Review Ambrosia Restaurant & Bar - Rotorua

Good food and excellent service. The set menu available between 5pm and 7pm is good value for money. We ordered Lamb Rump and Surf and Turf as main with Artisan Breads and Deep fried Risotto as appetisers. All dishes were reasonably good. The service was superb and staff were attentive and polite. One of the restaurant to be highly recommended at the Eat Street in Rotorua.

We had a great time. Our first time as well, definitely come back if time permits us. Food was great. And good value for money. Staff were friendly and accommodating. The location is great as well. Love the atmosphere. It was a bit crowded as obviously it's a famous place so lots have booked for that night, but over all we had an awesome evening. We had 3 course meal. Menu was awesome.

They have a $29.99 three course meal before 7pm, which is a very good deal. We started with Chef's soup of the day (cauliflower and apple) and Truffled Arancini Risotto Balls (very filling). As for the Main, We tried Aged NZ sirloin (nice) and Canterbury Lamb Rump with twice cooked Lamb ribs (a bit fat). Dessert was too sweet for us. Mocktail was delicious (watermelon flavour)! Good service and chill outdoor environment.

Went for dinner and 100% recommend this place. Lovely staff and vibes. Had the 3 course meal. Was a good price for the portions. Definitely coming back!

I have been multiple times over the years, normally for the 3 course meal for under $30 if seated before 7pm. Tonight I had this again and had the breads for starters which were nice as always, then I had the surf and turf steak which was perfectly cooked. To finish was the Ambrosia desert, which is always a nice way to finish the meal. Incredible value in these times.

Great food good services and live music, can't go wrong. The poached eggs were cooked to perfection and taste great!

We were attracted by the Monday special of 1kg mussels and Tiger beer. And the 3-course meal. Food was good. Portions were generous. Mussels were huge. Dessert was so-so. Service staff were attentive and pleasant. All in all a pleasant dinner.

We loved the food so much at lunch, we went back for dinner! At lunch, we had two of the specials, the lamb shank and the waffles daddy. Both were delicious. At dinner, we had the three course special (soup, surf and turf and Ambrosia for my wife, bread, parmigiana and Ambrosia for me) and everything was incredible. We loved that the prices were fair and decent, that's what attracted us in the first place. What made us return was how good the food was. Thanks so much!

Ambrosia staff were awesome. Great place to bring your family for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Best place in Rotorua by far! Well worth the money. The whole family happy tummies.

We enjoyed the 3 course dinner here for $29 & it was well worth it! Everything we ordered came out fast ,efficient & cooked to perfection. But the service was exceptionally great. Definitely Recommend this establishment for all to try.

Service was amazing and the burger was SO good! Zero criticisms. If I could give more stars I would. The lovely gentleman that took our order was very charismatic. Will return again. Will recommend to others.

It was a great night out with the family, awesome place to dine in, yummy food, steak was cooked to perfection, juicy and tender, kids enjoying their meal, great staff. Overall it was a beautiful evening and we all left with full tummy 😋

Had the Lunch special and was so impressed we returned for the 3 course dinner . I would challenge anyone to find a better meal in any high class restaurant for less than 4 times the price we paid tonight. Amazing food Generous servings Exceptional service Can’t ask for more than that. Visiting from Melbourne Australia.

Had a awesome waiter "Sione" great service with exceptional food and great atmosphere. I've only been in for Dinner so lunch Menu was new & very delicious. Highly recommend the Boston Clam Chowder and prawns with basil & corn gnocchi. We also had the bread selection and garlic fiselles. Drinks never disappoint! Priced really well will definitely be back!

The food was good, but nothing stunning. The smoked salmon I had was great, but very small, if the waitress would have advised me I would have probably have ordered a side with it, but wasn’t worth it the wait after… also we thought there wasn’t any dessert options (as then discovered thyme hav a different menu for it), but went we went to pay we mention we were going to look for dessert somewhere and only then they mention. Another sales opportunity lost 2! So there is room for improvement still…

We had a lovely dinner at Ambrosia. The $29.90 three course dinner meal (5-7pm only) is an absolute steal and the quality was excellent. We both ordered the same - gnocchi entree and surf and turf main followed by the signature ambrosia for dinner. All were well cooked and the timing was perfect. The staff were fantastic, attentive and extremely friendly. Special thanks to Sabrina for such fabulous service. I would recommend Ambrosia for a casual and quick dinner. The only complaint is that it is also a bar so it can get a little loud as sports are also playing on the TVs. Inside was nice and quiet tonight, however.

We came to Eat Street after the Basketball at the Events centre...so it was after 9.00 on a Thursday night in winter. Most places were closing or closed and this was one of a few open. We checked and the kitchen was still open. We sat outside and enjoyed the music form the bar next door. Our food came quickly and was fine. The staff checked on us and were friendly and warm. We really appreciated the service at that hour.

Had an awesome brunch here with my mum today, I had the Eggs Benedict & pork Celore and mum had the steak & eggs. The customer service was perfect. Feel I felt recommend this place!

The service was terrible!! Really poorly managed restaurant. <br/>We had an hour to get a quick bite to eat before heading out again. We asked the waiter if this would be long enough and he said food would be only 30mins.. 50minutes later nothing arrived and we walked out! This was on a public holiday, there were only 2 waiters and appeared to only be one person in the kitchen!! The food that we did see brought out was send back with items missing or not what the table had ordered. We were not the only people to walk out without a meal in the short time we were there!!

Sorry I have to say that we have waiting for so long to be served. We ordered a three course meal for special. At the end there was nobody picked up the used main meal plate and there was no desserts to be served. So at the end we decided to go without having any dessert. <br/>DISAPPOINTED.

10/10 would return here again! Such a great meal. My partner and I went here for dinner expecting simple bar food. When we arrived, we saw a $29 three course meal deal and decided to go with that. We were blown away. The ambrosia we had for dessert was definitely the best I've ever had.

Looking for somewhere for Sunday dinner went for a stroll through downtown rotorua. Ambrosia had a 3 course special so we decided on that. I had soup as an entree then steak and ambrosia for dessert. I think it was $25. Great value for money and the food was great.

Disappointed. 3 of us ordered a Ceviche, Meatballs and Pork Schnitzel for lunch. Ceviche was poor, dry and flavourless. Meatballs were good but for $18, I would expect at least a piece of bread. Schnitzel was appallingly tough, dry and tasteless. To top it up, lady who served us didn't sent to be there. The guy who welcomed us was good though. Won't be going back

All dishes done nicely!! Lamb and stake were perfectly cooked, tender and juicy!! Sauce were nice too!! Love the mash potato too!! Best dishes I had in Rotorua!!

Came here on the afternoon of the 12/09/2015<br/>My partner and i came here for a nibble and some drinks. We went to the bar side of the establishment. We got the hot tasters platter and espresso martini and another coffee style cocktail. Food was really good they even changed out the pork to chicken for us. The cocktails were both delicious and well presented. Staff was really nice. Would recomend to anyone for a good experience.

Food is just so so.....<br/><br/>Beef quality is good but the taste is not good as quality<br/>The side vege is not fresh so is shrimp.<br/><br/>Pasta is okay though <br/>Service needs to get improved as well.<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>

came here on a lunch date with a friend. The customer service could improve but I loved the pasta I ordered. The prices aren't too far fetched aswell. Would I come back?? Maybe.

6:15pm Walked in<br/>6:25-45pm Tried my best to get waiter's attention for ordering a meal<br/>6:50pm ordered <br/>7:00pm yah they served us appetiser!<br/>7:10pm moved away plates immediately after we finished<br/>7:52pm I'm typing this and waiting for main meal :)<br/><br/>Oh I have to say the water service was excellent deserving 1 point.<br/><br/>7:54pm MAIN MEAL LANDED!!!<br/>8:05pm dessert is here

Visited here on valentines day, waited 45 mins, and still wasn't even offered a class of water, despite making eye contact with a young waitress several times (who was literally twiddling her fingers at some points, despite several tables sitting empty with stacks of dishes waiting to be cleared.)<br/>Pretty disappointing for any restaurant, let alone one charging mid $30s for a main!!

We had Xmas Eve dinner here and was lucky enough to get a table without booking. It must be an okay restaurant as we spotted Cliff Curtis walking in with his family for a Xmas Eve feed as well :) LOL Whoever thought celebrity-spotting was possible in a wee smelly town like Rotorua? #Jokes<br/><br/>We ordered steaks (can't go wrong with steaks) and enjoyed them. Desserts were okay too - I ordered Ambrosia (the sugar woven basket was really cool). It was a bit of a wait for our main meals, so it would have been nice if someone told us that (there weren't many dinners that day, most were there for drinks). So service could have been a little bit more attentive, but no biggie. Everything was above average ;)

took some family from out of town here and waited literally 2 hrs for food and they stuffed it all up, the kids were asleep by the time the food came and only one dish was hot the rest was stone cold, when we got a bit annoyed and politely told the wait staff the food was cold and the wait long despite the nearly empty restaurant, we were given a weak sorry and thats it, no discount no complementary wine, nothing, we ate what we could paid our bill and left quick smart, after paying nearly $1000 for our table they really could of done a better job.  Decided it may have been an off day and went again, two of us waited at least an hour. Waiter was nice enough in terms of service, when you could flag him down, and live music was great but would never go again

Went to ambrosia for lunch extremely disappointing do not go there if you are hungry the meals are extremely small and not value for money my chicken was dry and only about a cm thick and 5 cm wide and a small little ramekin of rice  pathetic would feed a baby! the steaks came with one mushroom the size of 2 fifty cent pieces and the jacket potatoe was a baby spud lets say it's not a mans meal also with the ordering of a side salad with no dressing and it contained three slices of tomatoe and lettuce leaf, my partner ordered a pasta dish even though the flavour was good  for 17.50 it was not worth the money lets say fine dining without the fine food but you pay the price.  First impressions are great service started well and then never saw the waitress,  even though when I went up to pay my $103 bill she asked how it was and I told her and she stated that we should have said something the problem is she never came back to the table to check on how our meals were she didn't know what to say with that response.  Lesson learnt always read reviews before going out and spending money we will not go back there ever and will tell everyone about our experience far better places with value for money and service.

There are mixed reviews on this site so we were unsure whether to go or not. We finally decided to go and wish we went a long time ago!! Went on a Saturday night. Place was quite full and great ambiance. There were only 2 Waiters / staff on that night but they did a superb job. Both were young, very well spoken and gave fantastic service. Each visit to our table they would ask how each of our meals were, which is important. I had broccoli and garlic soup followed by gnocchi. My husband had artisan breads followed by duck. Neither of us could fault our meals or experience. Entree took 20 minutes to arrive and main also took 20 mins which was expected and we were very happy with. So far I have been very disappointed with food in Rotorua during our stay. Ambrosia was a 10 out of 10 and I highly recommend!!!!!!!!

Slow slow service-Waitress was very efficient but only one on. For Friday lunchtime? Had to wait 1hr and 15 minutes for our main course, Food was lovely but wont be going back. Too slow for workers lunch's

We dined tonight at this restaurant and it cant be faulted at all. Service ,food, wine and meal was absolutely awesome, We counted 35 people and 2 waitresses and what an orsum job they did all round.Iwould recommend this restaurant to everyone and the 29.00 3 course meal was great. We chose breads, steak with scallops,prawns,potato rosti and bok choy.Steak cooked to perfection !!! F A B U L O U S. Wine was also good. Cant wait to go back next month for our Wedding Anniversary.

Have been here twice in the past month and each time has been fantastic! First time taking opportunity of the blackboard specials noted out front, great value for a entrée, main and desert! It was $29 for the three courses. Chose the bread first, which although basic, was nice. Main course was a lamb dish, perfectly cooked to my asking (medium-well done) and every element was delicious! Dessert being on a set menu thought it would be quite small but it was full size! Absolutely delicious! Second time was off the main menu and lived up to all expectations! Had the bread starter as well as the pork belly and scallop, brilliant! Lamb rack and scotch fillet for the mains, perfectly cooked once again and delicious flavours! Chose the ambrosia again for dessert and weren't disappointed! Had a delightful cocktail too (can't remember the name but the one with passionfruit!) that perfectly complimented the meal! All our waitresses were amazing, so accommodating especially when we took ages to decide! Overall fabulous place to dine out! Don't expect large portions however, but expect amazing food, great atmosphere and awesome staff!

Ate here this evening while passing through Rotorua on the way back to Auckland. I ordered the Venison and hubby the gnocchi. <br/><br/>We waited a good 25 minutes for the main to turn up. My venison was $38.00 but what was on the plate (though attractively presented) did not seem to be good value. Hubby's gnocchi was a generous serving at least. The plates were warm, which was great.<br/><br/>My venison was obviously cooked for a long time on one side. It was quite well done and a bit chewy on one side, and the other was beautifully medium rare as had been requested. The sauce was delicious and really enhanced the dish, and the lovely smoky flavour was beautiful. No complaints at all about the taste. <br/><br/>My meal came with pak choy, kumara (a square around 5cm x 5cm) and a strange duck liver sausage thing that had tiny shrimps inside. I didn't care for the sausage thing at all and left it on the plate. <br/><br/>The gnocchi became quite goopy and paste-like rather than bathing in a delicious sauce once the plate cooled down a little. A shame, but apparently it was nicely flavoured.<br/><br/>I was still hungry after my dinner, so we ordered a fondue to share. It took about 30 minutes to get to the table, which we thought was an unacceptably long time, as we watched the minutes ticking by and wondered when we would finally get back to Auckland. <br/><br/>A young couple had arrived before our mains arrived, and we noticed that they did not receive their meals until just a few minutes before our dessert turned up. That would have been around 45 minutes to an hour waiting for their meal. Once again, an unacceptably long time to wait for a meal. <br/><br/>The dessert was large, and the chocolate was very nice, although a bit thin, so it was a challenge eating it without dripping chocolate all over the table cloth and ourselves. It came with lots of marshmallows, some chunks of apple, rock melon, some rectangles of sponge cake (broke into the fondue when dipped), and grapes. The fruit was fridge-cold and I feel it would have benefited from being left at room temperature. It was quite an assault on my sensitive teeth to eat very cold fruit with warm chocolate sauce. <br/><br/>The service was fine (apart from the obvious lack of service during the wait). We had a South African lady waiting on us and she was very pleasant. We had been seated right between the bar area and the restaurant, and there was a concertina door in the bar that was open when we arrived. It was very cold, with a significant draft coming through the doors straight towards us. After shivering for 15 minutes or so we got up ourselves to shut the door. Not sure if the staff was aware of the discomfort it had been causing.<br/><br/>Although the food was very nice, it was pricey and we waited far too long for it. The restaurant was not overly busy, there were plenty of tables empty, so I am at a loss to understand why things were so delayed. I wouldn't be in a hurry to go back again.

It is hard to believe that some of the reviews are about the same restaurant that we had dinner at last evening.<br/><br/>We were absolutely delighted with every dish - in fact we asked the waitress to compliment the chef and tell him that his food presentation and content was far superior than on "The Queen Mary" where we have spent the last four weeks.<br/><br/>Yes, we will certainly be dining at this restaurant on our return to Rotorua

We had the bad inspiration to enter this place one night while in holiday in Rotorua. Below average food, high prices, long wait, a night to forget.<br/>This is one place we won't return to for sure....

Love, love, love this restaurant! This is by far my favourite place to eat out. Food is always amazing and most of the staff are very attentive and helpful. I do think that the customer service could be improved especially when it comes to the younger staff. I have and will continue to recommend this restaurant to everyone

Service was non existent.Staff were rude.We had to get up from our meal and get our own drinks from the bar.Pate starter came out on a huge big wooden chopping board Mussel starter terrible.My husband and I had the pork belly,very chewy meat chewy crackling,and two tiny apple crisps that was the entire meal.Friends had tuff raw steak.Waiters didn't explain specials when asked,specials board was outside so we had to leave our table and go outside to check the specials.Never again will we go there and we would never recommend.

My husband and I have tried Ambrosia restaurant twice for dinner. After the first time we swore we would never go back because the food was terrible but ended up giving them another go. We were sorry we had. I had the pork belly which was almost inedible. Nothing of the lovely light crisp crackling and succulent meat you get on a well cooked pork belly. I could not even put my knife through the rubbery layer of fat on top.

This is one of the worst restaurants I’ve ever been to. We were four and everyone was unhappy with their meals. The meat was raw and service was appalling. The waiter did not even know the specials for the day.<br/><br/>When I paid for the food they did not even ask if we enjoyed the meals. Go figure!<br/>

We came here off the street for dinner on Sunday 5th September 2010 for my husband's birthday dinner after roaming the street reading menus we definitely thought Ambrosia had a lot to offer for great prices.<br/>We weren't disappointed.<br/>The service was fantastic. The staff even handled a drunk random man who came in and started singing as he wandered around the dinner tables! they handled that situation absolutely professionally!<br/>the waiter we had recommended an amazing Pinot noir and was attentive and friendly without being invasive.<br/>My husband said his steak was the best he has ever had and he still raves about it to this day!<br/>I had the smoked venison, which, unfortunately was dry and too salty and by the end of the dish I wished there had been more of the delicious sauce to help me eat it.<br/>However, we did tell the staff when it came to paying for our meal that the venison was too dry and salty and they kindly discounted my main meal.<br/>I highly recommend this restaurant and we will be eating there the next time we stay in Rotorua.

We came here while on a weekend away in Rotorua, the menu looked nice when we had walked past earlier in the day so we decided to try there for dinner that night. We walked in about 7.45pm and it seemed fairly busy, I wasn't sure whether we would get a table but when I asked they had a spare one free, which was great. Service was prompt, we had garlic bread for our starters which was nice, I had lamb for my main which was delicious and my husband had spaghetti and meatballs which looked pretty basic and nothing to write home about but tasted fine. Friendly staff and nice atmosphere. Would go back again

Ate at the begging of feb. Food was good starters were nice and came out after about 15mins. We shared the mussels and they were well presented and taste was good in the white wine sauce. For mains I had the venison and my partner had the duck, both of which were delicious, especially confit style duck. Desert we shared a rhubarb pie and shared a cheese platter can't complain about either. Staff were good, seemed a little understaffed but young male manager seemed to handle well and recommended great wine. Would dine there again

had pre booked the table for 7pm for 7 people.nice clean restaurant etc. waited 15Min's for staff to take starter order. then another 25/30 for the starters to actually arrive, which didn't come altogether so had to wait. very erratic.took a further 10 mins to clear starter plates. then waited a further 15/20 before we actually asked where our mains were. only to be told "they are being plated up next". other tables were being presented with their mains while we were waiting.by this time it was 8.30pm, so we all got up,complained and left Ambrosia. The staff were inattentive to our needs. not enough staff on.food was ok but the staff/managers need to have crash course in customer service if this restaurant is to survive.

The food was excellent. We decided to be adventurous and try things we hadn't had before. To start, we split the quail. Delicious! For mains we shared the venison and the duck.<br/><br/>The duck breast wasn't anything to write home about, but with the honeyed parsnips it was quite nice. The confited leg was absolutely amazing! And the venison... wow. Delectable, sumptuous, melt in your mouth.<br/><br/>For desert we got the mille feuille, which was quite nice. Nothing mindblowing.<br/><br/>The reason Ambrosia gets such a low review is for the service which was atrocious. It wasn't a busy night, but it took so long between us finishing and them acting on anything. The table next to us had finished, payed and left before we got our mains, and their plates hadn't been cleared when we left.<br/><br/>Non-attentive staff, it almost required a course in semaphore to flag down a waiter.<br/><br/>But the food, the food was worth it.

Very disappointing after i had heard so much about it. Took foreign visitors for lunch and was served what surely looked and tasted like spaghetti that was days old and not to mention the stale bread. The Apple &amp; Berry Pie was the most awful desert I have ever had!<br/>I will not be going back there