Beautiful setting and great ambience. Was busy during Friday lunch time. Went to try their burger. By looking at the menu I went for the Southern FC burger. Good thing is burgers are served with fries.<br/>Good thing about this place was the deck. Beautifully set deck was fully booked and that says it's popularity.<br/>After a wee bit of wait our burgers came through. I enjoyed the burger. Spicy and had that fresh feeling. Just because the fried chicken will be dry it had some sauce to make it juicy. Good portion too. Will go back to try something else from the menu.<br/>Burgers are priced around $20. (But yes they come with a portion of chips).

Very friendly and helpful thanks guys special thanks to  manager which was so helpful .Oh boy  these guys put a lot effort for Rugby world fun and try to serve every one .<br/>Thank you so much again .<br/>Fahimeh<br/>Three Lamps Hair Boutique

Really Nice place for drink with the friend, watch some games, and have a nice time. Haven't tried the food yet but I will definitely come back.

Lovely bar menu and very good re-invention to modernise the "typical pub" ! I had the hot chicken nibbles here, and felt like I was somewhere deep in a Southern state in America! marvellous, exquisite and mouthwatering for days! very nice casual place to have a few drinks on the weekend #g1

Came here for after work drinks great few, location drinks good! Got sliders great selection but bread was stale :-( <br/>Will be back but maybe will order something different.

Great atmosphere and the food is quite good. We came here for dinner and drinks a couple of weeks ago. Partner and friend each had a burger, and I had the chicken burrito bowl. It's nice to have healthy options, as many pubs don't. Overall consensus was the burgers were pretty good (beef burger & fried chicken burger) but slightly dry and bit hard to eat. The burrito bowl is a good concept but it was a bit strange tasting. The salad component tasted as if it had been drenched in some kind of sweet dressing, and the chicken had a weird seasoning, however the yoghurt dressing on the side was nice. We probably would return as we live close and they have a good nibbles menu.

First time I've been here since they renovated and it's such a nice environment. Great views, good spot for watching sports. There menu has a cool assortment on offer. Burger & fried chicken was on point 🍔🍗 Creme brulé was huge and milk & cookies was a fun dessert 🍪🍼😊

Came to The Cav for some drinks and nibbles after work. The southern fried chicken is amazing! Tasty, crunchy and not too oily. The Cav has vastly improved since their refit, the interior is nice and bright and I still think they have one of the best views in Auckland from their deck.

Food was good and good atmosphere however I felt the price of food was too high, $27 for a Sunday roast is a bit extreme. Dessert was amazing but again highly priced

Pub with a kitchen, but not a 'gastropub'. Needs to be about ⅓ cheaper for the quality of the food served up. Service fine. Drinks menu decent.

I patronise this place every Friday after a long week of work, but never again.<br/>The service is intermittently friendly, although it can sometimes be quite appalling.<br/>The staff and management do not seem to manage well when The Cav is busy. If you pay after, you are guaranteed to be charged for extra beverages, so we tend to pay as we order. This is a good facility, especially if you do not wish to be stuck with a bill for drinks you did not order.<br/>The bowls of fries are small, but the prices are quite high at $7.5 for normal and a whopping $9.5 for curly. If you shared a bowl between four people, you would be lucky to get 3-4 fries per person. The open burrito is delicious; I sometimes struggle to justify $22 dollars for it - but if you feel like a treat, I do recommend this dish.<br/>The place is quite crowded a lot of the time, which surprises me, considering the ping pong service.<br/>There is a young male bar staff member who has worked at The Cav prior to and post its refurbishment, who has remained unfriendly, listless, despondent and disinterested.

Called in here the other evening, early and was quite impressed with the change from times gone by. Staff were friendly and efficient, pricing for location was OK. Had drink only and not food. Good atmosphere <br/><br/>

Good service (especially seeing that it gets awfully busy on Fri arvos), easy-going atmosphere, good selection of drinks.. but food is below average. Had high expectations for their Baby Philly Cheese Steak Hotdogs, but it was dry as... (meat was tough). But to be fair, their Southern Fried Chicken was agreeably tasty.  That's about it.

Their recent transformation into a funky gastro pub has made a world of difference! It looks new and fresh, comfortable seating, sports screens, and of course a great balcony. We sat inside where we really enjoyed the atmosphere. Service was excellent, they have awesome kids food boxes and complimentary tablets to play on, so very child friendly here! Possibly one of the best places to bring kids in Ponsonby. I had the southern fried chicken with blue cheese slaw, which on the whole I enjoyed, but perhaps a bit spicy. The menu was one of those where everything looked good and it becomes hard to choose... Definitely somewhere to come back to again!

The Cav is actually a gastropub but fits better under my Restaurant category other than the Quick Bites. <br/><br/>The newly opened Freeman's Bay eatery has a very comfortable atmosphere, with plenty of seating inside and out. The outside is great for winter with clear roll down windows with plenty of heaters. The high tables are done right with hooks for bags - Big Tick!<br/><br/>If your a foodie like myself I would recommend this place as more of drinking hole, then somewhere to opt to eat. The menu is extensive with a southern american theme however is wonders off with offering a jap dish, a chinese dish, a bit of french, etc. It needs to pick one theme and cuisine and do it really well. Just a couple of fix ups needed -- on the menu its titled "Sandwiches" however a sandwich is not a taco or a burger - if they are going to do sandwiches then offer sandwiches or maybe just remove the word sandwiches to avoid misleading information. <br/><br/>I was really pleased with the portion size, for $18-$19 its good for value. However its sad to say the pics I have taken portray the food maybe too well. Everything was really lacking in seasoning and had no real flavour. I also go for healthier options but these days most places deep fried food is less greasy tasty, again this was not the case. The slaw also was also not very fresh tasting and the taco which is suppose to be soft was either toasted or not fresh, because it was quite hard which was a real shame. The best thing on both dishes were the hand cut chips - really crisp on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside!<br/><br/>Just one more tip Cav - We were asked 4x in 2mins from 4 diff waiters whether we wanted another drink which was a bit frustrating - so I think being a new place some kinks are still there and need wrinkling out. <br/><br/>Other than that - Quick food and service but def a place to visit for a chilled afternoon or evening drink and a great atmosphere.<br/><br/>Rating<br/>Food: 4.5/10<br/>Service: 6/10<br/>Value for Money: Good

Having seen the rebrand we decided to try the new Cav on Saturday night. Not overly impressed. Service was great but the food left a lot to be desired. I had fish taco and the taco was like cardboard with a small piece of battered fish and some sour coleslaw. They are now calling it a "gastropub" but it was just ordinary pub food -nowhere near restaurant quality. Drinks are more expensive than normal pub prices. I would also add we sat at an outside table, however as it was wet &amp; windy all the sides were down making it very unpleasant for non-smokers eating with smokers all around them

Initially I went in for a few after work wines on a Friday and ended up sampling multiple dishes from tasting plates, mains and desserts and thoroughly enjoyed everything I tasted. The Cav is somewhere you can be yourself, enjoy wonderful wine and truly fabulous food combinations. The atmosphere allows for a night out with friends and just as perfect for a Sunday lunch with the family where you can be sure quality will not be compromised . Looking forward to our next visit.

We tried The Cav for lunch today after reading favourable reviews in the herald this week. Big disappointment. Our kids meals were largely untouched by our children so I sampled some of the food and agreed with them. Dry, unseasoned meatballs with fatty lumps and a suspicious smell. Perhaps even microwaved. Kids chips were okay but we're not the homemade variety. The kids chicky chicky wha wha included tiny pieces of chicken with dry old mash. I had the naked burrito and my dining companion had the pulled pork brioche. Neither meals were as advertised. They lacked any heat, flavours, seasoning or any of the chipotle / jalapeño etc that the menu listed. My wine was nice The Ned Pinot Gris. They had no Rose in the menu. The beer was good. Service was friendly but we arrived and it was only 1/3 full so we ordered and had to wait at least 40 mins. Then with every table full they were clearly not coping. Our below average lunch cost us over a $100.

After hearing fabulous things about the relaunch of The Cav my friends and I decided we must go! And I'm so glad we did.<br/>When we walked in we were instantly impressed by the new decor/layout and were met buy a lovely lady that took us to our table. We sat outside to take in the beautiful view and even though it's winter we were nice as cosy as there was lots of outdoor heating (fantastic for someone like me who really feels the cold).<br/>We had awesome service by staff members who were smiley and warm and product knowledge was fantastic! <br/>The menu made your mouth water and between the 4 of us we ended up ordering 6 dishes. They were all beautifully cooked, balanced and just plain yummy! All four of us highly recommend going to The Cav and we will definitely be back.

Being a local, I have now tried the new look Cav twice, 2nd time taking staff. Both times have left us very unimpressed with our waitress's apologising &amp; saying bear with us we are having teething problems. Price has gone up meal quality has gone down dramatically for all of Mr Gault's intervention &amp; its obvious the chef is struggling to deliver.No coffee machine !! then no Port- just incredible. The Decor- well all I can say is it lost its wonderful historical character &amp; ambience and I dear say in 5- 10 years decorators will be re racking their brains why someone ruined the original character which is so rare to find in Auckland. I like change for the better, this definitely hasn't been &amp; we will think twice about returning which is a shame as we use to go regularly.

Ahhh was so impressed when we walked in the door and the words GASTRO PUB....yeah Naah :-(<br/><br/>Our waitress was fantastic and well informed on the wine I liked and recommended to my palate. The menu looked like Deja vu seen it at Creole &amp; Tin Soldier nothing new. My daughter &amp; I both ordered the Southern Fried chicken burger with fries. Beautifully presented in the tin dinnerware that has been done before Creole &amp; Depot. The Chicken was dry, over cooked and under seasoned, the fries were tiny and not what I would expect from a Gastro Pub. We then ordered the Churros to share well it was terrible chewy, dry and just entirely disappointing. I would give it one more go because the decor is gorgeous inside it is a shame they didn't refurb the loos.

Beautiful food, great atmosphere, fantastic DJ.<br/><br/>We had French onion soup and Moroccan coconut cauliflower soup to start, both with plenty of fresh bread. Next the fish tacos and tuna melt for mains, both full of flavour and very filling. We finished with a "jelly tip" dessert which was the highlight- delicious panna cotta with nutella mousse and raspberry puree.<br/><br/>Although it was busy, service was quick and very friendly. Would definitely recommend! !

Great, affordable Bar food in a great atmosphere. Great city views as well.

The Cav is located on College Hill, Ponsonby and has very recently been redecorated into a beachy, Hampton-esque feeling with hardwood floors, mosaic tiles and one of the best balcony views of the Sky Tower in Auckland. <br/><br/>We booked for a large group of approximately 15 people and were seated out on the balcony for a casual get-together. The food menu was a welcome change from the usual gastropub offerings. The most popular dish ordered from our table was the fish tacos. Each dish came with two very tasty soft shell tacos encasing bits of fried battered fish, lime coleslaw with a yogurt sour cream dressing and served with hand cut fries. The burgers were giant, and quite a mission to eat, however they were declared juicy and flavoursome by those who ordered them. <br/><br/>Given it was quite a chilly winters' evening, a few of us also indulged a few of the soups on offer. The bowl sized servings were served in a hipster-cool glass jar. I indulged in the creamy mushroom soup which was thick and rich - almost too rich and to the point that a few spoonfuls were plenty. The soups also arrived after all the mains had been served which was bit unusual. <br/><br/>The wait staff were positive and friendly but several different staff members asked if our meals were OK (sometimes even before we got a chance to taste the food placed before us!) which felt like they were trying a little too hard to please. However, the relaxed atmosphere and cool decor outweigh this over-eagerness and it is definitely a place that I will keep in mind for future visits.

We had a work lunch at the Cav. Wow has it changed from the Cav of a few years ago. The food was good. and the service was ok. I was happy with my meal (Southern Chicken Sliders) but others thought the fish was overdone and tough.<br/><br/>We were a group but not a huge one with 9 of us. Considering the size of the establishment, the service was a little slow. I would come here with a small group but probably not again with any more than about 6 people.