Review Mchughs Of Cheltenham - Devonport

I had my wedding here recently and it is one of the best places to have any sort of event. It’s built for about 160 people with public access to the beach. The view is just GREAT! The staffs are so lovely and had plenty of variety in food. They were super accommodating to our needs and open to conversation to specific details. Would highly recommend this place for wedding or any special occasions

What a wonderful place. The food was excellent and so much variety. Plus the views of Rangitoto and the beach were stunning. A great place for overseas visitors.

Great wedding reception location. James and Raj were super professional and easy to work with. Would recommend. Selected buffet option for dinner - yummy as

Not exciting, but historic. Very good buffet. Plenty to choose from, and very well cooked. McHughs is an institution. Been around for decades. In a beautiful situation, with amazing views.

Always a lovely experience here! James the owner is very accommodating and we’ve had family Xmas lunch here for many years, as well as our wedding reception a few years ago! Beautiful location in Devonport.

The staff was excellent. Took care of the table in timely fashion. The buffet was regularly checked and topped up. While the food wasn't exactly tlt exotic or varied, they were delicious. The view was great with nice expansive view of the beach.

We had our wedding reception here last December 2020 & It was the best ever choice we had in choosing Mchughs! James, the restaurant manager is very nice, easy going, down to earth, go an extra mile for us and cater all our needs from the very first meetup up until post wedding!. The guests really enjoyed the view and most especially the food, it was superB!, the desserts were spectacular, not too sweet. James also allowed us to decorate the venue prior our day, so we will not be on a rush & yeah! Our wedding reception & program at Mchughs went very well as planned. Guests were really impressed! Thank you so much James & we will definetely be referring Mchughs to our friends and families. A++++++

What a beautiful and historic place. The food was simple (what I prefer) but delicious, and the service was exceptional. I am gluten free and I could eat all except 2 options on the mains, and they made a special batch of mousse for some gluten free dessert. It was a really nice experience!

Well with a visit and great food. Incredible view of the ocean and Rangitoto Island. I could sit there all day! You need to book as it does get busy on weekends. Fab friendly staff and prices are reasonable too.

An absolute blast of a place, Great food, Amazing views, Great service, Will be planning to go again

Absolutely loved it, such a stunning view right on the water. Friendly staff who were so happy to help. My 12 year old granddaughter asked if she can have her birthday here every year.

A great venue. Fantastic views. Fresh buffet food & friendly staff. I'll come back here for a bite & scenery

Great place for a formal party. The food was amazing and the view was stunning. The staff were also very friendly. The only con was another group acting as if they booked or owned the whole restaurant, including preformances and speeches... apart from that it was an enjoyable experience and the restaurant was only a short walk across a beach to some stunning views and war era tunnels and bunkers.

Celebrated mum and dad's 61st wedding anniversary. Had lunch buffet...food was excellent and customer service brilliant. Highly recommend a visit there.

Had our wedding at McHughs. The place is beautiful with views to the sea and rangitoto from everywhere. The manager James was really helpful the entire time, he made us comfortable that we were always on the same page, and helped us plan for the big day. During the evening, everything went smoothly, the crew went above and beyond to make sure everyone ate and drank as much as they wanted. Everyone loved the food and desert selection, the menu offers good variety and you are able to choose based on your needs. This is a great place to have a reception after a wedding in church, considering the beautiful churches at Devonport make it an easy commute for guests. Thank you James and the team.

One of the best buffets I have been to. Food was yum! View so beautiful. Highly recommended

Stunning views from this restaurant that cannot be beaten! Good variety of food for lunch service. A good selection of desserts Only sad points was the 'Bombe Alaska' dessert coming out far to late into the service. Shame as it is a favorite for the kids. And though they offer free perk coffee, the waitress had no clue as to if.they make flat white coffees, and could not answer a number of other questions. Else this would be a 5 star review Small bonus is on a nice days, you can walk along the beach, kids can play in the sand, or hike the hill to burn off some of the food you have eaten

A wonderful and beautiful setting to invite my family and close friends to celebrate my nursing graduation - sunny day with local beaches and Rangitoto Island in full view. Abundance of fresh foods, variety of tasty dishes - meat lovers, vegetarian, European, Middle Eastern, Asian and much, much more .. ending with a variety of tasty sweet desserts and fruit salads. Customer services is no.1 with my guests feeling so special and welcoming. So perfect ... and we will be returning back soon.

Beautiful view. Nice location. Buffet lunch was ok. Limited food and deserts choices. Price is not very competitive. But this place can be a good place for family to enjoy variety of food with beautiful view.

Disppointing Dinner Buffet <br/><br/>So little choices with the hot dishes like those you found in Asian Takeaways. i.e Beef Stew, chicken with cream sauce that is overcooked, Crumbed hoki pieces, boiled peas, Plain rice, Roasted Potato. Couple cold dishes such as coleslaw, apple salad, some greens, chickpeas. The most valued dish for the buffet was probably the 30 cooked large prawns which were served for the entire evening (never been refilled). The tasteless mussels were refilled though. There were 4 desserts i.e Baked Alaska (probably the best of all 4), chocolate tart (not sure what kind of chocolate that was), plum cake, raspberry cheesecake. Some fruit mixed with canned fruit were served as well.<br/>Overall, it doesnt worth $40/pp and nothing special on a mother's day either. No wonder the place was only 1/3 filled.

Marvelous view. Came here for last year work Christmas do and also another time for lunch date. Food is pretty good for a buffet. Their fish goujon is the winner. I think it’s about $30 for full price lunch and $35 for dinner. Check out Groupons for deals as I know sometime they run promotions there.

The best place , ambience and food. I had my lunch on christmas but trust me its the best so far. 5 star for food ,service,ambience,value for money. Cheerss

The host is always warm, the place is always welcoming and the food is always lovingly prepared. It is a modest spread considering the price — but each and every dish is a world in itself. Their Lamb Korma and Waldorf Salad are perfect. If there is one offering though that keeps me coming back, it is their Baked Alaska. The fact that it’s located where the gentle Cheltenham Beach and mighty Rangitoto meet does not hurt either. I live in South Auckland and I travel to this gem of a restaurant as I consider it my happy place.

Enjoyable buffet food with a stunning view.<br/><br/>McHugh's of Cheltenham is a favourite every year for my school's Music Dinner. Lovely venue - very clean, spacious and great view out to Rangitoto and the ocean.<br/><br/>Service and food is pretty good too, but not outstanding. (Lacking in wow factor.) What really makes this place special is again its view, and option to take a stroll along the beach after dining here.<br/><br/>Recommendations: choose a nice window to sit at.

Came here for dinner awhile ago for a school event. The food was average, definitely edible and some dishes were pretty decent but for the price it wasn't really worth it overall. The ambience and the atmosphere were lovely though and the views were beautiful. I guess you're also paying for the environment. That being said, if you wan't actually good food, you can get much better value for money elsewhere.

It has been a long, long time since we last visited McHugh's. Vaguely at the back of my mind, I seemed to remember that it looked a lot less spacious then - the set-up of the tables, the food area, etc. Anyway, back to today, we were here for a buffet lunch. Variety of food was great; not a lot, but enough for everyone to have a pick. The view of the beach outside, particularly, was spectacular. (Food - 3.5/5; Service - 4/5; Ambience - 4.5/5)

AWESOME WEDDING VENUE<br/>We had our daughters wedding there last Friday 24 February. What more can be said, awesome venue, food and location. The owners need to cherish James as he is very efficient in what he does and makes the organisation of the function run very smoothly. He has done so many functions it comes very natural. He gave us guidance during the celebrations and always came across very professional. We upgraded to the $73/head menu which was well worthwhile. All our guests commented on the food. The toilets could do with an upgrade but still okay. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to have a wedding at McHughs.

Spectacular scenery, excellent service and great ambience/ atmosphere. I came here twice, the first time was for a school music event and the second time I had brunch with my family. I enjoyed the seafood salad, baked potatoes as well as the meat balls. The lamb curry with steamed rice was amazing! The only two downsides though, are the desert options, as there were only a few cakes, brownies we could choose from, not a lot of variety indeed. Also, $40 per person is a bit overpriced, one of the most expensive buffet lunch bills I have ever encountered. Otherwise, despite the two points stated above, If you're after a romantic fine dining experience, I would definitely recommend this place.<br/><br/><br/><br/>

Undoubtedly the best views in Auckland. Food is amazingly good, fresh, great variety. we had our early Family Christmas Dinner there.<br/>Staff is friendly and attentive. Loved it, great for a get together or celebration.

This place has recently dramatically improved with their food and service lately! Came out here last week and the view is still as outstanding as ever. Buffet has a nice variety on offer and is of good quality. We will definitely be back!

This place is amazing. We had our wedding reception here recently and it was awesome. The service provided by the restaurant (especially by James, the restaurant manager) was excellent. The Stuff was attentive and the buffet was very tasty. Overall! This is the place to be if you are thinking of having a function here. Thank you James and all the stuff at McHugh’s.

It was well worth the visit. There was a big variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian food and good choice for kids too. Yummy freshly cooked food and views were very enjoyable. Thoroughly relished our lunch thanks to efficient staff and ambience at McHugh's.

Great place with beautiful views. Best place for functions. We had really good time with our family. Food was awesome and staff was very friendly. <br/>Ten out of ten. <br/>Sure we'll return.

5 out of 5 from me. I was impressed with the professionalism, venue to die for and great tasting food. Attended mid winter Christmas function- what a great experience.

views are nice, food and service disgusting. would be better if the food was fresh, however it felt like i was chewing cardboard. better places in Devonport to eat.

The views and location are unmatched and the staff friendly but whenever I have been to McHughs the menus selection is limited and the food somewhat basic (albeit not bad). Some time since I have been.

We went here for their festive Christmas buffet and I have to say that it was tremendously underwhelming. The buffet spread was a pretty standard meat and 3 veg, with a less than exciting selection of salads. The drinks selection was also quite average. The place does have a stellar view of Mt. Rangitoto. This picture was taken from our table and I would go back to Cheltenham Beach but perhaps not to McHughs?

I have to say - although the location and views are amazing, there is not much to be said about the menu - except that they had GF choices. And some amazing fish fry.<br/>There were some nice desserts on offer. And that is it. Beautiful location, not much else.

Great location <br/>Easy to park <br/>But that's the extent of the upside <br/>Average food selection <br/>Air con turned off to make sure you leave quicker <br/>Kind of sad <br/>

Every 6-12 months my extended family get together. It used be Valentine's then as us grandchildren got older we started saying we didn't like Valentine's so the organiser has tried to find other places that will cater for 30-40 people at a reasonable price.<br/><br/>This time round it was suggested that we went to McHugh's and take in the gorgeous view.<br/><br/>I knew it was a buffet so I didn't have high hopes. But surely anything can be better than Valentine's.<br/><br/>To summarise... I'd rather have eaten at Valentines!<br/><br/>The view here is absolutely amazing. It's right on the beach. You could imagine this place as a perfect place for a wedding reception - however maybe  BYO food?<br/><br/>The buffet table is in this pokey side room - it's a strange set up as you're just walking around this table, no start or finish you just join into the crowd of people walking around the table.<br/><br/>I somehow managed to miss the soup so I can't comment on it. So I just got a plate of food, taking a sample of most things, though nothing rarely stood out to me as something I really wanted to eat. The food was quite boring, and not too appetising.  My mum caught my eye across the table giving me the 'Oh dear lord' frown. <br/><br/>The menu listed here appears to be out of date as I don't recall seeing several of the items.<br/><br/>Dessert was much the same as the main buffet, instead this was set up on a small round dining table and included a baked Alaska that was pretty much impossible to cut into for serving.<br/><br/>For drinks you were meant to pay as you go. The man on the bar was nice though and let me just list our drinks under our mains bill so we could pick it up at the end, however if he hasn't it would have been a pain to have to get out the credit card everytime you wanted a drink.<br/><br/>I'm not sure why so many places still do a buffet like this. They would be much better off doing a ham on the bone with someone carving it, perhaps a roast beef as well and then some different salads and vegetables. Oh and don't forget the kids, we had 5 kids and they all struggled to eat the food that was on offer!I'd go back for the view, but not the food. My score is purely for the view alone oh and an extra half for the man behind the bar making it easier for me to order the drinks.

Fantastic buffet and the best view in the world. May 2014 a fabulous variety of food just the right amount very much enjoyed by all.

Thank you to Jonathon and the team at McHugh's for making our wedding reception an extra special evening. Aside from the stunning view, the food was outstanding and there was something for everyone. All of our friends and family were raving about the food and service and we are sure we will be returning.

This is a thank you email after our fabulous dinner.<br/>Everyone who attended raved about the food, service and venue - hats off to you all. It was an absolutely fantastic evening.<br/>I hope I can work a way to use your venue for our conference next year.<br/>

Thank you for making our night so special on 28th February and all your efforts for making the evening so smooth and easy for us.<br/>We really appreciated all the extra efforts and for going above and beyond to help us as it truly made our day even more memorable than either of us could have imagined.<br/>All of our guests had great comments about the excellent food, stunning venue and attentive staff.<br/>Thank you all so much.<br/>S &amp; J

A big thank you for your wonderful service leading up to and including the big day for our wedding on April 19th.<br/>You and your staff were friendly, helpful and it was a fantastic place to have the reception.<br/>We have had so many lovely comments about the food too!<br/>Thanks again.<br/> <br/>G &amp; J

I was looking for a good place to have a gather up of 80 people and I sent an email to the manager politely asking whether I could book for 80 people. However, all I received was an arrogant message saying "we don't do meetings". That was it. I was so surprised how the manager of such well known restaurant treated valuable customer. I reluctantly made a booking for 80 people after calling.<br/>At the day of function, people arrived and the lunch was started so we went for buffet one table at a time. However, suddenly the manager came and told us to wait for him with frowned face and waving hands. We felt being treated like primary school children. The way the manager or owner treated us (age between 50 to 70) was offending and must be corrected if he wants to keep his business. Even a waiter apologised to me about the way manager treating his customer. The waiter was really polite and nice, however, because of the manager or owner I would never go back to this place nor recommend to anyone. Also they should upgrade their dishes. We couldn't eat soggy and wilted canned fruits for desert. People deserve to get good service and food when paying $28 per person.

A huge thank you from Dave and I for the wonderful Wedding on Friday 4th April.<br/>Both Dave and I have been to many "Martin" weddings in McHughs but we both agree this was the absolutely best!<br/>The others were great as well but we felt this wedding was extra special (naturally).<br/>We will certainly recommend you to others. There were a number of "single" people at the wedding and they too were very impressed. We are sure you will get more business coming your way as a result of the superb wedding. The food was absolutely delicious, the service exemplary, the staff were polite and professional, the drinks, the layout - everything was "first class".<br/>Thank you for always being there if we had a question. You seemed to calmly and professionally deal with any situation without a fuss. <br/>We have a wonderful memory of the very special wedding day for our Daughter, Jessica. Both Jessica and Jamie were delighted with the day and everything about it.<br/> Thank you!<br/>

Was not impressed. Cold plates, no choice of bread rolls, corned beef!, extremely thin slices of chicken and tasteless shrimps.<br/>A vegetable soup, stew with some vegetables and overall little choice of food. Battered fish was the best item. Desserts were better with the Baked Alaska, but a dry looking fruit salad.<br/>A disappointing experience and not good value for money. Service was acceptable. Perhaps was not a good day. Will not go back.

We went to McHugh's for lunch on Saturday. It was not busy when we arrived however it did fill up an hour or so into our visit. The food was delicious, as it has been every time I have dined there. The range may not be as vast as other more main stream buffet restaurants, however I would rather pay for quality than quantity of dishes. The food was continually being replenished while we were there.<br/><br/>I found the wait staff friendly, polite and well presented. Our empty plates were cleared from our table promptly and our waiter kept our table supplied with chilled water without being prompted to do so.<br/><br/>The dessert was delicious and the view is second to none!<br/><br/>We will definitely return.

We have been to McHugh's several times over the last few years and have always found the service attentive and helpful. Both the Wait staff and the managers are inevitably pleasant and there has been no sign of the aforementioned surliness etc. The food is excellent. We always book for 12pm, and today we finished after 2pm. Today there were 5 of us. The food was being replenished as we left. The restaurant was full with at least 2 large groups and a bus tour, but we were never neglected and there was plenty of food. The salads were inventive and fresh, the lamb curry was outstanding and the chocolate mousse - what can I say Worth going just for that.<br/>Overall, I thoroughly recommend McHugh's!!!

Was here about year ago. Sigh, it seems as though it's the manager? Or the owner that puts the rating down. My dad had called earlier to book the place only to be told that they did not take bookings. So on the day we went very early to get the seats and told if we made the booking??! The guy who was in charge looked cocky and was not welcoming as we waited for our seat to be made. Weve also asked about earlier conversation of the call in regards to reservation and told us he never got the call. :(

Attended a Wedding Reception at McHughs on Friday on 30th March.<br/>Having been a Chief Steward with a Major Airline for some 30 odd years I should know what is required with dining out.<br/>All I can say for McHughs is it came right up to and beyond expectations. The FOOD and SERVICE was 99.9%. You could not ask for anything better.<br/>Well done to all the staff at McHughs

I went there with my elderly parents (80's) on the spur of the moment yesterday (Monday) for the buffet lunch.......what an experience!!!! My parents (multiple world travellers) said it was the best meal they've had in 30 years! Hapuka wrapped in bacon and the chicken and delicious sauce was a standout. Absolute quality food in (arguably) the best location in Auckland. Attentive management (Jennie or Jeannie) looked after my father's needs (can't walk) and appeared genuinely interested in their conversation with her.<br/>They couldn't stop talking about it last night when I cooked them a plain meal.<br/>Thanks McHughs - Absolutely brilliant!

We went there for our Christmas lunch and although we've been over 20 people, we didn't seem to be any priority to the maitre d' or the manager. The maitre d' was rude and treated us like a nuisance. Got annoyed when we wanted to order wine for 3 tables (maybe nobody told him about proper customer service and profit making?) Only the girls cleaning our plates seemed to be nice. The view is wonderful and the food was fine too for that price. But we check if there is a new management before we book the next time!

Staff were surly above and beyond the call of duty. Manger (owner?) sighed when I placed my bar order and stood at the back of the bar against far wall and then proclaimed he couldn't hear me. Food was less than average. Buffet idea could work except that at least two of the dishes were empty and the waitress assured me when I asked if more was coming that it wasn't - she was going to leave it 'empty for the rest of the day' (that was a joke apparently!). Turkey dry, ham fatty, salads reasonable, desserts varied, Christmas pud dry, baked Alaska nice, fruit salad contained fresh and tinned fruit sadly. Coffee tasted like dishwater in a coffee urn. <br/><br/>Enjoyed dining there is past and sad to see this restaurant with the beautiful location has gone so far downhill. Do not recommend!<br/><br/>1 Star for Location only

This restaurant only deserves one star for its beautiful views and superb location. <br/><br/>For I have not encountered such unreliable and poor quality service as that of the managers at this restaurant. <br/>The customer service on the phone and at the restaurant was shockingly appalling and rude. <br/><br/>It seems they close their kitchen according to the amount of customers they have on the day and we were told the kitchen will close at 2:30 on the day, when she had confirmed on the phone when booking that it would close at 3:30. I dont know if she did this so she could save an hours worth of wages to the kitchen staff!<br/><br/>Not only did we recieve no signs of apology, we overheard the manager mumbling to the kitchen staff behind our backs. <br/><br/>It seems the restaurant only welcomes large wedding functions with more than 50 people or local returning customers and don't care about the others.<br/><br/>Such a pity because the venue is beautiful.<br/><br/>$28 is too high a price since the food was very limited.<br/><br/>Would certainly NOT be going back there again as I was not treated like a customer at all. Ruined what otherwise could of been a perfect lunch for me and my group of friends.