Review The Good Home Howick - Howick

Food delicious, great service and relaxing atmosphere

Epic little Kiwi Bar and eatery. 7yo daughter made a case for a tip - good front of house, great food and was expecting the typical food and service. Coming back and bringing family.

It's a nice local pub, It's a bit pricey on the drinks side, but the food is good. Defo go for the $62 platter. By far, the best value for money and its pretty tasty. It'll feed 3 adults or add pizza, and you have dinner for 4.

We met friends there for a few drinks and a meal on Friday night. It was very busy but a great atmosphere. The food was delicious - a simple menu with a good variety of tasty ‘homely’ meals. Service was attentive, fast, and personal. Lucky to have such a great local!

A great Howick local, quick friendly professional service, quick turn around on food. The food itself (snapper battered qnd pan fried) both were perfectly cooked. The homemade Aoli was great, very tasty. Reasonably priced, would come back anything. Outside seating, with smokers welcome as well.

Stopped by for lunch and was greeted at the door. After getting seated we were given menus and sufficient time to look over the menus and order. The iced chocolate was ok. it took about 30 minutes to get four mains out. The pulled pork and beef burger was quite nice although I was expecting a bit more sauce with the pulled pork. The fries were mixed, on the same plate, some were nice and crispy while other were just soggy. The service was really good and the room was quite comfortable even though it was a hot day.

This is one amazing place for a good meal and some really well made cocktails. We ordered for a meat pizza and 2 cocktails. It was really well made. The waitress also helped us in selecting what to eat. Clean bathrooms.

Great place for lunch, came with a bunch of people and everybody had a great time, the service was good and the staff were friendly. I had the Angus beef burger which was very good and their were no complaints about the food from anybody else. Would recommend this place.

Wait staff were so good and gave the best service. The place has an awesome ambiance and food wS equally good. Cocktails were well made and great variety. Not a big fan of veg but the eggplants were amazeballs.

Very fine cooked food. Very juicy beef, duck and salmon with crispy outside. And the sauce are wonderful and unique. But need to wait quite a long while so the restaurant served a big bowl of chips for apology. Service and environment are good. Will come again.

Seriously good pizza. We've been 2 days in a row just to check ...and yup, it's just as good the second time...now to work our way down the list 😋

Staff were kind, friendly and helpful. The food was delicious my favourite were the calamari. Can’t wait to go again!!

Amazing staff amazing food and amazing choice of drinks. Definitely recommend and we will be back

Amazing food and service, everyone was very friendly and the lamb just melted, it was amazing. Definitely rccomend the filo starter, very filling for a small meal

Been going here for years and it's consistently excellent everytime. Friendly staff, great service and the food is always amazing. Every single time. Highly recommend.

4 people ate here Friday 30th July 2020. The decor in the restaurant is lovely. The meals, how they were presented, the menu and waitress service was all excellent. The restaurant was busy, but that should not have caused the terribly long wait for our meals. 1 hour 10 mins for our main courses to arrive. The food was warm- just. This problem has been reviewed on numerous past occasions. I’d say that they are grossly understaffed in the kitchen when things become busy. This time delay let the evening down. A lovely restaurant, but there other Howick restaurants who will perform better.

Great service by our waitress Katie, delicious meals with good portion sizes, great atmosphere!! Real friendly staff too! We will definitely be back!!

Went there on Thursday night and it was pretty busy, almost full house. The service was on top. The waitress was really friendly and helpful. The food was nice and delicious. The dessert I got chocolate bomb which was a bit too sweet for me. Overall it’s a great place for hang out with friends with good food in the area.

Nice and friendly, the only disappointment was that I asked the Duty Manager, April if there was a vegan menu and she said no. We were going to have lunch there but instead just had a drink. When we left I mentioned it again and she said that they had vegan ‘options’ just not a menu .?.? I really just wanted to eat !

I’m a big fan of ‘ The Good Home ‘ franchise, having dined in at the one in Papakura and Mt Eden. I also use ‘The Good Home’ as my gold standard for pub meals, so I’ll admit I was quite disappointed at my pub dinner at The Good Home Howick.<br/><br/> We ordered around 5 pizzas for the table with fries, I found the pizzas to be around Dominos and Pizza Hut quality. There was a distinct lack of flavor and toppings, the chicken pizza was probably the worst and the Marguerite the best<br/>.<br/><br/>The service was great though, the waitresses that served us though were positive and prompt.<br/><br/>To be honest I really did expect a different experience altogether and I hope The Good Home Howick improves in the future.<br/><br/>Showstopper: Great Ambience the only disappointing element was the food.<br/><br/>Overall Grade: C+

Stopped by for lunch and was greeted at the door. <br/><br/>After getting seated we were given menus and sufficient time to look over the menus and order.<br/><br/>The iced chocolate was ok. it took about 30 minutes to get four mains out.<br/><br/>The pulled pork and beef burger was quite nice although I was expecting a bit more sauce with the pulled pork. The fries were mixed, on the same plate, some were nice and crispy while other were just soggy.<br/><br/>The service was really good and the room was quite comfortable even though it was a hot day.

We came here when they first opened and I haven't been back since as we had such a poor experience.  I'm not a huge fan of the new (now old) decor and it just seems a bit kitsch.  The dining room is "out the back" and I think it is easy to forget the dining guests.  However I have had a lunch there a few times over the last few months and it is ...OK.  The service is usually friendly and there is usually a special on the menu to add interest.  The food is not adventuresome and I'm still not convinced I would want to pay their evening prices but for a quiet meal and a wine...it's worth a try.

We visited the Good Home on Saturday night in a group of 6.<br/><br/>SERVICES WAS SHOCKING!!!!<br/><br/>Bookng was for 6:30 pm. We order just after 7:00 pm.<br/>It took over an hour for our the breads or 1st course to come out. <br/>We saw other dinners with the same numbers as us arrive get seated, feed and leave before we even got our 1st course.<br/>We asked several times how far away were our meals? And had they forgotten to order them?<br/><br/>At one stage we were told meals would be 2 min away, 15 min later the 1st one arrived by the time the last meal had been served to our table another 5 min had past , At this stage we asked that they bring everything that we had ordered out.<br/>Again we waited. <br/>The food was average at best!!<br/>Add to this the glass wear that they did not remove after we finished each round of drinks it was not great at all.<br/>I would have thought that after complaining to the waiter and waitress that a manager would have come up and apologized for the crap service, But No!!<br/><br/>As we were about to leave our waiter come up to us and offed free desert or coffee because of the mix up with the order ,At this stage we were over it, but took them up on there offer.<br/>I would have thought at this stage they would be bending over backwards to get the orders out in double time(think again)<br/><br/>All in all the 6 of us all Howick locals would not go back to Good Home Again.<br/><br/>

Marvellous! Comfortable, well designed, great food, lovely staff! Worth checking out. Had Nachos and Beer on the deck, lovely!! Will be back 🤗

The Ambience, location, Food, Friendly Staff members...Live music,...Superb weekend getaway...<br/>Amazing Taste...Kuddos Team...Great Going...:)

My wife and I went there for dinner. We did not have a reservation, but were promptly seated and the staff were very friendly. The decor is great and the place has a nice atmosphere. <br/><br/>I felt like having a nice informal dinner like a burger, steak and chips etc. We received the dinner menu which is very limited in terms of choice. I asked the waitress whether they had any other menus and she said no, we had to order from the dinner menu, although they do have a bar snacks menu with burgers etc. on it.  <br/><br/>We both ordered the steaks, they only have scotchs fillet on the menu which is not my favorite cut.  The food overall was tasty, it needed a bit of salt to add more flavour, the cracked peppercorn cream was really nice as well as the potato and carrot gratin. I ordered my steak medium, but it was very rare, to be honest not too far off from a blue steak which was a bit disappointing. We were in a bit of a hurry so I did not send it back. The quality of the steak was not that great either, especially if you pay $33.50, you would expect more, a piece of my steak was quite tough.  <br/><br/>My overall experience of the place is that it is a nice place, nice decor and a warm feel. The food was good, but without any wow factor. The options on the menu are very limited and pricey for the portion size. The steaks were way off from how we wanted it done which should not happen. Nice enough experience, however it is not a place that I will go back to again and again. Maybe enjoy a beer there and move on to some of the other restaurants in Howick. They should maybe go and look at the Good Home in Hamilton's menu.

My family and I came in for dinner last night for our grandmothers birthday.<br/><br/>The waitress that was serving us had absolutely shocking service, was incredibly rude and not friendly at all!! <br/><br/>Our drinks took longer to come out then our entrees did and when asked the response was " our bar is really busy " and walked off. <br/>Once the drinks arrived my drink was spilt on me and all I got was a " oops sorry " and then she walked off. <br/><br/>Our mains arrived and at this time we ordered 2 more drinks. One main was forgotten and by the time that main arrived we had almost finished our own meals. Still no drink.<br/><br/>All meals were finished and the waitress was very abrupt with clearly the table she would lean in straight across us without saying excuse me, not asking if we had finished our meals, how our meals were or anything. She was like this the whole night with just leaning across all of us to get things off the table extremely abrupt and just darn right rude. <br/><br/>We had also given the cake to the waitress at the beginning of the night as we were going to get desert and cut the cake but the service was so appalling we asked for the cake back and went somewhere else for desert. <br/><br/>And to top it off, when we went to pay for our meals, our second drinks weren't even added in the system. <br/><br/>We also watched this waitress be incredibly friendly to a large group behind us? So not really sure what happened there. It's my first time coming to you for dinner as my family spoke highly of you as they have been there before. Safe to say we will never be bringing our money back to you again. <br/><br/><br/>

Food was devine last night. Salt and pepper calamari was amazing! Meat lovers pizza tasted really good. The brocolli cheese totes were superb!!! Your kiwi breeze cocktail was extremely refreshing. Service was great and price was good. Will definately be back.

Pub grub - done up a little bit fancy 🕵🏼👼🏼✨. If you want to feel right at home then come on down to your local good home! The vibe in here is very 'cute' as well as comforting. There's plenty of decor to keep you entertained and live sport too 🏈⚽️⛳️. The menu is pretty good with something for everyone and the food is delicious as well - nothing outstanding but nothing bad! I sadly do have to say that the service was only good for a very limited amount of time 👎🏻 - not sure if the waitress just stopped caring or not but a few pairs of diners and ourselves were left stranded trying to pay for a good 10 minutes, almost wanted to walk out. Otherwise I would rate this place well 😀

Superb service.  Awesome food.  Cozy restaurant.  Chef's quality is out of this world.  <br/>I had the chicken and it was divine.  My partner had the steak and it was also wonderful.  <br/>We had a free dessert the night we went and it was sensational.

I've been here before many times, service is really kind and they do make an effort, food can be better for the restaurant but the Pub food here is quite good especially platters for sharing, garlic pizza bread and steak sandwich are a must, they go really well with the good selection of NZ beer and wine they have, family friendly and perfect spot to relax, nice and cosy in winter and sunny and fresh in summer, besides if you like history; not many places in NZ you can say you are having a beer on the same spot where the only person that have received an Oscar and a Nobel prize in literature resided: George B Shaw

I went here with my boyfriend on our anniversary. He ordered the steak and it came out raw when he ordered it to be medium and we had to send it back as it was too raw to physically eat. After this the waitstaff came back to check on our meals which was nice of them. Other than that the rest of the food was good, I ordered the salmon, not the best I have ever had but it was still good. It was a little expensive for the food you get but the decor made up for it as it felt like a proper restaurant with white table cloths etc.

I had read many of the reviews about The Good Home, and wasn't sure what to expect as many of them were not good, but I'm pleased to say that we had a great experience.<br/>We stopped off for an early dinner & initially found it hard to flag someone down so that we could be seated (not a good start), but once we actually were seated things improved greatly.<br/>Service from both of our waitresses was friendly & efficient. They knew the menu & gave us some good suggestions.<br/>The wine list was good - we chose the Roaring Meg Pinot Noir in the larger glass for $16 which was reasonable.<br/>For our mains we chose the chicken & park belly. Both cuts of meat can often be dry, but the chicken was perfectly cooked - nice & juicy. The pork was also juicy with a perfect crackle. Both dishes were perfectly balanced with their various sides. Delicious!<br/>They had a small range of desserts but we were full so gave them a miss.<br/>A good night & will be back.

We came on a weeknight and they had a special free dessert with every main dish. The main dishes were good portion size and very tasty. We couldnt wait for the desserts and asked for the desserts to be takeaway and the restaurant was happy to pack it up for us.

Eaten here a few times now, staff are pretty friendly but the food and atmosphere not so much. It's not a bad place to sit outside and have a drink of a weeknight, especially on Thursdays when its $6 beer or sparkling wine. There are other places I would head in Howick for food though.

Honestly saying food was alright but the service was absolute rubbish. I would highly recommend people to not go to this place as the staff here are very unproffessional. Only reason I went here was to use the entertainment coupon which was 'buy a main priced $35 or more and get one upto $35 free'. So we double checked with the staff if we could use the coupon for the main. So we grabbed 2 mains and a bar snack. After finishing the meal the manager decides to deduct the bar snack menu instead of the main. So we told them about the coupon and the manager kept saying the book says deduct the cheapest order which is no where to be found on the book. Besides, it was a snack menu as well. I felt totally ripped off and will not be returning to this place ever again. Once again, do not recommend people to this restaurant.

Poor service by the waitress and the Manager or the Owner of this restaurant. The food we ordered were all nice until the waitress brought with her Margherita pizza instead of Margarita cocktail which I ordered. She did not even confirm the order and she surely did not apologize. We used the voucher from the Entertainment book, which it says 'when order a MAIN dish, you can get a complementary MAIN dish upto $35'. However, when we got to the cashier the waitress deducted the RIB from a BAR SNACK instead of MAIN dish because it was cheaper. They kept saying the RIB is MAIN but on the menu it is under BAR SNACK and even on the receipt it says BAR SNACK. When we ordered we confirmed with the waitress what we are ordering and what we are using the voucher for, she clearly said 'okay' but the owner said she has mistaken the system. The owner NEVER apologized and said it was our fault for knowing the system incorrectly. CLEARLY he was wrong. We don't think we will be going back to this place although the food was fine, the service is TERRIBLE. It was not even once he apologized about anything but just blamed the customers and the system.

Enjoyed a lovely meal last night at The Good Home . <br/><br/>I had the Moroccan Spiced Roast Chicken. Everything from the chicken which was done to perfection , so moist  to the sauteed herb potato. The Mango pickle and minted yogurt was just beautiful. Highly recommended .<br/><br/>My partner had the lamb rump. well another winner for me , I was smitten with the purred kumara .The dish was beautifully presented. Would recommend both dishes.<br/><br/>A huge well done to the chef and sous chefs who prepared these dishes. I will definitely be back for more.

We were really excited to check out this place in Howick.<br/><br/>The food and price were both average to be honest. Both my friend and I found her Caesar salad and my vegetarian penne too salty.<br/><br/>All in all nothing spectacular.The service was good though, and the environment is just lovely - spacious with plenty of sunshine. Might still visit and give it another chance in the future.

The Good Home is excellent for the family, as the name suggests.<br/><br/>Consistent and generous in its portion sizes, however the menu could do with refreshing more regularly.

Had dinner last night with my wife, the ambiance is nice and the staff friendly.Had a nice paddle with a selection of beers. The food was pretty average and needed a lot of salt and pepper to add a bit more flavor. The couple on the table next to us had the same issue. The flatbread we had as a starter was a complete mismatch with the hummus and dukka sprinkle.My wife already has limited options as a vegetarian so choose the Spinach and Mushroom lasagna. She removed most of the too large chunky mushroom bits and finished the rest with the additional of some salt to add a bit more flavor. By the time we got home she wasn't feeling well and spent most of the night on the toilet vomiting and cramps and diarrhea.

Had dinner here last week. Have to say the menu was rather disappointing.<br/>It was a warm evening and I felt like a nice salad the only salads they had on the menu was salmon. Really??? The other meal options were just not very exciting.<br/>Settled on the pate, was nice. I would head to Basalt they do the best smoked chicken salad.

Had Friday lunch with few friend here today. Loved the cocktail and the lamb pizza was ok. However the fish was not that great.. Too much batter and bit too oily for my liking. However the service was great and a good atmosphere to enjoy couple of cold ones with friends.

Had lunch in their restaurant area. Since it was in the middle of the day the sun had been hot, the place wasn’t too hot but wasn’t cold either - it was mildly warm. It was my first time trying gnocchi - it tasted interesting like mixtures of different flavours as one. A friend had a mixed seafood pizza and they liked it’s good taste. I liked the customer service and was happy to speak with the waiter. Overall had a pleasant time and was able to take leftovers away.

Eaten here several times and though the food is generally acceptable and always plentiful, the place always seems to suffer from an abundance of flies and the meal is spent shooing them away. Schnitzel suffered from an over abundance of very strong Parmesan and piles of capers!

Fairly average food here nothing special but the interior of the place looks really nice and it has a really chilly atmosphere. Nice to grab a drink but probably not food

Came here for a late lunch. Service was pleasant, but the meals took a very long time to arrive. We had the beef burger and the salmon sandwich: they didn't set the world alight, but were perfectly fine. The outdoor seating is lovely on a nice day (which made the long wait less of a problem). Loved the 50s soundtrack too. I wouldn't make a special trip here, but I'd come back if I were in the area.

Very bad service! We were a table of six so good $ to be had. We had to constantly chase service for drinks. 1 waitress was extremely rude and uninterested literally tossing menus and plates on the table. The other 2 girls were great. The flies were a constant issue. Food was good.

We reserved a table for the advertised @7 Wednesday night rib special. To get told once ordered drinks and our meal that they had run out. The male manager on duty needs an attitude readjustment!! To run out at 7h25 in the evening is disappointing. No apology just like it or lump it. Take a picture last time you seeing us as a family.

We went for dinner and dessert at the good home last night. What a beautifully presented place with high quality food- desserts were OUT OF THIS WORLD!! In particular the service was outstanding. Friendly staff that were so warm and kind to my toddler. Nothing was too much trouble to them. We will be back!

Great vibe. Excellent food. I really like the place. I bring the kids often. The jalapeno pizza is really quite good.<br/><br/>Often has a few events as well.

yum yum! even better with the live music. my steak was overdone (I'd asked for medium) but it was still very tasteful. service was very good as well! we will be returning XD

Atmosphere was great as well as service BUT that was it. From the pizza, main, to the dessert it was far too expensive for mediocre food. Big guy with glasses i assume is the Head chef needs a kick up the arse, me and my group watched him as he shouted nonsense to the other Chefs working their butts off and doing everything for him while he stood there like a wanker with a dick up his arse. Ive worked in many Kitchens. I know a big mouth Chef who doesnt know jack shit to a professional calm and collected one. And the menu reflects that too. This place has a lot of potential, so a new Head chef would be good with a new menu. We'll go back when that happens!

Fish and chips - yummm (: <br/><br/>Cajun chicken pizza - not enough flavoring, quite bland but very big<br/><br/>Service : good

Went for a special occasion for something nice. Very average meal, people I went with had indigestion for the rest of the night. Was very hard to choose something from the menu as the meals were very average and sounded heavy, nothing jumped out at me. I ended up having the vegetarian lasagne, it was nothing much for $26, had a lot of crunchy vegetables, felt like I was eating raw onions.<br/>Desert was ok nothing special again.<br/>Service was great couldn't complain about that.<br/>To sum up very expensive city prices for average meals.

Came here with a buy one get one free voucher. Can't complain for the price. Meal was a pretty standard pub type meal. The staff were young and a bit in experienced but super friendly. The onion rings are super tasty though.

Decided to come here one night a few weeks back, as its quite local. Regretted that decision... I'd had a couple of mediocre experiences here before this but gave them the benefit of the doubt as we were after a more pub-like meal. Ordered the broccoli cheese balls - which were yum (pretty hard to screw up a deep fried dish.) Garlic cheese pizza bread was aright. Margaritas pizza was next. The base was soft/floppy & the pizza overall had little flavour. Not sure if they make their own bases, but we make better ones ourselves. The salt & pepper calamari came out with a bit of a fishy waft. After trying it & figuring it was chewy & had not much flavour to it & the fact that it still smelt fishy, we decided to let the waitress know of this. She answered with "oh I'm sorry, it is squid though so it would tend to smell like that as it's from the sea, I'll go tell the chef" - thats sort of where she went wrong, I always would tell the duty manager first thing. Anyway so long story short the chef apparently said that "because they sometimes cook the calamari in the same pan as the fish, that this is why it smells that way". Which is plain silly because FRESH fish or seafood should never ever smell fishy. We weren't offered anything complimentary for the meal we had barely touched & left wishing we had of gone with our gut (Grangers). Won't be going back there again..

We had an early Saturday dinner as the super rugby final kickoff at 7:30. This was the first time we visited The Good Home since it took over from GBS. <br/><br/>By 6:00, some families of customers were half way through their dinner already. We started with a warm & cheesy pizza bread; my wife had pork belly with scallops & kumara whereas I had confit duck leg with crushed lentil potato & carrot pave. For dessert, we had dark chocolate pyramid on coffee sponge with sweet mandarin & crème anglaise. Every dish was nicely cooked, plated & tasted good. To be fair & objective, I really hadn't had much to pick on. (Food - 4.5/5; Service - 4/5; Ambience - 4/5)

Have visited this place twice - first time was just for a drink, second time I tried some of their food, Lovely atmosphere and location, warm and light, modern and clean. Customer service is always friendly and attentive. We ordered the chicken burger (I didnt' try this but my partner cleaned the plate so apparently it was lovely!), the squid rings and the broccoli and cheese bites. Neither dish stood out but both fine and would return - perhaps to try some of their pizzas! Pretty standard pub grub.

Had dinner for the second time with family last night (1 July).The food is above average and better than last time visit 3 months ago. Little disappointed with steak which ordered medium rare because was too cooked for MR.Fantastic service mind and very friendly staff.Excellent atmosphere which I found bar area is more beautiful than restaurant area.I'll go back again for different taste of your menu.

After reading some mixed reviews since the change from GBS to Good Home I was somewhat sceptical when it was suggested as a restaurant to eat at; however, I agreed, and it turned out an excellent decision. Upon arriving at the restaurant for lunch, we were greeted by very friendly staff, whose service continued to be exceptional throughout our time. The place is very clean, not a speck of dust in sight, and the interior is very beautiful, and homey, as the name suggests.<br/><br/>Within my group we ordered the fish and chips, a roast lamb pizza, salmon eggs benedict, and the basil pesto cream pasta, all of which were very good, and the portions relatively large. We enjoyed that they were not too salty as some restaurants' food can be. The roast lamb on the pizza was tender, the fish was delicious and the batter was light and crispy, the fries were creamy and not too salty. The poached eggs were perfectly cooked, and the hollandaise was decent.<br/><br/>The Good Home was a great place to eat, and I would definitely return, perhaps to take advantage of their special offers and their dinner menu.

Had lunch here. Choose from the $15 lunch menu. Waitress was excellent, very efficient, friendly and attentive. Fish and pasta were lovely, I had a pizza, just didn't like the BBQ sauce on it (should've told them to leave it off), but otherwise great pizza!!

Been here a few times and is normally good but today wow it was rubbish food was over cooked had one grumpy waitress on who just came and dropped out food on the table and walked off had to go to the bar to order drinks witch then took 15 minutes not very good when there is only 3 tables of people

First time for a meal in Howick tonight and gave this a go as it was in our entertainment book. Really good prices for drinks, food prices seemed reasonable, atmosphere and service was great. We both had the shoulder of lamb, was nice and tender and very tasty! Would happily return again to try the other nice sounding menu items and pay normal price :)

Sack the chef. Tonight even though our meals were flavourless and rubbery, we still had to fight the flies to eat them. One wonders what the kitchen is like if the restaurant has an over abundance of them. The  two bags of ice tied to the window sash, along with the one miserable ineffectual fan, did nothing to alleviate the Auckland heat. Basil Faulty would be at home here. The manager was stalking  about with an authoritarian air but made no contact with patrons. The young girls there gave good service.

Came here for lunch on New Year's Day with my bf. Overall it was ok. I ordered the salmon and swapped the seasonal veges for salad and my bf got the beef burger and fries. The food took longer than expected to come out, considering it wasn't too busy. <br/>The portion size for the beef burger was larger and filled up my bf easy! However I was disappointed with my dish. Immediately I noticed how small/ thin my piece of salmon was, considering the price I was expecting a bit more. I resorted to picking at my bf's burger in an attempt to fill up. <br/>I wish I could say this was a good find when there was limited choice but unfortunately not. It's unlikely that I will return.

Was very disappointed  in the meal we had here tonight. "Sunday Roast" is a piece of chicken, mash & stuffing?? No veggies, nothing... can hardly call this a roast. Pizzas were both cold & for $26 each you expect hot pizza & also a good amount of topping... would have been better off with a $5 domino pizza. <br/>Nice place, staff were friendly enough but definitely would not go back again!

Not impressed with this place at all, used to enjoy it before it changed hands. Came in for lunch and had to stand around for menus. We were given menus but no drinks list, took ages for them to come out and take our order. Drinks came in about 15 minutes but had to wait at least 45 minutes for bread!! Because they had forgotten about our order. It was about an hour later that our food came, I ordered the pasta which was very bland, nothing to it. When we went to pay there was no attempt to reduce the bill for the unconvienance and the lady who I presume was the manager was not very friendly at all. Very unimpressed and won't be returning.

Had a great night last Sunday.<br/><br/>Had not been to Howick for 20 years and loved the new decor of the bar and restaurant.<br/><br/>Met the Manager and staff and they were more than accommodating.<br/><br/>We sat outside with fabulous heaters on and had a great pizza and a few wines.<br/><br/>Absolutely will go back.

Its fine...nothing more, nothing less. The bar looks and food tastes as it does in 100's of these types of bars across the city.

Nice renovations! The food is good however it is not really a bar it is just a restaurant, unless you want to sit in the freezing cold outside. We arrived on Saturday around 7pm, asked for a table and was told "at 8.30 you can have a table". As there was no where to go and wait with a drink or two we left, infact it wasn't even offered to us Not enough space for people wanting to pop in for a drink and some bar snacks.

Ate here recently and despite the new fit out, was not blown away by the food. It was ok, but not what I was expecting - especially for the cost. Was keen to order the pork belly, however it wasn't free range/cruelty free meat which was a shame. I would suggest the owners moving to cruelty free meat, just like most contemporary rivals in the area. My fish and chips came with only three sauces (four stated on the menu) and were obviously just poured out of a jar, which is fine but was expecting something a bit more gourmet. Also, we weren't asked if we wanted more drinks during our meal which is a shame as we wanted a bottle of red to go with our meal on the wintery night we visited. Will probably stick to the Apothecary restaurant from now on.

I went yesterday, stunning refit, nice beer, barmaid was charming and very knowledgeable but we had French toast and wife had the salmon pizza which was a great taste combination sadly spoilt by the soggy base. Wife didn't want to complain so I raised it with the male manager/server as he cleared our table I was then lectured on when I should have complained this is supposed to be when they do a courtesy check as I was told. I felt that as a paying customer it is my right to let you know when I am dissatisfied not when you want me to sorry for the inconvenience of letting you know at the wrong time.<br/>And by the way my 24 years in the trade I know a trick or two so save the lectures for your kitchen whom sent out the soggy pizza.

Renovations nicely done it has the feel of a warm cosy home, not too noisy either which is a bonus. The food was a great, pizza is always a crowd pleaser. I had the cream brulee for dessert which was to die for!<br/>Overall an enjoyable evening with nothing to fault, would recommend others to try.

Went for dinner last night, first time since refurbishment. Really impressed with the decor. Restaurant was completely booked but managed to get a table in the bar area. Food was delicious, the steak was melt in the mouth and the pizza very nice.

Why terrible? The food was delicious, the waitresses and bar staff acceptable but their leadership is non existent. After being presented with a non itemised GST receipt the individual who claimed to be the manager ran around like a headless chicken (refer other reviews and there is a common denominator) unable to produce an itemised GST receipt via the till the manager decided to subject my wife and I to a 30min wait while he flicked through the bar and restaurant dockets somewhere in the bowels of the kitchen. When he finally materialised he announced he required more time to complete the task. What the hell happened to customer service? Your restaurant made mistake! What is wrong with admitting it and rectifying the situation rather than subjecting customers to the bullshyt that I experienced tonight. If you are the owner of The Good Home Howick and reading this, put a manager in place who knows the meaning of customer service and leads by example. You will have a brighter future!

I had a wonderful meal at this restaurant about a month ago, wrote my review for Menu Mania, giving 5 stars. Another friend went also and had a great meal, so I checked out her review- only to find that my review has disappeared! Lots of old reviews, but not mine which was written so recently. I will not bother consulting Menu Mania again before dining out- if they are not going to retain all the reviews, it doesn't say much for the integrity of this site.

The "good home" experience didn't get off to a great start - there was no one there to greet us for at least a couple of minutes. That's not like any home I've ever been to.<br/><br/>We were given a menu but no wine list. That set the tone for the service which was maintained throughout.<br/><br/>We stopped going to GBS because it was too expensive, too small and too boring. The new place is not quite so expensive but the menu is pretty standard - pork belly, wagyu beef, lamb shoulder etc. and the wine list pretty limited.<br/><br/>The food was OK, the supposedly fresh fish and chips was probably fresh but very bland. The pork schnitzel was ok, though difficult to recognise as pork.<br/><br/>I don't know what they're trying to differentiate on. The food was average, the service barely average, the ambience (the good home theme) was average and its execution was poor. The decor was nice. Maybe that's it - but funnily enough it bore no relation to the theme of home. Altogether it struck me as a somewhat thoughtless place - they haven't thought about the theme, the customer experience, the point of difference, any of the things that make up a great dining experience.<br/><br/>There are quite a few choices in Howick now. This won't be among them for us

Not impressed!! Got there on Easter Sunday and the waitress's were walking around like a bunch of headless chickens I had to walk up to someone's face to get their attention. The bar tenders made the drink ordering processes very painful it took about 10 minutes to arrange a few drinks. It gets worse.. We ordered the broccoli and cheese balls which were tasty, although the bed of mesclun they came on was very old and stank like sweaty mesclun. <br/>I notified the waiter after we had eaten the balls and she kindly said that they would arrange a replacement ( I'm not sure what that meant as we didn't want a bowl of plain mesclun) . About half an hour later a waitress came to give us 2 bowls of plain lettuce. I'm not sure if this was a joke or not as the bar staff and chefs seemed to all be watching.. Not impressed this is very unprofessional and patronising! <br/>We will not be coming back here and have passed word of the poor service on.

Really a pity that The Good Home has not yet discovered good service! No one greets you when you arrive, you have to ask to be seated in the restaurant area and then to order anything you have to leave your table to get the attention of one of the six waitresses, even though only four tables were occupied. It will be terrible to be there when they are busy!

A real posh pub atmosphere - congratulations. The make-over is simply awesome and so in keeping with the age of the building. Really good service - we were greeted as we arrived and ordered our drinks at the bar while waiting a few minutes for our table to be ready. Pretty good for a Saturday night. Great bar staff - very well informed. Really friendly wait staff - knew the menu, advised me on my gluten free options. Nothing too much bother, lots of smiles and friendly conversation. AND best of all - real food. The sort that real people like to eat. Good old favourites and more. The old fella had a steak - cooked to perfection, medium rare, nice and pink in the middle and meltingly tender. This old girl had the pork belly - again, meltingly tender, flavoursome, just delicious. The price? Excellent value for the enjoyment of the evening.<br/>Would we go again? Bring it on, I can't wait. It was a great night out, good atmosphere, friendly staff, not too far to drive home and, best of all, you can walk through to watch the footy, so everyone is happy!<br/>Very well named - a Very Good Home indeed. Many thanks to a top team. We'll see you again soon.

I would like to add my review - but before I do so I wanted to comment that Menu Mania are still showing old reviews in relation to the GBS restaurant which was before the renovation.<br/><br/>Therefore the reviews are not balanced and fair representation of the new restaurant.<br/><br/>Also I am well aware of friends who have dined here and written positive reviews - however none of these have appeared on Menu Mania.<br/><br/>I look forward to your feedback before I add my review of The Good Home.<br/><br/>Thank you

My wife and I ate here a number of times when it was branded "GBS", the wine was always over-priced for the quality of it and I always considered the food to be mediocre. In my opinion, since becoming "TGH", nothing much has changed except the decor. We ate here last weekend, I had the beef burger, while there was nothing really to complain about, the burger itself was flat, colourless and tasteless, like a cheap supermarket product, my wife had the fish &amp; chips, mostly fine apart from the rather "tired" looking salad and the three sauces which the menu stated was "four". The wine is still desperately overpriced!<br/><br/>We expressed our feelings of disappointment to the manager when we paid, he seemed to recognise our concerns. All-in-all a bit of a disappointment, nothing here to really bring us back in the immediate future as there is a wealth of choice of eateries in this area.

Well done Good Home, the place is looking fantastic! And the food is still as good as ever, we enjoyed a great Sunday lunch this weekend. <br/>Can't understand the negative reviews with regards to pricing I thought that it was slightly cheaper than the old GBS days and certainly did not lack quality or service.<br/>Definitely service with a smile! I will recommend and will be back.<br/><br/>Awesome guys Thank you!! :-)

Prior to GBS changing to The Good Home we frequented it often and always had an excellent meal and the lunch menus were delicious and very reasonable.<br/>Yesterday my husband and I went to the new restaurant and although the décor is very nice, what a disappointment the lunch menu was. There are no more special priced meals the normally varied menu was all on one page with dinner etc, very confusing. We found it very difficult to select a meal and of course the price was far higher that we would normally pay for lunch and after choosing the salmon when it arrived it was very average with far too much olive oil over the vegetables to the point of making me feel nauseous.<br/>Needless to say we will not be going back for lunch again and as the dinner prices have been increased and not knowing if the food will be any better I am loathe to return for that either.

This used to be a great place and we (my family and I) were really looking forwards to seeing what it was like after the renovations. After my 21 year old son was asked to leave for not having an I.D (was not looking to drink or ordering anything alcoholic) the night just went down hill from there. Incredibly rude staff (notably under experienced.) The food was not seasoned and hardly any toppings on the pizzas, very overpriced for what we received. R.I.P GBS. You have lost a regular customer.

Wife and I had dinner at the Prospect tonight. First time since the renovations and was very dissapointed. The menu is quite limited and the portions are small and overpriced. I ordered the pork belly which came with a few small potatoes and some greens thrown on top. Not even any crackling !! My wife ordered the Vegetable Filo Pastry Parcel which was very small with a couple of green leaves thrown on top. Certainly won't be going back in a hurry.

After so many good meals at GBS over the years, last night's meal was a disappointment for all our diners. Two of us started off with the French Onion Soup - which tasted delicious, but was overwhelmed by the amount of bread. A risotto for another starter was lacking in seasoning and very bland. Th fourth member of our group opted for the pate, which again was lacking in flavour and certainly not up to the standard expected. I have to say though that presentation was excellent, but it did not compensate for taste.<br/><br/>Continuing with our mains, the Pork Fillet was also ordered - well presented but underwhelming and we are still trying to identify the kumara mash - just a watery greenish grey mess.<br/><br/>The second main was the dish Eggplamt Parmigiana which seemed to be heavily laden with mozzarella cheese and a sauce but again the overuse of cheese did not compensate for the finer tasting possibilities.<br/><br/>The fish was welll cooked, but again without seasoning, and thus very bland. It was served with overcooked (in some instances seared) prawns and the salad was very disappointing - lettuce and tomato and a few carrot gratings which made us feel it came from a Countdown bag. Accompanied by a watery coconut rice it was not up to the usual GBS standard.<br/><br/>Our final diner indulged by ordering a dish of calamari and prawns, both disapointingly overcooked and in fact this guest left most of her meal. <br/><br/>Understandably, we decided not to stay on for the dessert - which may have been the compensating factor, but not this time. Time to sharpen up your act GBS as there ar several eateries now challenging you head on in Howick.

This used to be a favourite but with all the other great eateries in Howick now I feel GBS has to lift its game. The menu is predictable and I feel, overpriced.

Decided to dine at the GBS having heard a few mixed reviews in the past. Had an entertainment voucher to use and so decided we would give it a shot. On arrival we couldnt believe how busy it was and panicked as we hadnt booked. We were greeted by a very friendly and polite irish maitre d who explained although they were full at the time she would do her best to seat us and asked if we could have a drink in the bar until a table became available. We were convinced we were going to be forgotten about as the bar was seperate to the restaurant but despite how busy they we were continually updated by the lady on the status of our table. We were seated by a lovely young waitress who told us the specials and even reccomended a dish- We ordered and our drinks and bread arrived promptly. The main meal wasnt served as quickly but it was well worth the wait. My partner had the venison special and i had the fish of the day. Both meals were fantastic. We were having such a lovely evening that we decided to order dessert. With service and food like this i cant see why anyone would grumble. We will definately be back again.

Their food is lovely, but you never know what's going to be on the menu as they change it so often. The staff say it's to keep in touch with what's fresh and in season, but my first meal there was fantastic and it's never been on the menu since.<br/>The atmosphere is nice and the price is what you would expect from the quality of meals.<br/>Lunch however is not very exciting - not a great range.

My wife and I are new to the area, Saturday night we decided to treat ourselves to dinner and went to GBS for the first time. The restaurant was fully booked but the friendly staff managed to find us a table with not too much of a wait (we had a drink at the bar whilst we waited, the chatty staff were great. So not a hassle!) <br/>We had the fish cakes to start, very nice. I had the Pork Belly and my wife had the fish for our main. The food was lovely, very attractively plated and the wait between courses was great considering how busy they were. We'll definitely be coming back.

Went to GBS Restaurant on Mothers Day, 2012 for Brunch. When my sister and I arrived, we were shown to our table and two waitresses asked if we would like coffee whilst waiting for my Mum to arrive.<br/>My Mum arrived about 5 mins later, and not long after that, we ordered our drinks and breakfasts. The staff were helpful and very friendly. Our drinks arrived not long after ordering them... but the breakfasts.... we had to ask after waiting almost 45 mins if they had forgotten us. A friendly waitress told us that our breakfasts were being plated, and that it was because the restaurant was so full that there was a long wait. The restaurant was busy, but definitely not full. I have been to many cafes and restaurants for Brunches, and it was probably the longest wait I had experienced (and probably one of the most expensive places to go for Brunch as well - so I was expecting good things. Sorely disappointed...)<br/>My sister ordered Eggs Benedict (verdict: very good). My Mum ordered Omlette. Very disappointing. The Omlette was small; presented on a plate next to a piece of grain toast (no butter). I ordered 2 poached eggs on Turkish bread ($15.50). 2 poached eggs arrived on a block of unbuttered, dry grain toast. I called one of the waitresses and said that the menu mentioned turkish bread. She told me I had a choice of turkish or toast but I hadn't been given a choice. Anyway, I got the turkish bread - a small, triangle of dried turkish bread. <br/>We all felt very let down by the experience. I meet friends for brunch quite a lot around Auckland and with the high pricing GBS Restaurant charges, I expected the quality to be top range. GBS - if you can't deliver, don't over-charge people (and then you won't get these sort of reviews).

Mixed review, good when not so busy, but bad when really busy. Long wait between courses being the main moan.<br/><br/>Overall staff are good &amp; pleasant and make up for the delays

Had a great time. We arrived and took our 3 small children along. The staff were super friendly and went out of the way to make it a pleasant experience, giving the kids good seats and stuff to keep them busy. We all had a lovely meal and lovely time. Was a little bit pricey but still worth it and fair value.<br/><br/>Will be back.

We dined at GBS Restaurant on Sunday 28th of August 2011. I was not impressed to say the least, we ordered drinks from the bar and were made to hang around by the entrance for approx 5minutes while waiting to be seated although there were atleast 5 available tables. Once seated i found the staff to be rather pushy, a young man (seemed to be a manager) hovered around the table and bought a "specials" sign over to our table and placed it directly in front of us and began pouring us glasses of water although we had already received our drinks (normally a jug of water and glasses are placed on your table for you to use as you wish). We ordered garlic bread to start with which was good - had nice flavouring and was an acceptable portion for the $7.50 it cost. The beer my partner ordered seemed rather overpriced at $7.60 for a handle of Mac's Gold (this is $5 in similar restaurants), the glass of coke i ordered was filled with ice and was finished in 2 sips and i had to order another drink to go with the meal.<br/>The main meal we ordered was "Grain Fed Sirloin Steak" with some parsnip side and onion and mushrooms. I asked to have my steak well done while my partner opted to have his med-rare, however when we received our steak they were both cooked to medium. I don't like parsnip and so asked for a green salad as a replacement and received 2 pieces of lettuce, which had not even been washed and had no seasoning or dressing at all. <br/>The bill came to $92 for 2 mains, 2 handles of beer, a garlic bread, a coke and an apple juice. Fortunately we had an Entertainment voucher coupon to get a main meal free. I will definately not be going to this "restaurant" again (voucher or no voucher).<br/>Also while we were there a group of 4 people came in at sat at a table, the young manager rushed over to them and asked them to walk back to the entrance so that he could seat them... A short while later a waitress was cleaning a table and one of the woman from the group yelled out at her to stop as there was something in the spray that they were using that was affecting her as she was ashmatic, she then opened the large doors to get fresh air and in the process froze the rest of us as it was now 9pm and the cold air was blowing straight on to us.

I was part of a group of 12 people on a trust who dined at the restaurant last night. GBS is not technically a fine dining restaurant but I found the food and service was of a fine dining standard. The meals were impeccably presented, generous portion sizes with prompt professional and efficient service. Will definitely be returning there soon.

Had a meal here last weekend. The food is very average and very overpriced - definitely nothing fancy about it, the portion size of the main was incredibly small and cost $32. The pizzas at $25 were very basic and we both felt that pizzas at chain store pizzas were much tastier and much cheaper. Won't be going back

Pros: fast friendly service, food taste good with good presentation.<br/><br/>Cons: flies everywhere, over priced

Very disappointing night... had work Christmas function and when got there was told table needs to be available for second sitting??? Had been reassured this was not the case but on the night it was. Also menu not as agreed and main dishes were rather small. Definitely not a place we will go back to. - Iris Auckland

Just moved to the area and went here to get dinner. Was better than the average suburban restaurant. Service was attentive and helpful. My wife moved her plate away from her when it came out cause she cant stand mushrooms they replaced her meal straight away and apologised. Appreciated that.

Came here for desert only one night a while ago, and the staff happily accepted us - which some restaurants do not like. Desert was served rather quickly, even though it was a busy night. Only downfall was staff being incredibly pushy in terms of drinks - we had already said no drinks, but the waiter brought over a drinks menu anyway and constantly asked me if i wanted a beer. But still a great vibe, seems like a great place for dinner - could not hear any complaints.

Great menu, fantastic food, pleasant surroundings. I keep going back for more.

I've seen this place change hands a few times while living in East Auckland, but for some reason the menu stays the same. <br/><br/>I always get the veg pizza, because pizza. <br/><br/>I actually really enjoy eating here, it's got a nice atmosphere, and if I can avoid old school teachers, the better, but even still, it's a nice place to have a drink and some food. <br/><br/>It's a staple in Howick and has been for years, not under this name though, so I suggest you give it ago.