Review The Shires - Waiuku

Amazing restaurant, wonderful staff and the kai is beautiful. Hardly a wait time. My partner asks should we go out for dinner? My response is The Shires. Been here loads and will keep on going.

A lovely last evening with our family before flying home to UK. Always the best restaurant to enjoy a real treat from the moment you step inside with the warmest if welcomes from a happy team where nothing is to much trouble. The food was as ever delicious, and you could just sit relaxing knowing your every need for a special evening was taken care of. Thank you and see you again very soon.

Lovely food beautifully prepared and great service. Highly recommend.

Again another amazing meal totally enjoyed every bite. Loved the girls singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday party at the other table absolutely awesome 👌

I’m from Yorkshire so this place was awesome! Had a cocktail which was yummy, service awesome. Only 4 stars as didn’t eat so can’t judge the food but for drinks definitely worth a visit!

Had a lovely family dinner and it was great 👍 👌 😋

So yummie, ordered and paid over the phone and got our food delivered for free (when you spend over $30), was ready so fast too. Natasha was so lovely to talk to :)

Enjoyed a lovely 3 course meal. The service was amazing. and so we're the pina coladas😊 Highly recommend.

very nice environment and friendly stuff.Food are also great.

Scallops were perfectly cooked. Attractive but simple plating. Warm ambience.

Delicious food. Excellent service. Wonderful experience for a quiet no rush evening out

Good quality food at a good value, certainly tasty and choice menu. Good with kids too

The staff are all friendly and very helpful. However, I ordered a beef wellington and was expecting the usual - however what I got was roast beef and mushroom in a pastry pocket. Now it was still delicious but it wasn't a beef wellington in terms of the cut of meat and the preparation. The other people I went with ordered the lamb pasta and the steak which were pretty tasty. I felt a bit mislead by the beef wellinton menu item.

We have dined in and have done take out recently. Both experiences were great. Service is friendly and during covid restrictions they were amazing. Food we have had has been wonderful - generous in size and great pricing. Beef Wellington, pork belly, ribs, sticky date pudding and few other dishes (those most recent that I can recommend all these).

I really loved my first time experience at Shires, the girls were very friendly, and went out of their way to cook up a vegan dish that was not on the dinner menu, get me wrong if I were. The atmosphere that night was warm and very comfortable. My husband liked as well, I would recommend to family and friends Shire is really nice place to have dinner out, amazing!!!.

Great staff . Very helpful . Brought our 4yr old daughter an activity bag as soon as we were seated . Nice move as it kept her entertained. The food was absolutely wonderful. We will be back !! Thank you

Very good food, not too long to wait. My chicken dish was superb, although at $26 I would have liked more vegetables. The dish was excellent, chicken was moist and tender. My desert of tiramisu was excellent, light, fluffy, well presented. Overall a very nice experience. Be aware that this place is on the more expensive side, but you get excellent quality.

This place is fab the staff were fantastic and our lunch was gorgeous I had the scallops and my flatmate had soup of the day, both delicious and the cocktails were great as well. The price was lower than expected and I can't wait to go back. To know they also do takeaways and dinner deliveries is even better.<br/>Jan Bedford.

The only positive thing about this restaurant was the service. Purely based on service I would give a 5.<br/>However, the food was well below good. We had the seafood chowder which was okay, a little bit too soupy and the first time it came out there was no seafood on bacon. Also had the Jerk Chicken tacos which I would not eat. The chicken was as dry as saw dust and the balance of flavours was just not there.

Have been three times in two years and won't ever go back again. First time was for a family dinner for a childs birthday where they wouldn't allow a cake to be bought in for a 5yr old. It took 1 hr 20 min for mains to arrive and they were very average and not at all well cooked,very busy night though. We had to ask several times for drinks and were never offered anymore, not even water.<br/>Second time was a night out with friends, didnt fancy travelling into Pukekohe in the rain and thought we would give them the benefit of the doubt that the time before was just a bad night as it was busy. Very poor service by the young girls more interested in themselves than anyone else. The only one who seemed to be doing any work was the older lady covering all the tables. Again the food very average, they dont know how to cook a steak and the vegetables were frozen reheats not fresh. The sauces were scarce and you really had to search to find them. When asked for a little jug of extra gravy for the meal they said they dont do that.<br/>After reviews on a local facebook page (by people I later found out were staff) I was talked into going again over the weekend and that will be the last time ever. Meals have gone from average to inedible with reheated mains, raw steak, burnt entrees, soggy garlic bread and terrible service from girls who definitely need some hospitality training. DONT complain about working weekends if you want to keep your job and stop gossiping about other members of your town in full ear shot of diners who are usually waiting for you to serve them. The menu is very small, bland and EVERYTHING is the darn same. Meat or pasta with Mediterranean vegetables which are soggy, oily and just yuk.<br/>Time to up your game Shires. There is very few options to choose from in Waiuku and so far the local pubs are far better in service, speed and meal quality. You could have the monopoly in town but not this way.<br/>

We stumbled upon this British eatery on Waitangi Day for lunch as it was one of the higher rated places! <br/><br/>We walked in at a awkward time, in time for a late lunch and the lady told us at first that it was too late but then she generously let us sit down and order anyways. <br/>We got the Beef Cups, Chicken Jerk Tacos and a Smoked Salmon & Prawn Salad to share between 2.<br/><br/>Food didn’t take long to arrive, and my it was such a wholesome meal! The soft beef was mixed with a plum jelly-like substance, and sat in small pudding cups. The small side salad it came with was also full of flavour; I wasn’t expecting it! <br/>The chicken tacos were amaaaazing, burst of flavour and the chicken was tender and oh-so-satisfying to devour! <br/>The salad was beautifully plated! Fresh, crisp and refreshing, the dressing delicately wove the flavours and textures together. Loved the touch of beetroot sauce on the side! Different and bold. <br/><br/>At extremely affordable prices, the Beef cups and tacos were $14 each and the salad was $13.50! Absolutely crazy! It set us back by $41.50 and we were really satisfied. Hearty and authentic food made from the heart. Service was extremely accommodating, lady was so nice to us even when we were the last to leave. Atmosphere is very rustic, you feel like you’re in Britain! <br/><br/>Food: 9/10<br/>Price: 10/10<br/>Ambience: 10/10<br/>Service: 10/10

been there twice. Very nice, good food, good price, good atmosphere. You have to go there at least once. ignore the bad reviews, i feel they are just having bad days when they give low ratings,

The food was incredible, they were so fast with all the food and service was amazing. My only tip would be to do up the bathrooms as they weren't very nice. ❤️

We just love going to our local restaurant. Always taking family & friends, either for lunch, dinner or just a drink or two with nibbles. Great service always with a smile. Recommend The Shires to anyone who want a beautiful, cosy, warm atmosphere to dine.

Came here on a quiet Tuesday night. The two waitresses were very nice, and it was nice and cosy with the decor and low lighting. We ordered 2 of the Scotch Fillet Steak mains and the Pork Belly. It was a very long wait for a quiet night (well over an hour), but the food was very good, the steak cooked nicely (I got mine with the mushroom sauce which had a lot of flavour, the mash was smooth and very tasty, and the roast kumara was delicious). The waitress said we could get these with both yorkshire puddings and onion rings (the menu states to choose one of either), however we were unaware until paying that we were charged an extra $6 per plate for the extra onion rings which seemed a bit much (they were really tasty though - very crunchy and nicely seasoned). The Pork belly was tender and came with a flavorsome sauce, and they were fine with swapping out the scallop potatoes for mash. Overall a great experience with the food but due to pricing and wait time, probably would only come back on a special occasion.

Great atmosphere. Real food. The liver and bacon was particularly good. Have been there many times for lunch and dinner. Always enjoy myself I love the dessert trolley.

Had an enjoyable lunch, atmosphere was great, ambiance nice food was rather ordinary nice and tasty but nothing special. Would like to have seen soup or dips and bread on offer. Food presentation needs some work just to make a point of difference from the local chippie.

Amazing atmosphere; so perfect for a very special night out with my lady. Thank you so much; the food was superb and the service faultless, welcoming and friendly with some good humour. Will be back often.

It was amazing lunch for us. the food was fantastic especially the ribs (I was say this the best one by far) I'm a big fan of pork spare ribs..the service was very friendly and quick...we will go back there again soon for sure

Love the meals here. The selection is great and they are welcoming of children. The menu for the kids isn't processed chicken bites and fish but the real deal! Beautiful battered fish and a selection that is enough for our young ones to choose from.

2 of us came here one Saturday night for the first time, and can't speak more highly of it, lovely and quiet, tables spaced a good distance apart, service friendly and welcoming, we both had an entree, main and dessert, and walked out way too full, the dessert was just okay, you choose from a dessert trolley, but the entree and main were absolutely fabulous. Not really suitable for kiddies, but my husband and I will definately go back - Thanks very much "The Shires".

The service was good but the food was very average. We had dinner and selected from the "specials menu" Mandy's steak was grey and had a lot of gristle, my chicken wrapped in bacon was white and the bacon soggy, it looked to have been nuked in a microwave and was overcooked. My vege was a chunk of cauliflower, a few slices of carrot a blob of mashed potato and a dollop of mushroom sauce. When I mentioned that my chicked was overcooked I was offered a replacement but I was over it by then. The service was very good though.

Absolutely lovely! great atmosphere,great service,great food! will definitely be going back! wonderful evening enjoyed by all! It was my son's 25th birthday and they made the evening very special! we will be back to sample the steak! was very impressed by the desert trolley! what a great idea * I love being able to see the variety before ordering!

Have had brunch here twice, and dinner once. Fast, friendly service. Yum food, good helping for price. Our young waitress was lovely, good manners etc..atmosphere relaxed, welcoming.We will definitely be returning.

Very poor! We decided to try this restaurant on a Sunday night! We arrived around 7pm and we were the only ones there other than another couple! They had run out of several dishes on the menu which we were told after they were ordered.The entree was nice but the mains were reheated and were horrible! We were so disapointed at this stage that we didnt stay for dessert! When we paid for the meal $95 we were asked how the meal was, and when we told her that it was very ordinary she didn't blink an eyelid!We won't be back that's for sure!

We were a party of 6 for dinner on a Friday night in March. This was the first visit to the Shires for most of us, and without fail we agreed that the service was friendly, attentive and consistent, delivered by one waitress over the whole evening with good back-up from management who also checked in twice to see that all was well with us (it was ). The menu was excellent, with a good range of dishes (not just one of each type of meat!) We all ordered a main meal(no entrees), which was delivered within a very respectable time from ordering, and the waitress remembered who had ordered which dish - a nice touch, thanks. There was a range of meals ordered - sirloin steaks, snapper, salmon, pork loin and a pasta dish and we all were impressed with presentation, size, and quality of our dishes. I have to say we all really enjoyed our meals and felt they were delicious, interesting and good value. <br/>We were offered the dessert menu which turned out to be offered on a trolley at the table and we enjoyed being able to view the treats on offer and choose from the trolley. All were good, with special mention for the Key Lime pie that I shared with my husband - it was great! The dessert trolley was a nice way to end the evening as by then we were all feeling quite relaxed and comfortable so the informality of this was a fitting end to the evening. At all times the staff were helpful, and friendly but not intrusive, and we appreciated their efforts to keep us cool on a hot summer evening. <br/><br/>Overall, a lovely night out at a restaurant that was welcoming, relaxed, informal but with attention to detail and consideration for their customers, and most importantly of all with a menu that delivered fresh, interesting and substantial meals.<br/>Thanks for the evening.

I have been to the Shires twice now. We decided to give it a second chance after an awful first time experience. The first time we went in as a large group for a Birthday party, the food was average, it was something I could have made at home and done a better job of it. The service was the icing on the cake for us! We were a group of 8, they could have made alot from us on drinks. But noone paid us any attention, the two girls waitressing were too busy talking about their weekend plans. Even after we waved to get their attention they had the cheek to say they were busy!! Yes, busy standing around gossiping!! By the time the girls had finished their conversation and decided to serve us we were fuming. They would have lost alot of money that night. We had 1 round of drinks each, on a normal evening out we would have had a couple of rounds of drinks as well as bottles of wine with dinner... The money is in the drink, they lost alot that night! After this appalling service we were in no hurry to go back. However we gave them a second chance, the place was empty, we were the only table in there. Again the food very average, and it took 45minutes!! Although the service was not as bad as before, we still were not offered any further drinks, water glasses were not topped up and we were treated as an inconvenience. <br/>As someone who works in the hospitality industry I know good service is a must especially in a small town. I don't see the Shires lasting very long in our small town without vast improvements. Anyone who enjoys the food or even the service have got to be people who do not get out much.. If you want good friendly service and amazing food I suggest going further afield...

My husband and I had dinner on 4 Feb 12. And we both really enjoyed our meals, the atmosphere and the helpful staff. Being gluten free always makes it difficult but the waitress had everything i could order listed on her board and they went out of their way to make sure i could eat the sauces etc. Will definately reccomend Shires to everyone. thanks for a lovely evening.

Both my wife &amp; i have had dinner lunch &amp; breakfast at the shires on various occasions and on all the times there we have had a great meal &amp; very prompt service prices are good and not the atmosphere is good and friendly.<br/>Highly recommended.