Review The Barracuda Restaurant And Cafe - Eastern Beach

Delicious food with fresh ingredients. An awesome local restaurant right in front of the beautiful Eastern Beach. A nice place for many locals.

We thought this place was a real gem. We hadn't been here since 2016! The menu had a lot of items and we were spoilt for choice. For a lunchtime the place became very busy. The food was really tasty and a delight. We can't wait to come again.

Beachfront was absolutely serene. Dishes were well-prepared, although they didn’t come out as appetizers and entrees as we expected. They came out all at once after a little bit of a wait, which was a shame as we were quite hungry. We also had to order our food at the bar rather than at the table which was a touch inconvenient. The ramekins topped with cheese on the “Seafood Surprise” were the best bite of the night.

Lovely restaurant! Good quality food and the staff there have amazing manners. Would definitely recommend this restaurant to couples looking for a fine place for a date night, they have a lot of wines there for you to choose. As for younger members, the chocolate milkshake is amazing! It has a good ocean view so after you eat you can take some nice photos to post on your social media. 😂 The food there is mostly suited for adults, but the beef salad, fish & chips and the carbonara is a great choice for those who don’t like fancy food. Protip: Bring a camera along! You will be captured by the stunning views outside.

We had some fish 🐠 and chips 🍟 for lunch today It wasn't the best, we expected more for the amount we paid. A bigger battered fish would have done the job, our tummies were filled even though. It's a lovely place to have a drink and look at the view. Overall a lovely place. Just a bit overpriced. 😊💕

We wish we had found this earlier in our stay as we only got to have 2 meals but what a great experience. The food was excellent, fresh and the quality 5 star.

Just very good food and survice. And Grandma whose birthday we were celebrating also loved it as she couldnt eat it all and took her leftovers for her nights diner.

Went here for dinner with a group of 7. Easy parking on street out front. Staff were nice and attentive. All meals came out together and within a reasonable time, which was great. I got the eye fillet steak which was a bit over cooked to my liking so was a letdown as the meal looked amazing when it was first placed in front of me. Everything else was great so would give them another try, but next time ask for rarer steak.

A lovely restaurant across from the beach. We ordered the seafood chowder and duck envelope. Both of them were super delicious. The coffee was ok or maybe just not on my taste. Overall this is definitely a great place to go if you are coming to the beach.

Absolutely marvellous!! Beautiful, friendly staff and food was the most spectacular! Best fish I've ever had!!

We enjoyed a cracking mid week lunch here. Awesome food and great service. Green curry cream mussels, arancini balls, carbonara and pizza - all good and all available. We will be back!

Nitin and his team were so accommodating to our big birthday party today. The service was so lovely and the team did a great job at getting all the meals out. A great place for an event or just a casual brunch or dinner. Beautiful views.

Had an excellent experience at this restaurant! My coffee tasted delicious, and the food was simply scrumptious. I ordered the Big Breakfast, and my sourdough was perfectly toasted and eggs were delicately poached. My friend had the seafood surprise, which was very fresh and baked just right. Overall, highly recommend visiting this place.

We had a really nice dinner here. The menu offers pizza and burgers as well as classics and roast meals. The service was excellent friendly and attentive.

Had great pre-dinner cocktails there

Great service, Great food, great night!!! Thanks team! :-)

Excellent lunch service - wide variety of choices from either brunch or lunch menu. I had the pate dish - absolutely scrumptious.

Had my daughter's baby shower on Saturday. All arranged from Tauranga. Excellent service, great food-all platters and venue set up was great according to what we needed. The group stayed longer than planned but we were not rushed-continuous serve with a smile.

The location is beautiful, however the place was quite empty on a Sunday. We wondered but still sat down for a meal. <br/>The only highlight I can recall from this meal is the garlic bread.. <br/>the chips from fish n chips was a disappointment, I can never imagine how can anyone screw up fish n chips. The chips wasn't crispy, it was soggy and very oily, when pressed the oil fills the plate :( <br/>and the mash potatoes from the pork dish was so greasy, I had a bite and felt like I had a teaspoonful of soil butter! It upset my appetite for the rest of the meal. <br/>The duck envelope wasn't too bad although not something exceptional. <br/>Maybe next time I'll just come for coffee or drinks not food.

Expensive and disappointing food. Food cold, lamb cold and greasy, venison cold and raw. <br/>Great location but difficult parking. Little or no atmosphere and uncomfortable seating. Service ok but choices not spelled out when ordering and no empathy from manager when we mentioned the problems with the food.  <br/>Will not go back

I have been to this place many times<br/>Nice environment<br/>Always clean<br/>Great service by the owner and beautiful staff<br/> Ms. jess<br/>Good luck to them👍🏻<br/>

Bit of a disappointing visit to The Barracuda after enjoying regular visits a few years ago.<br/>It started with a table we had booked being wedged in the middle of other diners almost like an after thought but completely awkward when it came to meals being delivered & staff moving around the dining room. The table was also not big enough for us & our meals (not even having sides) & drinks. I nearly wore mine! Again we had booked so if there was not enough room they should have said.<br/>Service was the one highlight of our visit - all waiters were friendly helpful & polite.<br/>The meals were forgettable - the kind of food you chuck together at home for a quick weekend meal. The chicken melt had over cooked fries, dry chicken, and not even a sprig of salad. The couple of pieces of tomato did little to help the dish. Pretty average for the price - I’d rather pay more & have something with more thought put into it.<br/>The calamari was straight from the freezer & chicken salad mixed together so thoroughly you may as well have shaken it in a container - presentation average & then some. Not worth the $90+ dollars we paid for 3 meals & 3 drinks ...the drinks were actually the only highlight.<br/>Certainly a business that is more focused on getting bums on seats rather than great food & ambience meaning a repeat visit. A visit to the pub for a cheap meal would have been better value.<br/>Won’t be back - only rating 2 & not 1 became of the lovely waiters & the amazing view.

Great location and service was impeccable- nothing was too much trouble. I ordered the prawn ceviche as an entree. Noone at the restaurant seems to understand what a ceviche is because what I got was a prawn cocktail with tiny shrimp and no sauce. A big letdown. The risotto as a main was slightly better; it tasted good just a bit gluggy. On the whole good retirement village food!

Went there tonight with my mother had a very enjoyable night. I had the duck which was absolutely beautiful. My mother on the other hand got the Shank which came out like warm to cold. Being a very shy person she didn’t want to complain. It was still nice but would’ve been better hot therefore the rating isn’t quiet a 5. We had a chocolate cake dessert which recovered the cold dish but service was great even tipped the guy. Coming back again for their $13 main special though.

We went there yesterday for birthday lunch. It was a great experience despite unusual wet November weather. Staff was friendly and informative. Serving time was good. Poached Gunard for fish of the day was devine. Kids enjoyed their kids meals - Fish and chips, chicken and chippies, Lime milkshake , Banana milkshake. <br/><br/>Portion was surprisingly big which we were delighted to have. Great ambience for family with kids or you just want to enjoy a great meal with a glass of wine by yourself. Small negative was the kid's hot chocolate was too hot, luckily was easily fixed with adding ice blocks from coke zero we ordered and blowing. Overalls, enioyable birthday lunch and we would love to come back 👍🤗

Being one of the few restaurants along Eastern Beach, this place was by far one of the best restaurants I have been to. <br/><br/>The service was fast and friendly and their prices were very reasonable for the quality of food they served. <br/><br/>We ordered 2 entrés, the calamari and aranchini risotto balls, both delicious and came out fast and freshly made. The mains were lamb with potatoes and red wine sauce, chicken with kale and mash, and a blue cheese risotto <br/><br/>I truly had a wonderful meal here and will definitely be coming more frequently on special occasions 😊😊

We enjoyed the lunch discount ($13.90 for a main)- good price and nice environment. The cocktails tasted a bit off though and need some improvement/modification. The restaurant was completely empty except for us, but that may just be because of the timing.

It was a really good experience that had a great dinner at barracuda with my companions.<br/>By a friendly supportive staff member we were welcome.<br/>had tasty food according our choice.<br/>Obviously we could taste the real taste of its own.<br/>Hope to taste again :)

Went there last night for dinner for a special occasion - a nice venue, customer service was good. However, the food was a real let down - my starter - the bruschetta was almost cold and the fish was very smelly and chewy! For $35 you would at least expect the fish of the day to be fresh (tarakihi, which I have had on  numerous occasions but never smelly like this) - it was inedible for me and I literally took it home for my little doggy! I was left feeling rather unwell last night. I told the owner/manager on payment of my bill but she didn't seem to acknowledge my complaint and claimed that this fish can be like that sometimes!<br/>Unfortunately, I thought I'd give this restaurant a go despite some negative reviews and now I wish I hadn't as I've been put off fish altogether! Luckily, for my family, we still managed to enjoy ourselves with fantastic bubbly and good humor!  Needless to say I won't be going back!

Went to The Barracuda for a birthday dinner of 8. The decor is stylish and new adding to the class of the restaurant. My partner and I ordered the t bone steak and the chicken pasta respectively. The meal sizes were alright for the price and both were nice to eat but not overly special. In regards to the steak it comes out more rare than you ask for so consider asking for a medium if you actually want it medium rare. Service was good, with the waitress coming back to fill our glasses with iced water quite often and our meals came out very quickly which was very good considering the size of our group. Overall I would come back again

food very tasty , staff friendly and attendant,dishes presented like fine dining<br/>went there Saturday in cold rainy night . the restaurant was very  cozy  and warm perfect for the night,<br/>my wife had the lamb shank very tender and tasty, i had the yummy pork belly with scallops and prawn starter

So disappointed. Such a beautiful view but let down by so many things. My husband and I along with my mother and our 1 year old stopped by on a Sunday afternoon for a late lunch/early dinner. We had pre booked and and got a table out the front with a great view of the ocean but that was the only good thing about our visit. We asked for a high chair for our little one and the one they bought us can't be described as anything other than disgusting. It honestly looked like it had never been deep cleaned let alone given a quick wipe down. There was no tray attached to it and it didn't sit close enough to the table for my daughter to reach any food. There was a small hole in the plastic filled with black muck which my daughter put her finger in and wiped all over her hands. Totally unhygienic, especially for little ones with delicate immune systems. I asked for some wipes to clean it and I got handed one napkin and no offer to help clean or offer us a different high chair. We ordered some drinks which came quickly and were nice and chilled which was great on a hot afternoon. We then ordered some calamari, some scallops wrapped in bacon and some fries. The food came out quite quickly and when they tried to put it on the table all the plates slipped to the end and almost fell because the table was so crooked and unsteady. We had to push everything to one end of the table to stop it sliding. It made it kind of a pain to eat. The calamari was over cooked and rubbery, not too much of a crime as its a rare place that gets calamari right but the scallops wrapped in bacon were horrible. They were barely warm and after eating one I refused to eat anymore because I was scared of getting sick. There was also no orange part on the scallop which I have never come across, after asking around and doing some internet research it seems any oyster served without the orange roe usually means it's not fresh! After the meal I used the bathroom which smelled terrible and was in need of a decent clean. All up we spent $90. So much potential with such a beautiful setting. 1st and last visit for us.

I have come here twice and both times I had a great experience. The food is lovely and very delicious. The first time I came here I had the lunch specials which was the Pork Scoloppini Marsala and my partner had the Beer Battered Fish. We both loved our meals and the second time we came, was today, which is Valentines day. I had the Barracuda famous chowder and my partner had the Duck Confit Envelopes and the wedges as the side. Once again we had a wonderful meal and both enjoyed what we were served.

Excellent mostly seafood restaurant in one of the best locations . I have to admit the service was excellent. Glasses filled discreetly. Portions here are huge and the ingredients so fresh. If you choose to go for a drive one day stop in here..

had my birthday party with 40 members of family and friends,restaurant was full,got bit worried how they will serve us and the long wait.when i asked the manager assured me they have done it before and its piece of cake . after we ordered with our nice bubbly waiter , everything went really well , the food was there in good timing , presentation was excellent everyone was very happy with there meal .then they served my birthday cake with song and candle and all the patrons on the restaurant was singing and clapping made me feel so special.<br/>just want to thank you all manager and staff to make my night a special birthday to remember

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING<br/>FIRST TIME THERE WHEN VISITING AUCKLAND<br/>LOVED THE PLACE AND THE FOOD WAS LIKE A PIECE OF ART  <br/>WE SAT ON A TABLE WITH THE MOST AMAZING VIEW OF EASTERN BEACH, OUR LITTLE WAITRESS WAS VERY ATTENTIVE AND PROFESSIONAL, OUR FOOD WAS TO DIE FOR , AND THE DESSERT WAS DELICIOUS<br/>AM LOOKING FORWARD TO GO BACK TO AUCKLAND AND WE WILL DEFINITELY BE DINING AT BARRACUDA

Very average food, flies everywhere, requested high chair when booking - given away before we got there. The manager was awful. Very rude and unhelpful. We won't be back.

Definitely not returning!!!! Specifically asked for my steak<br/>to be well done/I was fine if it was even a little burnt as I cannot have any<br/>blood, it came out looking rare! Waiter seemed not to care when advised, flies<br/>everywhere, not worth what we paid for! Horrible dining experience.

Huge food, the chowder is awesome totally recommend it, I had the eye fillet mignon and that was great the dessert was well presented and the waiter we had was lovely, he recommended great food, definitely a must try if ur at East auckland

I have been to Barracuda many times before, about once every 4 months. Food is normally better than service. The wait staff was friendly & cheerful, but rather inefficient, like refilling water.<br/><br/>We had duck liver parfait (with crostini), some garlic bread & a dozen of oysters Kilpatrick for sharing. One of my friends had a seafood chowder soup himself. So we had quite a lot of bread to start. Liver parfait, not perfectly smooth, but was very nice; oysters were served with big slices of bacon, not crispy, no onion, a poor execution! Next, we had a single lamb shank (one could choose to have a double), Denver leg venison, duckling confit & I had an aged T-bone steak. (I had a taste of all dishes.) Lamb was braised & seasoned nicely - as usual; the half duck had insufficient dressing, probably absorbed by the accompanied nouilles which turned out in excellent taste; venison, cooked fairly rare, was still tough; and so was my T-bone. We didn't order any desserts as we planned to have them at another location. (Food- 4/5; Service - 3/5; Ambience - 4/5)

Refreshing local venue with very good service and delicious food. Spectacular views day and night across the water. BYO is a bonus however the wine list is good with excellent wine by the glass options.

Service attentive and pleasant. I had the eye fillet , my husband had the t bone. Both were up to the standard expected. The eye filet had the wow factor for presentation but personally I'd rather have it without the prawns. Decided not to have entre or desert  as the meal looked ( and was)  filling enough. Will return one day but no rush. The restaurant was fairly full with families I'd say having a celebration.

The view is nice, staff are very friendly with great service. We have been a few times i question why the lunch special has not changed for years and it's the same for winter and summer? Is it a lazy chef?

Came here for lunch and the weather was absolutely gorgeous with amazing sea views. Food and service was excellent. Staff were very friendly and attentive. Food was really good - would definitely recommend their famous seafood chowder! So creamy and just full of flavours and the garlic bread on the side was just perfect. The chicken and mushroom salad was very nice, generous amount of chicken breast. Definitely coming back to try their scallops wrapped in bacon!<br/><br/>Second visit: Came back here again and I tried the soup of the day - Potato, leek and bacon. It was really good, nice balance of flavours and the bacon was a very nice touch. This time I got the Thai beef salad - again portion size is amazing, very generous with all ingredients and the beef was so tender. BF got the seafood chowder again which he really enjoyed but he didn't like the fact that there was a lot of celery in it. Other than that everything else was perfect.

A good local restaurant. I had the Cajun salmon with crispy skin which was cooked to perfection ($39). The service was not overly attentive but when we needed someone they were not far away and could signal them and they then responded. Decor is looking a bit tired, due for a refurb I think (May 15). Wine list fairly limited.

Barracuda is my favourite restaurant! Awesome views of Auckland's prettiest Beach (Eastern Beach).<br/>The service was twice as fast as other restaurants i've experienced.<br/>The $12 menu is excellent value. 'Beer battered fish' - devine with salad and chips and leaves room for dessert.<br/>The food is beautifully presented, fresh and delicious. <br/>My husband devoured his chicken and creamy pasta. Each dish has a great variety of ingredients making every mouthful interesting.<br/>They have a children's menu with healthy, delicious food eg crumbed chicken tenders which are home made. (We all polished them off when my young son was full!)<br/>The service is always very attentive and comes with a smile.<br/>The pavlova tower was beautiful and full of flavours – totally worth the sugar!<br/>I fully recommend it to young and old. (Maybe if they make enough money they can renovate their bathroom, which could do with paint touch up), no biggie tho!

Just wow oh wow!!!!! <br/>Seafood chowder, not very often do you find one that has actually got more than a smattering of seafood in it or loaded with corn to bulk it up. This was lovely & loaded with seafood not corn.<br/>Scallops wrapped in bacon, whilst a little over cooked they were very tasty.<br/>Mussels in creamy/garlic sauce, this was the only downside of our dining experience. Way over salted, totally killed the cream & garlic. Back to the drawing board with this one guys.<br/>Aged T-Bone, cooked to perfection with creamy mushrooms.<br/>Parmesan crusted chicken breast, tender & juicy.<br/>The special of duck, just fell of the bone, would have been nicer if the skin had been crisped up.<br/>Presentation of all meals very good.<br/>Lovely setting, attentive staff, great food.

We eat here often. Friendly staff, great food, reasonably priced, local business. We have never been disappointed. I recommend it for a local restaurant. We can walk to it.<br/><br/>Sitting in the back is great as it is not real noisy. Carpeted floors help reduce the noise that other restaurants in the area have.

Never been out to Eastern Beach, so was pleasantly surprised by this cafe right on the beach. I had just finished a waka race so was hungry and looking forward to a hot coffee. <br/>The service was great, the coffee was hot and the breakfast of Eggs Florentine was wonderful, Eggs poached just right, big tomoatoes, spinach was al dente and the hollandaise sauce was just right.<br/>I will definitely be coming back if I am out that way again....

I have been here few times! I absolutely love this place, and I love the non-pretentious and friendly waiters, the waiters never got our order wrong, the service is fast and the food is always amazing!

It's become our favourite restaurant since the new owners.<br/>Kids love it for their chicken and chipped and ice cream.<br/>Our favourite during weekday special.<br/>Pork scoloppine and my husband loves the Fish n chips.<br/>Weekend drink escape always there enjoying the view while drinking. I thought I must write our lunch yesterday. Went with the family the restaurant was full but we still got same welcoming.<br/>Service was very fast. Must say staff are always friendly, food is the best. We love you Barracuda team

Went to Barracuda at Eastern Beach on a Wednesday night in a group of six. The restaurant was full and we were looking forward to a meal reminiscent of the old Barracuda under Larry's expertise at Bucklands Beach.<br/>The food was so disappointing. We were not told it was necessary to order vegetables as a side. The $12 mains were a limited choice of mussels, pork on mash, a pasta dish with bacon and onion and fish and chips. I had the fish and it tasted fishy and old. Several of our group had desserts which looked uninspiring and tasted artificial to match the colour. <br/>Towards the end of the meal I went to the toilets which were dirty and the floor was dangerously greasy as it was beside the kitchen door. We won't be returning.

I went to this restaurant with my fellow staff members as it was my farewell dinner. The evening was going quite well and the entrees were ok but I enjoyed my main dish which was the chicken. The service was a bit slow and the staff not overly friendly. When we had finished our dinner the staff asked if we would like to see the dessert menu which some of us looked at.<br/>Just as I was about to order a coffee the owner came over to our table and said he had had complaints from the other diners and that we were making too much noise.<br/>I was absolutely amazed - not in what he said, but the way he said it! If he had asked politely if we could be quieter we would have obliged, but we were at the back of the restaurant and I am sure we weren't making that much noise!<br/>With that we all got up paid the bill and walked out. He came out after we left and asked if we wanted our wine? He was politely told what he could do with his wine!!!!!<br/><br/>It put a real dampener on the night suffice to say we will not be going back to this restaurant.<br/><br/>It is such a shame as when it was owned by the previous owners they could not do enough for you. How to spoil a great night!

We had our staff end of year Christmas function at Barracuda last night. Food was fantastic everyone was very happy with their dishes, choices and presntation. The staff were very attentive when required. We have a great night and will certainly be recommended Barracuda to all our friends and will be back again soon.

Absolutely delicious dinner at Barracuda tonight. So nice being right on the water, my salmon was THE best I've ever had (and I'm a salmon connoisseur:-) and my husband had two lamb shanks which he said were delicious but could have had a little more flavour. We had bacon wrapped scallops to start which were yum, but no dessert as we were absolutely stuffed full. Very good sized portions, lovely ambiance, friendly and efficient service. We will definitely be back. Thank you.

Lovely food and service. Would appreciate if music could be more soft, relaxing background music.

First visit after change name and owner.<br/>Restaurant was packed with big groups, bit noisy but was great happy atmosphere. <br/>Had the Parmesan chicken with risotto and my partner had the eye fillet with prawns, both delicious.<br/>With great presentation, very friendly staff and well presented food we are happy to have a great local great restaurant like Barracuda.

Sunday lunch went there with my overseas visitors.<br/>Find out that the name is changed and owners as well.<br/>Was a bit worried first time but as soon as we stepped in the restaurant was full.<br/>Lucky we scored a window seat.<br/>And what a freindly staff warm wellcoming.<br/>Fast service, food yummy and well presented and generous size. Coffee was great and the best part, the tiramisu dessert.<br/>Thanks Barracuda for making our lunch. A great day to remember. We definitely be back

Went last night with my two daughters,the food is outstanding,i can highly recommend the duck with plum sauce and rhubbarb and apple crumble...home made,the lamb shanks are also great.the staff are good and not pretentious,we have only recently started going,despite living round the corner,and its so good to have have such a good quality place with great food so near.one of my girls even ordered from the kids me u a d it was perfectly fine,i can tell you that some places make a big fuss about this,but not Barracuda.excellent food,location,staff and atmosphere,the place was totally full by the time we left.10 out of 10

Nice place for a coffee or a meal. Perfect location for a stroll on the beach during summer. Definitely recommend it!