Great Italian restaurant, handy location , friendly service
We went on a quite Monday evening so had the place pretty much to ourselves. The food was great, fettuccine con polo was amazing and the waiter, Kristian, I believe was very nice. A tad pricey, but an overall good experience
Delicious pasta, lovely waiter. Will be back!
Went there today for dinner, I ordered an pizza and my partner ordered carbonara pasta, both was really delicious, good wine selection as well!
Location is great, after the meal we could go for a nice walk around that area. Friendly staff, and fair price ( not cheap, but not extremely expensive), so will go back definitely! :-)
Best italian restaurant for me with huge servings and well seasoned dishes :) celebrated our 1 year friendship with my bestfriend 🎉 compliment to the male waiter that serves us very friendly and accommodating keep it up Portofino 😁✌
We don't see why there are such poor ratings :)
Great service, delicious food with great portion sizes and fair prices. Not to mention you have the view of the beautiful viaduct. The calamari is a must and their pizzas are some of our favourites.
Great lunch on a beautiful sunny Queens birthday :)
what a lovely place to dinein..beautiful waterfront sit out option with great authentic italian food.
food tastes great and ambiance is just amazing. we had a weekend family lunch there and had such a lovely time.
there are other portofino outlets too, have been to most of them and just like other outlets, this one will never disappoint you. if they have a fanclub or something then i would be the 1st one to join it .
Food as amazingly great. Felt like we were in Italy.
We ordered a pizza and pasta. Very fresh and had that homemade taste!
Service on the other hand was extremely slow. We waited 50 minutes before food was served
Erin - Gold Code For 20% Off : CATH6386
+4
Sunday late lunch while waiting Denny Setiawan took his new bike - ordered bruschetta galleto, this place has a nice view especially in summer day
The location is superb. The staff and service was good. Payed $22.5 for the burrata and $19.5 for the bolognese. Burrata definitely needed more rockets, or orange. Overpriced. The spaghetti had to much red sauce but in general was good and was ok with the price.
The waiters at portofino were muy bien! Super friendly and were filled with spirit that really helped make the atmosphere of the night incredible. Great service and great food is in well deserve of a 5 star review. Thank you from the birthday squad!
We had our friends birthday here, the food was delicious and the staff are really nice. We all had a really good time here 👌 highly recommend
Staff are always friendly and polite. Food is very tasty and well presented and beautiful views of Auckland's harbour and scenery. Great Italian food.
Had an extended family dinner here earlier this week. Lots of seating, looked very upmarket and chic. Service was attentive and friendly. My fiance and I shared the Spaghetti Cabonara and Amore Pizza. I enjoyed both dishes. The only negative I can find with the place was the special lighting along one side of the dining room kept flickering. Probably something to do with the wiring. Fixing this would make the place look perfect. Great place for formal dining.
I love the pasta here me and my partner visit every once in awhile because there isn't anything she loves here. The salmon pizza is a bit too salty for our liking but the Alfredo pasta is spot on always Al dente
Went here for lunch today . Food was really good had a lot of flavour and the portions are descently sized also is a little bit on the pricy side but that is expected when going to the viaduct the place is very classy and the staff is really good.
Went for a group end of year dinner celebration. The food was tasty, service was great and atmosphere was nice. I ordered thr pasta salad which was tasty and filling. The waitress was friendly and helpful and took some photos for us. Overall was a good experience!
Lyn Lin (Zomato Gold Share Code LINL3293)
+4.5
Great location and atmosphere. Service can be improved... the staff members are quite busy and may be that is why they tends to forget, haha. Ordered crispy bread, seafood linguine in tomato sauce and panna cotta. We were a big group and sharing the entree between the tables. Didn't realised there were two different flavors (garlic and chili) of breads served until the girl seating next to me said the spiciness was just right for her... I was like, garlic and butter flavor was spicy???
At first I though the tomato sauce might make the linguine sweet and sourish and was kind of regretting the choice until I took the first bite... thank god, perfect choice! The smoked salmon was definitely the highlight and adds so much layers of taste to it! The blueberries hiding in the panna cotta was also like treasure hunting (not spoiling the fun here, am I?)
Would recommend and come back to this place again for sure.
Delicious pizzas and lovely ambience. Have been coming here for years and it is always consistently good. Would recommend this to anyone wanting delicious Italian
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After loving Portofino at Mission Bay we decided to visit here. I'm also surprised by the low score as I thought the opposite. The ambiance here is perfect for a evening dinner, it's dimly lit and cozy with outdoor heaters. We were served and seated promptly. Our waiter was great, attentive but not too overbearing and had a bit of humour.
I can't remember the name of the dish I ordered but it was chicken breast in a sauce accompanied with spinach mash. You can never go wrong with mash, however I didn't really enjoy the chicken. It was a bit bland and I think the sauce didnt match that well. My partner had one of the steak options which he enjoyed. For a side we ordered the Italian fried bread, a bit of a waste of time as it didn't really go with the mains and was odd to eat on its own. We also ordered the Tiramisu for dessert, which was just amazing. I would go back just for the dessert.
My partner absolutely loves Portofino and cannot recommend it enough. This location is great for a cute romantic dinner.
Again not sure by the overall low score here.
Recommended by staff in The Sebel Viaduct Harbour.
Two lovely pastas (spaghetti and cannelloni) and glasses of Italian red/rose. All pastas were at the low to mid-high 20s (for marinara) price point.
Brisk but attentive service.
Would recommend in this touristy part of town.
Why such negative reviews? I'll admit I was close to not going here due to those bad reviews, however as the menu looked so good and my wife being a coeliac had almost anything on the menu to choose from - we gave it a shot. Were very impressed. Wait staff were lovely, quick service, and most importantly brilliant food. Had the bruschetta, creamy calamari and two creamy pasta dishes (one GF pasta).
Wonderful food, I'll definitely come again to try the new items of the menu! It was nice that the owner personally met the guests. I liked the quiet pleasant music in the restaurant too.
Shocked by all the bad reviews!
We really loved this place - the food tasted like authentic North Italian cuisine - perhaps people have been to westernised with their Italian.
The pasta was cooked to perfection and lightly sauces but busting with fresh flavours! The service was great and my glass was never empty!!
Not sure why the overall rating here is really low. The staff were really friendly and there is a good view too. We got the lasagne and the fried bread. The lasagne was delicious, very cheesy too. The fried bread tasted really good too.
Overall a very good experience here.
Came here on a Saturday night, the restaurant was packed. We were seated promptly upon arrival, however wait time was a downer and the reason for the overall rating. The intervals between ordering drinks, food and arrival of both all took an extremely long time. Pro is that for a large group, all meals came together with only one stuff up.
Ordered the Insalata Rosa (Salmon Salad) which was quite interesting to me as there were only 4 bits of leaves making up the salad. The little puff balls were really nice though! Salmon was fresh, flavours went well together, and enjoyed my wee carafe of the house red. Waiter brought over a small taster before getting the full jug which I found was a nice gesture.
All in all, not bad but not blown away, food is simple but wait time was way too long. Many Italian Restaurants to choose from that would deliver better food and service at the price tag.
AravindKumar HariNarayanan
+4.5
Myself and my wife were almost hesitant to go here because of poor reviews in the past, but we noticed all the new reviews were good. And we loved the place. Ambiance and the food were amazing. Solid wait time of 15 minutes for the food, but the service was exceptional. My 3 year old son loved his spaghetti too!
Huge amount of wine selections. Tried their pasta and pizza. Pasta was good. Pizza was too small for what I paid. Service was below average. I can't find single staff when I need them. Overall it's just average Italian restaurant in good location with high price.
Taste 4/5
Service 3/5
Atmosphere 5/5
Location 5/5
Price 3.5/5
Pattarintorn Emmy Jusakul
+5
Mostly,the previous reviews said that the service was so disappointing,but what I experienced last night was fantastic.
The manager looked after our table with the most professional manner in hospitality. The food was second to none.Everything was seasoned perfectly.
We ordered 4 different dishes of dessert,which were Tiramisu,Gelato,cheesecake and chocolate cake,were all delicious.
The atmosphere was great.
In conclusion,
The food 5/5
The service 5/5
The atmosphere 5/5
This is not exaggeration.
I really think this Italian restaurant deserves 5/5 for everything.
Walked to the viaduct to find a new place to eat with my friend. We wanted to try this beautiful place. Great customer service and our meals were yum! I had the Fettucini Con Pollo and it was so good. Then had tiramisu for dessert. Overall great meals, great customer service and great view.
We ordered Insalata Cesare with chicken, Spaghetti Bologenese, and Affogato with liquor for lunch today. Actually, the food is delicious and can fill up the empty stomach. Also, the servers are nice and professional. Meanwhile, the environment is good. Beside these food, I suggest people to order spaghetti, those are the champion of the restaurant. What more, I'll come back to this restaurant again. The restaurant is good and suitable to different kinds of people, especially, for the older people
I loved my meal here! We started with garlic pizza which was crispy and buttery.
The mains took quite a while to come out and when they did I was delighted with the presentation and the flavour. I had the rigatoni bake and it was super yummy but waaaaay hot I had to wait for ages so I didn't burn my mouth. We had a lovely sparkling rosé though hubs liked it less than I did. He had a steak and found it to be good but not the best. Overall it was a nice experience and the service staff was great.
We went for dinner last night , we booked last minute for a group of 18 , we had a great service , beautiful atmosphere and delicious food , we been there few times and every time we get an even better service , it is highly recommended
Had a great time there on Saturday with my family. Was my wife's birthday, she loves Italian and mum loves trying out new food. We have been to the one at Mission Bay and this also didn't let us down. The fish was to die for....just needed the right amount of crushed pepper and the sauces Mmmmmmmm
Always a Great place...Excellent choice!
After reading some reviews I was a bit worried about the pasta, so decided to have the Veal Marsala. I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the meal which was quite tasty.
Saturday night was my second time here. I had to try the chicken fettuccine my friends kept boasting about. They were right! It was such a divine & delicious meal, I could not get enough of it even had me licking the plate lol i also dipped the garlic and cheese pizza pane in the pasta sauce...soooo good!!! To top it off the service was amazing! Out waitress Seoul was so attentive and friendly. Definitely going again this week :)
Such a lovely place the food is a bit pricey but worth every penny! We had to wait for ages for the food to arrive. But I guess that's not a problem if you have good company :)
Came to this place on a friends 18th as a last minute formal luxury dinner. They welcomrd us quickly which was great!
The staff had introduced me into the restaurant and the staff are so well trained.
I had ordered the chicken fettuccine and unfortunately it took 1 30hrs for it to come where I was literally starving.
When I had got the food it was a big size for the price which was good. The taste at first was nice yet then quickly started to become sickly by the over use of garlic. Even though I was on the bridge of nearly dying of starvation, I just could not finish it.
I did get a tequila sunrise as a drink and that was made to perfection.
A 3.5 experience :)
Nice setting overlooking viaduct harbour. Perhaps just a touch pretentious, the Kitchen served up a delightful traditional Spaghetti carbonara and a smoked salmon penne. The generous wine list will cover a wide range of budgets.
Had an awesome time. The food was amazeballs, can not fault the flawless service of FRANCISCO! You need to promote that guy or give him some type of pay rise cause he is really good at his job. 😁👌😉
God bless from the Nomads Family. 😘
We arrived at around 10.30 pm last night October 10th. 4 adults. We ate entree, mains and dessert. We also bought wines. The service was excellent. The service was within acceptable timing limits and all 4 mains came out at the same time. This was great. The desserts which we shared were excellent. The bill was $110.00 per couple. That included wines. That's reasonable. What let this restaurant down in my view was the Parmesan Cheese. I am a Parmesan Cheese lover and the Parmesan that was offered was horrid. This is an Italian Restaurant, and sadly the cheese they supply is likely to be NZ supply.. Maybe Mainland or something like that. We eat frequently in Sydney Italian Restaurants, so I know a good Parmesan when I tast it. This was not. If you're a Parmesan Cheese lover.. You won't find it here... Rob.
I went there in a cold windy night. It was warm and dark. Exactly the way I liked it to be. I had a spaghetti alla bolognese, or something like this( not sure about the spelling), and roasted potatoes with rosemary. Both were tasty and delicious. But the spaghetti was too watery. I expected the sauce to be creamier. Good taste though. The waiters were polite and quick. The restaurant was clean. I liked it and I may go there again.
Average. Nice selections of cocktails. I think that this place is just a normal italian restaurant of what you would expect out of italian restaurant.
Had lunch today at Portofino on the viaduct with 2 of my friends we've got one of the tables on the balcony were the view is beautiful, I have to say the food was Delicious, I'm glad I didn't follow the reviews they don't match at all with our experience, we had a great tasty lunch for just under 20 dollars with a complementary glass of wine, the staff was super friendly.
I will definitely come back.
Next time I have to try the desserts they look so yummy.
Thanks guys!!
We came here for dinner and got a vongole spaghetti to share and a steak each. The pasta wasn't that great - dry and tasteless, but the steak was pretty good.
We came here for one of our anniversary dinners and we sat down to enjoy a plate of Seafood marinara spaghetti and vegetarian cannelloni. The cannelloni was DEVINE - I devoured every trace from my plate. The staff where friendly and attentive.
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I do have not an inclined fondness of food from this cuisine, therefore, my review should be objective; or at least, to a substantial extent.The food that my companions and I ordered did not have a significant impact; in other words, the flavours were not very palpable. In saying this though, the meals were still quite pleasant and palatable in their own right. Additionally, the range of available dishes was quite extensive and this, to me, deserves merit. They offer a range of pastas, other forms of mains, and even fresh oysters.The venue was also great. The majority of the seats are outside, but covered by a plastic container shelter (I don't have a better term than that). However, as I had dinner here, it was significantly dark.Another considerable point is the costliness involved. The approximation provided by Zomato is quite accurate, but if one is a lover of alcoholic beverages, then one can expect a bit more.(I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THE SPACES I HAVE INPUTTED INTO THIS REVIEW ARE NOT BEING DISPLAYED)
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My friends and I come here often as most of us are based in the city. I've had a lot of good times here but there have been some misses.
First of all I think the food is good. A lot of people say it's not, but I've never had a bad food experience there. I've tried an array of dishes from the pasta, pizza, salad, and the meatier mains - all are good. Their desserts aren't bad either. A bit pricy, but that's to be expected.
The wait staff are usually very lovely and attentive. Our water glasses are always full, and no dish has ever been forgotten about. The front of house are a little stiff though, I rarely see them smile.
I've usually only been here during the summer months, which make my outdoor dining experience quite pleasant in the sunset. But I came here recently and it gets dark with daylight savings over, and I ended up sitting and eating my food in the very dim lighting. I suppose this might've helped my palette as I had to utilise my taste buds, but it would've been nice to actually see my food better. I suppose they sit their guests outdoors to make it seem busier, but please turn on the lights next time!
Nice Italian restaurant located in the heart of the viaduct night life. Found the staff very friendly and the service was pretty good, except we were there on a quiet night and the waitress was a little over the top... Trying to take plates away from us as we were still moving the last morsels of food to our lips.
Other than that, yummy food & chillaxed atmosphere.
Been here twice now, good food, good prices for the prime location and friendly staff :) definitely would go again. Had to wait a while for meals but other than that great
I cannot speak for the whole menu, but this place still serves the best seafood risotto I have had in Auckland - and I have ordered that from many restaurants.
The portion is very decently sized, they always make it perfectly and the risotto always has a lot of prawns, musells, scallops and squid. I cannot say the same for some other places.
Sercive and location are also top noch.
Last night we had friends visiting from Queenstown so we decided to take them out for dinner. Portofino was our preferable choice as we dined there many times before.
We had a great night, food was excellent and white Italian wine surpassed all our expectations... our friends where very pleased so they pop up question when you are going to open Portofino Restaurant in Queenstown so they can enjoy your food there?
I have been to Portofino Viaduct for many years now, and yes they may be a little slower at times, but that's when it's full house. It's a huge restaurant with at least 300 plus seats. That's a lot of food to cook, so we understand when it's slower especially when we in a big group. In my experiences over 8 years, they have always maintained the food standard or better and the environment is always improving maintaining a nice family dining atmosphere.
Food was excellent and lovely setting for a Friday lunch!
We went there for my son's birthday at his request for an Italian meal. We had an excellent waitress, very keen and friendly and the food was great. We were seated very quickly in the outside area which is very pleasant.
We would definitely go there again.
Visited Portofino at viaduct last night, got nice table looking over harbour, atmosphere was great ..good selection of Italian wines ..minestone soup was perfect and fresh fish was yummy. Thanks to friendly and professional staff.
my English is not good, but don t belive some ppl saying here is worst Italian restaurant, i tried by my self and my boyfriend last weekend,waiters are not talking much, but they nice friendly if you ask them to do things, i did asked to change seat for 3 times for better view in 1 dinner, and they just happy to do that, no any unhappy face. and the seafood big dish was very very good, price was good for restaurants in place like viaduct. don t understand why above ppl giving bad feed back.
Last night I be with my family in Portofino Restaurant on Viaduct,I am very happy, wonderfull Italian food,best service.Waitter is very happy and friendly.Wonderfull place with happy and smile face on waitters.Will be back soon.
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I'm a waitress at Portofino Viaduct and i just want to justify your expectations of good service. Firstly, please explain further what you think good service can be when you have 3 tables of 15 people arriving at once, all expecting drinks and so on. It's not easy. The restaurant seats so many people all with extreme expectations and not only are we pressured from our side (staff wise) but also the customer always comes first. Always. Diners should know that- Gino is our boss, he trains us and looks after us to try make us as friendly and capable as we can be during rush hour.
Secondly, in terms of immigrant workers, keep in mind that they are from a completely different culture to New Zealand- their ideas of good service are different to ours. Try please to be a little more patient. Everyone who's worked in hospitality should understand what its like to work in the busiest restaurant in the Viaduct.
As for the food, try the Pollo Camembert and Linguini Ginolino. Its a little out of the ordinary, but worth it.
Thankyou to everyone who wrote decent reviews about Portofino.
wow what a great dining experience of NZ. I love the way there are crabs in the mussels - it gives a sense of connection to the food chain. The fettucine is superb al dente and staff are aloof - not overly gushy or fake. I like the way the waiter slapped my face when I called him a wog - good on him for sticking up for himself - too many emigrant workers put up with less than courteous behaviour from the English upper classes.
I have been going to this place for the past few years, and it is a fabulous place to eat at. Great for celebrating couples' anniversaries and team dinners. Chicken fettucine is my favourite meal, and the atmosphere is very laid back yet styley.
Cleopatra Garland-Giese
+4
Portofinos Restaurant was lovely to dine at. I ordered the Chicken Fettuccine which was exceptional and filled all the expectations of it that I had from friends telling me it is their favourite Portofino dish. The service was great and they waited on us hand and foot. Though the meals took a while to arrive, the wait was fully worth it in the end. The only problem of mine that I had was that we were right next to the sliding door which was the waiters access to outside so it was used frequently and caused a draft every time they opened it. Overall Portofinos is fully recommended by me and with all the options on the menu everyone will be able to find something exactly right for their taste, no matter what it is.
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Portofino Viaduct is great for that formal Italian dining experience without the hefty price tag (compared to other restaurants in the Viaduct) as the mains are usually around the $25 mark with quite big serving sizes too. My friend had her birthday dinner here, the inside of the restaurant is quite classy for a special occasion and the menu is vast so it would suit to everyone's taste buds if you have a large party. We all ordered a variety of items, the pizza way better than Sal's according to my friend. I ordered the Prawn and Scallops salad which was decent, nothing amazing but the prawns and scallops were cooked perfectly. Unfortunately there was a bit of inconsistency with the Scallops Rigatoni- some pieces were overcooked. Flavours are simple but executed very well, and definitely not boring like your average throw-everything-together-for-a-quick-midweek-pasta-dinner. Service was good as well considering that there was another party going on. However, I found their cocktails odd/different compared to other places. Would definitely recommend this for a nice evening date or party that doesn't break the bank.
Very beautiful and authentic Italian restaurant. Loved the vibe of this place. Has a very stunning view from the dining area. Very friendly staff! Amazing food. Had chicken fettuccine- really nice flavor. Loved the chicken fettuccine. Would go here on any day for a nice Italian meal!
I loved this place, it was birthday dinner and being vegetarian they have so many options, Food is great and love the overall. will surely recommend and come back again.
Amazing menu with so much to choose from. Service was very efficient, and the food was divine.
Went here with my friend at Friday evening. After strolling around the viaduct, my friend suddenly looked at this place and promptly scanned the price list at the front. She feels the price is reasonable for the portion this restaurant serves — we went in. Turned out the service was excellent, one staff managed to pull off a very good Bahasa Indonesia for us! Totally delighted! And the lasagna and romana pizza they served us were excellent. Romana pizza was fantastic with perfect combination of salted olive and anchovies. We enjoyed this restaurant so much!
Jason Vu | The Stay Hub
+5
Dine here! You won't regret! I'm SHOCKED that this restaurant has such a low rating due to picky customers not knowing that they are at an authentic Italian restaurant in Viaduct precinct, Auckland waterfront. I have dined here quite a few times with different groups of friends and colleagues and couldn't find any faults in their food and service and the location! I called the day before yesterday to book a table for 14 people just a week before Christmas week, and they have a big table available for us. The staff was very attentive to us and our food. For 14 people with different dishes, food came out super quickly, from starters to mains, drinks were served professionally. We also brought a birthday cake with us with their permission, they offered to put it in the fridge and served it for us later with a small charge of course. Seafood was fresh, cheese and bread was yummy, pasta and risotto was yummy my colleagues finished their main dish like within 5 minutes as they were so scrumptious! Steak was cooked perfectly as requested! Definitely highly recommended and will come back.
Nice food. Ok price. Lovely vibe and atmosphere. Lovely views.
Food was great! Had oysters and the casarecce alfredo. oysters were $5/one which seemed fairly reasonable in my experience, however for almost $30 the pasta dish seemed small (the bowl looks larger than it is). Still i would go back, i just might plan to stop for a snack somewhere on my way. Service was decent, nothing to write home about.
I’m not sure why the reviews are so low because this was one of our best meals after a week in Auckland.
We went for an early dinner/ late lunch and got a quiet table outside in a really cute enclosed patio. Wine was amazing and affordable. Bruschetta appetizer was fresh and HUGE.
The chicken and mushroom fettuccine was creamy, perfectly cooked and delicious. The tortellini was possibly the best I’ve ever eaten! So creamy and oozing with cheese.
Service was attentive and wonderful.
The food is amazing. Best we have ever had. The staff are friendly and the food arrives promptly and hot.
Excellent food & the service from the waiter was amazing. Cheerful, friendly & his banter went down well with everyone. Highly recommend
Fresh and quality ingredients, loved the chicken liver dish 🤌
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