Review De Fontein Belgian Beer Cafe

Rebeca Rojas

Friendly and efficient waiter Mr. Sergio he deserves 5 stars not the same for his colleague a blonde girl with grumpy face when we asked if she can open the umbrella a little bit more she said No!!😠this is the most it’s not possible open it more, however Sergio kindly open the umbrella a little more. Sergio never forgot that the service didn’t finished until the patrons left the restaurant, he back to us asking if we need something else ( we had a table outside on the deck ) and giving information about the menu . we ordered the green lipped mussels with coconut curry lemon grass velvety and tasty sauce l really enjoy it. The chicken poulette is a chicken schnitzel cooked at perfection with a superb mushroom sauce so congratulations to the chef deliver time for our plates into the time frame perfect !!! Good presentation excellent flavours and Sergio the perfect match in our Belgian Cafe

David Laggiard

I've been going there for quite a few years and the food quality is quite good. Vaste selection of beers and friendly staff. The place needs a bit of a refresh and tidy up after many years.

Laura L

The seafood chowder and the salad are great. It’s a shame they didn’t have the steamed mussels today instead we have to order the baked one which is really garlic flavored. Next time we have to try the steamed ones.

K VD

We always have some good food here. Prices are very reasonable and oh my gosh the cherry beer was Amazing!

Louis Martin

Place has lots of character and great beer selection . $15 fish n chip special was good value, and was mostly great but fish slightly underdone. Apart from that meal was great, and mixed mussel platter was interesting but good!

Lina Leafa

Maybe they were trying to cook everything together and bring it out all at the same time, unfortunately my meal came out cold and dry, I had the glazed belly pork meal. We also got the steam mussel 1kg and we added the white wine sauce on top as well, the mussels were great just not the added sauce, personally I think it was over cooked and became gravy then saucy, my 7 yr old son said his meal chicken bacon pasta was great just cold, he loved it. My husband loves hot meal as well but his came out warm. Although that's my personal review, I would go back, the food was cold but it was well done. The atmosphere looking over mission bay was beachy and airy.

Sherryk Koswara

The food was okay, tastes average, presented in plates on the smaller scale so the use of knife and forks on the meats make other things fly off the plate. Service was great though, fast, friendly and welcoming. When my 2y.o neph started crying the barista made him a strawberry drink which effectively diffused the situation.

Trevor Hynes

Three of us attended tonight for dinner, after having been previously. Two of us ordered mussel pot with creamy White wine and garlic sauce. We found 3 mussels not opened as we did the time before also. I mentioned to two staff individually and all I got was an awkward laugh or ok ... did my 'complaint ' go back to those concerned. Is it true you should not try to eat unopened mussels? We had 3 meals and one round of drinks with food $131.00. Probably this is the last time I will order this meal.

Jaired Pang

Great staff very attentive. Beautiful mussels pots ps forgot to take a photo. Creamy white wine & garlic sauce was amazing. Have various dishes and food was good! Thank you for having us (:

Joseph Kim

3.5/5 food. (Pretty chewy steak, but the garlic butter helped a lot) Daily specials are neat. Kind staff Vibey place Would go for daily specials, atmosphere, and live music.

So won K

Really nice to chill at the balcony. Yummy mussels, pesto one is my favourite 😍 cream one is better with more ham or lemon. It was too creamy and cheesy. Oysters are fresh, chili beef Nachos were perfect too!

Ray Qian

To be honest. The dishes could be made better. I feel the sausages are from countdown or some supermarket. Maybe I’m wrong but it’s not that great. The BBQ ribs taste nice. Overall portion size is not very big and I’ll have to order a lot to feel full. Some little problem occurred during our dining but the manager solved the problem well. It’s an iconic restaurant in mission bay, but yeah I suppose it can do better.

Marie Sua

Overall not a bad experience. Mussels were good, steak was a bit on the tough side. Edible just a little chewy. Atmosphere was lively, busy, service was excellent.

Nathan

We weren’t let down by the mussels, which are renowned for this restaurant. Service was prompt and effective.

Gilroy Luigi Morris

Had dinner here recently. It's a great place to enjoy a meal. The menu has a good selection, I opted for the sirloin steak with herb butter and wasn't disappointed. The fresh oysters are always a winner also. I had no issues with the service. The staff were attentive and food came out hot and on time. The Belgian beer selection is also great. I love the cherry kriek beer and definitely recommend it. All in all a great experience.

Rika Charoenporn

Nice place and great food. Superb fresh oyster & mussel platter. With friendly staff. Monday is famous for mussels so thought to try it and the experience was awesome. The service was very fast , the delicious food and very wide range of Belgian beers... we loved the cherry beer and Hoogarden. It’s a great venue on great sea side beach. Surely coming back with my family. Thanks for the great experience guys. The manager Vijay is amazing very friendly.

Alicia Santos Isbister

Coffee wasn’t great has bitter taste machine needs a really good clean We order seafood platter very disappointing as the plate is full of mussels and crumb squid and digging in could not find smoke salmon they forgot to complete what it says in the menu will not come again If it wasn’t for a nice seating view I would lose my marbles. Oh well with the complain we had gonna give it to them gave us 25% off the bill so they should be.

Farida Memon

This is our neighbourhood joint where we stop for a quick drink and fries, or celebrate our Birthdays and anniversaries. It’s a great place full of buzz and they have their daily specials but the best evening is Sunday when one gets entertained by a Jazz Band. Their food is fantastic and service with a smile. The location is great! In summer one can sip a beer on their balcony watching the sunset and the iconic Mission Bay! Love the place!

Emma Roha

Have eaten here before & was wonderful, so decided to take my partner here to try the seafood platter. It was terrible. It was served cold, bland & the mussels & oysters weren't fresh. The bread was so stale it was not edible & my sons "pizza" from the kids menu was cold & again, not edible. Will not return in a hurry

Wefery Rawangsamrong

This is a great location for tourists like us; breath taking views; Monday is half price Mussels day ; so delicious; some friend recommend it to us; very tasty food and service is very fast too; staff is very friendly; efficient than other restaurants we visited here in NZ: manger done grateful job; thanks jay

Rory Heard

Place has gone down hill. Service sucked. menus thrown down and waiter walked off, was asked ‘what you want?’ While he gazed off elsewhere. Told most beer and ant available so it’s easier to choose from tap. Ordered the muscles pot, food was thrown down and luke warm and waiter walked off. we had to ask for plates, cutlery and napkins, no apologies. Heard other tables complaining.

Sabastian Joseph

Nice place lovely food comfortable good service recommend to anyone food delicious and worth the Mula.

Marquis Holmes

I commend the customer service my family and I received from the manager. They brought out food to us and it was not quite up to standard I told the waiter nicely and voiced my concern in regarding to the kids meal presented and also my mussels that were over baked. I ended up cancelling the kids meal and ate what I can salvage from the mussels as I am too tired from a day out to complain. After couple of minutes speaking to the waiter the manager came up to me and Apologised without making any excuses and came back with a perfectly baked mussels and he was so friendly and spent time talking to us and my children. Thank you for your service and we will be back soon. Made my day. #nostressdining

TeOne Capper

Perfect spot to wine and dine and drink Leffe Blonde on the belcony overlooking Mission Bay beach out to Rangitoto... Nice food and awesome service A++ 👌🏼

Matthew Chang

The best chicken burger in Auckland.... not. Paid $25 for one slice of burnt dry chicken, a thin layer of rabbit portion sized lettuce, 1/5 cup of chips, one lonely tomato slice and a soggy bun. 100% would not come back to this place. Has definitely changed.

ZWD

Excellent customer service, thank you vijay and prince,perfect place for functions, will surely recomend

Nancy Yan

nice place!a wonderful meal!good service…!

李羽玲

my friends recommend this restaurant for me!nice place!delicious food and wonderful service!

老同志

nice food!very delicious... warm environment and good service!will come next time!

Hongping Hu

Good service...taste well...excellent environment!👏👏👏will come again!!🤚🙌🏽😘😘😘

Jay周

fast service and tidy pub love the selection of beers good recommendations nice Kasteel triple on tap

곰정안

3.4/5 Taste 4/5 Display 4/5 Quantity 2/5 Customer Service Only go there for Mussel Monday's to get ur monies worth! Grilled mussel and mussel pot is really worth the visit and their choice of luxury Belgian beer is amazing.

Dwight Seumanutafa

No pictures added cause honestly wasnt worth using up my phone storage but!! Lets paint a picture if you’re thinking about eating here. Apparently it’s customary (according to staff) that dessert is served BEFORE anything hits the table, and appetizers come just as everyone finishes eating. The staff were incredibly rude with bringing our food and the one server who couldnt tell between a cheese burger and a bbq burger decides that SMELLING MY FOOD was the best way to go about it rather than asking,. which was rather burnt if you ask me. I’m telling you, you’re better off eating a sandwich at home over eating at this overpriced loud excuse of a restaurant. Oh! and cocktails get served to children and adults get served mocktails so thats cool if you’re an aspiring underage drinker...

Crystal

First time trying this restaurant tonight. Location is superb! With an outdoor seating option on the rooftop which overlooks Mission Bay Beach. The staff was very friendly and hospitable. Didn’t wait to long to be served and food was delivered not long after ordering. Me and my friend ordered the large seafood platter to share, which was reasonably priced. Portion size was good & there was a good variety of seafood included in this platter. Was quite disappointed in the mock tails we ordered. Was maybe expecting it to come in a fancy cocktail glass but it came in tumblers and looked like juice and.... tasted exactly like juice. We ordered the Tropicana and mango flavour and it was nothing exciting. Should really be classified as juice not mocktail. Overall we had a lovely dining experience and would definitely come back again :)

Victoria Notoa

Love a good local feed from here. This is the spot in mission bay ! Reasonable prices and seafood is amazing!!!! Would recommend the mussels and seafood platter. Can’t go wrong with a solid Belgium beer to wash it down. Overall love this place for good feed in the area.

Alice

Always right way to mussels.

RUFCUT NZ

It’s amazing service, loved the food

Jailyka Opinion

I just would like to tell the management, really poor service at your restaurant. Need to pay more attention. Your place is in prime location but there is NO service. Staff had no clue for the table numbers, long wait for drink service. Most of the staff is new. Can’t complain them, its not their fault. Really need someone who can drive the business.we work in hospitality as well. We never want to leave any bad comments to anyone. Just want to share our thoughts to the management.

YHMO!

👍

R

An easy walk from mission bay if your at the beach. Only really come here for a drink and a dessert which I think are fairly priced for the area your in and are decent.

Street Food Fighter

I love this place for the mussels. Service was not bad.

Mons The Pirate

What a shocker, non existent service, we had to go find wait staff to order, eventually ordered meatballs for the kids. Guess what too spicy for little kids. Not that any one mentioned it. When we flagged it it was ignored, we had just received our drinks and platters. Gross, and disgusting. The only thing warm was the meatballs, but still disgusting, the chicken was acceptable but everything else was just shocking. The meat was over cooked, tough and barely edible. Now the cocktails, wow at $15 they should be made well, I almost lost it. No service, we had to go find someone for food. We had to go get drinks ordered, we even had to take care of finding our own forks and knives and sides plates. You would think they were pumping or under staffed, but we saw 8 staff and the place was at 40% capacity. When I paid I told the gent this was literally the worst eat out experience in my life. Disgusting. $210 for what was meant to be a friends birthday dinner. You should be ashamed charging people with the bulk of their food still on the table and their cocktails barely drunken.

Eduard Cesar

Fatty lamb chops, no meat at all, chewy and definitely not worth it. Bear didn’t arrive and we finished the “chops” and just decided to cancel the beers. #touristtrap

Hazel Douglas

We love this place for the mussels and they did not disappoint when we took our visiting mother in law - a surprise brownie treat courtesy of the manager. Very attentive. We will be back.

Luz !

Had mussels and beer. I think that the place needs an update. Also the menu. The mussels had some weird topping, I felt in the 80’s.

Meggie Zang

Nice music nice food and nice view.especially excellent service of the manager Andrew and his young team,we had a perfect night.

Sean Ni

beautiful views outside the cafe, the music is old fashioned which is my favourite. We had fish'n chips the combination of the salad and the chips was awesome, the fish is fresh. Also the services of the manager Andrew and his team, the waitress was soooo lovely. We had a great night there. by the way, the mango madness was so good XD

Kharsis666

Went here for a work dinner and had a great meal Very enjoyable restaurant with great food and very efficient service. Some of the beers are very pricey ($16.00 a pint) but this a minor downside to a great place to eat.

Harold S Lochmann

Beers are good but the steaks are terrible ordered rare got medium... staff are friendly. But the food is pretty sub par

Caroline Williams

De Fontein.... where to start with this mixed experience. This place is an old familiar for Mission Bay and after an hour long walk nothing beats a beer and some tasty food. Unfortunately this is no longer the place for this. Yes the beers are fabulous as always and Andrew the duty manager was attentive and great. The food was terrible.... seriously awful. We chose the butchers slab with a side of salad with no dressing to balance out the meat! I requested a swap of the steak for some salmon and was informed the Chef said no it would be an additional charge and the platter was already $56 so felt this was a tad inflexible. I've been in the hospo industry since I was 16 so I know how kitchens work and it's a simple request to make. The food came out in 15 min max which considering its was cooked meats was a bit odd, but on sampling it was easy to tell why it was so quick. The meats were all reheats and dried out, the chicken wings ( pictured) were dried out portions with greasy coating, the rump steak over done, pre made processed meatballs and dry chewy pork ribs. The sauce seemed to be the same sweet sticky thing on most of it all. My salad was served with dressing in a hot bowl so became a bruised inedible mess which I asked to not be included in the bill. Positive note the chips and field mushrooms were nice which was a good job as we were starving. The table next door benefited as their dogs got lots of meat treats! It really did seem like someone had bought a Mad Butcher's bbq pack precooked it then heated it up then chucked on some sauce Luckily we went to The Mission across the road by the fountain and I had a lovely bite to eat. Fresh vibrant food with incredible flavors.

Elizabeth Edwards

Great atmosphere. Been here a few times, food is always flavoursome and you get quite a bit for ya buck!

GachaMega Playz Gaming And More

As we stood outside the restaurant/bar - we were deciding where to eat lunch. We were immediately greeted pleasantly by Andrew the manager, and because of his approach we sat down and decided lunch was going to be there. The atmosphere was great, the weather was beautiful and the dogs were behaving! The food was good, although we were brought a fish pie rather than beef - however the correct plate was replaced with no hassle. Ultimately the service given by Andrew, which we later found out he was the manager, was superb and we would certainly return based on his welcoming, polite service. He even gave our dogs their own water bowl. A+ thanks guys.

Jonathan Chau

Of course .. one of the hot places in Mission Bay. Perfect for a date night! When we entered, a live band was playing and a couple was dancing. Wow.. what a great vibe. The best crowd. We got cherry and Lucifer beer and honestly I can say it’s one of the best beers I had so far. We ordered mussel pot (of course), seafood chowder and potato chips. I wished I hadn’t ordered seafood chowder because it ended being too much food with the beer. My taste bud seems to not work when I have alcohol, so I completely forgot what all of them tasted like, but the beer was definitely a 12/10. Our lovely waitress was so kind to us. Thanks so much !

Jenny

Sercive was friendly. However food was not up to restaurant quality. Lack flavour. Seafood chowder was creamy but lack flavour. Steak tasted like bar food. Fries oily and over fried. Onion rings acceptable.

Lance Bowden

Very poor service on Father's Day. The table was booked on Tuesday, platters were ordered and paid for the day before for 11:15. The first people were there at 11 and ordered coffee. One cup, out of 3, was delivered in five minutes. The other 2 cups did not appear and when asked for at 11:35 were advised they would be another 35 minutes! And no sign of the platters at this stage. When challenged there were excuses, and no sign of the manager who had been asked for. Platters after 11:45, the chips and breads later still. They might have comped some of the meal afterwards, but the lack of remorse at the time and the fact we had to be forceful made for an unpleasant snack on what should have been a pleasant day.

Tom Lê

Service was really good. However the food came out are not really fresh, temperature was between cold and warm, not hot. Food taste old and not fresh as before.

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A mission bay institution. We almost always come here for the mussels either the 1kg pot and/or the grilled plate (po pei is our favourite). Good atmosphere, views, and the belgian beers, of course

Ashleigh Hea

Never knew this place did brunch, but you learn something new everyday! Was the perfect start to the day after a boozy Saturday night. Great view from the top deck and great company

Eat And Run

maybe I expect too much on this well know restaurant. the service is quite low and the manager is not professional enough and arrogant to customer, who named Jonhny. also the mussels are not fresh at all the steak always over cook. you can lie to people but your food can’t. I have been lots of place for dine in experience but never seen such worst. At least the exclusive beer is ok. sorry for the bad sharing but I am telling the truth.

Raspberry Beret

Went for Sunday lunch a couple of weeks ago. Service was very friendly, cosy atmosphere and delicious food. My guest had the homemade pie, I had sossies and mash. Large portions and very tasty.

Lucy Jia

Come here often, always my favourite place for half price mussels, nice view makes your visit more enjoyable, friendly staff, we enjoyed and will surely come back.

Alma Gomez Urbiztondo

The experience with De Fontein Belgian Beer Cafe was a disaster. We came here because we wanted to have great breakfast. We were greeted by the Manager really well and we thought it will a great morning. There were very few customers at 10:15am and we sat on the second floor. Ordered breakfast meal for 5 people along with 3 coffee, 1 tea and 1 iced chocolate. After like 15 minutes the waiter who was wearing blue shirt forgot to serve the iced chocolate and we needed to tell the manager that we haven’t received it. After more than 30 minutes we still haven’t served our breakfast. The manager said in 5 minutes it will be ready. after waiting for more than 30 minutes, the orders still hasn’t come. Spoke to the manager and told him that we will be cancelling our orders. He then said he would check at the kitchen if our orders are ready. He came back and said that the kitchen is still have way through our orders from being served. This is all after like 40 minutes of waiting. He was apologetic though and said that we shouldn’t be paying for our coffee which I think is just right. We will never ever come back to this restaurant again after such a terrible experience. They ruined our day to be honest. No wonder the other cafe beside Belgian Cafe was full of people, it might be that the food and service are a lot better there.

Jilly

Wonderful service, great atmosphere and delicious food. The price is not too bad as well. Well worth your money. If you like cherry and beer then I would suggest you try their cherry beer, it has a very refreshing taste that you will always come back to. Highly recommended.

Karen Chow

Been here several times and De Fontein never disappoints! Good food and beer, and great value. Also, it has the best chocolate mousse in Auckland :)

FoodieBeast

Went here a couple of months ago and the food and service had dropped big time. Went again today and I would agree that I won't be returning. The reason for a 2 star is only because of the young lady serving us. I ordered a Hoegaarden 500ml and it came out flat. It's as if the keg was off or possibly something wrong with the gas lines. I let the waitress serving us know and she took it back. She was let down by her manager who said that she tasted it and it was fine. Apparently to her Hoegaarden is a beer that is flat?? Really?? Order it all the time at the Belgian Beer cafe's never has it been this flat! The lady serving us still managed to get a different drink and didn't charge us for the Hoegaarden, but trying to justify a flat beer was ridiculous. The food was average. To top it off before we left, the beer was still sitting by the taps. It wasn't thrown out. I would think that they are planning on selling a beer that's been poured for well over an hour.

Aki

Been here in the past ( a year or 2 ago) and only heard good things, BUT will never be returning here anymore! Received the dirtiest muscles I've ever been served. Did not receive the fries that were part of the order. Courteous enough, the manager agreed that the muscles weren't edible (other customers during the day have brought this up too ) and waived the food item. Wouldn't recommend dinning here for mission Bay standards.

Vincent Fang

I went there with my friends twice, tried the seafood platter at the 1st, it was standard, and at the 2nd visit we tried the steak, it’s pretty amazing, and the mussels were also good. Give it a shot!!

Desmond Chan

Love the mussels!! So many options to choose from. The service is very average though..some waiters aren't very friendly to the customers. However I'll always come back for the mussels 😋😋😋

Nova Huang

Food is not fresh + we got 4 empty shells for our 7 oysters now I see why the restaurant has a 2.7 rating on Zomato. Ambience is alright. Staffs are friendly.

Darniellekama

The staff were welcoming from beginning to end. The food was sooo good 😍 and very reasonable priced. The view made the entire experience so much more enjoyable. I’ll definitely be returning to this place 😊

Yana Petrenko

Used to come here as a kid almost every weekend, but now i’m not really much of a fan since i’ve been eating the same thing every time so i got their caesar salad which didn’t actually taste that bad and a lemon lime and bitters that tasted amazing! View was cute as well.

Cheryl 🍒

Great hospitality, good food, good view, good location and good ambience. Perfect place to chill with mates on a lovely summer’s day while enjoying some lovely food and beverages together with the lovely view of Mission Bay.

Dianne Sloper

We were here on a Grabone Voucher Deal for a birthday lunch. Couldn't have been better, good atmosphere & the host Andrew was great, very friendly & even organising a special dessert treat for the birthday girl @ no extra cost. The food was delicious, just maybe a little less salad and a little more Salmon on that dish. Great spot on the balcony overlooking Mission Bay. Definitely will go again.

Elmira

Loved the food and view on the balcony! Best service with really friendly wait staff and the manager Prince who was super accommodating! Would highly recommend the mussel platter! Happy Easter indeed!

Richard Heaton

First time here, had an amazing experience! The staff were friendly and polite and the food was fantastic. Will definitely be back, thanks to Prince and the team

Olivia Lawrence

What a treat on holiday in New Zealand!!! Sunny, great service here sitting in the balcony and treated like a princess by your man Prince. What a boss! 💕

Fiona Lai

Staff were pleasant and friendly. However, there fries are no longer as yummy as before. The ones this time were quite burnt.... :( I brought my 3 months old baby there and was quite stoked to hear that they have a changing table! So I would say this place is child friendly

Cheekycc

Been here twice and it's been a consistent experience of very long wait to get assisted and almost an hour getting our food served. Staff always has to be prompted for menu, and didn't even offer drinks even while waiting for half an hour. The food is not even worth its price. After waiting for almost an hour, My son got served a burnt pasta. Wtf! Dry steak, dry pork ribs. #neveragain Unless you are only after having some drinks, This would definitely be my last option when in Mission Bay.

Dins Rodriguez

Had dinner here with family friends and ordered their Seafood Platter, Butcher’s Block, Fish & Chips and Ribs. Food tasted amazing (especially the lamb chops, oysters, smoked salmon, mussels—just wow); one of the best dinners I’ve had in Auckland. Location helps as well—Mission Bay is beautiful. Will be back, if I have the chance 👍🏼

EM

Go to restaurant if I’m around Mission Bay, and never had any issues apart from slow servicing at times. In my opinion they always have great service, food quality is good, portions are large , and have plenty of spacing indoors and rooftop.

MWang

Took my family here last Monday. Order 3 kilos of mussels (half price on the day) and waiter told us that each would come with a side of fries and a soft drink. None of us actually wanted soft drinks but since it was free we ordered three. When we went to pay I noticed the price wasn’t looking right - we were charged for the three soft drinks that were supposed to be free. When questioned, the guy said that our waiter made a mistake, the meals shouldn’t come with free soft drinks, however we still needed to pay for the twenty something dollars of soft drinks. It wasn’t that much but I was not happy because it felt like we were scammed, since I was with my family who had other places to go to after dinner I didn’t bother to argue any further and paid for the whole bill. VERY DODGY. Makes me wonder if they always do this trick on tourists. I used to be a regular here but will never return. Wonder who took over the business to run it down like this.

“Dailee” 25% Off Zomato Gold

Really busy when we visited so abit hard to get their attention. Pub style meals and we got overcharged by two extra set of fries. We only order 2 but bill came to 4 total!! When we realised it, too late, we all gone home and who bother as we live on the opposite end of Auckland!! Food took quite a while to come out but we finished everything as we were all famished. We ended paying about $50pp, for 7 people worth. Ordered 3 different pots of mussels (curry is the better flavour), ribs with fries, pan fried fish, fish &chips, two sets of steak and super drenched cheese garlic bread. Some order beers and soft drinks too.

Lucy

An iconic restaurant located in mission bay. Great view, friendly service, food is quite average except for the mussel pots. The mussels pots are a must have. It also comes with yummy fries. If you don’t know which sauce to go for, I would recommend the tasting platter. Oysters were quite small. Cured salmon was standard. Steak was cooked well but tasted very bland. They have a variety of beer, unfortunately I‘m not a beer person. Food: 5/10 Food presentation: 6/10 Service: 8/10 Location: 10/10 Ambience: 6/10 Price: $40 per person (excl alcohol)

Garron White

Came here with my family for drinks at lunchtime. They have a good selection of beverages, beers and wines. We are a family of 5 and was told we could sit outside on the veranda. When we got up, we were told we can't because it's a health and safety issue...so then I asked another staff member where we can sit & he said outside is fine. After all the confusion, got outside and we were invited to an array of nicotine and ash. Seems like customers are allowed to smoke up there..which seemed more of a health and safety issue to me. Anywho, ordered some chips & drinks. And we waited...and waited and waited. They gave us our chips first...and no drinks. We all thought they forgot..but 20 mins after sitting in the sun and working on our tans...the drinks came. I probably won't come back here.. alot of people were eating their mussels...and they did look yum but communication is pretty bad here and for that 2 stars. The lovely waitress & manager man at the top is what made us stay.

LuNa The TuNa

Monday half price Mussel. It's delicious and cheap. Drinks of de fontein were pretty good, especially the black beer. Steak was over cooked, too dry. I forgot to take photos. But others were pretty good.

Ivy Zhang

Five of us had seafood platter, butcher platters, a kilo mussel pot, fresh loaf, and cherry beer(must try!) , bill $190 we were soooo full! Service was fast and friendly, great location! only thing is the carpet/ floor needs to be refinished looked old and bit dirty

Ruby Guan

lovely surroundings andpleasan and helpful staff made this dinner great food was good always enjoy coming here.. will visit again soon and also recommend to our friends

권은빈

the staff is so nice and professional perefect place for musseles loved the atmosphere always busy place but everytime i have been here found service prompt will love to come again

박수미

i had lunch with some family friends from overseas... the food was good.. good collection of belgian beers.. vijay served us and was always there to look after us.... must visit place....

Hoonyoung Son

Love this place, have been coming here for many years, i never seen changes in standard, staff is always poliete and attentive will surely recommed our favourate place in mission....

Farug Nakaroon

Convineint location and friendly staff always good to come to this place nice colllection of beers view is amazing staff is always there to help you

댕채

here is very delicious and staff is very kind!!! amd beer is veri delicious we will definatly come back thank you prince manager for the special deal of deinks we will caime back with frdz

이승훈

Very delisous food!! I will come more times!!. Excellent service i came here with my friends as it was recomonded by my frdz we had best time ever great service

Rebecca Park

Firt time experience very impressed ! Staff is very friendly and they have good deals of drinks we had best deal of pints .going in group is best and indvidual as well . we are very happy thabk you so much team we will be back . I noticed some nad reviews as well but i denied as this place is the best

Kai Liu

Excellent place with nice view and service. obsessed with their mussels. best place in mission Bay to have beers and food.. will visit soon again..Reconended

Qin Xiang Dennis

sea food. flatter is great for everyone to taste local sea food. and the beer is always great. pork rib is nice too! recommend to everyone! service is also impressive!

Lan Dong

Nice mussles! Steak was cooked well, staff was friendly and service was prompt will recommend, view was be nice from balcony, staff were helpful throughout to look after us, Thank you.

Vicki Lin

definitely a best restaurant in the mission bay, love the sausage and beer here. Nice view from deck. Vijay provide the awesome service. will visit again :)

Naomi

Will visit surely again, perfect place to hang around with friends, nice food and ambience with great service, nice view from balcony and moreover helpful staff..

Emily Min Jung Choi

Came here this afternoon with family, had a very good experience overall, very nice place with great service, had a very good experience with vijay manager,will surely come back.

Mike Davies

I have been here twice now and this is a great restaurant and bar which has an excellent atmosphere especially in the evening. The food is excellent with helpful and friendly staff that are always ready to assist. Highly recommended for a bite to eat and something to drink after a day at the beach or anytime to just relax and enjoy.

Alice In New Zealand

I had good time here today. I had cherry beer first. It was always good:) fish and chips was good but little bit oily for me. I would love to come here again.

Brooke

Service is sloooow. Seated outside, group of us spread out over 3 tables. All 3 tables had old plates waiting to be cleared, 5 minutes passes, 10 minutes passes, 20 minutes passes then we ask when our tables will be cleared. Manager said soon. Finally cleared and wiped, I had to go inside to ask for menus. After being here for already 45 minutes and not being served, we waive a waitress down. She takes our order and another 25 minutes until our food or drinks come. Calamari and fries were drenched in oil which was a let down. When we order drinks they take about 20 minutes to come. Service times needs to be fixed

Food Geek

If not busy then you get to enjoy from service to food but when its busy then waiting game starts and can be quite disappointing. We went as a group and had to wait long for our orders in the end we got free desserts for the wait....so was ok :)

Prachi Nanda

It was a nice and sunny day. A perfect day for cold beer and chips and me and my partner decided to visit De Fontein Cafe for some fresh brewed beer. At the entrance it was mentioned that a staff member will assist you to find a suitable table but nobody arrived to do so. We waited for around 7-8 minutes to get seated. After getting seated we waited for another 15-20 minutes to be attended by someone but the people who arrived after us were served before us and we were still waiting for someone to come and take our order. After waiting we left the place and complained to some indian girl and still they had no courtesy to say sorry or to accept their mistake.

Sam

This place has some of the worst service I’ve ever experienced, don’t bother going here at all!! Combine that with average expensive food and expensive drinks and you have yourself a complete waste of time and money! We sat down, the waiter took our order for drinks, drinks took 20 minutes so didn’t even get to order our food until he came back with our drinks, shouldnt even take 20 minutes for some drinks!! Then our food took another 40 min on top of this, no warning, no apology and not even a busy night! Finally our mussels arrived, there was no cutlery at the table, the waiter didn’t come back to bring any After we waited awhile so had to go get our own, and to top it off after the long wait for our food the mussels were completely lukewarm, when they are meant to be in a hot steaming pot! And it doesn’t even stop there.... the mussels were also meant to come with fries and we ordered a side of garlic bread. After 15 minutes of eating mussels we ask where our fries and bread are, waiter says it’s coming soon, puts down one serving of fries when we still had 2 more to come, but assures us the others are coming right behind him. Another 15 min passes by we chase up for our 2 servings of fries and garlic bread yet again, but only get 1 more serving of fries, waiter again says the other one is coming but states that the garlic bread will be another 10 min!!We just say forget it with the garlic bread because we’re almost done eating and garlic bread shouldn’t take that damn long! We’re also still waiting on another serving of fries and chase 2 other waiters at two more seperate times after this for it and they AGAIN say it’s coming, only shows up another 15 min later after we had completely finished eating!! Seriously, how long do some fries and bread take?! Absolutely pathetic and ridiculous, and made this the most exhausting “eating out” experience ever! We shouldn’t have to chase for our food full stop! Probably the worst service and most frustrating dining experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant that I couldn’t help but make a review! There were no genuine apologies and it was all just brushed under the table like it was no big deal. This place has zero pride and couldnt give a damn about it’s customers, just clearly thinks the location is enough to keep them going! No wonder it has such bad reviews! What a shame and waste of space with such a nice location, get yourselves together, it’s not good enough at all!! Save yourself the time, money and stress, DO NOT GO HERE!

Tate Standen

Went here for Steak and Frites Wednesday $19.50 and my usual Belgian Beer Cafe Bellevue Kreik cherry beer (actually tastes like sweet/sour cherries!) with it and was very pleasantly surprised. Staff were friendly, service was quick and staff were keeping the place clean and tidy. Might just be bad timing, but whenever I get the same from The Occidental (Vulcan Lane), half of the time the steak is tough, a poor cut (harder to cook, admittedly, but med/well done one end, rare on the other), or not quite med-rare (but in saying this, they'll gladly redo if you have an issue). Here, on this night, our steaks were thick, New York cut rump (about 2in.thick) and were cooked to a perfect med-rare. They nailed the outer crust and sealed in the juices very well. It was so tender and juicy, i thought it tasted like a more expensive cut, or something from a 5 star steakhouse, at least. The sauces were rich and creamy. That chef knows how to cook a steak. Will definitely revisit when i want a fine, affordable steak.

Allan Ong

A Belgian Beer house claiming to serve Belgian steamed mussels with pre-cooked or over-cooked mussels is disgusting. This short cut is certainly unacceptable! Please note how dry the mussel is and how thick the sauce is. There is no liquor from the streaming of fresh mussels at all. Never come again to this place except of your just a beer gutted beer drinker and funny care for the food.

David Smith

Food is delicious and out of this world. One of the best places to have dinner. However, it will cost you an arm and a leg.. Drinks are the same though they do carry wines and beers. Atmosphere is pretty cool.. a mix of modern with old culture.

Suh Lee

The food is amazing as always, so is the belgian beer and the mussels. Service was amazing on a lovely day :) Especially the managers service was so good, staff was kind and I would definitely come back

Jikyung Jung

Awesome atmosphere, great taste of mussels, and beer!! Highly recommend , come here today for lunch very busy mission bay place and we had good service very friendly staff We come here often but never seen it this Busy we will be back again

Brian

Service is fabulous!!!! We tried steamed mussels and beers and they were very busy and friendly staff and food was very very very delicious :)))) definitely recommend! a big thanks to de forte team and hope you guys all the best!

Tao Zhang

There is only one waiter downstairs on public holiday, no one serve outside, we wait almost 1 hour to have food. Food is not good taste at all

Rae Zhang

We came here twice for lunch. The first time was on a Tuesday, steak was half price. The seafood platter was great, nice yummy squid. However this time we came on a Monday, mussel half price. All the mussels were small, some not cleaned properly. The grilled ones has been left in the oven for ages, the mussel itself and the shell became crispy! The only good thing is that they are freash. Very disappointed :(

Liu XiaoQing

Thanks so much for Prince’s suggestion for my beer, I love it! The seafood platter was so delicious. We will definitely come back for another try.

Brizzle

The last time I was here was about 6 years ago. This place looks really run down and it’s dirty. We ordered a St Bernardus Tripel ($15), a 330ml Hoegaarden ($11), salt and pepper squid ($16) and fries ($10). My $15 beer from the bottle per was good. It would have been better if it was more reasonably priced. A $15 330ml beer needs to be awesome, not just ‘good’. Salt and pepper squid....very average and it was soggy. Fries......below average....majority were over cooked, board-line burnt oil taste and soggy. How hard is it to take frozen fries and fry them to a crispy golden state and drain them on a paper towel?? I cook fries better at home, which annoys me when these were $10. It’s very expensive for what it is. The whole experience reminded me why I hadn’t been back in 6 years. Maybe we’ll see you in another 6 years Belgium Beer cafe.......maybe not.

Rebecca Wang

Came here when it was super busy but the food and must mentioned about service was really good, will come back for sure nice location and nice view..

Fai Fairoa

Great service, awesome beer selection, food was generous serving and tasted great. Views were awesome and the vibes, although not that busy, was pretty chill.

王晨

Visited here this afternoon,found food quality and service up to the mark,will visit again very soon,recommended . Mixed platers and steak was really cooked well

Tinafeeling625

Had a very good experience this afternoon very nice food with good service, ordered chowder, mussels and breakfast food took some time to come but they already informed us about that which was a good thing..

Andy Leung

Great food and great service, what else can you ask for? :D Good place to hang out on a rainy day. Will surely come back recommended, they have got the very nice deals

Lyla

I’ve always loved Belgian Beer Cafe, especially the one in Takapuna (which is gone now) and have tried Vulcan Lane as well as Mission bay a few times. However, my recent visit was horrible. The staff were friendly, not that welcoming but we were seated quickly. Despite it being a Tuesday night, it was FULL of people and our order took 45 minutes to come out. We ordered Fish and Chips, Chicken Breast with mushroom sauce, Seafood chowder and a pot of Mussels with 5 sauces. When the food came out, they weren’t even hot, they were warm, and seemed like they had been waiting in the kitchen for long. The pot of mussels were just average, but the seafood chowder, wow I thought I was drinking a bowl of flour with some seafood pieces. The chicken breast seemed like canned chicken, they were so dry. The fish and chips did not even have a full sized fish, it was so small and cold. Overall, I’m not sure what happened that night, but I don’t think I’ll visit ever. Service: 3/5 Food: 1/5 Ambience: 4/5 Price: 2/5

Peng Yadi

Came here This evening, very busy place but Vijay and prince managed to give us very good service we got table in the balcony very nice view good food and great hospitality.

BAbyWin

We came here on a weekend to have brunch. The place was super busy. No one seem to bother us so we just walked in to find ourselves a table. It also took quite long for someone to come to take our order and of course no surprise we had to wait long for our food to come. We are glad that the food are good so at least it worth the wait. The lamb shank was tender and the calamari was crispy on the outside and chewing in the inside. A little bit drawback on their coffee. They had a good location at Mission Bay. It would be nice to see they can improve on the service and coffee.

Erina Ozaki

Had a very good dinner, was told by our friends to visit here on Monday for half price mussels, will definitely come back again, very nice place for family gatherings,Thank you guys.

Keiter

It is no longer what it used to be. We ordered an open chicken sandwich and the deep-fried chicken was hard as rock. Seafood platter has reduced in portion, let alone that they now only have two sauce offerings. The deep-fried oysters and mussels were cold. I was thinking about asking about these changes but nobody did meal check at all. We were here to spend our anniversary and this became an immense disappointment. Will never dine here again. This is my first ever zomato review and I am mad as hell.

Jonelle Lee

Good value steaks and big juice mussels, friendly and helpful staff. Would recommend when visiting Mission Bay. Will surely come back and highly recommended

Ayen Chen

Came this afternoon for mussels very nice and fresh food with excellent service will surely come back and recommend to our friends Had a amazing experience like always

Zengmengrong

We had fantastic food here! The steak is really good! Guarantee will come back here later! Service is also nice! With the beautiful Bayview, it is awesome!

Lin574684407

The food is really fresh and nice. We are enjoy it!ordered mussels chicken and pork ribs and sirloin steak served nicely will recommend to our friends.

Eldk0110

It was really good meal with family and nice jazz and manager Vijay was super friendly!! nice jazz on sundays overall enjoyed our evening will come back for sure...

Zac

Great place to have a meal with a view! Foods tasty, staffs friendly! Having a meal at this awesome place then going for a walk along Misson Bay is one of my favourite things to do!! Highly recommend this place!!

Brett

To be fair. Nice view n cold beer. Food was below average n service was pretty poor. Maybe it was a bad day for em but 4 of us got different meals n neither of us enjoyed it for the price

Sreejith V Pawar

Been here while i was in mission bay. I had just one beer and the view was just stunning. Sunset at its best. Nice place overall and friendly staffs. Must try. Though i didnt try food over der.

Smitha AB

Great restaurant with beautiful view of the beach. Food was awesome and customer service was so good that I want to thank Price and Vijay for making our day go smooth.

Melanie

We arrived early just after 5pm on a Tuesday for birthday dinner. Food is great and generous in portion, arrives in reasonable time. Service is great, special mention for Lonn and Vijay.

Patricia Au

Must taste the mussels in pot paired with your fav Belgian beers. A great place to view the sunset at Mission Bay. Attentive service by Prince and Vijay.

Teresia Kora

Really loved the friendly staff that welcomed us. We had come in with my newborn baby and they were all kind to welcome us in and lend a helping hand taking her pram upstairs. The food was also amazingly delicious ! This is why we always come here for the good food. All round a lovely place to dine and have quality time with the family/friends!

Jannydau

The customer service was amazing. We had a little baby with us today and they carried the stroller up and down the stairs for us and were very kind about it, they made sure we were comfortable the whole time we were there. The food was amazing we had the beef stew and steak. It’s our favourite place for a good steak. I would recommend it to others and would definitely keep coming back.

Tao Ye

good food and service ordered sea food chowder and sausages good experience with vijay and prince they looked after us will come back nice view from balcony

Choeun Park

had very good experience this afternoon very good customer service will surely come back and recommend to our friends very nice view from balcony

Jess

Great place with a great view 👍 The service was great and the food was really tasty! Definitely recommend coming here for a nice lunch with friends 👍

김태현

Nice place, perfact food!!!!!!! Ordered musseles bread and dips and some beers nice jazz music great hospitality and very nice view from balcony

Ella Zhao

Good food with beautiful view. Ordered ribs sirloin and kids meal food took reasonable time, service was excellent and staff was polite will recommend to our friends

Joycebaby

The food quality was good, nice presentation and service was excellent, I wanted lunch before 11.00 am, and vijay helped me getting that for my mom, will come back for sure.

Hana Rewi

I and my partner dined here last night. Customer service was okay. A waiter came over but seen we were still deciding what to order so he left us for another 10 minutes (would have loved it if he gave a few recommendations) He then came back to take our food and drinks order. Food and drinks came out quickly. My cocktail was great but my food was not up to standard. I ordered the Belgian Sausages on stoemp. It was cold, the sausages tasted pre-cooked and my gravy was lumpy. We also ordered an entree which never came because the waiter forgot to put it through. Customer service could be better here (check on customers when their drinks are low, and ask how our meals are)

Caicai Hou

Had a very good lunch very friendly service by Vijay food took reasonable time nice sea view perfectly cooked steak enjoyed will surely recommend and come back...

Shrichard8888

The food was nice taste and good looking.ordered seafood plater and ribs which was very tasty nicely seeved by the staff nice view good ambience and amazing service will surely come back

Scai Brito Rodrigues

OMFFFG!!! Best steak I've ever had in a looong time and shit I'm brazilian XD Totally recommend the 500g of Angus Prime for everyone, just amaaaazing. Some meals we never forget and that was one of them!

Mkyktc

Great mussel pots also great service here lovely people , good slection of beers. I will definitely come back Prince and Vijay good stuff mate

Link L.

Had very good experience this afternoon with service by Vijay food came very quickly nice ambience will surely come back very good deal half price mussels

John Amigos

Vijay is best Food better Selection of beer amazing Wed night special experience Plus fireball shot $6.00 !! Always like coming here great hospitality

Esther Jihyeon Shin

Came this evening around 8.30, had mussels and ribs was very busy but the food took reasonable time, and good service too.will surely come back.

181hobson

Came this evening to try seafood platter and chowder,was served perfectly food took reasonable time, and service was good too, nice view from balcony we were being looked after well......

Hiimclifff

We like coming here always on Mondays good food with good customer service, nice variety of beers too, Thank you team de fontein. Will recommend to our friends

Georgie

Good pub nice spot for group lunch had lunch this afternoon served by Vijay, mussel deal is very good had a great experience overall, will come back for sure.

Mcaneht

Nice bar restaurant in mission bay one of our friend suggested this place nice jazz on Sunday will be coming back again good meal and found seevice really impressive thanks to vijay and his team mates

Jessica Lim

Very nice food with awesome customer service! Had brunch here, ordered four menus and they were all delicious :) I wanted the seafood chowder less salty than usual and Vijay helped me getting exactly what I wanted! Will definitely come back here

Yin Huang

Brought my mum and a friend there Monday afternoon, food was good. Very helpful and friendly staff, especially Prince and Vijay. Will definitely be there again.

Michael Joe

Had a very good experience this evening with my friends, we were being looked after by Vijay will surely come back and will recommend to our friends, half price mussels was a very good deal.

Chris Zhang

One of the best deals available in mission bay, it's hard to find a deal that provides fantastic food, vibrant colours, a pleasant atmosphere perfect for social meetings,will come back for sure,Thank you vijay...

Kenny Phang

Food was awesome and full, service was friendly. Great view with the table we had . Had the steak which was just right , compare to others I tried .Keep up the good work.

Mikan

Very good food, nice servixe. Mussel pot taste super! Lamb Shank with big portion, ribs are nice as well, Nice sea view as well! Very nice service with VIJAY and Prince!

Wilson

Excellent service and delicious food, I ordered butcher’s block and seafood chowder, they came very quickly, definitely will come back and recommend to my friends, love it (>^ω^

Xinyang Sun (知恩炙洋)

We had a fanatastic dinner after work food was good was surprised by the service very nice and poliete staff, good collection of beers will coming back.

Crystal Yiyi Wang

Enjoyed our half price mussels, good food good service and enjoyed with their hospitality, must visit place, don’t know why their ratings are down, they deserve 5 stars. Will come back for sure.Thank you Vijay.

Aldrin Tay

Good food, generous portions and great service. The mussels were especially good. Had an expired coupon and the manager was understanding enough to accept it.

Chang Ho Lee

TASTY AND LOVELY FOOD! GOOD SERVICE TOO! As a tourist from Australia, received recommendations from my friend to come. Really enjoyed the beach, the food, the vibes and overall experience was very satisfying! Would recommend to my other friends as well.

Jun Yong Park

This is the perfect place to have a good time with your family or friends. I will strongly recommend this place to my friends. Food was really good and service was really good as well. Most importantly, staff was really kind.

Jeremysucw

I must say, the quality of food was really good, had a great view from balcony, the burger deal is worth,great hospitality from Vijay and his team mates,will come back for sure.

Na Na

Always love to come here because of their food and service, enjoyed half price mussels, had a great experience as usual with Vijay and his team, highly recommended, see you guys soon..

Ehsjt4216

Wonderful place we have really best experience here I want to visit again Very Gooooooood And staffs are so kind people Sunday jazz bar was great for me

Eric Lamb

Very nice staff and nice food here. Nice for family, friends and also come in as groups. Always here for their steak and mussels. Highly Recommend and make sure you call Vijay

Alexis Stanley

Nice ambiance to the place, went on a Wednesday evening for a steak special-super affordable for a decent cut of steak cooked to perfection with fries & mushroom sauce (medium rare! if you ask for fully cooked-then there’s something wrong with you!!! lol) Staff were friendly & attentive.

ANKIT

Such a beautiful restaurant with nice views. It’s a good place to have drinks with friends. Tried side dishes that were good. However, pork ribs. Damn !! So cold. Service: 4/5 Wedges/ chips: 5/5 Tempura prawn 🍤:4/5 Pork ribs: 1/5 ( so cold ) Waffles: 4/5

Qixvmun

We had Thursday lunch at this place. We ordered large platter to share an it was great. The steaks are well cooked. Services here are great. Recommend

Charis Yang

Very good place and environment for a family meal, friendly services and delicious food. Pork ribs, mussels are our family's favorite. Good choice for a special dinner and good prices.

Derain

Half prize mussels were a good deal, we were served by vijay had a great experience overall, we will be coming back for sure, nice view from balcony.

Jan Puzon

Food was really good. The seafood and meats were cooked just right. The people were friendly and accomodating. Good service as well. They have daily promos which is really good.

Yunjia Qu

Had a wonderful experience here on Sunday night,service and food was amazing, jazz and is awesome, highly recommendable, will be coming back for sure, Thank you team de fontein.

Krono.wei

came here on Sunday eve, had a pleasant food and beverage, the mussels were fresh and nice with different flavors and the ribs were super tasty, liked.

Kejia Dong

We went there with few friends at around 2pm. The first impression was the restaurant wasn't in order. We ordered drinks and it took around 20 mins for them to serve drink only. And the food we ordered are fairly easy dishes. We waited more than one hour and the food still not served. Overall it was a really bad experience

Speechienz

We have been at de fontaines today and I just want to commend the staff for the wonderful job they did today. It was the busiest I have ever seen it. I especially want to acknowledge Simona working bar down. She was awesome and still smiled.

Wu Ice

Terrible experience！We order mix seafood platter and it missing smoked salmon and mussels very dry! The pasta is the worst one. We have wait two hours here for table and the food that’s very long long time!! The most let me angry thing is bad customer service. We would not come back again😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

Del Kotiro

Food was bad wouldnt recommend the deserts below average, not worth it. The beer was nice that was it. Service was below average, did not have to wait long for the food. Cherry beer was really nice. LIve Jazz music was good.

Food.review.nz

Came here with my family who was over for vacation and was highly disappointed with the quality of their food and service. Though it is in the heart of Mission Bay, don’t expect much. They serve classic pub food as well as seafood. Came back again for a second try but this time I chose the Ribs and that was slightly better, however, I would say overall, I wouldn’t go back as the food is pretty average considering how much you have to pay for it. Parking is free around Mission Bay and on side streets. Food 4/10 Ambience 5/10 Service 4/10 Price 3/10

Amy Huang

Came here Wednesday night, had a amazing experience with the food and service, the staff were very attentive and polite with us, will be back for sure, thank you guys.

Claudia

we ordered 5 dishes and each and every food is out of this world. We came on a friday night and we had a blast!!! The service is excellent, vibe too👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 we’ll definitely come back!!!!

Elfrida Stefani

Excellent food, excellent service, excellent location. Will definitely come back for the mussels!! An amazing place to spend your friday night👏🏼😆😆

Trish Fernandez

We had a fantastic Friday dinner after work. Food was great and tasty. Tried their chicken and smoked salmon for the win! Staff are super friendly too. (thanks to Prince) we will definitely come back. :)

Randolph Martinez

We had a great time! Food was great! Staff was amazing too. Prince and the short frenchy blonde girl (forgot her name 🤪) , both of them were so accommodating. Will definitely come back to this place 😄

Sunny Yixiang Sun

I have beautiful Friday dinner , I went here with my friends from overseas we are very impressed. We will definitely come back . Good beers and excellent service. Thank you manager for hosting us

Little Borneo Girl

We had tried their seafood platter twice and was pleased before so we decided to dine there again yesterday evening. We were seated but no one came to take our order. We waved to a male server who nodded his head so we thought he would come back but he never did. That male server seemed very disorganised or may be new to the job. Finally after probably 20 to 30 minutes later, we finally had our orders taken. We ordered two glasses of wine and a seafood plater. The wine came fast and the platter came not too long later. We we absolutely shocked at the presentation. We ordered a small platter $52.50 and indeed every thing looked small. There were about two small scallops, quite a few mussels, two sticks of prawns and maybe 6 oysters (3 raw and 3 tempura). The miserable two salmon slices looked disgusting, very much off color. Good thing I took a photo of the food before we indulged in it. After eating all the tiny oysters and one or two mussels, we decided this platter was not going to he enough feed so we ordered a Belgium sausage main to share. At the same time, we pointed out to the staff about the miserable portion of the platter. The Manager or Staff in charge came and only acknowledged the portion size (after looking at the photo I took). He said he will upgrade the platter with more calamari and other stuff (calamari was missed out in the platter). We asked to order something else but he said we had already eaten ‘most of the food’. That was absolute nonsense as we only ate the oysters and two mussels. In the end he saw the picture we took and agreed to remove the charge. Yesterday’s event was the worst we ever had in any restaurant. If the Manager had agreed for us to order something else, we won’t have felt so annoyed. (He was only convinced after seeing the photo). It totally spoiled our Thursday evening out. He did finally agreed to prepare more food for us but we (especially me) was totally sick of the place and couldn’t wait to get out. The Manager/staff apologised and only charged us for the drinks. I would have given a rating of 1 (or zero) if not for his apology. We did go there quite a bit especially for their mussel pot but I am not sure I would want to dine there again. We had a few months ago ordered their meat platter which was dry and horrible too. PS Picture of the miserable sized (small indeed) seafood platter. That was taken when it was just served. Other picture is the off color salmon. Tiny portion of both the salmon and scallop. The dipping sauce was untidily presented too. Overall a very unhappy experience and ruined my mood totally. Perhaps I should have kept quiet and just give them a bad review.

Anna Chan

VERY unprofessional and rude. If 0 stars were an option I would be giving it. We received bad service. I ordered the big breakfast, the waitress came back 10 mins late to ask me how I would like my eggs to be cooked. After 10 minutes she came back to tell me I can't order the big breakfast because it's only available before 11am. I was left to choose something else - went with the chicken and mushroom crepe - it tasted good but we ended up getting food poisoning from it. We know we got food poisoning from this because it was the only meal we shared that day. However, my problem is not with what happened, my problem is with the fact that I emailed the cafe, never got a reply, messaged them on Facebook and got blocked by them for just telling them I had messaged and had not yet gotten a reply. I am shocked by the censorship of this cafe. I'm thinking if you have a problem and they don't want to deal with it, they will pretend the problem doesn't exist and just delete your messages. Will not be returning.

Ashika Chand

Very bad experience last nite had to wait more than an hour for food. Lamb chops came out burnt and rubby like texture. Improve your kitchen standards and service I could cook better food than De Fontein. Chips tasted ok but the yogurt sauce had no favour how abt jazzing it up with some herbs or spices.

Ģirts Betmanis

Mussel Mondays are the best. Mussel tasting pot upgraded with 5 different sauces is very good way how to enjoy NZ World of sea food. Even if you starter or experienced with sea food, that's a good choice. 1 kg of mussels are more than enough to get you full. And beer, ohh, not much comment, just enjoy.

Marion Van Dijk

Ordered steak for my wife and a mussel platter with fries for me. Steak arrived luke warm , even the garlic butter on it wouldn't melt. Some 10-15 min later my mussels arrived which were rather dry and of poor quality. Again, after asking twice, 10-15 min later my fries arrived, very pale and soggy. The mayonnaise was something liquid. Quality has deteriorated from what it used to be. We have been long time regular customers but I'am afraid "no more".

Annie Wilson

TERRIBLE. We waited 1.5hr for our mains!!! We haven't been back since. But the manager was very apologetic and gave us a 10% discount (which we didn't ask for - but was very kind of him). There was a mix up with tables and our food got cancelled. It wasn't bad or the end of the world but of course we were disappointed. We did use to come to this restaurant quite often.

Susakol

Always enjoy our Grilled mussels and the butcher block, love the environment but just the customer service let it down, overall satisfied comment.

Mack Winiata

So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe So safe Man behind the bar is safe

Hao

This is my second time here. The first time was good but this time was terrible. We ordered the medium-cooked steak but it was over cooked, as the photo shows, like a piece of charcoal, even worse, the manager said it was OK!!! The steak tasted bitter and I think it is bad for health. Besides, the chips with steak were also over cooked and some mussels were not fresh with funny smells.

David Wang

I ordered medium well steak and this one is over cooked and becomes almost completely black and is so hard and we have difficulty cutting it！It is literallt like stone. Honestly the worst steak ever tasted in New Zealand. One mussle my friend opened is very smelley and probably not fresh. Some fries with the steak are also over cooked . The fries served with mussles are the only OK food we have. I will never ever come to this restaurant again.

Serena Wang

Beautiful dinner and good service. Looking forward to coming back!! Beautiful Friday night. Definitely come back!!!! Next time I will bring more friends with me!

Bhmin89

Found this place always busy but its always good to come here again,because the food and service is always good,will come back again,Thank you.

Ronald Singh

Well Now I agree with the rating showing for this restaurant 2.4 Horrible experience here’s why....... No greeting from the staff coz they were to busy drinking upstairs behind the bar, Not even a warm welcome We got told to go sit at our table outside and someone will take our order!! Well table was dirty and was given 4 knifes and two forks for 2 of us wtf lol, 24mins later someone came and took our order...... by the way we didn’t even have water on the table we asked 4 times for WATER but nothing and this time I was over it, I asked again that I want water now then I got it... finally never felt so happy to get some water..... Well it gets better here 45 mins later we get our food which looked horrible everything was thrown on the plate with no love and our experience was just ruined, the staff placed wet plates on our table which is below standards!! I asked for a manager but no one came so we paid and left!! Management you should reply with a constructive response, and maybe review you’re standards that you have placed in you’re restaurant, this place is located in a popular tourist destination so you should have high standards, and more staff on floor assisting customers and giving that customer service experience that everyone comes for!! Customers if you want to wait for 45 mins for a meal or even water I recommend you NOT to go to this place, overall GET YOU PLACE AND FOOD SORTED. Kindest Regards Paying happy smiling customer!!

John BENS

8 pm and no mussels. The waitress very cool but really we come here for the mussel pot. Supermarkets close take a hit and go buy some. Will need to find another local eatery

徐航

Had a good afternoon today,busy restaurant but service was good,food was good as well,will definitely recommend to our friends and will cum back for sure,Thank you.

Daniel Ting

Went for lunch on Auckland Anniversary Day and the restaurant was very busy so there was a 30 minutes for our food - was worth the wait though! We ordered the seafood platter, calamari, chicken burger, and a kilo of garlic white wine mussel - Leffe Blonde was an excellent match drink! Aaron the manager was very helpful in sorting out some account issues we had with our Frenz Card. Thanks Aaron and the De Fontein team!

Tyler.wu

Nice jazz band,enjoyed our food and beers,had a nice view on balcony,will definitely cum back,found staff very friendly,and helpful.Thank you for looking after us.

Artemis

Great spot for a Hoegarden. Have eaten nearly everything off the menu. Not terrible food but this place is better just for beers and sun on the top deck. Always busy upstairs but mange to get a spot with minimal waiting. Will drop in bow and again to catch up with someone over a few pints.

Brooklyn

Visited here with the other half when they had a deal on Grabone. Were waiting to be served for a while when we were eventually directed to head upstairs. Disappointed in the decor and dining area it looked very outdated (not in an old style/design but genuinely old/run down) which for the super popular Mission Bay area was very unexpected. Browsing the menu we settled on calamari and my partner purchased the rib special, which was $20. The calamari was not the best I had tried so I did not finish the plate. The ribs weren't tender nor flavoursome. Left to use the bathrooms while the other paid, found the toilets to be like something you'd find down the back of an old chinese takeout on dominion rd, worn and unpleasant. Came back from the bathroom trip to find that the $20 deal did not apply to our voucher which we were not informed of when mentioning Grabone to the waiter, nor was it mentioned in the terms and conditions of the deal which only stated that you had to purchase a drink (which we did) to be eligible for $20 ribs. Would have given more stars if we didn't have to pay extra for a meal that wasn't worth half the price.

Xixixi0509

Steak deal was worth,had a very good experience,friendly staff,nice atmosphere,enjoyed mussels and beers,view from balcony was very nice,will definitely come back.

Tracey Andrews Smith

We used to go all the time and decided to revisit the restaurant whilst in Auckland over Christmas. Sadly we found the decor very tired and the meal disappointing, as it used to be a mainstay dish. When serving mussels it is imperative they are fresh! The mussels were broken, empty and over cooked to cover their age, even the lemon was old!!

Justin

We came in to this place on 21 January 2018. The initial greeting was welcoming and shown to a table rather promptly, so we were off to a good start. Or so we thought. A little bit of a wait for a waitperson to take our orders (we had to wave one of them down who passed by). We weren't after a huge meal so we ordered the kids fish and chips (for our 2 year old daughter), and my wife ordered waffles with bacon and bananas. I ordered waffles with fruit, custard & icecream. The lady seemed put off by our order and rolled her eyes in a huff as though we had to order more. I didn't realize there was a minimum we had to order at this place. Probably just as well we didn't order more if the waffles were anything to go by. So the fish and chips and waffles arrived. Half decent chips and the fish was just ok. However, both our plates of waffles were cold, rubbery and no flavour whatsoever. The bacon that accompanied my wife's waffles was also cold as if it was only sitting in the pan for only a few seconds. The waffles I ordered came with a small bowl of fruit that smelled like it had onion or aioli dip in moments before, as I could smell it and taste it through the bits of fruit that I ate. And the small bowl of custard was also cold, and had clearly been watered down, and it didn't even taste like custard at all. There was no spoon to eat the icecream (is it that hard to give a spoon for icecream - its quite difficult to eat melted icecream with a fork). When we came to pay, the gentleman half leaning/half standing across the counter appeared to have no interest in my issue when I tried to point out the food was less than satisfactory. We wont be going back to De Fontein again and would recommend to others to consider very carefully before venturing here and undergoing a form of food torture. This place gets a 1 star for the initial greeting.

Sarah Lim

Beautiful dinner experience on a Saturday evening. We had the mussel with the creamy white wine and the 500g rump steak. Service much better than before. Great selection of beers. Lovely view on the balcony.

Jay Xing

Great customer service,our complaint was taken by seriously by the manager,staff was very friendly,enjoyed,steak deal...will definitely cum back and will recommend to our friends..

L K

Came here for a beer on a hot day! Wouldn't say the staff were the friendliest. I dont think I would come here again. Service is everything and if people are going to act like they don't want to serve you....then you're better off spending your money somewhere else. I'm not sure if it was because I was Brown? Or what... anyways... not going back there

Ayaan

If I could give less than 1 I would worst experience ever service was ok,but the food OMG was so terrible I didn’t eat it and it cost me $55 for seafood platter which definitely is not $55 dollars and that was the small what made it worse was we waited an hour for food and when did cone out it was like they put food on used plate because it was so dirty,food was cold mussels definitely were not fresh it was all just soggy cold and so bland,by the looks of your reviews you need to seriously review your chefs because obviously they are doing something wrong if you want I can come and train them free of charge I won’t be back and would never recommend to anyone..

Steve Acker

My family are on vacation from the States. We happened upon this restaurant and had a fantastic seat overlooking the bay beach. We had a wonderful server, Amy D, and would highly recommend anyone visiting the Mission bay area to look up this restaurant and request Amy as a server. Food was great, the service was better and the beer selection was superb. Thank you!

Vanisha Chand

Good customer service, especially from Chris. Great staff, great food, and affordable prices. Looking forward to coming back for the meals as I only had Belgium brownie, which was very nice.

Songrui Chen

Have a wonderful dinner here. The view is good, food is good, service is good. Seafood platter is very huge with many different seafood. Rib is delicious.

JP

Really disappointed. The food was average, bland and soggy. Dirty table, dirty glasses. The highlight of the menu is the beer selection, but that is where the positivity ends. Unfortunately this place is not what it used to be. The service was terrible, rushed and inattentive. Nasty tourist trap, do not bother. Ever.

Quỳnh Trang

Great food and service ...loved it...be back soon...highly recommended...........

Kai

Terrible service and food was below average. Sat down and ordered drinks for the whole table. All drinks came except for one delivered to the table by a runner. Our waiter was nowhere to be found so I inquired with a waiter from another section. I watched the waiters converse and get into an argument over the missing drink. It took over 20 minutes for the last drink to make it to the table. I could not believe what was happening. It was like something out of the Benny hill show. Food took over an hour to come out of the kitchen and all meals were delivered to the table except one. Same story as the drink.Food was below average.I was so embarrassed for recommending the place that night and I will never go back.

Hana

De Fontein is just okay. Unfortunately, the food I ordered was rather disappointing. Other than that, the service is good and the place was busy at lunch time. I ordered the seafood chowder. When it came to the table, it was presented nicely and looked pretty good. However, that was about it. The bread was super stale. Upon inspection of the bread, there were some blue marks on it... I am not sure whether is was mould or what. Anyway, the bread was difficult to cut and was extremely crumbly and dry. I understand that you may want to use it to soak up the soup, but this bread was beyond that point. Super disappointing. The chowder itself was alright - rather lacklustre and barely warm. As I was eating it, I found large bits of mussel beards in my soup as well as some hard grit from the mussels. A friend on my table had ordered some frites - these were good. The sauce that came with them was good too. Overall, De Fontein has average food but good service. It was a good place to spend time with my friends, but I will not be back for the food; maybe just for the drinks and bar snacks.

Cherish D'Cotta

Was quite excited to go for the seafood platter on nice sunny day. But it was an absolute let down. We sat outside and the four tables behind us were not cleared for a good 20 mins. Water glasses weren’t clean when we got served water. We ordered the seafood platter and some fries. Staff didn’t inform us that they didn’t have oysters that day so it arrived to us without it. Ciabatta loaf was also cold. To top it off our order of fries was not put through. Was such a dissapointment for a place that we always looked forward to comming to.

Jmck

Just had the worst dinner there. Ordered the chicken burger and chips. The bread was super stale, the lettuce rotten, and the chicken bland the only thing decent was the chips. I thought it was quite pricey for a burger but assumed it would be lush so ordered it. Yuck! I’m not a fussy eater but it was inedible. How can you get a burger so wrong? Would never go back.

Rico Shao

My mom love the seafood planter and berry beer^-^outside table have little bit sunshine～but nice view look at mission bay～some bird and seagulls around us～seafood flesh and good～

Alex Zhao

The restaurant was my favourite in Auckland. And now i am so disspointed that they become to the worst one! Service is so bad!!! and the spicy pork ribs is so dry and cold! Mussels are not fresh, some of them are not open shell!!! Not recommended!

Gordon Geko

came here yesterday as it was a nice day and we had a great experience at the mt eden de post - got a seat upstairs near the outside so it was nice and breezy. Unfortunately it looks like new owners have taken over and all they want to do is upsell you drinks - the first couple of attempts are reasonable but asking 4-5 times if i want another beer within 30-40mins is excessive, the food was also substandard compared to other branches - Fries and fish n chips were soggy and undercooked, not crispy like the one at mt Eden - it appears that the muscle pot was also less than the mt eden one. Overall environment is still nice but the new management need to focus on customer experience and quality of the food as opposed to drink upsells - there is the risk that you end up killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Jamie

This restaurant actually is my favourite restaurant. But I found it the food are getting down a little bit? Hard to say but overall service or food both great. Good place to come enjoy the nice weather with family and friends

Yiming Lian

$29 dollars.! This is what I have got. AND Who can tell me where is my bacon in this so-call onion and bacon sauce? Bad, the only thing I can say about this place.

Stevie Marino

Waited about 30 minutes to have a drink order taken and it wasn’t overly busy. Ended up going up to order drinks and food at the bar. Food was average at best unfortunately. The service needs to be worked on, desperately.

Vicki Ko

Came here for some chill drinks. Half way through we decided to order the Po Pei mussels ‘cheese, bacon and spinach’. We’ve had this before at Occidental which we found delicious so we thought it would be the same here but it’s no where near... the mussels were bitter and rotten and gross and I’m pretty sure they use blue cheese - I would suggest they change the cheese they use or at least mention on the menu that it is blue cheese? Not many people actually like the taste of blue cheese. I would have thought twice before ordering if they had simply put this on the menu. Our friends on another table ordered a seafood platter which included a cheese and bacon mussel which we tried as we would assume it would be the same and was definitely different and nicer to the platter of mussels we ordered - they definitely used a different cheese. Have eaten here before and the food was not good then, thought would give them a second chance a year and a half later and it’s just worse. Told one of the staff who said he would get the manager but 25 minutes later, still no one. Finally when we asked again and the manager showed up. We told him and he said he didn’t know what cheese was used but would ask the chef what they thought of the mussel but that they should have used the same cheese - if they said it’s not ok they’ll not charge us but if they said its fine, they would take 50% off. Easy for them to say it’s fine, which they of course did. However, the manager was at least nice enough to not charge us for the mussels which we did appreciate. Disappointed to say the least with the food and again, would highly recommend for them to simply mention the type of cheese they use so that customers know what they are ordering.

Nicole Wu

Busy place but food came super fast. Beautiful view in this restaurant and beautiful food. We enjoy this place so much!! Staff very friendly. Highly appreciate this place. Thank you and see you next time 👌🤗👍

Marcwatt007

We had a great night here tonight. Very good place in mission bay. We are very impressed by the restaurant food and specially Belgian beers. So many options in wines and beers. Plus so many special deals on everything. Food was delicious and service was very friendly. Our waiter Indian looking guy was so good , very attentive. We are really impressed. Thank you man for a great time and looking after us so well. You should get a rise. Surely recommend to all my friends and family!

Yun Wan Luk

very nice place : very buzzing atmosphere: great music ; very good beers and very delicious food: we had fish and chips special. mussell tasting pot is so big portions ; and Friday night is very busy ; service is very efficient and staff is very friendly but professional; specially vijay manager so friendly and gave us xtra ordinary service. He is very good manager; thank you so much; highly recommended !

Memy Wong

Wowwww what a great place : very good beer list and food is very delicious too: the mussell tasting pot is so big ; and Friday night fish and chips only $30 for two is so cheap and so tasty: service is very fast: staff is very friendly which these days is very hard to find easily: specially vijay is so funny and friendly ; he made our day; thank you so much; highly recommended to everyone out there in Auckland: see you soon with my family function ,, cheers !

侯雨欣

Amazing sunday jazz music. Delicious food. Very friendly service. Fantastic is the word for this place. Satff and Manger Vijay is very nice. cheers.

Kent Teo Guo Keng

Meeting my clients here for a pre-wedding shoot. The place found really buzzing. We come to know it's a Monday half price mussels so it's packed. But lucky enough to get a table . The mussels were amazing. Overall great food and service in mission bay. Five star from me. I will be back with more of my clients to entertain this place. Good going guys. Highly recommended 😊👌👍

Frank Wang

Wowwwwww ......... Best experience of my life. Great food and service . Highly recommended! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Math7067

Great experience, very tasty food and fast service, very cheap , very nice, beautiful restaurant. Mussells very cheap and delicious . Thanks jay manager. See you again.

Sopha Peter Belmonte

On arrival we stood waiting to be seated for a few minutes. Might be a New Zealand thing but we did not get acknowledge by any staff. All the staff walked passed us numerous times. I would of been happy to hear “someone will be with you shortly” or something along those lines. It was only when a staff doing dishes noticed that we were staying at the stairs for a while to come and let us know that some one will be with us shortly.. (5-8minutes) A short welcome will definitely help customers feel at ease. After being seated we ordered the special ‘steak’. The steak was cooked medium - medium rare which was good but the cut itself was a little chewy/tough. We also ordered lemon lime bitters. I noticed the drink tasted funny like it was just soda water. The staff first questioned it but then took it back to the bar and tasted it himself. The issue was quickly resolved and a new drink was made. Overall for the menu special ‘steak’ price it was ok.

Rika Charoenporn

Nice place and great food. Superb fresh oyster & mussel platter. With friendly staff. Monday is famous for mussels so thought to try it and the experience was awesome. The service was very fast , the delicious food and very wide range of Belgian beers... we loved the cherry beer and Hoogarden. It’s a great venue on great sea side beach. Surely coming back with my family. Thanks for the great experience guys. The manager Vijay is amazing very friendly.

Susan Chand

A group of us went today and the worst restaurant Ive been to. Our food took an hour, was told approx 30min. Ordered a pasta dish, asked for a little chilli, got served butter chicken pasta, without flavor, and tasted awful. I returned the dish and asked for fish and chips instead. Worst fish in NZ. It was greasy, they used frozen hoki which was dry or must have been expired!!! It was smelly and chewy. All four orders of fish and chips were awful. Chicken tenders were fried in the same batter as the fish. I should have taken a pic of how it presented. It was disgussting, kids didnt even touch it. Never going back. And not being racist, the chef was Indian. Which explained the quality of food and the "butter chicken pasta" And for the price, their food is not worth it. They need to learn food presentation and customer service.

Ayamousa711

Great food, good service. Mussels were delicious!! Calamari wasn't great, bit floury, but the chicken vou le vent was nice and the chocolate mousse was to die for!

Marquis Holmes

I commend the customer service. My family and I received from the manager. They brought out food to us and it was not quite up to standard I told the waiter nicely and voiced my concern in regarding to the kids meal presented and also my mussels that were over baked. I ended up cancelling the kids meal and ate what I can salvage from the mussels as I am too tired from a day out to complain. After couple of minutes speaking to the waiter the manager came up to me and Apologised without making any excuses and came back with a perfectly baked mussels and he was so friendly and spent time talking to us and my children. Thank you for your service and we will be back soon. Made my day. #nostressdining

Ella Han

Thanks for the great dinner :D! It was really awesome😊💕 The restaurant is really close from Auckland CBD. We ordered 3 kg steam pots with some beers. Staffs are really friendly and nice to us.

김수정

As usual great experience; monday half price mussells very delicious; yummy food with friendly service; i think new management but doing a great job; beautiful sea views ; great belgian beers; we had hogaarden, leffe dark, cherry beers very tasty; we are regular of this place because of this only, everytime we come had a great experience consistently; five star from me and my overseas friends; 😊😊😊

Florence Nadia Tirtodjojo

Always come back here for the lamb shank and a glass of Leffe Dark :) Should be perfect for summer time to sit outside and enjoying the view and an ice cold beer.

Mocha Luan

Fantastic dinner with my friends. Seafood platter was fatabulous and mixed large platter was awsome. It was a packed Friday night and service was amazing. So efficient. Staff so attentive and was smiley faces. Great experience coming back soon guys ! 😘😘😘👏👏👍 thanks Jay.

Crackerjacker

Haven't had the best experience here, heard it was somewhere to go but after looking at the reviews, I must have been wrong. The service wasn't the best, I understand they were busy but could have been nicer about it. I ordered the salmon salad thing, very tasty I have to say and had a nice view looking out onto the street and got some people watching in

April Fu

Amazing food, service was fast. Friendly staff. Views are beautiful from the balcony. Beach was great in sun. We had Belgian sausage with mash and Thursday special ribs very generous portion. Food was up to expectations. Great place for a day off. Tasty mocktails Tropicana and red peach. I am surely coming back soon. 👌👍

GreeneggsnHam

Usually come here for the belle view kriek! So good! But ive had a couple of dishes here and they have been good so far 😊 mussels are lovely. I really like their chowder!! Never disappointed. Chips and wedges are great. Belle view kriek ribs are delicious! There are some great front of house superstars there! On the top level! 11/10 customer service to the male with dreads 👌 i relly like coming here. You get a good view too. Had a really bad experience with the grilled mussels. They used a really nasty smelling cheese. Smelt so so bad. Like blue cheese which they denied they used. But I had a friend sitting on another table, they had ordered mussels too but they had the mussel platter. We tried the cheese one of theirs and compared it to ours and they were completely 2 different cheeses. The chef said they're the same. If you're a chef. I dont know how you cant tell they're obviously different!!!! and they didnt wana own up to it. We even gave one of our mussels for our friend to try and she also thinks it was blue cheese and definitely not the same as theirs. In the end we only had to pay half price for the mussels which is reasonable. but would not order those mussels again that's for sure.

Naziminator

Revisited this place after a long time n was a bit disappointed with the quality. Had seafood platter n fish n chips. The taste was ok. Presentation was good but service was a bit slow. Quite expensive though, must look at lowering the price a bit Nice view during the day time

Dang Luong

Great experience at this place. We have been recommended by friends and we are so glad we came here. It was steak special night. Half price for a big 500gm steak and simply amazing and it was perfectly cooked for us. Belgian beer are also very great. Staff is very attentive and service was friendly but efficient. Highly recommended to all. 5 star from us. Thank you guys. Coming back soon.

Sasa Aragao

Had a very cruisy afternoon here with my amazing man. Food was yum. Drinks and service great too. Friendly staff. Great view :-) Brasil. Lalalalala

Rg Gariando

The service was good as the staff was accomodating in catering to the needs of the customers. Location wise the resto has an very picturisque ambiance as you can see the beach. The toilets were clean and well manage in terms of the needs. The food is perfect, where the steak is mouthwatering and juicy. You can really taste the angus beef made at it's purest juices. I will definitely come back here for more with my mates. Highly recommended !!! Cheers.

Michaela K

The view was nice and they had friendly service... The mussel tasted good especially with the red thai sauce................................

Lillian.loan

We are here Saturday lunchtime. Beautiful seaviews. Beautiful weather , great location. We came with our family. Enjoyed the whole experience. We come very often here. Every time is a great experience. Steak is my husband favorite. Mussels are also delicious. Seafood platter is one my boys love. Very yummy, excellent services, highly recommended!!!

Aimee.

The food was bland and average. The service was horrendous. What I didn't like though was the customer service. One of the male Indian waiters or duty manager came over and told me to rate them 5/5 on Facebook and Zomato. This was when I was still eating. When I told him I would do it after eating, he PICKED UP MY PHONE and tried to do it himself. He wouldn't take no for an answer and I got really mad that he thought he could touch my phone with food scraps smeared on his hands. I've worked in hospitality for years and have never seen such arrogant, aggressive customer service. Absolutely appalling with the service. Do not touch my personal items or tell me to give you a fake 5/5 review. This place deserves a 1 just from the waiter himself. Shame on you.

LoveFoodWithApassion🥗🍸 (Ngata)

My first time here tho I've walked past a few times. Lovely atmosphere , grab a table for five outdoors, our tables were a bit wonkie but the weather was perfect. Ordered seafood platter and meat platter and two chicken burger and fries . very nice . Will be back again. 18/02/19 Came back!!! Still awesome as place to eat. Atmosphere and price is well worth.

Michelle Cai

food is average, ordered seafood set, half of them are mussels, better order their mussels pot, which cheaper and faster, wait for 45mins for lunch which placed order at 1:30pm, one third tables are empty at that time, I want to have a lunch, but looks like they are preparing for dinner. Food arrived and one oyster is empty shell only. I except to have a lovely lunch with my family, but wont go back to try again. If you have kids or in hurry to have a food, highly not recommend. Good place to try their drink only.

Wenshaoting5504

We recent went here for lunch it was such awesome experience.we love the service it was good the way treated there.such good Saturday morning.we will be back.highly recommend. thank you

Chương Âu

A great place to go for a beer. THe food is a bit expensive and I feel like it's not worth, the wait is long as well, especially rush hours, but other than that, the staffs were friendly enough to keep you accommodated and quick with the drinks - you never have to wait for more than 2 minutes. I have to say I prefer the cocktail, but will come here until I've tried out all the beers and drinks, and that would take like a year to finish, with their 9 page beer menu

Nomi A Abetria

this is really good restaurant I love to have there mussels knowing that I don't really eat mussel but when we tried there now I do love mussels 😍😍

Liuya9680

Very good service and good dinner amazing environment and all the food are hot and fast. We will definitely come back moreover nice selection of beer . Thank you prince for Recommending Kwak and Gulden draak we loved it Good management

Cookingkenny

Entered to a fairly empty place for lunch on what we thought would be a busy Sunday. Got good seats nice and early and instant kids menu and coloring pencils. That was good, after that it just got average. Ms k orders two snacks and they were huge (but the plate was so hot she actually burnt her self trying to get it away from the toddler the waiter served it to) and I got the fish and chips. Now the fish was very nice especially for gluten free but the chips quantity make me think the menu should read fish and cs. And they were cold. Given almost all of our food was fried I'm a bit surprised it couldn't be managed a bit better. I'd call it nice but not likely to return. On payment we were charged for the bacon and cheese despite them having run out of bacon???? Then we got a little discount making the cheese kind of an expensive pointless add on. They did give 10% off for the small chips but I'd rather there was some attitude towards fixing the issue rather then just giving me $2 back

I'm A Foodie

This cafe is famous for mussels. We ordered a pot of mussels, ribs and beers. Mussels are big, delicious and tender. We like it. The rib and beer are just normal.

Billy Zhang

The view and services are splendid. All other dishes are great! But the mussle pot tastes terrible. Mussles feels like they were leftover from previous day, dry, fishy and ruin the whole meal. Also the waiting time is far too long. Maybe sunscreen should be provided free to avoid sun burnt.

Izabella Pinker

Came here with a group of 6 with a Groupon on a busy weeknight, had two platters-The meat, and the seafood. Both were fantastic, the oysters legendary same as the ribs. Cannot recommend this place enough for a casual meal! And staff handled the crazy business amazingly

Feedlay

I literally do not understand a business that has constant criticism about slow service, fails to address this issue. There is no point in throwing grabone vouchers at a problem if you cannot fix it. I should have known better than to go to a place that has a rating of 2.4 on zomato, but I decided to give it a chance. We went to De Fontein on a Tuesday and it took them 50 mins to bring out our food. When the food came out the shanks were lukewarm, it makes you question why you starve your guests to bring out subpar food. 2 strikes. When we raised this issue with our waitress, saying we have been waiting for 45 mins, she said she would check and when she did it had only been 40 mins. It seemed they were more concerned about a 5 minute time difference, then the fact that 40 mins is an unacceptable wait time. I fully understand that this out of the waitresses control, but it was a pointless addition to already bad experience. It's such a shame because I love their sister restaurant The Occidental, but my experience has completely missed the mark. I fully understand their 2.4 rating. I do not recommend. Ever.

Jane

I had beautiful dinner with my family. Especially the ribs was amazing. Also there were lots of beautiful beers, nice and friendly staff. Always look forward to come here with my friends or family. I highly recommended this place if you wanna have beautiful time .... The manager and all the staff is well trained to handle large group. The manager has good skills to serve customers, talking friendly, knowledge of recommending drinks matching with food. Everything was perfect! ! Can't go wrong!! Thank you for your warm and friendly service

Bryan

After having lunch somewhere else thought we'd find somewhere down Mission Bay to have a drink or dessert. We chose here, a place more well known for its mussels than anything else. Anyway we went up top hoping to find a table outside on what was turning out to be a nice day weather wise. The staff weren't too onto it so it seemed, not even acknowledging our presence until we spoke to them. We did find a table and eventually a menu was brought to us. We ended up ordering for myself an Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream & custard and an Belgian Espresso coffee blended with Benedictine & Creme de Menthe. My other half ordered the Belgian waffle with Apple & cinnamon with vanilla ice cream....and for a drink the Tropiçano non alcoholic mocktail. And well, what can I say......the coffee I had " hit the spot " so to speak as much as a coffee can, though the alcoholic quantity was a bit more than I excepted. The Apple crumble....lucky I like custard and vanilla ice cream because the Apple crumble was a pitiful attempt at the dish......looked like some crumble thrown in and mixed up a bit with some bits of Apple etc. Very disappointed. My mum could do hundred times better. As for the waffle ....well kind of ok. Again the best part being the vanilla ice cream. The fruit was supposed to be fresh.....but the taste and look said different. It could have been some Apple taken from mine and chucked with the waffle. Not impressive at all!!! As for the price I reckon a bit too much for what we got. So, overall ...service not the best, speed of order coming out not so great, food quality was crap, Best thing was the coffee I had. Apart from the mussels won't be rushing back here again!!!.

Alexandra Bewbiz

Tuesday burger deal was great with the great service during the night the waiters were attentive and friendly there were no hassles and food was great I would like to strongly recommend the butchers block and the Belgian frites.

Levorsen Leong

Brought friends from overseas for lunch, having steaks and seafood, having great time here and lunch was great and having friendly and kind staff helping us out, thanks for the hospitality

YYT

Excellent customer service ^^ and great foods ~~~ waiter and bar manager are so friendly ^^ love this place . Will definitely recommend this place and come back again n again 😄😄😄👍🏻

Kuu

It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad It was bad

Praveen Shergill

We bought a couple of grab one vouchers and went for breakfast 2 weekends in a row. The lady who served us was lively and friendly but got our drink order wrong. Not a problem, easy mistake, but the lady who brought it to us had a slight attitude problem when we told her but did change it. We had mixed feelings on the food. The first time we ordered 3 dishes. The calmari was the best, spiced with tumeric, it was juicy and came out lovely and hot . The big breakfast had tasty sausages and generally good, although came luke warm, the fried tomatoe wasn't really cooked and the mushrooms surpisingly was the star of the dish, lightly dressed in balsamic vinegar. The chowder was disappointing, it was thick and gluggy, with more chunky vegetables than seafood. Also wasn't served hot. With the exception of the chowder the food was good and service was okay. The second time we ordered bacon with a soft boiled egg and toast. Toast was cold, butter was so cold we couldn't spread it and the soft boiled egg was hard boiled. We mentioned this to the waiter, who was polite and friendly and immediately brought hot toast and butter we could spread. We left the eggs as they were altho they offered to redo it. The French toast was soaked with syrup, over powered with cinnamon and the bananas looked really bruised and came with the black skin on. We mentioned the bananas to the waiter but didn't say anything about the rest of the plate. The waiter was lovely, didn't make us feel bad, but took the bananas left the rest of the meal, which we ate. Later the waiter returned with a new french toast which was 3 times better than the first done with a lot more care and came hot. The third dish was an omelette. It was tasty but had big bits of onion and was a little too oily. Generally service was superb the second time around, waiters didn't make you feel bad about pointing out issues. They were keen to amend any issues. Unfortunately the inconsistent cooking let the cafe down. Also despite sitting inside on level 2 we could smell cigarette smoke drifting from downstairs which wasn't particularly pleasant.

Sam Li

I love this place ' very good place to come and have beer or food I always come here with my friends or family very nice,very good and pleasant staff,highly recommended this place Thank you

Amanda

Updating my review. Came again for brunch. Was really hoping the chef had changed. Ordered tiramisu.. and we got a weird custard dessert. No coffee, nor alcohol. Pic attached. We also got the Mango & Coconut Pannacota.. even more disappointing dropped a star -------------------------------------- Came here Saturday morning with a friend. We ordered seafood chowder, larger calamari rings and the big breakfast. Food review: 3/10 The calamari rings were very delicious and flavoured. It was served nice and hot. The big breakfast was served cold. The sausages were nice but the eggs were bland and dry. The seafood chowder was the worst seafood chowder I have ever tasted. The seafood chowder was thick and and groggy. Rather than seafood it was mainly huge chunks of celery and carrots. It was very deceiving, disgusting and bland. There were two mussels placed on top of the chowder. This was filled with water and didn't feel like it was cleaned properly. Service: 4/10 The service was just below average and we had to wait a while before getting the attention of any waiters. There was no apology for the mix up in our order. And the waiter never came back with the answer to our question. Overall Not too impressed with this place. If you were to come then enjoy the calamaris but stay away from the seafood chowder.

Suchandra Saha

This is a very cool place. Ambiance is awesome..food is good..staffs are very friendly and humble. It was a friday evening, all busy. But the manager really help us get a table as quickly as possible. We ordered spicy calamari..was okayish..wasnot crispy and the calamari was thick sliced.lamb shank..was yummy..chicken vol au vent..it was chicken and mushroom in creamy sauce with salad..chicken mushroom crèpe..okay All in all food was okay but the atmosphere was enjoyable.will love to go back but in summers

Where To Next Auckland

De Fontein is perfected located looking over the busy waterfront of mission bay. With a wide selection of food and an even larger array of drinks on offer, you're sure to find something for everyone in this hangout. Feeling hungry? Try out their monster open steak sandwich (see the pictures attached), piled high with cheese, steak, onion rings and mushrooms. This hunger buster is sure too please! Grab a steak, a cold beer and take in the beauty of mission bay from this icon by the water!

Ting Zheng

非常爽口的青口贝，分量特别足，一个人点半份都吃不完，还有配套的薯条，再来一杯啤酒真是绝了 I am from Sydney, came for short holidays. Wanted to check out new zealand beach, so heard about mission bay closest to city. This place is very famous in this area. So was excited to try there famous mussells. I have to say mussells are so delicious. They have good belgian beers on the menu, so tried Hoogaarden, tasty is the right word. Rainy day, not too many customers but the food and service was great. Staff is very friendly but professional. I will reccommend it to all the travellers all over the world. Next time surely coming back! 😊👌🏻👍🏻

Bella Luv Food

Cherry beer is nice but 50mins waiting for food with no warning although The restaurant was only half full. $19 steak deal cannot be served without ordering a cold drink. I like the fact that the steak are thick. However i had to cut a lot of fat away. In general, this is a good place if you want to have a drink and chat but not recommended when you're hungry or in a hurry.

Johnny

Nice place, service was great and we where well looked after. Mussel pots are great. Calimari was average. Staff did incredible well dealing with a irate customer on the table next to us. Great range of beer!

Tuan.on27

I am a steak night regular here. I come every wednesday for big portion 500 gm Angus steak on half price. The steak is so delicious every time we come here. Staff is very friendly. The restaurant is awesome location .. great views. Great service. Very satisfied. Reccommend to all foodies!!! Thanks vijay, you are very nice.

Winnie Luo

Food = Average, nothing special and not too consistent with the quality. Busy days tend to mean slightly overcooked food. Service was amazing for us, our waiter was friendly and attentive! Definitely extra points for that. Quite a convenient place to dine when you are in the area but nothing too outstanding that would make this place a destination visit.

Chris St Bruno

Loved my red that curry mussels & the guy who's served us was really fun & entertaining & provided us with really helpful suggestions for food & beverage matches. Julie behind the bar was amazing. Thanks for a great night out guys

Rhiannon Sinfield

I have always wanted to dine in De Fontein, and after years of wondering what's inside I finally visited. Perhaps I should have looked at the reviews first. The overall atmosphere was very average - and my dine in was most disappointing, not terrible - just disappointing. The mains were reasonably priced - $22 for 400 grams of ribs served with fries. I was expecting mid-range size of these meal, or to not even finish it (as always for me!) but the ribs fell short. It was to be honest, slapped on the plate with a very small handful of chips. My companion ordered the steak pie with lukewarm mash - this too, was a very small meal (considered a main also at $22). We had ordered garlic bread as an entree, which was far too oily. To top this off, my glass of water served had a lipstick stain on it, and the table was crumby when we had first been seated. Unfortunately, I won't be coming again.

S

I attended last night with my partner and Father for dinner. We were seated quickly and had a lovely view outside on a crisp night. We ordered garlic bread to start and a few drinks, sadly they brought the garlic bread out at the same time as our mains. I ordered the Leffe & Beef Pie which came with a small portion of poor quality mashed potato and mint peas. I was not impressed with the sides at all. My partner ordered the Open Steak Sandwich which had poor quality steak, the fries were burnt and the mushrooms and additions were not very flavourful. My Father ordered the Belgium Sausages which which were to his delight. Sadly this restaurant has gone down a lot since last year when I attended last, I will not look at returning again.

Maricar Bella

What a fantastic experience at this beautiful place. Delicious food with very friendly staff. Nice views. Our family had a great time. We surely coming back soon. Highly reccommended !!!

Pooja Karan

I keep going back for the mussels and the yummy aoli even though the service is well below average. The staff always take a long time to come back to you. And the food alwaaaaays takes over an hour to get to the table.

Clark Shen

Wowwwwwwwwwwww experience. Great views. Amazing food with fantastic service. New Burger deal is great. Great beers on the list. Highly recommended. Cheers.

Jessica Buddendijk

Belgian fries but no mayonnaise?? Can't believe it. Fries were overdone or maybe re-done Ribs were okay but no water for fingers or plate for the bones. Chicken and mushroom crepe not what it used to be last year. Crepe tasted chewy not light and fluffy. I was so looking forward to the lunch but was disappointed.

Haiyang GUO

Great Saturday night . Delicious food with fast service very impressive. Beers are very wide range. Beautiful location. Great views. Ideal for any good hospitality place. Staff is very friendly . Look like change of management. Going positive my feedback. See you again soon. Thank you.

Jason Zhang

Advise: come on a sunny day so you could be seated on the balcony to enjoy the view of the beach while dining. This place is always packed with the locals and if lucky, from personal experience, you won't have to wait for a table but that's rarely the case. The Mussel Pot is the main dish that everyone would go for and the popularity of this dish is reflected by the taste - amazing. With a lot of varieties for cooking the dish, you can find the flavour that suits you best. The mussels are always served hot and it comes with hot fries as sides. The key to the amazing flavour is within the sauces they use. The service has been on and off but that's understandable because it's always so busy. The size of each dish they offer won't let you down, and the prices are also very reasonable. $45 for two is ideal. Quality - 9/10 Taste - 7/10 Size - 7/10 Price - 7/10 Service - 7/10

Edi NT

Not sure why the score is low for this beer cafe in zomato but I found it good enough. The food was great, make sure you try the mussels. During happy hours, its not that expensive. We ordered platters and found it great. Also had meat (i can not remember the name) but also satisfactory. We came in, got the seat and chit chat while waiting for the food with some great belgian beer. Did not feel too long waited for the food to come. Recommended and will come back.

蒋鹏

Best dinner one more time at this beautiful restaurant in mission bay. We coming here from last one year. The food is consistently amazingly delicious. The beers are premium Belgian beers, our favourite is Jupiler. We enjoyed the different kind of food all together to share. The staff is very efficient and friendly. My friends had a great night. We are coming back soon. Highly recommend to everyone. Thanks guys! Thanks Vijay , I want you my manager in my restaurant. 😊👌👍👍

Paulnzchch

Amazing food. Decent price. Wow views. Great food and nice place! Great service. Staff very friendly. Highly reccommended !♡♡♡♥♥♥!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Angel Deng Yun

Do come on a bright sunny day, then climb up to the first floor, go directly to the outdoor sitting area, facing Rangitoto. Yes, That's what I will do. Everyone must come here for the steam mussel. Then try the basic sauce with white wine- mostly Sauvignon Blanc, parsley and onion. Best quality seafood will stand out by itself, no need condiments to make it up. The second favorite should be the sweet and sour pork rib. Please share it with close friends. It is so much fun. Better not for your first date. Then the menu comes to your choice. Seafood platter is always right, with Hoegaarden is a beautiful plus. You wouldn't stop picking up those cutie bites. For dessert, try waffles with ice cream and chocolate sauce. If you don't expect too much, then it is easier satisfied. Well, I have to say, the waffles is not as good as the one I had in Seoul or even in the Hollys Coffee. But in such a beautiful day soaking in the sun, better just enjoy everything at hand. This is life. So just take it.

MirandaNLD

We always love to have a Belgian beers at this place with some mussels. This time (we were of group of 8), we tried all sorts of dishes. Overall the experience was very disappointing. A few tried the meat platter which wasn't tasteful at all. Two of us were waiting for a mussel platter for more than an hour. We also tried the desert special, cheese cake. Very disappointing again. Obviously not home made. We had to pay $13.50 per cheese cake. Way too expensive. In short, stick to the beers with some mussels or seafood.

Ann R

Their platters were generously sized and very fresh. However I feel as if the quality of their food and service has reduced since the new management came on a couple of years back. Still great spot to hang out!

Jason Sim

Beautiful restaurant with amazing views. Hot food and chilled Belgian beers. Sirloin perfectly cooked, fresh oysters with tasty seafood chowder. Yummy. We tried mocktails Tropicana, mango madness and citrust burst very good for non-alcoholics people. Love the wide range of menu. Loved the half price Ribs too, very big portion. Staff very friendly. Nice experience of food and service. Will come back again soon with my family for a dinner. Thanks.

Cantonjiang

Beautiful Oysters and seafood platter. Hoogaarden, Stella, Kriek and Blonde was the beers we tried. Amazingly tasty. Delicious desserts and on half price today. Love it. Highly recommend to all. Staff is very friendly and polite. Nice exerience, see you again!!!

Yali Guo

Sunday Love Jazz night here. I am a regular. We had another amazing night here with great live jazz atmosphere. Delicious food and some very friendly service. We had a trademark Stella beer as usual mind blowing and a good choice of different food from the menu. Very satisfied with the whole experience. Highly recommend to all. Thank you and see you soon.

Debbie L2

Went here for dinner last night, very attentive and smiley staff. Some good specials each day of the week. Wednesday was angus steak with chips and sauce, steak was really nice and cooked exactly how we wanted. Also ordered the spice ribs for our son who even though is a picky eater, he loved it. Meat just fell of the bone. Personally the taste was a bit bland only because maybe it could have been marinaded longer but our plate was still empty afterwards. For dessert my son ordered the waffles with banana, bacon and maple syrup..he of course cleaned the plate. Maybe dish could have gone without the banana? If it was fried longer it would fit perfect with the dish. Would visit again for sure!

Antonio Agreiter

Came here on Anzac Day. Great to see staff abiding NZ liquor laws. Very professional. Good training backed up with great food and service. We will definitely be back. ��

Tt_akl

I mean after 10 years there's really not much change to the menu... the beers are still good but food wise needs some reconsiderations. I mean how do you mess up fries. And then the mussel pot do not order red Thai curry it's so diluted I basically just ate muscles that had no taste. And then they steamed dead muscles that don't open and cracked it so I ate an entire muscle fill with sand....belle vue still on point tho 👌🏻👌🏻🙌🏻

Serge Foodini

Came there a week ago with the group of friends.stood about 5 mins near bar upstairs before being seated.the table and chairs outside were wet and unclean.requested napkins to wipe it off but waiter disappeared.eventually one of the customers gave us tissues from her bag.received menus 10 mins after and the same waiter guy rushed away.we called him 3 times after deciding on drinks and food but he said he was "busy".we eventually made an order with him about 7 mins after :2 stellas on tap,3 cherry beers,2 bowl of fries and bread and dips.he took and order and came back to us 5 mins later saying since it was "public holiday" we are required to order a meal otherwise they can't serve drinks...so we ordered Caesar salad .guy took order and disappeared again ,coming back to us again saying that now each of us have to order a meal,needles to say we walked out of the place immediately and we r never coming back

Tony Wan

Just being here for dinner. The restaurant was busy and pleasantly decorated. The service was good and friendly. As for the food, it was quite ordinary, nothing very special and of acceptable taste. Overall it was an enjoyable eveing with the family.

Jack Lau

Enjoyed the food and service, especially the wonderful and hospitable service of Prince! Will definitely come back for more! Highly recommend this place I always bring my guest back to this restaurant from overseas and we always left happy Love this place Thank you

Lawrencerenliu

What a mind blowing place. Awesome food following with great service. Our waiter Anju Saklani was great . Our food came little late as we were told of food wait of 30mins on entrance but still it came before that and it was very tasty. Very yummy. Vijay and his team is great. Thanks.

Ramonayechen

Wowwwwwwwwww.... so awesome place. So tasty food. And very good friendly staff. Beautiful views. My family enjoyed the whole experience. We had angus steak , steamed mussels , with salad very delicious. Thanks Vijay and Aaron. See you back again soon.

Tam Nguyen

Amazing experience at Easter Night. Thanks for an amazing night !!!! With your great meal, I made my girlfriend really happy. Can't describe how wonderful it is by words. Thank you so much Vijay and Aaron !

Cherry Ruby

We had beautiful day in Defontein. We had group of 16 people good lunch and good selection of beer we really enjoyed it. One of the best thing I like it was eater bunny I really enjoyed that Thank you very much bunny we had great time with you. This place situated on beautiful heart of mission bay we will definitely be back good staff and friendly Thank you prince and team

Cici Yang

Recently visit to this place during busy time we got nice view table It's very nice to have Belgiam beer and food matching is very nice. Thanks prince for serving us Highly recommended this place to visit We will be back

Zhang Jingkang

Didnt book the table just thought to give a try. Vijay took care of us and prepared for a table in a good short of time. We ordered one desert and a Belgian sausage for the main. The sausage was good and so was the desert. Tasty drinks as well. Pricewise, its acceptable in Mission bay area. Thanks for everything. Surely coming back again.

EuiCho Edward Park

Thank you Prince for your service! Enjoyed our meals with awesome beers. The view from the restaurant was awesome as well. Hope to see you again next time!! :)

Desiree

It honestly depends on the time you go in - this place is a hit & miss... I've been in here and it's been awesome and I've also come in here and had some of the worst service I have ever experienced. They do lunch specials which are good, you don't want to be paying full price for a meal that takes almost an hour to arrive and is just above average. The staff can be painful - sometimes you have to ask them several times for a glass of water..

Anne

Terrible ... find the Seafood Platter which for years we have enjoyed at de Fontein - now has chewy cardboard like prawns, tiny oysters - in massive shells, and dry luke warm bread- which used to be a highlight of their Fontein Seafood Platter. This sad platter was accompanied by a cleaning session! Yup! Few customers, so we had the "pleasure" of eating lunch accompanied by at least three staff with dusters and cleaning rags cleaning and furniture spray polishing the timber balustrades etc etc. The highlight (NOT) was dodging the staff member in the center of the dining room exit space - she was on a ladder cleaning the chandalier. All this around the dining tables during midweek lunch service. Sadly my husband had an upset stomach for several hours after that lunch. We have eaten at this restaurant from many years - and this experience will be our last there!

James Li

I have been here on a Monday night with our family, the great manager Vijay has done a fabulous job and recommend us all the lovely food. Highly recommended for anyone to come again on a Monday night! I had mussels, steaks, and seafood chowder. Good environment to enjoy a weekday night! Everyone should come here. Thanks

Indy Purewal

This place runs purely based on location The staff are friendly and kind The beer selection is great and doesn't disappoints The food is ok, nothing spectacular. It has been a while since I've eaten anything here but this is why review is so low I just can't bring myself to order anything as the place just seems run down I understand it's an old building etc. but there's no excuse for everything just Looking so damn greasy and sticky as if the whole place needs a good degrease and wipe down Team and management - you guys have a great location and a long standing reputation, I understand without even trying you're busy but ..... Please give this place a good scrub up and wipe down so it's presentable I will be back for a beer But will only sit long enough for a meal if it's clean. Thanks.

S&G Take Auckland

Been here a few times, no surprises, for the steak and chips special. Great value for money and a seriously good mushroom sauce. Would be great to get a Bearnaise or blue cheese sauce on the menu, to compliment the steak.

MS LKDG

Giving this place a neutral rating purely based on our experience today. Purchased a voucher from GrabOne which made me think of visiting this place and it's quite popular in Mission Bay area known for its outside seating with a view of Rangitoto Island. I was hesitant to go at first because of the general rating on Zomato which is only 2.3 and a lot of people are more disappointed than happy with the total experience from the place but, it was quite a good deal and gave it a go to see for ourselves (with my boyfriend). I already expected that it's definitely gonna be busy especially it's weekend. When we got there, we've been told that there's a wait if we want a table outside and we were okay with that. While waiting, we've already ordered our food cause the server said it will take a while for the food to get served like 45 MINUTES and I said it's fine. It's taken around half an hour for us to be seated outside but that wasn't the problem; the food took AN HOUR AND HALF before it was served so yes, we were frustrated. The food was great if I'm gonna be honest but the waiting time was horrible. The staff were friendly as well but I don't think I'll be visiting the place again any time soon or maybe not at all anymore.

I_like_pickles

Nice outdoor dining area. Food was ok. Nothing spectacular. The salads had a lot of greenery and not enough meat in my opinion. Lacked flavour and dressing. Chips were crispy. Staff were friendly.

Oliver Samin

Went to De Fontaine with friends for dinner and was not really impressed with the food. The beer selection was quite good but the nothing really stood out with the food, plain, bland and boring. The service staff were warm and friendly. Please, please improve your menu!!!

Teddyqiu1984

Beautiful restaurant...nice music....delicious food.... Very good staff and fast service. Love all time here. Very nice sea views. We sit down on the window and it was a beautiful weather. Thanks.

Casslyn Tee

Just.plain.bad.food. !!!!!Never going back again ever. As soon as the mussles arrived I can smell that the dish has gone bad and not fresh at all :/ the staff was helpful though to replace me with another dish and I chose Caesar Salad with calamari (another big mistake...calamari not fresh/chewy and SALTY, dish was simply not balanced...) partner ordered the angus steak (requested medium rare) which came out chewy and BLOODY... do us a favor and find a new chef that can cook.

Julie Cao

Great place to dine. STUNNING menu , amazing food and followed by great service. It is monday special half price mussells day. So delicious we had four pots of mussels so tasty .fantastic. ME and my family enjoyed everything and will come soon. THANKS to the very friendly staff.😊👍

N Song

This place is super packed because of the location. Unfortunately the interior is old and worn down. Service was good. However the food quality is poor, the steak was super chewy and over cooked, the chips were dry, the pork ribs were cold and salty. I think you would only eat here if you were in mission Bay with no where else to go.

Beyondzzz

very delicious seafood and good seaview restaurant. like the fish and chips and also the steak very much. the best restaurant around the Mission bay. We will come again. cheers

Amy Yang

it was really nice to have dinner with friend over there, really like the environment of this restaurant,all good!!!we have such a good time meeting here.we will come again ~~~~~~

T.wang3

Wow what a stunning restaurant. Come here first time it is the best experience for us. We came with our family and friends everyone enjoyed the food. We had seafood platter and meat platter called butcher's block. First thing about these so big in portions and then everything was so delicious. This restaurant is nailing it. We highly appreciate and recommend this for everyone who wants to have a great time. Food and service was perfect. Thanks. See you again soon. Great job.

Alvin Wong

I love this place. I came here almost every time after a walk in mission bay. Great place, great environment, and awesome selection of beer. Also we love the mussels here and Monday is the day for mussel lover cause they doing this for half price! Great value for money :) But be warn, they do not take any booking for group under 10 people and the place are mostly packed. Quite a long queue especially Sunday and Monday.

Jessiely418

Nice food and good environment. My parents like here very much. A good choice for dinner. The food was awesome. The staff very friendly. The service was very fast. Great place for the dinner with friends and family. We enjoyed the seafood platter... mussels tasting pot .... butcher's block....very delicious. Our waiter Anju was the best in her job. Good atmosphere. Nice music. Thanks. We are coming back soon surely!!!

Zhonghua022014

Great place with awesome views. We came here tonight with our family. This is one of my best favorite restaurant in Auckland. Always best food and service. We order Belgian sausage, Meat platter and seafood platter. Fantastically yummy. So delicious. They had a good wide range of beers and wines. Tonight we tried Ned rose bottle and mocktail mango madness. So refreshing. The staff is very friendly and efficient. Food came out very fast. The location is the cherry on top. We always came here. I will say this restaurant is Mr. consistent for us. Highly recommended to everyone. If you are in Auckland, you don't want to miss this one. Special thanks to Vjay and Aaron!!!

Lux Liu

What a mind blowing venue...amazing experience. We had seafood platter and Belgian sausage with Stella. So yummy. Me and my date had a great time with this amazing restaurant. The portion of the meals were so generous , couldn't finish it all. Great views of the mission bay beach. Great food and so efficient service. Very friendly staff. Highly recommended!!! 😊👌👍

Patrick Imrutai

Great service, Friendly and helpful staffs, Fast serve, delicious dishes. This was my second time with my family. Were arranged for the seat very fast, even pack of customers. Food was really great, atmosphere was my favourite. One finest restaurant in Auckland. Highly recommended to everyone.

Graham Barker

Have been here a few times before with mixed experiences. Quite quick to get seated with menus but took a while to take orders and had to get the waitstaff attention several times. My wife's glass of white wine was off so they had to replace it. Main meals were fine, I had a large mussel platter which was very nice and my wife had ribs with fries and the kids liked their mains too. Cleared half of the dirty plates and left the others on the table for too long. Waited ages for dessert menus and orders even though it had quietened down a lot by then. Desserts were underwhelming for the price, waffles a bit undercooked with fruit consisting of a few small pieces of chopped apple (which was off) and a couple of grapes. Remembered our last visit we left early because it took so long to get dessert menus. Staff are friendly but not attentive enough. Would probably have ordered more drinks if we had been asked. Service doesn't seem to have improved much, so won't be going back - lots of other options around.

Edison

食物非常美味，新鲜的食材，绿壳和生蚝强烈推荐👍🏻景色不错 wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…………破so yummyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…………great foood and service…thanks vjay you deserve A pay rise…you are very good … 我we love everythung…☺👌👍

George Song

Great food with some extraordinary service. Love every moment. Delicious mussels, garlic bread and oysters. Wednesday half price steak was the best. Beers was also nice. Staff is so friendly. I am coming here over 10 years and never disappointed. Recently come to know about the new management take over but everything is same best as always. Coming back soon with my family. Highly recommend to all！😊👏👍

Kylecsh

Wow....wow....wow....what a amazing place. Me and my date for a dinner . We are pleased to share our experience with everyone ....such a great place with great food and service. We came to enjoy mussels and they satisfied us. Highly recommended to everyone. Specially Indian guy don't know the name was fantastic customer service. Thanks guys see you soon.😄

Sarah

We go to this place many times but now more and more disappointed, service was ok but food really horrible , we order seafood platter first other table but got it much later than others and all fries goes cold……，all meats very very hard I think if you want to try should be got very good tooth.might never come back again even thought they have very nice beer that from Belgium

Ztyttkl1114

OH MY GOD is the exactly right word for this place. Great sea-side location with amazing views all over mission bay. We sat on the balcony and had one of the great experience of my life with my friend. Jug of cider was great on this summer and the sea-food platter is absolutely stunning, no words for it to explain. Highly recommended to people all over the world!!! Bet you will love every single thing here. Best staff and service is fantastic. 10 out of 10 from us. 100% visiting again very soon for my birthday bash. Thanks guys specially Vjay. 👌👍

JungYun Lee

Nice to go and grab a beer after long day at beach but nothing special or bad about this place. The price for the food is reasonable. Love their cherry beer 🍒🍺

Wu Xue

Best ever food and service . Great location。Great views with sea-window。 We love seafood platter， grilled mussel ，vegetarian pasta ，steamed mussel. Staff very friendly。Great service。Food came very fast。Roaring pinot noir best wine。thanks .😊

Alex

Great food and absolute stunning service even when it seems like busy. This is a beautiful place，good mussels and great beer combination..especially for the STELLA beer. Everything was so good and we loved it. The staff is very friendly. Thanks for the great experience. See you next time. 这是一个非常美丽的地方，东西非常好吃，特别是青口贝和Stella啤酒，我喜欢！

Sharon Koo

Great food and service. Lunch special ribs was amazing. Very big portion in half price. Yummyýy. Mango madness and tropicana were best drinks for summer but i liked mango madness more. It drives me mad. And our waiter vijay who is supervisor has recommended the best things on the menu. Had a great time here. His service was 5 star. Surely coming back soon. Highly recommended!! 😊👌👍

Leeanne Cole

Just got home from lunch and was feeling so sick , the mussel pot was not fresh ! So annoyed completely ruined my day ! There were shells in my oysters too . We will not be back , quality of the food has dropped significantly 😡

Ming Zhang

Great food and mind blowing service. Vijay our waiter was awsome. Great views. Loved every single dishes. So busy but great e experience. Highly recommended. Thank u so much for everything. Love you guys.

Alex Brown

Wednesday Steak deal is my go to Wednesday meal! Always nice service, buzzing with people and my Steak is always divine. Located next to mission Bay, is a lovely view and location also ✌

Scully

After admiring the beautiful building from afar on many a trip to Mission Bay, a friend and I finally decided to pay a visit this past Monday. Granted, it was a public holiday so very busy as you could expect. Two of the waitresses in particular were quite friendly, good vibes are always contagious and appreciated. However, the waiter who served us was very insistent on upselling. My companion ordered a 330ml beer, and declined the offer of a 500ml, twice, as he said he was driving. The waiter kept insisting he buy a 500ml as it was a hot day. He blatantly wanted the smaller beer. I also asked for a 330ml, he jotted it down. We then ordered 'trio of olives, toasted ciabatta and feta' and a plate of wedges (of which was added bacon and cheese for $4 against our wishes.) When the drinks arrived, we were both served 500ml glasses (???) And when the food arrived... The 'trio of olives' was a small handful of black pitted olives in brine accompanied by three stale (warm, dry, unbuttered, not toasted and rather shabbily sliced) pieces of foccacia bread, not ciabatta. There was however a generous helping of feta. For $11.50 though I was very disappointed. The wedges were from frozen but actually quite delicious. Only let down is that for $4 extra we got a vague sprinkling of cheese and about two tablespoons of what tasted like sliced fried ham, not bacon. The only redeeming qualities of our visit were the lush views of the beach from upon the balcony and one of the waitresses let me borrow her lighter for a cigarette. Oh, and the beer selection was quite good, if a little expensive. I probably wouldn't come here again.

Yang Liu

great location with great views. top notch food and service. great experience in auckland for us. vijay give us great service let us feel like home, thank you very much. keep it up!

Michelle Zhang

Awesome environment, decent food really. It's a lovely place to share your weekend hours with friends. Last but not least, you can find the most friendly and handsome staff here. Absolutely recommended. We are surely coming back again. Thanks Vijay.

Rebecca Yong

The best food and service ever! We all really enjoyed! Will back again for sure! Staff was great specially supervisor Vja. See you surely soon ! 😘👍👍👍👍👍👍

Dimana Khotchenko

Came here a few months ago and ended up waiting for our food for 40 mins on a Sunday night (very quiet - there are only 3 or 4 tables). Turned out the waitress forgot to give our order to the kitchen... Decided to give it another try tonight... Ordered 2 pots of mussels and each was supposed to come with chips. They have us only 1 chips saying that it's double. However, other tables that ordered only 1 got exactly the same chips. Service and food is just not the same anymore...

Natalie

The place was amazing we were greeted with friendly staff and they were continually lovely through out the meal. The food was gorgeous and I must say we had tried a lot. We ordered two platters and spit of the most beautiful mussels in a white sauce that should be bottled. My newphew was so impressed with his shared platter the butchers block he has raved to anyone who listens. The seafood platter was a treat you got wonderful morsels of seafood yum. This was a wonderful experience made by the staff and the chefs we will back I am certain of this😄😄👍🏻👍🏻

Olivia Ouyang

Great place for dinner with friends and family. Beautiful view with amazing food. Long weekend looks very busy here. We enjoyed thoroughly. We had leffe blonde and the cider , chilled and so good for this hot summer. Garlic bread, steamed mussels, beef stew delicious food. Generous portions could not finish it all. Our Indian look waiter Nash was amazing, deserve some payrise. The service was fantastic during whole duration. Highly recommended for everyone!!! Thanks😊👍

Cozypainting

Best experience ever. We enjoyed every moment of our visit. We order seafood platter and steak. I have to say the platter is so big and so delicious. The steak is so large portion. Best steak after a long time. The restaurant was so busy, fully packed. We greeted on the door and our waiter took our orders quickly. So happy to see efficient service in that busy time of the service. Our kriek cherry beer was really nice. Very nice views of all mission bay. Thanks for the Great night guys!!!

Cindy Wan

Had this wonderful experience with my bf, the food I ordered was seafood platter, fantastic taste. Very professional service staff, always asked as if the food is ok. I highly recommend to come and have a try.

Sojung

Great food, Great Service and GREAT STAFF!! Muscles were fantastic. Highly recommended!! Sit by the window and u will enjoy fantastic views. Monday muscle specials are really good if you are into muscles and seafood platters are also FANTASTIC to share. 😘😘😘

Hang

Beautiful place with beautiful staff。 Great food and service。 10 points out of 10 from us. We had Butchers block and mussel platter. So yummy remind me of my mummy. Grilled mussels were so fresh. I dined with my mother only and said you don't need to cook anymore we should start coming here more often. Highly recommended! 😘😘😘

Jason Liu

I had fantastic dinner with my family. The food was tasty and fantastic. Great sea view, great selection of Belgium beer. Nice friendly staff. Very efficient. Julie our waitress was amazing. We enjoyed our night very much. We are definitely coming back for another great night soon!!!☺️☺️☺️👍

Yi Chen

Best experience ever. Awsome food backed up with great efficient service. Staff is so nice and very friendly. Our seafood platter so big, mussell tasting pot was delicious, location was beautiful with great views and Leffe dark beer made it memorable. Thanks guys see you again soon. Vijay you are amazing.😊✌👍

Frances

As a regular customer, I'll say this is the best Belgium cafe in Auckland, nice view with perfect food! Great service. Massive Steak and the Kriek the cherry beer was fantastic. See you again guys. Vijay and Aaron both are awesome managers and their staff is very friendly too. Heartiest THANKS!😊😊😊

William

Went in for lunch with friends. The waiter that served us looked less than interested and when he took our plates he put his hand out expecting us to give the plates to him. Food was ok but not worth the price. Views were nice outside though.

G

Good location and vibe. Food came out pretty fast too. Portions were generous for the price esp for a dinner. Reasonable range and variety in the menu.

Jayden Campbell

De Fontein is a very renown bar and is a staple in Mission Bay. I was quite surprised at the number of negative reviews, so I decided to drop by for a proper lunch. Before I go any further, if you have money and feel like having a few beers then look no further. I spent hours sitting outside with a variety of Belgian beers before I ordered lunch. I could've stayed all night if responsibilities didn't exist. Service is De Fonteins forte, all the staff members were lovely and talkative. I ordered an Angus Steak with chips. My expectations may have been high, but the steak simply wasn't great. It was chewy and not quite the medium rare I asked for. The garlic butter was also nearly frozen and not tasty. Now the reviews are making sense. My advice is to come here for some unique cold beers and enjoy the sun, but pick up lunch or dinner elsewhere.

Charle Megala

Service: 3/5 Food: 1.5/5 Atmosphere: 3.5 Overall experience: 2 Let's start at the station of this trainwreck that was our evening. Thankfully the service was good as they attempted to rectify their errors with the exception of the manager taking a very lackadaisical approach to their management. Part of keeping your patrons happy is apologising profusely and accepting fault even if it results in a pecuniary disadvantage. Example 1: We ordered a large seafood platter and received a small seafood platter; That was strike 1. Example 2: One of our friends ordered the fish which was advertised with kumara on the 'fish of the day' menu board. Much to his dismay, the kumara was absent from his fish. The manager failed to solve the problem by providing regular mashed potatoes; Strike 2. Finally the food was sub-par, lacked flavour, devoid of any creativity and was grossly unsatisfying; Strike 3. I wish to commend the waitstaff who were patient with us and tolerated our pleasantness, however no commendations for the manager. Sort it out.

Michelle Latta

This must have been one of the worst meals I have experienced in a long time. Not sure how you can muck up a ceaser salad but they managed to. Pity as it is a great location and the staff were lovely.

Gabriel's

Best service and fantastic food of my life.. mussels were amazing....ribs was awsome.....staff so friendly and caring.....great work guys....thank u so much....c u soon ...😊😊😊👌

Austin Cheang

Awesome experiences! Great dinner! Great night with very friendly services. Good location, full view of mission bay. Nice taste and lots of choices. The manger VJ is a great guy very friendly and easy to talk with. Find him next time when you come, and enjoy the best experience at this place !!! 😘😘😘👍

Rylie Cliff

Never bothering to buy their overpriced food again. We have never been happy with service or food here. There's always either an entire dish missing or something on the plate missing. Despite three staff members being behind the bar doing nothing our drinks were slow. The food came out cold which made the oily fish quite unpleasant. To top it off management were extremely rude.

Shayleen Narayan

We normally have such a pleasant experience whether it is for dinner or just a drink however yesterday was shocking. We arrived around 7pm, it was quite busy so we were pleased to get a table for two outside. We were given menus then after that it was basically good riddance to us poor customers. Nearly 20 minutes went by and after asking another waitor to come take our order (who barely make out a reply), we were still unserved with our original waitress fluttering about offering service to others. It was even worse to see that another waitor had already seated two tables, with one receiving their drinks pronto. Not to mention we were practically the only table that was not even served water like the rest of the tables. To make matters worse, when we decided to leave, feeling very unimportant and disgruntled, the waitress who first seated us, bumped into my partner as we were heading for the stairs, said sorry and kept walking, not realising that she had seated us more than 20 minutes ago and had not paid a second of attention after. On the bright note, I am so glad I did not spend a single cent at this s*** hole. DO NOT SEAT CUSTOMERS THAT YOU CANNOT SERVE. Simple. After working in the hospitality business myself, I am very dissapointed!

Smital Bhalerao

It's a perfect place to sit by the beach side on a sunny day. The staff is kind and friendly. Especially the manager Vijay is really cool with his customer centric attitude and service. Fish of the day and mussels are highly recommended.

Chen Jerry

Great food with efficient service...coming back soon with my friends and family....Thanks Manager Vijay and your team for great experience 👌👌👌😊😊👍

Bo Rong

What a great place.... wow is very small.... Amazing food and service, nice view, perfect service ....buzzing ambience and atmosphere......butcher's block was awesome, seafood platter was fantastic...and the best about everything I love is Vijay- the manager and his team....so efficient... thank u so much for such a great experience !!!😍😍😍😍😍😘😘😘

Phoebe

It has been always my favorite restaurant! The food is fantastic. The manager Vijay and the team is fantastic and provided very good service. Surely I will come back with my family. :)

John Park

Good food, service, stunning view overall!!! The manager gave us such a good time 😄 will be coming back here from time to time!! It will be a usual for a place for dinner to bring my family and friends 😃

Eun Cheul Park (Pec)

Great place for time out with family and friend! Definitely coming back! :) the seafood platter was great! also thanks manager Vijay for the service! XD

Minnie Mee

This place is getting worse and worse. Menu changed from Belgian to whoever knows what. Today's chicken and mushroom crepe was terrible, could hardly find two pieces of chicken there, so it was all about the cream and overdone pancake it was wrapped into.

Andy Leung

This is one of my favourite place to dine. One of the signature dish was definitely the mussels. I suggest others should go on Monday because they do special called " Mussel Monday", only half price with a purchase of a drink. The manager "Vijay" was a great host and he would go around all tables to make sure everybody enjoying their meals and having a great night. It's a good place to enjoy the view of the beach with a glass of Hoegaarden.

Clive Littin

We sat on the upstairs balcony on the most perfect Auckland day. As I scanned the view, I looked out cross the harbour and gulf all the way down to the Coromandel Ranges. My son ordered salt and pepper calamari. "Scrummy" was his description. He cleaned it up. I had the Caesar Salad. I've had a lot of those. This was the best. Utterly fresh and and the dressing was truly delicious. It was spread evenly over the greens - something I seldom see. The service was immediate and friendly. I'm really fed up with poor service and food in so many places, but this was a refreshing change. We're planning a return visit as soon as they finish work on the footpath below. Well done team. The place was busy.

John

I have come here a few times and have never been disappointed by the food. The chicken and mushroom crepe is my favourite. The pork ribs are quite good too.

Ritesh Jain

Loved the ambience, convenient location and exotic view make this place one of my favourite. It has all the perks good food, drinks superb service especially Vijay - u are awesome dude👌🏻 #Must visit place guys 😌👌

Emma Lee Johnson

Steak was huge, definitely wasn't leaving hungry still, and Drinks...Perfect. Service....amazing. i loved every minute of it. Definitely perfect for dates and hangouts. Recommended 100%

Venkateshn Asiriah

This is one of the busiest restaurants i have been too and despite its densed busyness, the service levels doesnt drop, Of course on a jam packed day expect delays in receiving your food and thats just normal but still the services are excellent. my 8th year to this establishment and so far touch wood they have never let me down. Thank you to Anita , the belgian waitress(sorry i didnt get your name) , Vijay the Manager and the rest of the staff for making my dining pleasant and full. Other establishments should learn from De fontein as they are excellent with their service levels.

Scott Earlymorning

This place was crap. Not much to say. Cold food, took half an hour to come out..never eating here again...lucky you can't screw up beer....

Amand Weaver

Not a great experience. The food was average, an overpriced. Not a hell of a lot better than your standard pub fare. Cajun Chicken breasts were served in a soup bowl with the roast potatoes left to go soggy underneath the steamed vegetables which were trapped under the chicken breasts resulting in being over steamed. Ever tried cutting chicken breasts in a deep sided soup bowl? And the chocolate vanilla cheesecake special tasted more like a coffee mousse with similar consistency. Topped of with canned dairy whip cream and a crass glacé cherry. Oh and the reason I'm posting this review? The owner begged us to post our thoughts in a 2 minute social media pitch as we were paying the bill.

Disha

Nuff said about mussels at this place. It was a must go and I am glad I did during the labour weekend. Boy oh boy it was crowded as hell, as soon as we entered we were told there was a wait for an hour for food. I was quite desperate chose to wait but food arrived in 30 min. We ordered grilled mussels platter it was in every sense delish especuallt the cheese bacon and spinach one. Despite of having so many guests we were well looked after and their beer range is beyond impressive. Overall a successful endeavor.

Christian

I love their selection of beer and the location but the food is quite average. I think it's due to the fact that Mission Bay is more of a tourist destination and most decent restaurants that locals tend to go are in other less "touristic" locations.

Queena

This place seems to always be busy especially during dinner hours/after work hours. I had been here once before -like a few years ago. Decided to come back cos I couldn't remember how good or bad this place was. I must say, it was definitely bad and now I will remember for sure. Service was great (hence 1.5 rating) but the food itself was ever so disappointing. We got the garlic and herb ciabatta loaf ($9.50). Don't think it was worth it. Took quite a while for it to arrive as well. And then it was another 25mins wait for our mains to arrive. I ordered the salmon and kumara stack (light meals - $22) and that was ABSOLUTELY RUBBISH. It's like I literally paid for 6x bags of salad greens from the supermarket. There was a few pieces of smoked salmon (from supermarket I presume) and a few pieces of kumara. Honestly, when you see "kumara" and "salmon" you expect them to be the star of the dish not a whole plate of bloody SALAD GREENS! LEAVES!! OMG I was so annoyed by this "salad". My partner mentioned that he's never seen me so depressed about my meals (homemade or dining out). Like I understand this is a "salad aka light meals" according to this place, but this was just leaves. I've never seen a salad so depressing and such a rip off for 22 bucks. And it wasn't even a nice tasting bunch of leaves. Seasoning was not on point. No. No thank you.

Chelsea Abel

Slow service, asked what the wait time for dessert would be and told it would be 15 minutes, after 45 minutes we asked where our food was and it finally came. Food was okay but not amazing. The gluten free menu was questionable - beer-battered fries? Did not feel too confident in ordering any of the gluten free food so just got a drink.

Sarah Salmond

Ordered the Wednesday special for lunch, soon as I said I had a Grab One voucher, I couldnt have it. Odered open steak sandwich $24.95, disappointed with steak on bread & cold chips. Other person also got cold chips with her open chicken sandwich. Expensive & disappointed, complained & all i got was a sorry bout that.

Maxine Batterton

This place is situated in such a prime spot. Perfect for a warm sunny day. We thought a few mussels and a beer would be just the thing. The service is erratic at best. 2 beers took ten minutes to eventuate and my hoegarden was flat. Our fries were soggy and greasy. Of the 8 to 10 mussels we received 2 of them had crabs in them and one hadn't been debearded. The red thai curry sauce was 50 oil and had little to no flavour. Very disappointed.

Heidi M

Went here two weeks ago had an open steak sandwich and wedges. The open steak sandwich was pretty good. The wedges seasoning worked so did the sweet-chilli sauce but they didn't have any bacon/cheese and little sour cream. The portion size is good and the open steak sandwich was good value. The staff where friendly and polite I would go back if I wanted cheap drinks in the area but I wouldn't go for lunch/dinner. Presentation could be improved.

Asus Asus

Great place to hang out with friend and family. It can be very busy on the weekend, so best to come on weekdays lunch time. Stunning view of Rangitoto Island. Love the food, beer and service. They have almost everything for everyone. Kids to Adult friendly.

Lordi Safi

Love the Angus rump steak.. pretty good cut of meat. My partner have seafood platter and she like it too. Great selection of premium Belgian beer. Great view from the balcony.

Colin Sun

I ordered beef and pea stew. It's very average. Even my cooking is way better than it. Also the drinks taste quite average. Not gonna come back again

Ellie C

Worst eatery I've been to in a while. Four of us came to get a drink and dessert after having dinner at another restaurant in Mission Bay. After waiting for about 45 mins we asked where the waffles were and they had been forgotten about. The first two plates came out approx 10 minutes later and the next two came out 10 minutes after that (after we had to ask when the other dishes were coming). All were lukewarm/cold by the time they got to us so were not very enjoyable. It was a Tuesday night and was not busy. The staff shrugged us off numerous times when we asked about our meals and most of the staff were having a laugh in the corner of the restaurant while we were waiting for our food. The only positive was that the waffles were half price with a drink. Definitely won't be back.

Kelly

Definitely has improved since the last time I've tried this place a few month ago, menu seems to Have had a revamp which is nice to see! Food is fairly good here, the large seafood platter is definitely enough to fill two people! Mussels were nicely cooked, beautiful smoked salmon, perfectly cooked calamari, fresh oysters. . The list goes on! Really good, highly recommend! The pork ribs however were a let down, lacked flavour and definitely need the sauce as the ribs were on the dry side. Really lacked wow factor, and I wouldn't order again. Staff are friendly and attentive, clean faculty. if your looking for a feed hit up this joint! It's been at Mission bay for many many years!

Joshy

This place is the biggest joke. Used to come here often back in the days, 2014? 2015? I don't know if the owner has changed, but the service and the food became HORRIBLE. We went on Monday for the mussel specials. Ordered the grilled mussels with cheese, bacon and spinach. We couldn't find any spinach in the mussels, so I had to call over the waitress and told her there are no spinach. She pointed at a tiny herb like thing (literally looked like cracked pepper), and said here is the spinach!......... Me and my mum just laughed. Mussels were rubbery, too creamy and shitty. Chips were good. And we asked for some hot water, as it was cold and we wanted some comfort. We got 3 cups of hot water, although there were only two of us, which was fine, because we could just drink the other one later. THE THING IS!!! They charged us $1 for each cup of hot water. Where the hell in Auckland, or anywhere (other than Europe), does anyone charge for a frickin cup of hot water???????? ATLEAST TELL US THAT YOU'RE GOING TO CHARGE FOR THE HOT WATER. We just laughed again, and promised each other not to come back to this place again. Food = 1/10 Service = 1/10 Disappointment = 10/10

Samantha

Came here Friday afternoon for some food & drinks We were greeted by friendly staff & taken to our table. Lots to chose from on the menu. I got a small calamari and my partner got the mussels with bread and dipping sauce & a side of fries. My meal was okay I found the seasoning on my lemon pepper calamari way too salty. It was a little over powering (would be much better if the chef toned down on seasoning) the coating also came off squid as I cut into it. My Partner enjoyed his mussels all though the mussels them selves were actually pretty small. Overall I found the food okay & the staff were friendly. I will still come back to try other things on the menu despite some of the reviews.

Karen

Couldn't understand the waiter who was very short with his communication in the first place. My friend asked for different bread other than ciabatta and the waiter said they have no other bread. I ordered the fish of the day with "white wine sauce" came out covered in balsamic vinegar which I hate then they took it back. I've been waiting for my meal to come back out for so long. My friends finished eating 30 minutes ago and I'm still waiting for my meal to come back

Hannah

me and my friend ordered Thursday special ribs and grilled mussels. that ribs looked dried and tasteless. I have no idea how they prepare the meat in kitchen. But I think it could have been better ( juicier, tender meat like falling apart when you bite) by professional chef. Only thing i enjoyed was a beer. Anyway we paid with Grabone voucher. we were not informed that we can not use the voucher for special day menu price. They need to have a mention about it on voucher detail. also they need to keep the place clean. its stinky badly

Leigh Sirett

Aaron at Belgium Beer Cafe was a master class waiter!!! Lucy was an exceptional waitresses. I would recommend Belgium cafe everyday! The food was Devine and beer is second to none.

Stacia

Lovely service , terrible food unfortunately. We ordered nuggets and chips for my 3yr old , fish and chips and the ribs.. Fries were all completely burnt! All over crispy. Ordered pepper squid as well and these were far too big with half the coating coming off :/

Stacey Ellie McGaw

Very disappointed in our first visit to the place. Should have checked the reviews before attending. Food took ages to come out and when it came out it was cold. Ordered the steak sandwich and all it was was a small piece of bread and a couple of salad items and a massive piece of over cooked steak on top. My sister ordered the vegetarian pasta, which was cold aswell and very tasteless. Service was ok, but we had to ask for Menus and we were never asked if we wanted more drinks? I think that the owner would probably love to know that his business is making very disappointing food and quite bad reviews on Zomato. This cafe is in a prime spot and would be doing well if they invested in a better chef. Will probably not be going back.

-

Terrible night at de fontein last night. What has happened to this place? After half an hour of waiting we had to go and find someone to even take our order (should've taken that as a sign to leave) we then ordered 4 drinks, to which took a further half an hour to receive only 1 of the drinks! The first drink was a martini, to which we could see the bartender on his phone the whole time presumably looking up how to make the drink, when the drink came it tasted of dirty water and had little to no alcohol in it. (We had ordered 2 of these and the first one was bought to the table while we could see him making the second) so promptly took the drink back. To which the bartender said he will make new ones. When the new ones came they were exactly the same as the one before- the bartender delivered the drinks himself this time and did give us a bit of attitude (an apology would have been nice?) following on from that the other drinks FINALLY were bought to the table 20 minutes after the other drinks, staff were seen walking around with our drinks asking all the tables if they were there's before finally seeing us call them over. All up spent 2 hours here to order 1 drink each. This place used to be great, but after last nights experience I wouldn't even stop in here for a drink.

Benedict Uy

We stop by around 11 and it was fairly quite. We headed up stairs and was then greeted by someone. We were seated with on the balcony which was nice. After being seated we ordered drinks then It took a while to get our orders taken. Not all items on the menu is available for lunch. It looked like there was only one person on the floor. The hot chocolate wasn't the best but the sausage was quite nice. Just didn't like the rosemary sprig garnish.

Amanda Lee

Really pleased with the fish of the day. Honestly the last time we came it was dreadful but so happy they changed some staff. The waiter Chris was wonderful always checking if we as the customers were satisfied with the quality of the food and the atmosphere. Definitely a huge improvement from the last time we came and definitely will be coming for dinner more often now. The manager vjay was very nice as well so overall staff were great, food was wonderful and atmosphere was good!

LoveEatLive

Food - 4/5 Service - 4.5/5 Ambiance - 4/5 Cost - reasonable I love this little cafe. Always busy, great meet up place, very chill. Well this day we were just to pop in for a little snack and wine... next minute, I'm gobbling down a plate of mussels with fries. Also I love the service - the attention to our table was on point, not too over the top or neglected. And the outside balcony on warmer days is a game changer. As always will be back again.

Jk

Had the worst experience. 1. Waited for the food for "50mins". Other people arrived later than us had the food served. Asked why and they said they are trying to serve all at once. They never served the food all at once, and even if they did, should've asked. 50mins? 2. Some beer put on special for 10 dollars. Ordered, and the bill showed up as 16 dollars per glass. Really? 3. 1L Jupiler jug beer was flat, and felt like a bottle-opened beer left in the fridge for few days. Worst experience ever. If you really want to go, pre-order the food, double check your bills and never order jupilers.

Michelle Cao

I came here recently with friends on a Monday night and ordered the seafood platter, meat platter and wedges. The food was really good and filling and the customer service was amazing! Really friendly and helpful, thank you :)

Evaline Shandil

Went here with friends for lunch on a winter Auckland day. It was nice. The place wasn't super packed, service was quick & staff were really nice. The mocktails they have are DELICIOUS ! We ordered the big platter which was $65 which I think was ridiculous. I didn't like everything on the platter. Additionally we ordered fries just to munch on till our food came out which wasn't cooked or seasoned properly

Cupy Dee

Overrated place only tourists go to now. Food was average and served very slow. Quality very inconsistent. Service was anyway from below average to poor, most staffs there were abrupt and lack of enthusiasm. Price was on the pricey size . If you pay with Entertainment book voucher, they always tent to make a big deal out of it. Made you feel very uncomfortable. Hold beer though.

Jalex

Thank god they have good beer because the service is absolutely appalling... Every damn time.... The beer and the balcony draw us there.. The service makes us leave either 20 mins later without receiving a menu, or 90mins later when they still haven't taken our order. Shame.

Sun Aaron

It was one of my friends' birthday and we decided to come for nice dishes. They gave us burned steaks, with chips laying randomly around the steak in the place. Those burned steaks are black on the bottom, hard to cut and shouldnt be served on the table. I think the kitchen have some sort of mental problem to give us those things. Non of the steaks came with salad. Sauce taste bad and watery. Drinks were fine but it is not the point of a restaurant. Step away from this restaurant. I still made joke with my friends on their disastrous burned steaks. cooks and chef should be fired, total disappointment.

Hungus Girl

This place is especially known for its mussels and Belgian beers. I used to come here alot and been to their branches in Mt Eden and vulcan lane. Somehow, I like the one here located in mission bay. Their layout Is bigger and less congested as well in summer it's lovely to sit outside in the balcony area. Today we decided to sit inside knowing the weather will rain again! Inside it is spacious but in the weekend it does get overly crowded. Best to book a table. We ordered the beer battered fish and chips with side salad. The batter was golden brown and crisp, not soggy like some batters so you can tell it was fried with fresh oil. Chunky chips was delicious. Nicely seasoned with lots of pepper and salt. Aioli dip was amazing. Didn't feel heavy like other greasy fish and chips shops. We also ordered the 1kg mussels. The mussels was cooked nicely, but the sauce come on you call that thai curry sauce? It lacked flavour and worst of all it was overly butter. It was like french vs thai kind of thing going on there..Seemingly confused with which flavours it wanted to focus on.. I've tried their creamy wine mussels before and that tasted better so maybe next time I'll just stick to that one. Anyhow service was good. Proper care and attentiveness towards their customers.

Heck Me I’m Hungry

Visited on a Saturday evening. I think we missed the bulk of the dinner rush as we arrived at 8; however the wait for service was still quite lengthy (25~ minutes) for our food. Portion sizes were alright. Found that the seafood chowder to be too thick; the ribs were a bit cold and parts of the steak to be very chewy. The mussel pot was great, selection of sauces did compliment the dish. Probably will not revisit very soon.

Turkish Apple

Been here for couple of times, always enjoyed the food and service here. But this time the main dish came out warm but not hot? And it is the first time I try their waffle, the taste of waffle itself is good, but I don't really understand why the waffle, bacon and banana are cold (feel like it has been sitting on a plate for ages) after I been waiting for waffle for a while. I thought the food was cooked freshly and that's why I have to wait for it. And the banana is way to much over cooked. It was like two piece of charcoal, no banana flavour but only burnt taste ... Not very happy with paying $14.50 for cold waffle, cold bacon and charcoal banana. Kitchen staff should take extra care with food, all dishes should be served nice and hot, and should never serve burnt food to customer.

Seriously Foodie

Visited the place with a friend, was very busy but had good food and good service along with wonderful view. Enjoyed the specialty coffee with belgian chocolate and seafood platter, value for money. Definitely will recommend and visit again.

Mhadel Asuncion RN

Dined here with fam friday lunch. We ordered the ribs, roast pork belly and a fish and chips for kids meal. The ribs was quite good. The sauce has a good flavor on it. The "spicyness" is just right. Could have been better if the sauce is thicker? the one we had is more like a soup type. The roast pork belly is yum! I really enjoyed the creamy garlic mash and the honey glazed pear its just divine! the pork is moist but just soo disappointed as the skin was scraped. Its quite a small portion too for $30.50. The fish on the other hand is a bit oily. The fried chips was quite hard and the green salads lacks freshness and dressing. The only thing thats fresh on that salad is the tomatoe. The service could have been better. The staff should be trained to smile and greet costumers in a more welcoming way.

Javier Yebenes

Visited De Fontein this past weekend with friends to have a few drinks and snacks. The restaurant was busy, as it is usual on a sunny weekend day. We had to wait 15 minutes to get a table on the sun, but it was worth it. The views from the top floor are great and the waiters work hard to keep customers happy. My friends loved the biz sized beers and the fancy glasses in which they were served. I thought food was average, decent for "pub food" but not good enough for a restaurant. To improve, the oysters were not cold enough neither fresh; the mussels were not hot and sauce was not fresh and the garnishes for the seafood platter were flavourless and boring. The positives, the scallops were perfectly cooked, the prawn skewers were delicious, like the calamari, and everyone loved the wedges with bacon. I will be back, but probably just for snacks and drinks.

FoodLoco

I regularly visit the belgian beer cafe in Mt Eden, Takapuna and City. So I was very excited to finally be eating at the mission bay joint with the views and all . We ordered Ribs and Steak. I tried ribs for the very first time at belgian beer cafe in Mt eden and fell in LOVE but the Ribs here were a serious LET DOWN they were cold and the flavour wasnt developed enough.. The steak was olright too. Quality- 4/5 Quantity- 5/5 Taste - 2.5/5 Will I visit again? Nope.

Ben Ch

Good food here but the knowledge and service of some staff are left to be desired. Asked if they did Affogato and got asked if I wanted avocado. Upon clarifying, they still did not know what Affogato was..

Marc Brik

This place has seriously gone down the drain. If the rating would allow -10 I would have chosen that option. It used to be my favourite restaurant for a Sunday brunch. But what and how we're served on Sunday last, put me off for life. Po Pei platter was cold, no spinach, swimming in just melted cheese and 1 rasher of bacon (barely cooked) "plucked" over the platter. The mussels pot with spinach and bleu cheese, crabs in the mussels, no spinach again. The fries were overcooked or re-re-cooked. The oysters are sold as Clevedon oysters, NO the are NOTthe service (or lack of) started with a notification that orders would take 30 minutes minimal, the place was empty! Asking for a second beer just for me was ignored at first then I asked again and 2 glasses of beer were brought?? The manager offered to make another choice on the menu (seriously?) what kind of solution is that?? Maybe if he said I'll fire the chef, could have justified the situation a little. We left dishearten after paying the full amount of 4 beers and 6 oysters $56.

Natasha Kumar

The waffles here are amazing and so is the different types of beer, the actual food on the other hand is very average. I've had a few encounters with the service at this place, but the atmosphere and the music make up for the flaws this place has. Highly recommend the chocolate waffles!!!

Michelle Ma Belle

Really is our favourite place to dine at mission bay. Service is always good, and the food never disappointed. Especially recommend their salmon & kumara stack and seafood platter. Accompanied with the gorgeous sea view, it really does not get better.

David Purvis

Monday 6 January 2020 - had the 1kg mussels in coconut cream & lemon grass ($13.25), delicious + happy hour Hoegaarden $7, love the street seating, service is much improved on last review. I'll be back, going to try the Fish & chips this Friday,. Thanks Prince. Good place for a bowl of mussels on Mondays, services is a bit slip slap slop & beers are expensive. New tables outside but Specials only avaliable downstairs :( 2017. Happy hour is 5pm-7pm.

Harry

Not a very good picture. Beautiful place the view is great from the top. The waiters should check on their customers more often. My first time here i ordered 1kg steak and it came out burnt and tough my teeth were so sore by the end of it. Besides that everything else was delicious. I wish i didnt have to experience that.

Jeff Wei

Food is good value, nice beers. But the order waiting is too long. Also, customers setting outside at the balcony takes more time to get their order compare to customers setting inside the room. The waiter is sweet and have a heater prepared as that day the wind is blowing strong. Will definitely visit during specials but on normal days perhaps not worth dining there.

Medium_Rare

Ahh De Fontein, terrific scenery and beautiful Mission Bay, how does one with such extravagance still manage to have such disappointing service? It's been a while since I've dined here, as my last experience could only be described as "borderline depressing". This time, it was ok. The service was disgustingly slow--it took over an hour for us to be served. To their credit though, the food was much better than my last dine-in experience. But the lack of initiative from the waiting staff was shocking. We had a table full of finished plates etc, but this one staff didn't do anything and proceeded to flip glasses on the bar counter. Showstopper: The lunch time pie was a nice wholesome meal. Overall Grade : B-

Jordan

Food took long but was worth the wait! Came down to missionbay with my mates last wednesday loved the atmosphere. We had our orders taken by stella I think she was the manager and she seemed polite enough to help us with our orders. She suggested some of the best sellers. After a long wait we got our food and we clearly see why they are best sellers taste amazing! Will definetly be coming back here the next time I visit auckland!

Stango

Awkward experience. I came here after finishing work some time back for snacks and a drink with a date. I remember making my way upstairs and their staff member stopping me before I could even reach the top step of the 2nd floor. He asked for my ID while he and my date are standing above me. Talk about a power trip that was unnecessarily intimidating. After pulling out my wallet and having him inspect my ID while I'm teetering on a step under their mood lighting (which I'm not a huge fan of while eating mussels from the pot BTW), he steps out of my way and lets me get to the same level as everyone else... and then he commented on what I was wearing. I was in formal wear. Rude of the wait staff to make a comment when I was in no way breaking any dress code. Strangely, no comment about my date who was wearing a tshirt and jeans. Double standards. The pro about this place is that they sell great beers on tap, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go here when there are other Belgian beer cafes in Takapuna and town. My experience has prevented me from going back for quite some time. Really hope this staff member has left by now as the Mission Bay scene is quite competitive. Customer experience is important, and so is keeping irrelevant opinions to yourself.

Rachel

Went around 7pm. The place was packed, which I always take as a good sign - the place should be packed for a reason. Waited for 40+minutes for food, and the waitress in charge of our table would not come for the longest time. The food tasted good, but it was cold by the time it got to our table. Ribs and steamed mussels don't taste that good when it's cold... But I liked the beautiful sea view from the balcony. If you are okay with delays and looking for a place with nice view, this is a place you might want to check out.

Manraj Nanda

The best beer battered fries I have had lately ,excellent ambience ,I must say and of course hoeegarden is a legend in itself,will definitely pop in again ,proost !

Priya Kathiza Sharma

Thought I'd drop in for a drink early in the evening. Probably one of the poorer experiences I've had unfortunately! I let the waitress know I was there for a drink and was seated - the waitress was lovely! Once she left me to my table with the drinks menu, I think she (and everyone else) forgot I was there. I wasn't served or talked to for 20 minutes and the place wasn't busy at all upstairs or downstairs. I smiled and kindly gestured at another waitress to assist me but she just strolled down the balcony randomly, gave me a quick smile then looked out at the view for ten seconds before walking back inside... Then another waitress who I had never seen before comes out onto the balcony and takes the order of another table who arrived 15 min after me who were also looking for a waitress for a little bit. The waitress serving them then took orders from another table in the balcony - who also arrived way after me. So I went to the bar myself and ordered my drink - the bartender looked confused wondering why I was telling him my order myself. I had an inquiry about snacks but no one ever served me after I arrived so I didn't ask about its. My drink arrived - the mango mocktail - it was awful. I couldn't taste anything but mango and none of the other stuff mentioned under its description in the drinks menu. I could see LOTS of sweet red syrup solidified at the bottom of my glass - it looked gross!!! And I'm pretty easy to please with mock/cocktails. I drank most of it then I left. The waitress who served my drink was new and she told me she was new and was very kind to me but other than this and the view, it was a pretty awful experience. Wish we could get refunds for upsetting experiences.

Boty

We went with a couple of friends on a summer night. I ordered the ribs. They were like boiled. The chips were too oily, just like a cheap fish and chips shop. Good service though. Could definitely improve or at least lower the prices.

Angel_at_your_table

Always excellent food & great value for money! I love dining on a Monday night for their half price mussels. The biggest, fattest, juiciest mussels we've ever tasted! Often we'll get a tasting pot, or if it's just for myself I order then with the blue cheese & spinach sauce, Doesn't really sound like a match made in heaven... But trust me it is!! Their fries are also delicious, or 'frites' as the call them.. big & crispy, mmmm... My partner often orders the steak & it's always perfectly cooked. I'm usually too full here to eat desert, but the waffles always sound promising. It's unfortunate they don't come with just a little more syrup tho as they can be a tad dry. The only think I've marked De Fontein down for slightly is the service, we've often had to wait quite a while before our orders are taken & the staff are not always particularly friendly. It's always so busy though so they maybe tired. The kitchen here is open much later than most so it's the perfect place for late night dining. We'll keep coming back over & over.

Adam Kerr

If you get served by Kenny, he Is the bomb, give that man a raise please because he saved face for your shoddy establishment. Still junk service. Manager appeared to not give two hoots about customers or getting staff to perform their duties with the patrons. Meals took too long, it took 7 staff to discuss who would take our order, a statue fell down off a high shelf... lol! Still a joke, why do we keep giving them a chance?

Cheryl Marriner

The only thing which allows De Fontein to score is the fact they don't make their own beer. We had actually boycotted this place about 5 years ago due to consistently rubbish service. 5 years on we found ourselves here again catching up with a mate from overseas. Well nothing's improved, probably worse. The service is non-existent. The food was badly cooked - my pork belly was over-cooked and cut into tiny weird triangles. One of our guests had ribs which were practically sopping in runny sauce - may as well have been drowning in gravy. Ordering beersies from the little black book, they didn't have most of them in stock. And the staff wouldn't bother to tell us and take another order, they just never came back ... incredibly the beers which they did not have in stock managed to somehow worm their way onto our bill as we were paying upon leaving, luckily we checked. Speaking to the Duty Manager that night about the shoddy experience overall, she advised that most of the staff are new and haven't been trained properly ... hmmm I thought that was your job ... And the place is really grubby. In future I'll stick to The Occidental if I need a Belgian beer fix.

Ceecee Babs

Why even bother offering food? We sat down and 25 mins later were offered water, despite the place being heavily staffed. When we finally got served, we ordered two beers, some chips and an antipasto platter. Two under filled beers arrived and so did the chips. When it became clear that the antipasto platter was not coming we ordered it again. We were told they didn't sell that so we had to point it out on the menu to her. Bizarrely, the waitress bought us one plate and it became clear again that despite us pointing it out, it had still not been ordered. We approached the maitre d and ordered it a third time, at which stage she loudly told her other staff to watch out as we had not paid for our beer and chips (we are three mothers with kids and a pram, a quick getaway without paying was unlikely). The platter finally did arrive and it smelt rotten, like really old feta. Which was amazing as the cheese itself was so old and hard that I could not even pierce it with a fork. Both the smoked cheese and the Brie cheese had clearly been sitting around for days. All this pleasure cost us over $80.

Monique Porteous

Having been here for drinks I thought it was my duty to try the food out as well. Location location location - to say the least. Try your best to nag a spot out on the balcony, but good luck on that one 😅. The service is pretty good, room for improvement. The food is the best 'pub' food I've ever found in New Zealand! There's something for everyone and I love how there's a drink suited for each item. Food is cooked well but the presentation does lack in creativity. Definitely will be coming back as the weather heats up! ☀️

Mary Underwood

Got here at the just the right time on this busy public holiday. Managed to score a table outside which was perfect for today's sunny day. Service was fast seating us but waited a good 15 mins before order taken. A further 20 minutes before the waitress brought out drinks with our food. It would have been nice to have our drinks earlier, especially in the heat. Orders the calamari which was lovely. Just lightly seasoned in breadcrumbs. Shame it came with some cruddy salad ( tasted like the stalks) heavily soaked in an unidentifiable dressing. For the price this place is okay but nothing standout.

Thegreeats

Very average Only recommendation about this place is its premium beach front location on the upstairs deck, their beers and chips + maybe their mussel deals...hm so I guess its worth a visit if you have never been. Other food is okay but average-nothing amazing. Have dined twice there before, first was pleasant but second time there was a plastic in the mussels and the manager came and apologised, even gave us vouchers which was nice of them. But still that put us off coming back. But waiters were far too busy and forgetful

Kim

This place is falling downhill. Food was shocking. Everything on the plate was either soggy or dry. Horrible customer service. Staff was saying they are very busy and chef was pissed off. The pissed off chef took almost 2 hours to make what seemed to be microwaved. If you cant handle the pressure then don't service. That will be better than ripping off ppl with the pathetic service.

Logan

I remember going to this place when I was a kid and loved it, the food was great and good service. I went back here recently and was shocked. The staff were absolutely useless and unorganised. We waited an hour and a half for food. We asked for cutlery about 3 times. We ordered a Coke then cancelled it because it took them 30 minutes to get it and we were ready to leave. My meal was two average tasting sausages and some fries that looked like they were just bought from the super market and chucked in a deep fryer. It cost about $30. My partner had the soggy uninspired burger. Not sure what about these masterpieces would take almost two hours to prepare. In fact the whole experience was so bad that I downloaded this app to leave a review. Which I've never done before.

MS

I remember this place was nice with decent food that it was worth for a visit when hitting the mission bay beach. We gave a try last week for family dinner and it was a bad choice.Service was bad and the food was even worse. The place was full and we were told that it would take 1 hour for food to come before we order. We thought it was understandable as the restaurant was full of people so we ordered some beers shooting the breeze. We all ordered steaks, 2 well done, 2 medium and 1 medium rare. Finally food came and there were 5 chewy meat loaves before us with a few fries next to them. All 5 of them cooked exactly same, dried and all brown inside, chewy and no taste. Asked waiter which one was cooked medium rare with cutting the steaks in half to show him that they are all dry brown inside. Waiter told us he couldnt tell because we all shuffled the dish once we got it. Told him that they were all cooked well-done then he asked me "is that a problem?" Chef that cant even cook steaks combined with the waiter that doesn't know what he was doing was a joke.

Judy Chhy

Service here wasn't the best but still did enjoy the food the price are reasonable but nothing really stood out to me just a regular cafe, but if you sit outside the view is super nice

Grace

Came here today for my cousins birthday. Beautiful setting and incredibly busy! We had a really long wait between our entree and our main which we put down to the extreme business (no waiter/waitress could be seen to advise us on how long a wait we would have) however when the food came out one of our orders was wrong. We didn't want to risk waiting another hour and fourty five minutes to get the order changed so grinned and bared it. I got the mussel pot which were beautifully cooked however the creamy white wine sauce was unfortunately bland and lacked the white wine. A few touch ups on customer service wouldn't go astray and the ability to cope well under pressure wouldn't hurt either. All in all a 2 from me (just) - hopefully De Fontein picks up its game and hires new staff that know what customer service is.

Eva Zhu

OWalking in without a table reservation would seem to be ok as the place is pretty big. Service was prompt which is why the rating isn't the worst. A restaurant is all about the food pretty much if you're looking to eat, you don't go to a restaurant for the service. Mussel sharing pot was ordered, doesn't really highlight the beautiful sweet taste of mussels at all, I did enjoy the variety of sauces and the many bread slices. My friends orders the ribs, chicken crepe and Caesar salad.. And they all said their meals were ok. I had the pork belly done two ways with crackling, truffle mash and seasonal greens. Pork belly done two ways? More like pork belly done the wrong way. What is a dish that should be cooked slowly to accentuate the juices arrived before me cold, chewy and with every bite I could taste the solidifying fat being forced out by my teeth. I almost always finish what I order but in this case, there was simply no way. I'd like to say the dish was saved by the crackling, but it wasn't. I could not even break the crackling with my knife and fork, I had to tear at it to get a taste of chewy, cold skin. Absolutely appalling. The truffle mash which was meant to be smooth garlic truffle mash, was, again, cold and hard. I felt like I was picking away at rocks falling off a cliff. The seasonal vegetables only made things worse, smelling sour I thought ok, maybe there's vinegar, but tasting rancid is a whole other story. Judging a restaurant for one dish is harsh, so there may be a 5% chance I'll return if I'm completely out of options at Mission bay. But that one dish said a lot about the kitchens respect for food and what originally would've been beautiful ingredients. In short, if you're after good food, De Fontein is not the place to go.

I Am Hungry

On a lovely summer day..a good place to visit...Choice of Beer is great, and balcony seating is lovely..not so much can be said about the service

Karen

Beautiful location with an open balcony dining area, looking right across the bay. I would totally come back here. Although it can be quite difficult to get spot sometimes, the staff are lovely and make the wait nice and easy. The food came out pretty quickly and it was so good! Although some things didn't taste very fresh... And seafood that is not fresh doesn't taste too good.

Alana Balzana

Today me and my family visited De Fountein for lunch we had Oysters, Red Thai steamed muscles and calamari. EVERYTHING WAS DELICIOUS! The sea food was fresh, the chips were natural real potatoes chips we loved! We had a great time, please keep the good work and the good food!

Bobby Anderson

Service was slow and food was below average. I'd only come back here for a drink in the sun. Waited 10mins to get any service, we then ordered ribs and pork belly from the menu. Both dishes came out dry and chewy. For a dish that should be slow cooked so the meat becomes tender and juicy, it lacked all these factors. The only flavour is from the sauce.

Stuart Mainwaring

This is how it should work. When you order Lemon Pepper Calamari as a large the theory is that the squid is the main component of the dish. Not the chips. I did not order chips with a side of squid. It was squid with a side of chips. 6 bits of squid for $23. I don't think so.

Avishta Belas

This place just isn't what it used to be. Most of the food was cheap pub quality at a steep price to make it worse- the waffles were not even warm and seemed stale. The vegetarian dish was luke warm and tasted like baby food, throughly un impressed.

Dee

I am not sure what happened to this place. It feels like it's going down hill. I remembered food was really nice back then and service was great then too. We were here recently for a birthday treat. Beautiful weather and we had the perfect table. However that's where it stops. We had to call the waitress to take our food and drink order and that was after nearly half an hour of waiting to be served at our table. It's not like the place was busy and there were more than enough staff to look after the tables upstairs. Then food came too long. We had to ask if our food was going to arrive soon or not. There were cutleries on the table but for certain dish, I had to ask for a proper cutlery and the order taker didnt have the inisiative to put proper cutlery for the food I ordered. Then when food finally arrived after such a long wait, it was disappointing. The sauce had a burn taste to it! So yea, it was not a really memorable birthday treat. But thanks anyway.

Beverly Semu

last time we came here, we waited so long for our meals and when we got it it, it was average AF. I use to like this place but the service is crap as well. won't be going back

Mezza

Weather was lousy and decided to head to Mission Bay as it would be quieter than normal. Father in law wanted to go to De Fontein, which was packed! Finally got a table and after browsing the menu we decided on the seafood platter. Now the fun and games begin, everytime I've been to De Fontein, the service has been their weakness point. Today seemed EXACTLY the same. The staff are trained to not meet your eyes... I was about to suggest leaving when a waiter came over and took our order. Once the platter was served, I was kinda disappointed as it was advertised served with oysters but there weren't any. It was mainly deep fried... I guess it's gonna be another 5years till I'll even think about coming back.

Rajeev Dadhe

Located on the mission bay beach front. On first floor . This place has many restaurants and is always jam packed with customers. The name first attracted us. Belgium is famous for the variety of beers it offers . This place has same charm as a typical restaurant in Ghent or Brugges. We ordered mussels and steak. You get the famous green lipped mussels that you can get at various beaches in NZ. The Belgian guests I have taken there liked the food . Worth going again.

ডায়ানা শর্মা

Our first visit with friends .. disappointed with the errors even though the staff were friendly. We ordered two martini espressos and as you can see from the pic we got two completely different drinks. The manager was good and changed our drinks and even made us one himself.. they probably managed to redeem themselves .. just barely ..

Angela (A Style Collector)

We had brunch here today and say outside. The big plus here is the view. The place is massive and we were the first ones there so service was pretty quick. We all ordered drinks: flat whites, mocha and hot chocolate. For food, I got the salt and pepper squid, my friends got the chicken and mushroom crepe and two big breakfasts. We were there at 11 and when we ordered the big breakfast we were told the chef was not doing breakfast anymore. Their menu has breakfast until 11:30 so the waitress said ok and took our order. My salt and pepper squid was ok. The side salad was average and there was only a few pieces of squid. The chips were nice though and still crispy. Our food came before the drinks though and our cutlery came after the food too. Overall it was average. This place used to be better but now the food is just ok and nothing to rave about. It costs $98 for 4 people with food and coffees so it wasn't that too expensive but I'd rather go somewhere else next time.

Mat

This place used to serve high quality, decent food.. Unfortunately it's standard has vehemently fallen (since approx two years ago). Last time we visited i ordered the meatloaf and was appalled by the taste. I don't think I would ever visit again, perhaps for a drink - but definitely not to eat.

Miss2thfairy

Classic mission bay. Food is slow food is average. Staff average. Price average. Best thing is the location. My husband loves the beer but for me it is purely a great place to meet my friends and socialize :-)

Lexi

Went there yesterday for a little birthday drink. Had the apple pie cocktail and the lemon pepper calamari. The cocktail was yum, barring the fact that it was more of an apple juice. Not that I can't taste alcohol unless there's a cup of it in the drink, but a little taste would be nice. The lemon pepper calamari was very VERY nice. Calamari was cooked perfectly and the lemon pepper crust was spot on, even though I would have, personally, liked it to be a little crispier. The view is brilliant and the staff are very friendly. All in all, time and money well spent.

Leon Smith

Went on a Sunny Tuesday and managed to get a nice spot outside . Wait times were slow and they took around 25 minutes to bring us our drinks after we ordered. Fries were also Luke warm instead of hot. Other then that food was good

Angela

Seems to have gone downhill, fast. The place has a great atmosphere and that's where it stops. We ordered a pot of mussels (with frites), and some garlic ciabatta for dinner. The mussels and (cold 'ends' of overcooked) frites came out ... disappointing. The mussel broth had no flavour and was packed full of beards. We had to go and get our own cutlery. Garlic bread never showed, and they tried to charge us for it anyway. Service was definitely lacking. Won't be back.

Melanie Lim

We went there today to eat whilst enjoying the sunshine. The restaurant is located right by the beach so has an amazing view if we sat on the outside, which we did. The food we ordered was average (medium rare steak and mushroom ciabatta). The customer service though was appaling. I asked the waitress to come so we could order, but she forgot just seconds after and I saw her staring outside aimlessly outside the window (it wasn't busy at the time we went today). I also asked another waiter for water, to which they also forgot about. Very disappointed about the customer service.

Misty

De Fontein is an icon in Mission Bay. If you love beer you'll love the huuuge selection of international beer they have. For non-beer lovers like me, it's actually not that special to be honest. We've been here quite a few times, and each time the food was not bad, you'd go here more for the atmosphere and view. Last time we went, we got seated to a table and ordered, but when a waitress brought out the food she looked lost/confused, we were watching her as we knew that was our order but she took ages to come over to us and when she finally did, she said "did you move tables?" we said no. When we went to pay, the lady at the counter asked us again "did you move tables?" we said no. We DIDN'T move tables! It would've been your staff who took down the wrong table number when they took our orders. I know this isn't something serious but was pretty annoying, like accusing us of moving tables and making their work more difficult.

A Tale Of Two Tummies

Food ordered: Seafood platter (large) Belgian Frites Bill: $73 Big tummy: I'd heard mixed reviews of this place, but our friends love it and wanted to take us here, so I figured it'd at least give us an experience. Firstly, the establishment itself is actually really pleasant. With a beautiful view and a cosy (but not crowded) lay-out, it's one of the nicest dining-in experiences that I've encountered in quite some time. I found the service to be spot-on too. Our waitress was incredibly helpful and friendly, consistently checking in on our table with a smile. Everything was leading me to believe that maybe people were just being harsh on De Fontein... until the food arrived. I've been on a bit of a seafood bender lately, so naturally I gravitated toward the seafood platter with its assortment of ocean goodies. Now with prawns, shrimp, oysters, mussels, squid, scallops and salmon on offer, the dish really does live up to its name, so points for that. But sadly, it seemed like quality had been long-forgotten as they piled food on the platter. Quite simply, there wasn't a single item on the platter that stood out or had any "wow" factor. The mussels (DF's specialty) were good... but not great. The toppings were hit and miss. The scallops were nice, but incredibly small and scarce. The fried prawns and oysters simply tasted of batter, losing all taste and semblance of their actual flavour. The salmon was yet again average. Even the dipping sauces were hit-and-miss, with one of them being too watery, one being too gluggy and the third being okay. For the hefty price-tag of $65, I guess we expected quality to accompany quantity, but to be honest, you can get better seafood for 1/3 of the price at a couple of other places in Mission Bay. It wasn't a complete write-off, as the restaurant and waitress would likely be enough to convince me to come back and give DF another try at some point, but I'd likely just stick with the cheap/basic food next time. Little tummy: First of all, even though we ordered the seafood platter, I'm not the biggest fan of seafood. Yet prawns/shrimp are like among my favourite food. Yeah... I'm a bit of a conundrum like that. Always the trooper though, I tried a bit of everything De Fontein's seafood platter had to offer and I'm still breathing, so it can't have been that bad. The highlight for me was (of course) the shrimp and prawns... even though the prawns were somewhat average and didn't taste that fresh. I *tried* the oysters, but simply couldn't eat it. The taste of batter was overpowering, so it felt like you were chewing on slimy batter. Very unpleasant. I tried the mussels too, but again wasn't that impressed. All in all, I felt that it was just a large plate of average to sub-par seafood. For a restaurant known for their seafood, I think my boyfriend and I expected more... especially considering the price.

Jessica Li

The food was really good and I love the vibe there as well. It was just so busy today and we had to wait a while to get served but other than that i enjoyed my time there.

Kelly

Muscles were delicious best I've had in a while. Small mix up with order but Manager Stella resolved this quickly and efficiently, was impressed.

Aaron

The Fawlty Towers of Mission Bay.. there are some very tasty dishes on the menu.. however you can die of thirst trying to get a drink here. Some of the waitresses dont even know the menu.. ordered Oysters Kilpatrick and got serves Batterred Oysters.. I told her these are not oysters Kilpatrick and she points at them and insists thats what oysters kilpatrick are. It seems The staff are just a succession of people on tourist visas passed off as genuine restaurant staff.. its a monthly succession of bogans rotating through I would say... I mean you can go to a restaurant and one mistake will be made but here ive had 3 things wrong on 2 visits to this restaurant.. seriously bad

Nazareth Contreras

I love this place, the staff is great and the food is amazing I love the steam mussels. I just hope some day the bring back the one the used to have with the coconut milk... they were the reason I felt in love with the place. I will always be a fan...

Mistar Kumar

The only thing great about this place is the atmosphere and the beer. Service is really bad waiting half hour to be served by a waiter. Food taste bland, orderd the cod and crab food had no seasoning. Chips was soaked in oil. We literally got full on the beers and cocktails while waiting to get a table then waiting to get served and then waiting for our food. Their quick to get you drinks thou, hence there name "belgian beer cafe." Guess its their way of taking your money. Second time being here and possibly last.

Annie Bananie

There was good service and good beer! The mussels were on the smaller size but the broth was delicious! Good aioli with the fries as well 😄😝 overall a nice buzzling atmosphere

Jing Min Liu

Had a lovely dinner the other week with a group of friends here. We were quite a large party of 10, and arrived a little late but staff was still as friendly as ever! We were well looked after and even when some people came late they still happy helped us get some extra sets of cutlery and seats. Food was good and filling. I had the fish and chips which didn't look like much at first but I almost couldn't finish it! Nice experience here although may be on the pricey side for students!

Ceciline Thai

Rather expensive menu for average food but at least the view was good. I had the mushroom crepe which was okay but was nothing special for the price I paid. Service was average but the dessert deals were great I believe it was half price desserts on a Tuesday.

Biohazard

Used to serve quite tasty mussel by the pot but not so much anymore.. Had the meter long würst with sauerkraut with mash, and there was very little sauerkraut.. Good live music for a drink on Saturday night but not overly impressed.

JVince Fajardo

Cosy atmosphere - you get to look at a great view over a scrumptious meal. Even better when youre around friends. Food is great and if you dont know what drink to match it with staff are always ready to help. This has been our go to place for a late night chill, fun and munch.

Rebecca Teng

I come here with my family twice a year when they have the grab-one deals. The food is a mix bag. Some a truly great!! ( Hello my amazingly delicious Belgium chocolate sauce covered waffles!) and some are ... Meh. At times, stake is cooked too much on the outside that it becomes hard to chew but the inside is still a red runny mess. (we asked for medium not rare! ) But then other times it's just right! Juicy, soft and full of flavour! Makes me wonder if they change their chefs a lot... ?? I have to say the waiters and waitresses are lovely but maybe because of their lack of staff, they are too busy attending other tables and hardly come to our table when we wanted their attention. The interior is great tho with all the wooden tables and benches. All in all, a good place but cannot expect the same quality of food all the time. This is why we only go with the grab one deals!

Renée Chiu

I always come here at night because mission bay at night time looks amazing. The mussels took 15mins but we waited 30mins for the waffle and desserts to come. Customer service is pretty good but the food took too long to arrive. Bacon Onion and Garlic Broth Mussels: The mussels here are very fresh, the sauce brings out the freshness of the mussels. Whenever i order this i cant stop eating it. Grilled Banana Waffles with Bacon and Maple Syrup: This might sound disgusting to some people but the flavors actually go along with each other pretty well. There was only a small piece of waffle and it was drowning in maple syrup which made it too sweet. I ate the grilled banana with whip cream to make it taste less sweet. The best thing i liked about it was only the bacon itself, i mean who doesn't like bacon?

Hoori

We ordered waffles and we were waiting 45 minutes for that! It was wasting time and no value for money. The ice cream which comes with waffles doesn't taste like ice cream at all and fruit salad was the wrose!

Lisa V

The atmosphere at this place is great but that's about all. During summer it's nice to sit upstairs in the sun and enjoy some beers, drinks and snacks with friends. Unfortunately I have had some pretty crappy experiences at this place so dinner and lunch is now out. The last time I went we were there for about 3 hours, most of the time we spent waiting for our food. We were told twice the dumbwaiter had broken and our food had to be remade. No apology, no offer of anything to start off with. After having waited 20 minutes for drinks and over an hour for food, I had to request something and was offered garlic bread. 10 mins later the staff member came over and said garlic bread couldn't be made in a short time so would fries be ok. Fries came with all our meals but by that point we were so hungry anything would do. Fries came out soggy and undercooked. When our food finally came out it was shocking. My friends steak was over cooked. Another friends dish was under cooked and my mussels were over baked and had the rubbery taste to them. Everything was also cold. The table next to us had to send back their kids meal as the bread was burnt and the fries were overlooked.

Simon Dixon

This is a great place to come when you really want to sink your hunger into some good old fashioned pub food. I had the pork belly on this visit which wasn't what I thought it would be. However, these guys make excellent steaks and fantastic steamed mussels. I also recommend grabbing some garlic bread. It's a sliced Cobb loaf drowning with garlic butter! This is also a place to go if you're keen on being able to sample a wide range of beers! Take on the beer passport challenges which is a great way to put yourself out there and try something new!

Summerlee Fataoui Schick

Great venue to watch a game of footy, price of the 1L pitcher is great value for money and the seafood platter is wonderful. Can get crowded at times so expect to wait if u dont have a booking. Nice atmosphere and great service.

Sheena

De Fontein is one of my go to places when I want to drink gourmet beer! The only criticism I have about this place, is when we're seated, I've noticed that it takes quite a lot of time for the wait staff to notice us again, so taking our orders and asking for drinks or something can take a long time. The food is usually delicious though! I've eaten quite a few things off the menu here and their mussels are a treat! They've also got daily deals as well, like half price desserts and mussels and a discount off steak meals on different nights of the week! The ribs are also amazing, though I usually can never finish them. I'm not really a beer drinker, but I love their lambic beers which are more fruity! I've also just recently discovered Brambles cider here, which is delicious and you get a lot for the price! It is now my go-to drink to get here. Dessert here is also pretty good! When we came here for my friend's birthday for dessert, the manager here was lovely! She saw the presents and asked us if it was a birthday and when she found out it was, my friend's chocolate cake she ordered had a special birthday message on it! They also dimmed the lights upstairs and she got a birthday song! She felt super special after that! De Fontein can have its moments! I guess it depends on who is working, but generally this is a lovely place to dine at. Sarah Reynolds #challenge

HJ

Great spot in summer or on a nice day! Upstairs right in the middle of the main strip is where you'll find plenty of seating and even some out on the deck overlooking the hustle and bustle of mission bay. We went here for lunch and unfortunately missed out a deck table but still had a good spot inside. I ordered the Lemon Pepper Calamari served with salad and fries. The calamari was cooked well with a nice crisp batter, the sauces were nice compliments to the dish. The size was just right for lunch. The three of us did have to wait awhile for our food to come out and the service wasn't that great during our time there. Even thought it was peak lunch time there is room for improvement here. Would be worth checking this place out if your ever visiting or near by - for lunch or a drink on the deck!

Gaetano

The beers are good the service is friendly the venue is ok, the food is less then average, they should change the oil in they fryers more often , the whole place thinks off old oil not pleasant.

Romina Kolesnik

I've been here various times mostly at nights and it usually isn't busy so service is very quick and super friendly! Food is really good and usually comes out pretty quickly. The only time I had an issue I had was when I came in during a busy period and it took an hour for food to arrive so avoid the busy period.

Zoe Huang

We used Grabone voucher and had lunch there today (Monday) $25 for $50 food voucher. Beverage is not included. We order one grilled mussel and one spicy pork ribs, one beer and one coffee total valued $53.5. We actually paid $33.5 instead. It was a nice lunch for two people. I like the grilled mussel better than steam mussel.

David Hedgley

Decided to pop in on a whim to get something to eat before the cinema. In 30 mins we were treated very well, service and food were prompt and the frites were perfect. Courteous bar manager made sure we had everything we needed. No need to look anywhere else if doing the same thing again.

Paola Gee

Been here a couple of times and came in on Thursday. They had a great deal, 800g of ribs and fries for $20 if you bought a cold drink. Was delicious, the sauce had the right amount of spice- pair it up with Kriek cherry beer, perfect match! A friend ordered the Flemish stew and it did not disappoint, had good portion size as well. Service was great, very friendly! With a view over Mission Bay, this is my go- to for great beer and food.

Jason Prasad

Went here for my 21st and a friends 21st. Both times here was an amazing experience. Food was very delicious. Steak was cooked brilliantly. Oysters had a nice creamy taste to it. Wonderful and kind staff. Defiantly recommend others to enjoy the same experience as I did.

Hine

Went here one summer day and sat upstairs on the deck. Atmosphere was awesome and beer was good but that's where it stopped. Had the seafood platter and it was all overcooked. The mussels were so rubbery I couldn't bring myself to eat them. Lucky my partner will eat anything otherwise it would have been a waste of money. Staff are a bit slow too. Will stick to the beer next time. If there is one.

BeeQueUU

Was looking to find a quiet dinner venue on a midweek night. Alas how many people would you expect here on a night in winter?? Well given it was Angus Rump steak special night the place upstairs set for dining was packed. Luckily got the last table visible for a party of three. Arrived just mildly hungry. After ordering the wait till the entrees came out was ok. These were a salt n pepper calamari with salad and a garlic and herb ciabatta bread. Calamari was a slightly undone. Flavour coating was all seasoning tasting. 2/5 however the ciabattabread was perfect. 5/5

Tania

We generally just come here for the location and the variety of drinks on offer. I'm glad this place is not just about the beer as it also caters to people who have a different poison of choice. The food is average, generally satisfying in flavour, but often lacking in technique, and the pie is not a pie, but merely a sliver of pastry on top of a stew. What really lets this place down is the service. It generally doesn't take that long to be seated, but that is usually the last time you will see a waiter, until you have to result to flailing arm gestures just to get some attention. Our last waiter avoided eye contact and barely said 'boo' and continued to ignore the fact the our glasses were empty. It wouldn't take much to bring this place up to where it used to be. Perhaps some intensive staff training wouldn't go astray?

Birdman

Terrible place. Had the chicken satay and haven't been feeling great ever since. Texture was tough unlike good fresh chicken and had a funny taste. Never ever again would I come here or recommend it. Service was fine

Brian Chan

Great trappist beers as usual, however the mussel pot and fries at this Belgian Beer Cafe was not up to expectations, particularly when compared with its Ponsonby relative. For some reason it was not as well cooked, and I found the shells generally harder to open. Nice balcony however and good atmosphere.

Aniva Huang

We love coming here for the half priced mussels on Mondays!! Their ribs are really good too! The tables are a little small since the mussel pots take up so much space!!

Eduardo Dias

I usually go to this place on Saturday afternoon for quick bites and drinks and the food and services are usually quite good. However, the past few months ( I would say the last 8) the quality of the services in general has going very down on my opinion. They didn't bring us water, they didn't asked how was things In general and the quality of the food was really bad. I hope they make changes and improve their services to what it was before once it's a place that we usually have good time.

Joe Critic

Turned up on a sunny hot Saturday, unusual being it's winter. Usually you would find it pretty hard to get a table out side on the side walk. But this time, there was ample room to sit down. We were told there was no table service outside, which was fine. However getting services up at the bar was lacking & very slow. We ordered our food & beer. One dish came out 15mins with matching beer. However the other dish took an additional 20mins after to arrive. If I had waited for the other dish to arrive before I started to eat it would be cold. One thing that really irked me, I was provided my beer with a glass that was dirty and untried. It was even still had a pool of water in the bottom that needed to be tiped out. The food it self was nice, good value for $23 however the matching beer at $15, was a rip off. The waiter didn't check to see how things were going & took away my partners plate when they were finished, but failed to come back and take mine. The whole experience was a little bit of a let down. Great location, nice food. But service on this occasion was shockingly at best.

Helen Liang

We came here for lunch, we ordered a bit too much for both of us but the food was good. we ordered mussels, ribs, fries and garlic bread. The mussels was delicious. The ribs were very sickening but we shared everything so it was perfect for both of us. The garlic bread was nice but it would be nicer if the garlic bread came first because they all came together so we didnt eat the garlic bread first so it became cold and chewy. The drinks were amazing! Overall it was good but the service wasnt the best.

Chloe-Mae

Cute little spot for winter meals and beers love coming here on a rainy cold night cause it's so nice and snuggly great hearty meals great for the lads my dad was obssesed with the muscles will be back every year for his birthday for a memory for him as it was his fav place to go :-)

Nick Woozle

What happened to the chef? I came to De Fontein twice in late 2014 to take advantage of the half price steak deals on a Wednesday and for a birthday dinner with friends, and on both occasions the food was great. My last experience at De Fontein last week was anything but. Our party of 5 arrived for dinner before heading off to a comedy review. My friend's $32.50 lamb fillet arrived to the table cold and was sent to be nuked in the microwave before being returned. Our other friend ordered an open chicken sandwich, whilst my girlfriend and I ordered the salt and pepper squid as a main with a side of wedges to share. The last member of our party also ordered the salt and pepper squid. Both my friend and girlfriend, who specifically seek out calamari/squid when eating out at a bar or restaurant agreed that the squid was very below par in terms of both taste and texture. It was so bad that my girlfriend stopped eating it because it made her feel queasy. I thought the salt and pepper squid was very slimy and as we drove along Tamaki Drive after paying I felt as if the squid was climbing back up my throat. I'm assuming it was either trying to a) get back into the sea or b) to take control of the vehicle, drive back to De Fontein and yell at the chef for serving them so poorly. The wedges on the other hand were pretty good. My girlfriend ended up vomiting inside during the comedy review, on the side of the motorway on our trip home, at my house, on her way from my house to her house, and on her driveway. She then continued to vomit and feel sick for the next 3 days. Whilst I didn't throw up I felt queasy for 2-3 days as well. Considering my girlfriend had only had a feijoa and a small sandwich earlier that day and we got sick at the same time we can only conclude that it was the salt and pepper squid that made us feel this way. We won't be returning.

Supreet Kaur

I really like their decor. Even though it was a Saturday night, we got a table easily and the person who seated us was nice enough to suggest sitting inside as it was really windy outside. Our food did take about half an hour to arrive but was really good. Their special of the day pasta was one of the best I've had. Strange that it was at a Belgian cafe ?

Matt L

This place falls a bit flat. Service was slow, floor staff seemed poorly coordinated as the place was busy but not overly so. Meals (Steak and Mussels) were ok but nothing impressive, dessert avoided due to slow service

Monique Terese Francois

I don't know why this place has such bad reviews! Every time I've been its been great, I recommend the pork belly for a main, its absolutely delicious! A tad pricey but the views, atmosphere etc make it worth it. I give this place a 3 because the service is pretty paltry. Wait staff forget about you, ignore you and some had very poor communication skills. Also the food takes a while to come out.

Chanel Stevens

amazing muscles and beer, great view during the day to sitting upstairs outside. couldn't think of a better place to have a great meal and a walk on the beach after!

Johnson Mac

Their dishes of mussels are word of mouth. Group of five were decided to go tonight. We believe the Mussel tasting pot was a must to be ordered. We pretty enjoyed the mussel for starting with our dinner. 400 gram spicy pork ribs to be considered too much for a ladies, taste was juicy as picture but was not spicy at all. One of my friends ordered the medium cook steak, which end up with well done. Overall, prices are too dear according to the service and food average.

Harsjeet Bhatt

True beer lovers place. Was quite impressed with the variety of beers and also relished on the Waffles. The view from the terrace was just perfect. Lovely place and very courteous staff.

FoodiePhysician

Used to come here numerous times to enjoy beers and ribs over the last couple of years. I had the pork ribs as I normally do. I hadnt been here for a while as I found out his time around. While the price hadn't changed at a hefty 33$, its certainly slumped in quantity and quality. Flavour was bland, quantity lacking and just a sad sight to look at. Dont know if my tastes have become pickier with all the dining available these days or if the ribs had changed. Will be looking for a new place for my ribs. Also, there seemed to be a lot of staff around and many had noticed we were waiting to pay the bill but they just seem to keep walking past as if they were delegating it to someone else. Probably waited about 5min; was getting a bit annoyed on top of everything else. A sad two Yums.

Alan Anthony Rathbun

Always A good night out here. A regular with a bunch of mates and am never disappointed. Food is good and the beer is great. always fun trying the many beers that they have available. service is outstanding and there is always someone nearby to serve us.

Julián Rojas

What a suprise! This is just my impression when I saw this restaurant in one of the corners of Mission Bay in Auckland, New Zealand. Everything there is full of little details that transport customers from the South Pacific to Europe in just a couple of seconds. I was really amazed with the entire Belgian atmosphere from ancient pics of the restaurant to the photos of former King Baudouin I of the Belgians (1930-1993) and his wife Queen Fabiola (1928-2014) who lived one of the most memorable love stories of the XX century. All the lights, chairs, tables and the first floor bar is the same kind that people can find in Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges or Liege. The second floor with a terrace that provides one of the most beautiful views of the beach is surrounded with the same Belgian charm, but at this time, with images of Tin Tin in the hall to the toilets. The restaurant was really busy for a Wednesday, even though, the waiters and waitresses were attentive and helpful and always with a smile. Food? What can I say? The meat was absolutely perfect and the dessert with Belgian chocolate delicious. Take your time and enjoy it.

Earl Cook

Not for me .....ordered the chicken breast wrapped in bacon meal .... the chicken was slightly larger in size to an average chicken nibble .... Im aware of overheads etc but this was ridiculous.... $30 for an snack sized meal ... thanks but no thanks .. should have gone to burger king

Manni Nepomuceno

Great Restaurant with Beautiful Atmosphere. Went to this restaurant on a night out, together with my friends. Lovely view of the deck, looking over Mission Bay and street, beautiful atmosphere. Ordered the beer-battered ribs with chips on the side. Ribs were cooked really well, together with an excellent mixture of the sauce. Pricing was really good considering the quality of the dishes. Service was good overall. Staff were very friendly and approachable. However, they could use more improvement in terms of waiting time (took 15-20 minutes for our orders to be completed), but overall, we were really happy and delighted of the service. The overall experience went well. I will definitely return soon.

Maddie Sanft

I have been to De Fontein a couple times and I keep wondering why I bother going back. I have never been able to order food there because the extremely rude wait staff make me want to leave immediately. I have been denied dinner because one of my friends has been under the age of 18 and I have been forced to sit outside on the sidewalk because I under the age of 18. Now, of legal age, the staff are still extremely rude. I went there for a drink this week, we met up with a group that was already there and we were immediately told to "Either change tables, split up, or leave" we were on a small table outside and it was a fire hazard. I would have been fine with moving if the waitress hadn't been so rude to us, paying customers. I have also been told that if I was under age and seen drinking beer (not sure where they got this idea from? I was having a lemon lime and bitters) they would call the cops and I will be fined. WTF. I have worked in hospo for quite a few years as floor staff and I can tell you now this is no way that any customer should ever be treated. Get your S**T together

Khushboo Singhla

It's an amazing place... Beautiful views, nice selection of beers, yummy food and very courteous and helpful staff. I wouldn't recommend their cocktails though.... But overall it's a must go place. It's facing the beach so you can see all the activities happening while sipping chilled beer...! We ordered Mediterranean bread , wedges, made on order chicken pasta and chicken skewers.... Everything was very delectable.

M_food Lover

My first time to De Fontein and had came riding on my friend recommendation However, it was really a big let down. Went last Saturday evening for dinner. The first impression was really good. Love the decor and setting of the place. However, all of it stopped there. The lady who took our order was really impatient and unfriendly. Anyway, We ordered the 800g rib, calamaris and half a kilo of mussels. (Bill came up to be about $80) Waited for a good 30 mins or more for our meal. It's good that they came together but the ribs and mussels were served cold. The mussel was so cold that the sauce even curdled!! We left half the mussels untouched. The calamari was hot but the crusts were all falling off. Huge disappointment with the food. The other staffs were friendly but really busy. As we were seated outdoor, we find it very hard to get their attention. Our plates were also taken away without asking if we have finished, (okay to be fair there's only some fries left but still it's good customer service to ask). We left without complaining as we know that we will probably not come back again anyway.

Laura Hunt

This was my first time to De Fontein, and based on this experience it's definitely my last. We came here for dessert because we saw it was half price on Tuesday - bargain right?! The deal seemed pretty sweet, all waffles and desserts half price! I ordered the kapiti ice cream trio and my friends got the berry waffles and chocolate eclairs. My ice cream was fine (though I would be shocked to have to pay $13 for that usually), but the other two were awful. The waffles were burnt yet soggy an the berry compote that came with it was sour. The chocolate eclairs were more like old stale profiteroles and only had a small amount of cream inside that had been absorbed by the pastry- It was almost like they made them a week ago. Very very disappointing.

Where.iate

Been here quite a few times over the years, and it has always been very good. The staff are attentive and even when they are super busy, we were always able to get a table. Our orders are taken quickly and the food also comes out quickly. Came here last night for dinner, ordered the grilled mixed mussell platter and some baby potatoes on the side. Both were amazing. Though, I would love it if they brought back the blue cheese mussell pots! They were THE BEST.

Alexandra Ingram

Staff are foreign and didn't know the menu or could speak English... Had to come back and check or order twice before bringing out the wrong stuff. We were told the food would take 10mins. 40mins later we had our average looking food in the almost empty restaurant. Great looking menu, however the food was disappointing.

Madicattt

I was really disappointed with my recent visit to De Fontein. I'd popped in for a light snack with plans to go kayaking that afternoon. We ordered some wedges and risotto balls thinking that we'd there an hour, tops. It was busy but our food took an hour to reach us. When it arrived, the wedges were nice but I was shocked to see only four risotto balls on the plate. For $10 that seemed a bit absurd. By the time we finished eating our window for kayaking was gone. We headed home grumpy, hungry and disappointed. I will note that I was impressed by the fact that they took note that we wanted to sit outside and as soon as a table became free it was ours. But the overall experience was such that I will not be going here again.

Kaim Argonar

This place was a great place to relax and have some great food, although the service was always a bit slow but at least the staff were friendly. My partner and I really enjoyed mussel mania and the wedges along with the atmosphere. Today I went again with my partner and what a change... It's under new management and the new owners are skimping on food and the staff are horrible. The waiter we had kept insisting we try the cherry beer even though we told him numerous times we had tried it already. We were going to order it anyways and when we did, he tried to pressure us to buy the large, I insisted on the small 3 times before he relented. When my Stella Artois came, the glass wasn't clean and the beer head wasn't even at the brim of the glass, what the hell? It was even worse with my partner's cherry beer. Then came the food, man oh man has the standards dropped. The mussels tasted like rubber, it wasn't fresh, the toppings were horrible and some mussels didn't even have toppings! There was sand in a few and one had a crab in it. Bloody hell.... This place has gone to the dogs, what a shame. The new management should be ashamed.

Lydia

I went there with my boyfriend twice to have mussels. The first time we had grilled one, the second time we had grilled and boiled one. We think grilled one is better than the boiled one. We enjoyed the half price on Monday. Want to go next time

Briar Roberts

Went twice, both times extremely average for the price of food (brownie, ribs and burger) - time to try some where new. Problems; no love in the food and average service Pluses; nice location

Tan.ned

Had the 1meter long sausage and it was great! However my friend's food only came when I was nearly finished eating. Showed bad customer service but was quickly able to make up for it by providing a 50% discount on my friend's meal and a free dessert on the house. A well recieved apology indeed. Also, very good atmosphere.

Lennaine

Love this place , great for summer and love trying all the beers that's always the most exciting part for me and mussels love the mussels so great!

Katie Tie

This was my first time going to De Fontein and i wasn't too impressed at all, which is a shame because i've been asking to go there for months with my partner. The restaurant was semi busy but there was defiantly not enough staff on to cater to everyone. Ordered drinks on two occasions during our visit. Both times we waited 40 minutes until we asked again where our drinks where and both times the order hadn't been given to the bar/ forgotten about... We were never given water (not offered or given when we asked) which was not great as it was a hot day, waited longer than advised for a table which meant ages before we got food into our stomachs and large beverages while waiting. Great location, shame about service.

Benjamin Kwan

highly disappointed tonight by poor service and poor food. Was standing around for about 10 minutes with waiters walking past me and my wife numerous times before we have to stop someone and asked to be seated. We were then shown to a table that was so squashed there was no way I could be seated without relocating the table next to us. We eventually got a seat outside, and then had to wait a further 10 minutes before we had to ask for a menu. After we ordered, we were left to wait over an hour before we were served. My steak was the worst I have ever had in New Zealand (and I have had a lot) and my wife's mussels were not fresh (you know when seafood is not fresh) and way undersized. This was the first time I have ever left a steak unfinished in any restaurant, and the first time we have left half a dozen mussels uneaten. The best part of the night was the drinks that helped us wash away the poor food.

Dee Y

This place used to be my favorite restaurant eating mussel, but the whole dinner experience there tonight was turning to a nightmare. The service, the food, just can't find anywhere else can be worse. The restaurant is famous in their mussel, but after almost an hour of waiting, their mussel I had today was not fresh at all, fishy, small and the sauce taste just like salty water. My husband had a steak which he said was the worst in NZ. Chewy, too rare and no taste, need to add salt. All the waiter that were hired are not trained properly or not at all, including manager, they seem like don't care about customer and don't even think properly, maybe just on holiday working visa. First is nobody came to arrange seating for us, we were waiting for ages to get a table. When I was trying to order their special fruit beer shows on the menu, I've been told by the waitress that "Sorry, we don't have any fruit beer", but when I chose the other brand fruit beer, and they HAVE! Then the next 45 mins was waiting and waiting, when we finally got to talk to one Asian woman who looks like manager or team leader, asked her to check our meal, her response was "Oh, I can check for you but it usually takes 45 mins to 1 hour of waiting" What kind of response is that? It sounded totally normal for her that let customer waiting for 1 hour, especially the actual meal like steam mussel doesn't even take more than 5 mins to cook. I would feel ok if we were informed earlier when we were seated or she could at least apologize for the meal delay causing by their busy period. Unfortunately, this was my worst meal ever in NZ, after no less than 10 times I visit this restaurant for their mussels, it was a huge disappointing after all and I don't think I will go back again after all this. I hope the owner of the restaurant can see this and really need to think whats went so wrong.

Adrianmillerlive

Went here, wasn't very impressed, salmon was way over done and dry. Confusion with staff landed me the wrong meal. Over priced I felt. A true franchise experience.

Debbie

Pretty disappointed with our recent experience here. It took half an hour to have drinks delivered to our table. We asked a waitress twice to follow up on them and she just walked away from us. We weren't allowed to order food at the bar but had no waiter either. We asked numerous waiters but they all said that someone would be with us shortly. An hour later we finally ordered! Bar man got angry with us for buying drinks at the bar rather than using our non existent waiter. Worst service I've ever had.

Marina S

De Fontein is notorious for hot and cold service - there is always a risk whether you will receive good service or none at all. The main problem is that the restaurant appears understaffed for the number of tables it has - the consequence being that you will be seated, then promptly left to your own devices for upwards of half an hour to an hour before any wait staff will approach your table. This has happened twice beforehand, but with our most recent experience we were served relatively quickly, perhaps due to the fact that it was a very large group. The location and menu are great but the general feeling is that the staff are not as preoccupied with overall good service as large tables are quickly catered to whilst smaller tables are somewhat ignored. Additionally the staff attempted to charge us for a large amount of drinks that were never ordered on our table, and were very rude when we pointed this out, and reluctantly took the drinks off our bill. Not very impressed.

Isaac Dewstow

Nice indoor and outdoor settings. Delicious food especially the sticky ribs! Pricing is reasonable considering the fast professional standard of service and the deliciousness of the food. Plus, what's not to like about Mission Bay.

David Smith

We are regular clients of this restaurant meeting there at least once a week for drinks & sometimes a light meal. We find the ambiance in this café very good and the staff always pleasant. The Manager Stella looks after us very well and is always friendly. We like the Belgian beer although expensive being more of a craft beer than the usual run of the mill beers. The café is well situated on a corner site with great views. The décor is somewhat dated now & could do with a makeover but then so do we! a good place to meet & while away a couple of hours. Always plenty of customers coming & going so it obviously has plenty of appeal particularly amongst the younger set especially those of Asian descent.

Anoo Sharma

Great service, we love going there because of their friendly staff and it's gr8 location. Top views are always good, their Meals deals are great and very helpful staff. their dessert menu is ever so mouthwatering . We had Monday Mussels, Thursday Ribs. So tender and deliciously done with frites. Great wines and beers are always available too. We'll be back no doubt. Thanks a lot for taking care of us .. Anoo & Barry.

Asian Fan

Went there last week with my family visiting from korea.. It was Monday so the muscle was half price... We ordered a full table meal. I love their muscle it usually very nice with the lobster (something) sauce,, yum~~ BUT normally go there on Sunday... This is my first Monday visit. So I ordered my fav.. But it wasn't as nice. :-( I was a bit disappointed T.T the muscle was not fresh at all,, smelly smelly smelly T.T it ruined all the taste of everything else we ordered T^T... Is that y they r half price?? I was almost Hv to pay full price thou, if I didn't order one cold drink.. Hmm! If I has to pay full price for that I would be very disappointed. I don't know how other dish actually tasted,, cuz the muscle just ruined my appetite for anything else, so I can't really commend on other thing.. Well, they usually good when not half price so that's what I rate them for :-)

Becca Callaghan

I went with my netball club on Saturday, there was 24 of us so we pre ordered all our meals and I chose the Pork Belly main. It was really expensive so I was expecting it to be amazing, when I got it the pork belly skin wasn't crispy which was dissapointing, although the project it's self was beautifully cooked. The dish was meant to come with a potato hash. When getting that it was just roast potatoes that had been little squished together, which isn't my idea of a hash. It could have also used some vegetables to cut through the richness I was also frustrated with the price of most of the drinks. It was an average meal over all

RaeRae Johnson

We went to De Fontein with high hopes. Sadly they were not met. My partner has eaten here before for lunch and whilst he maintains it is a great lunch restaurant, it sadly doesn't transfer into a great dinner restaurant. The food was ok - the breads and dips are hard to stuff up, the chicken vol au vents were very, very nice, but the dessert was not that great. The food aside, the issue we had with De Fontein was the service. We were still picking at our entree (breads and dips) when the waitress (I believe she was the manager on duty that night) arrived with the mains. She used our mains plates to 'shove' aside the entree, without even asking us if we'd finished our entree and were we ready for our mains? As we started to eat our mains, I joked to my partner, "Let's hope they don't serve us our dessert while we are still eating our mains" and no kidding, but no sooner had I finished saying this we looked up to find the waitress standing there with our desserts! (This was less than five minutes after having been served our mains!) The young Kiwi waitress was very apologetic about the situation, she took the desserts away and also went and spoke to the manager. (I have to make a note about this young waitress, as she was the only one of the four wait-staff who served us, who seemed to know what good service is all about! She was polite, friendly and helpful. They need to hire more wait-staff like her!) Later our desserts were re-served to us. Same plates, same slightly melted ice cream. A bit poor given the desserts were $13 each. The manager did come over later on and apologise for the 'fast food' service (my words, not hers), and to her credit, she did offer one of the desserts for free. The problem was that we were on a voucher and so a free dessert meant nothing to us. It would have been nice if she'd instead offered us a free drink since a free dessert on a voucher where the dessert is already paid for is not compensation for bad service. (In retrospect, we should have asked for it (a free drink instead), but on presenting the voucher to her, she also should have had the common sense to make that call instead of us having to ask for it.) We will come back, but only for drinks or lunch. Mission Bay offers too many other higher standard restaurants for the same price.

Celeste

The drinks & mussels were nice but the lamb shanks and ribs were terrible! Such a shame as they have such a good location but the quality of that food was a real let down... we definitely won't be dining here again

J.T547

The best thing about this place is the view! The food is average and quite expensive for what it is. Wait time is well over an hour. Mussel Monday here is not up to scratch compared to De Post in Mt Eden. We also found the wait staff quite rude in general, but especially unapologetic after we had complained about the mussels, our waitress had said 'well, you finished most of them' . I don't recommend this place, better restaurants in mission bay.

Nicky

Went here this week with some of my friends. Nice location. My husband and I ordered 1/2 a kg of muscles which were very average, they were cold. The fries needed to be spruced up considering the price of the meal, and the aioli was no good. I had the waffles which were ok considering the price ($7.50) as desserts were half price that day. The food was quite slow to come, but it was a bit busy. The water glasses were dirty, You have to help yourself to the water (which I don't have a problem with), but I had to go through about 10 glasses to find one that wasn't dirty! Overall unfortunately we wouldn't go back

Lynn Josephine Lim

Recent visit dissapointing. We are regulars and have frequent this eatery for 5 and more years. This time.....get your own water, dirty side plate and fork. No sugar came with coffees order. Mussels were dry and overcooked with flavourless and watery broth and supposedly cooked by the head chef!!!!!! A huge contrast to last visit whilst mussels were moist and plump with flavoursome broth that was reduced to the correct consistency to achieve the rich flavour. To top off recent visit, quantity seems less than all other visits.

Leticia Andrews

Love love love De Fontein!

Faroe3456

Came here late on sunny winters afternoon and sat outside. Great to be able to do this at this time of year. After finally deciding to go for the sirlion with garlic butter we didn't have to wait too long for our order to be taken and food delivered. The steak and chips were fairly average. Garlic butter could have done with some seasoning and if you are going to serve chips as big as they do they really need to consider adding a bit of flavour to them. I did ask for some tomato sauce to add a bit of excitement to the meal but the waiter failed to follow through on this request. I think next time I will stick with the muscles.

LucyGoosey

This place is a prime example of a 3 star eatery. On a sunny day, sitting outside, this place is amazing. The atmosphere is relaxed and it almost felt like summer being out on the deck with a beer in hand. Unfortunately, the food and service bring this place way down and it's a great shame. The staff are pretty rushed off their feet and while most of them are friendly they are extremely inexperienced. My pal and I ordered a jug of beer to share. I had to ask the waiter to remove the water from my glass before he poured the beer. Which leads me to... tilt the glass when you pour the beer much?? Honestly. We had 20/80 beer to foam ratio. Now on to the food. My friend had the 1kg of mussels and fries. The white wine sauce was very runny, the alcohol hadn't been cooked off. I must say my calamari were delicious! However, my fries were cold. Despite these issues, I would go back to this place as the atmosphere on a sunny day is fantastic. However, I probably wouldn't order much food as it is a bit over-priced. If the wait staff got their act together this place could get a higher rating quite easily.

YellowBlankets

De Fontein is owned by Frenzi Group and operates on the belgian beer cafe style, so it boasts similar decor with establishments like The Occidental, De Post and the recently closed Ponsonby Belgian Beer Cafe/Three Lamps Eatery. I find their decor a bit old and tired although the eatery is always clean, bustling and full of cheerful foreign serving staff. It's great for a gathering with friends; they have good beer selections (tap and bottle). I recommend their bottled cherry beer to try, and as always their Hooegarden on tap is always very good. It's reasonably pub priced, not for everyday dining but still affordable enough for a weekly treat. I love their all day Mussel Mania deal on Mondays--half priced mussel pots at its best. Food tastes average in my opinion. I had the white wine mussel that has very watery and only salty tasting broth and nothing else, and the salt and pepper squid tastes like very salty turmeric based batter. I've had better food here in the past but my last visit was albeit disappointing... It's still recommended though as it's one of Auckland's iconic restaurant to go to.

Katerina Turnu

I really like this place. Two of us came in on Wednesday for lunch, and I had a fantastic Salmon and Kumara Stack (which by the way, the menu on here is out of date, as it's not listed). Excellent flavours and tons of rocket greens so I felt like I'd got the healthy option but also had a delicious dish. The woman who welcomed us was excellent (duty manager for the day I think) and was very kind trying to clean the candle wax of the table, which turned into a bit of a joke. Friendly banter and a big smile were great. Gorgeous view of Mission Bay, seated in sunshine by the window. They were great offering me a couple of taste samples of beer, as I couldn't' work out what I wanted. Went for the Blonde Leffe - perfect choice. My only recommendation comes from my partner, who felt his chips were over-salted - but loved everything else about it.

John Nicks

This is on our worst list. The bar and waiting staff are rude, arrogant, without any knowledge of their menu. Seriously bad experience. Nothing to do with Belgium. In Belgium or generally in Europe the staff will be 100% at your service. This experience was below the scope of any other food related business I went to in my entire life.

Ashely Fortune

Always go there for dinner with my wife. Nice views and location. If you go there on Monday, 1/2 price on the mussel pot. What a great deal. However, sometimes we have to wait long time for our dishes because they are too busy on the weekend. Overall pretty good experience every time. lol

Elle

My partner and I were a bit let down by our experience here. The waiter was lovely, however got our drink orders wrong. It took over 50 minutes for the food to arrive. We ordered a Mussel tasting pot, however they were overcooked and most of the mussels had beards. The dipping sauces tasted okay. The bread we were served was stale. When it came to paying the bill, there was only one till and a massive line.

Lisa Wolf

Nice location but seriously underwhelming food. We ordered calamari and the pork ribs. The calamari looked great but was a bit chewy and tough. Pork ribs were flat out bad, meat tasted old. Expected a whole lot more for the price and location. Add to that a couple of screaming babies two tables over and I can't say I enjoyed our visit or would return.

Kirstie Stanaway

Love this restaurant! The menu offers a wide range of amazing food and offers suitable beer/wine matches and portion sizes are very substantial. Sitting out on the balcony looking over mission bay enjoying the high quality food is a great way to spend time with family. Prices are very reasonable especially considering the restaurants location. Only down side is sometimes the wait time for food can be on the long side due to the large crowds (a sign of a good place) but the wait staff are always friendly and make sure everything is okay. Also they offer a loyalty card which I think is a very nice touch. Great place.

Tim Bird

Great sunny deck, great choice of beer (if a little pricey), good mussels & chips (without being life-changing). The only thing that confuses me is... why only one cash register?! Really strange to have to queue up for 15 minutes at the end of a meal... do you not want our money?! If you do, then why not sort out your payment issues and make it easier for people to pay?

Tony Ma

Here almost every Monday for half price mussels. would give a 5/5...however the service is just too slow since the place is always packed on Mondays =(

Mike

Very nice atmosphere. Often coming here for a drink or just to relax with a friend's company. Chocolate mouse from desserts is really nice and wide range of fruit beers. Nice and cool place to visit and come back! Although have got an issue with bartender once, because have been charged for $2 extra. But he had excused and made a refund.

G R

I am gutted that they stopped "happy hour" on Sat from 9-10pm. I usually enjoy having 2 or 3 beers during that time. Beer prices as they are at all the belgian establishments... Having happy hour on Sats would be awesome. Yes!!! They have introduced beer'o'clock on weekdays, but isn't that a promotion of alcoholism. Drinking during the weekdays... $5 5pm.. $6 6pm... $7 7pm... ... ... ... I ponder... At least Sat.. You get to relax.. Unwind.. And summer is coming along... As the sun sets.. You can hold on to that 250ml glass of belgian goodness ( my preference being hoegaarden) and watch the beauty of nature whilst enjoying the creation of man in the palm of your hand. Or hands ( if you bought more then 1 .. and are not a sharer... Not indeed ) The food is okkkk.. Been there for dinner twice.. Can can. Nothing to write home about. Ordered the chicken dish 1 time. And the crepe dish another. The chips are yum.. And the aioli... The garlic bread has its good days and bad.. Always order the garlic bread when I'm there... Just a lil chaser with the beers.. Somedays it's sublime, whilst others....... So overall nice pub... ps: Bring back Sat happy hour.. and add a new extension.. From now on.. De Fontein's Sat Happy hour will go on for 2. That's right... 2 whole hours.. So pop on down to your water hole by the beach between 8-10pm and have our fair maiden pour you a handle! A 250ml handle, that is..

Sonrisa Bella

Nice place, friendly staff, great menu...but a bit pricey. Love their happy hour, but weird that it must be on ground level and one can't go upstairs and enjoy that deal.

ST

This is one of our consistent places to return to on a lazy cruisey afternoon. This place is family friendly, and the service is also friendly. The food is reliable, though not necessarily to the best standard. I wish their kids' menu contained more real cooked food. The only item the waitress recommended was the fish and chips - as they do their fish fresh. Nowadays toddler shares adult plate. This location is quite splendid. A sit at the table, a walk on the beach, in the park, and return to the meal. Verdict: a good place to spend some time.

Olivia Winston

We always enjoy meals here... especially the mussels. The beer is devinely delicious, of course. Today I chose something a bit different, as I wasn't in the mood for mussels. The roast vege salad was good. I would have like it even more if the dish was hotter - the outer pieces of pumpkin were tasty, but felt just 'warm' to my mouth, rather than piping hot. Aside from that, the service was really outstanding, frankly. The lovely staff member at the till was very concerned about the temperature of my meal (but I didn't mention it until after I'd eaten the lot, as I was leaving - so my fault for that - she said they would've fixed it if I'd mentioned it to the waiter!) As it was, our waiter was so helpful, joyful and lovely that I didn't want to whinge or make a fuss. I did enjoy my meal regardless. Anyhoo.... we sat in the sunny two-seaters overlooking Mission Bay, with the bi-fold doors edged open, just enough to feel like we were outside, although we were inside to keep warm on a crisp, breezy day. Definitely going again. Excellent service, good food, delightful environment and marvellous beer as always. And I'll know to go back to my favourite blue cheese mussels and beer next time. :) PS: my partner really loved his terakihi battered fish & chips.

Walksinauckland.com

I haven't been here this year, but my previous visits have been very enjoyable. I usually have a light lunch followed by a coffee. Good to pop in after a walk around Mission Bay environs http://walksinauckland.com/mission-bay-rain/

Jonathon Bowie

I used to go to De Fontein for the glorious metre long sausage, which was a delicious meaty browny coloured thing. Now, its basically a long version of the hot dog things you get in a packet of 6 at the supermarket. You could argue that its a frankfurter and therefore European, but basically its a $27.50 hot dog.

M

Seriously slow service (and more than half of the order was incorrect) but can't beat the views and the ambience on a sunny day from the top deck of De Fontein. They don't allow reservations so its a matter of waiting for a table once you arrive. Great Belgian beer (when it's not sold out!) but the food service is very slow slllloooooww! At least it gives you lots of time to enjoy the views and the beer..3 hours

Mila

After a great night here with delicious food and fantastic service, my partner and I decided to bring a few friends along to our next meal. We arrived and the place was chokka - the floor manager said it would be about a half hour/40min wait so we were invited to spend time downstairs with a drink before a table was free. One hour later and no one had come to see us and our later-arriving friend was ignored at the bar when she went to order a drink. We asked when our table might be free and were told five minutes. 15 minutes later and we had a table. 20 minutes after that, someone came to take our order (food and drinks). The restaurant by then was half full so we asked what the wait time on food would be. We were told a little longer than the usual wait time of 15mins but no more than half an hour. Despite requesting it, no water was brought to the table although at least the beers turned up. 50 mins later and our food arrived. WHAT a disappointment. All dishes (meat loaf, steak, two pots of mussels, ribs and fries) were cold (not luke warm, cold). The medium steak was rare. The $32 800gm ribs (which we were told were massive and would be very filling) consisted of just 8 ribs - one of which had no meat on it. It seemed like we had been waiting 50 mins for our food to cool down - not be cooked. When asked how our meals were, we did mention the disappointment about lack of suitable service and long wait times (nearly 2.5hours from arrival until the food came) that were also much longer than we had been told they would be, and then the subsequent cold, unsatisfactory dishes. We got a rather nonpluss "sorry about that".

Kathryn Price

Always a tasty meal, a lively atmosphere and packed with people. The food is good and the staff are very friendly. Great for breakfast too!

CherylM

This is on our boycott list. The staff are rude and arrogant - enough to put you off for good. Luckily for us there's The Ponsonby Belgian Beer Cafe!

Alexandra Bennett

If this is what the "Belgian Experience" is like, then they can keep it. We came for lunch on Thursday 19 August. We ordered the Lobster Bisque mussel pot, mixed platter grilled mussels, spicy pork ribs, the steak meal and a child's fish and chips. The grilled mussel platter was at best "bland" at worst bloody horrible, small bits of chewy, tasteless rubber. The "spicy" pork ribs tasted of nothing - even with the addition of salt and pepper it was difficult to determine whether or not they had flavor. And believe me, this was ordered by my grand-daughter who loves ribs but doesn't like things too spicy, so for her to complain that they tasted of nothing.....hmmmm say no more The mussel pot was very disappointing - the mussels were once again tasteless and unappetizing with no mussel flavor coming thru at all. For $140 I certainly expected a hell of a lot more than we got. I have had better food at Valentines (now that must be telling you something)

Cherie Manning

We have had several visits to your cafe bar and have found the staff exceptional with the service outstanding. The food is amazing so a BIG UPS to your chef and kitchen crew. We highly recommend this to our family and friends also we often recommend this restaurant bar to our local and international guests who visit with us. Well done team ;-)

Tell Me

Went here with some friends on a wintery thursday night, It was really nice. The service was friendly and prompt. We mussels are a must. The live music was really good too. Nice beer, good food and frienly service..what more do you need?

Nick Pothecary

Very good experience. Four of us had the metre long sausage, which was delicious, try and beat finishing it in 7minutes. Our waiter was extremely helpful and the whole night was a complete success, would definitely go back.

Dan Wilson

One of the Better Belgain bars in Auckland. Staff are mostly friendly. Food is generally good. The mussel pot is definately the way to go as it is great value for money, some of the other meals are smallish in size. Service can be slow at times, but can be understood because it is quite a busy place.

Lex Doe

awesome service and food! x

Henry Chiang

Giant beer list with carb heavy comfort food!!! Say hello to satasfaction but good bye to your waistline lol !!

Amanda Yim

Went there last night and was not impressed at all !!!!! The restaurant was busy so we were told to go find a table downstairs and someone would serve us she said same restaurant same everything so no difference .We found a seat and There was a guy downstairs at the bar. No acknowledgement or anything , no menus. 10 mins later after not getting anyone's attentions I went up to ask for the menu myself . 10 mins later we knew what we wanted to order and tried to get someone attention. We finally ordered and another couple came after us and they also ordered there's at the same time . 5 mins later they got there drink , and I was thinking didn't we order before them so why have they got there drinks before us. I asked the lady and she said oops sorry I forgot to put ur order in .......... 1 hour later we got our food and it wasn't anything special.. Looks like a whole lots of ribs just poured onto the plate and the presentation wasn't the best .... In total spent nearly 2 hours just to get some food...

NommyShotTreats

I swear every time I come to this place I'm with at least 3 others, but each time its been a great experience. Our group will always order platters and beverages whenever we come here just to chill, snack and drink together. The atmosphere is always busy when we visit, but nevertheless, welcoming. The staff members are always busy catering to other customers, but from my latest experience I felt it was my most memorable one. The male staff was so friendly and bubbly, catering to all our random requests, even singing for us. Top notch service that was :) Just had a blast with the good company, good food and refreshing drinks on a sunny afternoon. Price range isn't ideal for poor uni students if you're eating on your own, but chipping in with a group of pals makes it more easy on the wallet. On a sunny clear day, this place fills up fast, with the beautiful iconic views over looking the beach - this place to go for everyone in Mission Bay. The only down side I found about this place is that when it gets busy, it is busy! So the waiting time for a table can be quite long. But, I still love it. Great place to go with friends :)

Fridayu

Mission bay is a beautiful spot in Auckland, and De Fontein gives you a great view and great food to just make it even better. I'm a big fan of the Belgian Beer cafes that are spread around Auckland and De Fontein is probably my favourite. There's daily deals on during most days, my favourite is obviously the half price mussel Mondays. There's a great selection of flavours either grilled or steamed. Being a Belgian restaurant, Les moussles are always accompanied with des frites. There's also beer recommendations/matches for most dishes. A little warning is that the place can get busy and waiting time may be a pain especially if you're going in a big group. Service can be a bit of a let down as the restaurant tends to get busy and hectic but that aside, De Fontein is a great place to enjoy and relax on a warm summers day.

Jay

I visit de fontein every time I go to Mission bay. It is an iconic bar of Mission bay I think. It's really busy and packed during weekends or any sunny days. Great service. You can choose your beer from a variety of choices. But the food here is just average.

Chai Ang

On a sunny day, De Fontein is the place to be. I often find myself suggesting to come here for the great beer selection and the beautiful view. With a great bunch of friends, we could easily spend an afternoon there. The different beers provide a good choice for everyone. Although my staple is the tried and true 500 ml Hoegaarden beer. The food comes up short however, having experienced some great service and plates one day while on another, slack service and plates that are not that great. Overall, I would recommend this place on a hot summer day to ease your worries and relax with a cold mug of beer in your hand.

Two Honest Truths

De Fontein has been a long favourite of mine - perfect location, and amazing steamed mussels and fries. My visit on a late weekday afternoon was however a surprisingly bad experience. The waitress who took our order didn't seem to know the names of the drinks, that or she was not paying much attention to what we were saying. The plates that came (since we were sharing a platter) were all dirty. We had to ask for them to be rewashed. The bread that accompanied the seafood platter was incredibly tough. The platter itself was nothing memorable and we didn't find the food particularly fresh. The shrimp salad in particular actually reminded some of my friends of nail polish, so that was left largely untouched.

Lillian

A bit disappointed with this place. The fries is pretty good, but thought the garlic bread was overpriced, and my spicy rib was not spicy at all and it got cold too fast and makes the sauce looked a bit congealed - not very appetizing. Then my friends medium rare steak came out medium. There was a bit of mix-up when we were paying as well, they probably need a better system in this big place, like numbers on the table or more modern ordering computer system.

Review De Fontein Belgian Beer Cafe - Auckland