went to Des tradtions with family to have dinner and it was Amazing food!!!! we all really enjoyed the food, the service was excellent very nice and friendly staff all around. very highly recommend this place !!!!
Authentic Pakistani food. Chicken karahi with hot fresh naan is too good. Kabuli rice is also very good.
Tried the aftar buffet which was value for money. Needs improvement in dahi baras and meetha. Roast served in buffet was v good.
Keep it up!
Love their nihari and tried biryani it was just amazing. I wish they start their nashta of halwa pori again. Yes they can improve service definitely but food is too good.
awesome food... beautiful service.
charcoal chicken and rice is my fevrt .
thanks des tradition for making good food for ppl.
Delicious food specially chicked biryani platter
Great place to go
Nice food
This place is a gem. Great food and friendly service. So far I've tried their Kabuli Pulau, Chicken Biryani and Kofta Kebab and they have all been great. Definitely worth a try if you're looking for a nice dinner out!
Finger licking food! Everything is a must try. Freshness never compromised here. Definitely visiting again.
Delicious food and excellent service...everyone must try plz...
Delicious food, excellent service. After a very long time I have found a perfect place for dinning. The owner is very very humble and accommodating. Top notch service.
Its was great experience dining in des traditions. Really loved the food a taste apart. Insha Allah will visit again. Who ever comes here definitely comes again that's my experience i hope everyone wil have the aame.
Brilliant food and brilliant service, I would recommend it to anyone.
Probably the best food I had in town with touch of Pakistani flavours...
There's a few parking spaces behind the restaurant and you can enter through the back as well. The car park is really poorly lit so I would recommend parking on the street during the evening instead.
The dining space is really spacious and we were seated and served water immediately. The servers are really friendly but there are as some confusion between staff regarding ordering. One told us we had to order at the counter and another said they would come to us.
The portion sizes are generous and we saw a family order a platter that was humungus! Will definitely be back with more people to try the platter.
Everything was seasoned nicely and full of flavour. The kebabs I ordered were tender but seemed a bit processed. Next time I'll order straight meat.
Would definitely dine here again with more people.
Too good and worth your bucks! Servings are quite generous. Must try if you haven't!
Excellent food,environment is lovely,and hands down best middle eastern cuisine in auckland,
I am now quiet regular customer, their services and place is good specially since they have moved to this new place BUT all time favourite is the FOOD. I have almost had every chicken dish from menu and I just love it. Truly simple and most delicious food they make. It is must try place. I always eat mild food so its best food for me. I would totally recommend this if you want to have simple and yet amazing food.
Best Middle eastern I’ve had in a long time. As an avid meat and charcoal cooker myself I enjoyed the lamb, shish and chicken so much. Perfectly marinated and cooked - feeling very happy after this meal. Very friendly staff too!
We ordered for a kadai chicken curry, naan and chicken kebab takeaway.. the taste was good but very basic like home style cooking (not restaurant style) and nothing really wow-ed to us. The naan made us wonder if they really use the traditional charcoal tandoor for naan cz it looked oven baked to us. Otherwise, fresh and nice kebab
Recently, we went for dine-in at the one at stoddard rd, and had delicious nihari with naan and yummy kebab on rice. Great ambience and spacious seating.
Food is great! I had grilled snapper which came with their signature rice & special sauces. Rice was super duper yummy & the portion was huge! Hubby had the signature lamb dish which was really delicious. It came with stuffed lamb mince bread served with grilled lamb cutlets and hummus. Other people in our group had chicken curry and marinated charcoal chicken & meat. The charcoal chicken was very tender & tasty. Their naan bread is also highly recommended. The place is casual but has interesting wooden type furnitures. Would definitely come back again.
Food is consistently amazing, great portions and quick service. We come here often and they never fail to deliver. I would highly recommend rice and meat dishes.
Was actually searching for Mediterranean cuisine when I came across this place. Been here three times already and the standard remains the same. Amazing food and ambience!
The restaurant is designed in an authentic way. The staff are nice and friendly. They had a fish option in their menu and thats why we went there. However when we got there, they said they don’t do fish.
If you are pescatarian or vegetarian, I dont recommend this restaurant.
My partner loved the kebab he got tho. It’s awesome for meat lovers.
Best pakistani food in town loved it.. tried nahari out of world.. kasba, tandori naan woh.. never had that pakistan taste in New Zealand. seating. presentation everything was awesome
I highly recommend their Grilled fish, Goat nahari and their Naans. I think the Naans are the best in the city. They're soft and chewy - just the way I like.
I’ve been here a few times and haven’t been let down! I’m not a big fan of middle eastern restaurant because they are usually for white people, so the flavours are toned down and unauthentic.
I was pleasantly surprised when I tried this place!
I’ve had the steak and mashed potatoes which I loved! The creamy pasta isn’t the best, it’s decent tho. The platters are amazing!
The lamb is brilliant! The texture is neither chewy or dry, it falls off the bone perfectly.
A minus is that it’s connected to a supermarket, which takes away from the fancy ambience.
My partner think they had the best lamb kabsah! It's pretty quiet restaurant I guess, the portion and the price were alright. The place is clean as well.
The place is nice to sit down , usually enough space to sot if you go with family but neess booking in weekend as it can get crowded.
Food is amazing, love the Pakistani and middle Eastern tastes there which is refreshing.
The service can definitely do bit of work as there doesnt seem to be enough staff (they are always short staffed whenever I went ) and that is why you get delays in your orders too. Once we waited for pur food for 45 mins
Test is too good .every thing is soooo yammy mixed charcoal chicken charcoal chicken Briyani chicken kadhai lamb curry I test all of them all food r awesome.
We go often. It's not cheap but portions are good. Food is clean and tastes ok. We order the king platter which is ok tasting. Thier bread is realllllly delicious, I wished they'd have some olive oil for that fresh hot bread. My son orders the chicken curry which is decent. I always prefer thier buffet, they have the buffet on Mother's Day, Ramadan and Eids. I think they have buffets on weekends too, contact to be sure.
Thier buffet has lamb , chicken, veg , seafood , desserts etc... drinks are separate.
Beautiful Damascus/ Bedouin furniture setting.
Came here after hearing from a friend how good the food was. We ordered the mixed charcoal platter for 3 which was huge ! Great quantity and taste. Lamb seekh, chicken and lamb pieces on a bed of rice almost like a biryani, 3x naan , salads and sauce. We ordered a goat nihari which was a little oily for my liking. Huge piece of lamb in there, which was falling off the bone. Excellent value and a really ethnic set up inside. The service was great. The only downside is that it's really cold and a heater of some sort would really help! Also everything is Halal
I've been to this place multiple times and I always love it! The food is afghani not Indian so I suggest you stick to ordering some kind of meat and rice dish especially if you're expecting your curries to taste like Indian curries (they won't!) everything is delicious and generous, and yes it is slightly oily which is authentic! I've even been to their buffet dinner (so cheap) and I've gone into a food coma afterwards, it was so good. We usually get their large platters to share and have never been disappointed. The price is on point with the portions.
Went there 2 times now! Both for dinners. Food was great! Ordered the group meat rice dish and couple of chicken dishes and loved the subtle beautiful flavors (not too spicy) and their presentation is quite good. The interior is ethnic and pleasing to eyes but can get crowded. Service is quite slow! We once waited 40mins for our meals considering we were famished and asked the person at till for estimated meal time and he said 15mins!! Please please employ more cooks and waiters (there were only 2 running around in a busy place like this) and reduce your serving time.
I would NOT come here if its real busy as I hate waiting too long for food
I love going there.
Food is nice,
Staff always smile.
Good value of money for food.
I definitely recommend this place.
The only thing is hard to find is parking.
Authentic taste, nice sitting area and good serving size. Their buffets, nihari, charcoal platter, karahi and wraps are some of the recommended items.
This is the best place to dine if your looking for Indian and middle east food. Fro. the owner to the servers everyone is polite and very nice. Awesome food awesome taste
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Six Happy Kiwis. We had a group of six hungry Kiwis blokes visit Des Traditions on a Friday Evening 2nd September 2016. We were taken to a Grande large table with comfortable large seats. We ordered 6 Mango Lassi drinks, very nice. And we ordered three Lamb Tikka Masala and three Marinated Charcoal Lamb dishes. Meals are of a good sized portion and we enjoyed these very much. The Lamb was very tender and the Masala was spicy and delicious and comes hot, medium or mild. I like medium to hot spicy. All six men in our group said they really enjoyed their meals and they were happy with the large meal portions. The service was good (friendly staff) and the meals were delicious and the total bill for our table was only $118.80. I expected to pay more so that is very good value for money. The restaurant furniture is very nice and comfortable and it is easy to have conversation over the table (not too noisy). Overall we had a great evenings dining and I recommend Des Traditions to other Kiwi diners.
Had the chicken wrap yesterday. Have to say it was really good. Generous amount of meat and Salads were fresh and the chicken was really tasty. Takeaway packaging was really good too. Bit pricey at $12 but you get what you pay for.
Amazing place if you really want to have a flavor (taste & ambiance) of Persian, Afghan, Arabic or Pakistani food. Heaven for meat lovers.
Loved their greek salad. Came here last month. The lamb chop was also good bt needed more sauce it was yum lol i love the mushrooms and the cheese in the greek salad yep. And needed more cheese. My photos arent that great sorry?! Lol
Been to this place with family after recommendation from a friend. The food tasted delicious. The serving was quite generous. We ordered a charcoal platter for 3+ people, and the serving was huge than that!. The taste was unique. Presentation was good. The only area that I suggest needs improvement is the service. The staff could have put in some effort to engage with the customer aṭleast put up with a friendly smile. There could be a little more lighting and heating to make the dining experience more enjoyable.
After trying a number of desi restaurants based on online reviews and ending up disappointed each time, we stumbled upon this desi joint. We've never looked back since then. Their friendly staff would have you seated comfortably and they're helpful in making a choice as per taste. Food is served within an adequate time and its beautiful presentation is nothing less than photographic. I ordered Lamb khabsa which was as tender as I had had during my days in Dubai but oh this one tasted so much better. Wife ordered Chargrilled chicken on rice with a divine chatni on the side. We were left indulged in the taste for a good 20 minutes before we realized this was the best desi food we ever tasted in Auckland. I'd recommend this one to anyone having a craving for desi food.
If I'm asked to define Des Tradition food in one word I would say "Fresh"..Freshness of the food makes this restaurant quite distinct from others. I have tried many halaal places in Auckland but Des Tradition stands out at the top. Excellent food, excellent portion (sufficient for two person easily). Try their charcoal chicken and you would immediately fell in love with their food.I visit this place regularly and my family simply loves their food. They are constantly improving their standards so ignore these low rated reviews. People who have a good taste of Biryani know that it does contain lots of whole spices. You can't just down rate a good dish if you don't have a taste for it..The cleaning is much improved now and they are constantly taking suggestion on improving their service and quality. So highly recommended!!
food was nice. Pretty close to the Pakistani/Indian taste. downside is that it was a bit hot inside the restaurant as there was no fan etc placed. They should add a cooling system to make the dinning experience more enjoyable.
If you love good food and miss eating (authentic) Karahi in Lahore Pakistan ... Then Des Traditions is the right place.
They literally serve it in a Karahi as per authentic Pakistani fashion. You'll end with licking your fingers while getting flash backs when visiting back home!
Best Lamb karahi in New Zealand with fresh Naan (large is standard just like Pakistan) just out of tandoor is incomparable to any other Indian restaurant.
P.S. Service has improved and request Waris as your preferred chef to cook your meal.
Prices are also reasonable. Highly Recommended :)
Delicious Massamun beef, attentive & friendly service. Great air conditioning plus seating outside. Varied menu with Mediterranean options. Will definitely come back.
It's really a good restaurant that i am looking for many days . Halal food , fresh and delicious . Especially, Humush with lamb meet comes with Nan , it's a amazing stater in manu . After that Charcol plater in mains . it's just awesome .
Went there Friday 20/11/15.Decent décor and ambience. Stood around for a few minutes and took a table ourselves when no one approached us. Few minutes later a girl came over , put a bottle of water and walked away, didn't say a single word. Now we not sure whether we go to the counter to order or wait. Another 5 minutes, then we started writing our order on a piece of a paper. Then the same girl came and took order. All good after this:)Food was great, we must say and the portions were decent size for the money.They have another new girl, (Argentinian, she told us) She is a very adorable and hardworking girl. We give here 10/10:)I still believe Des must be given the try as their food is nice. They do have to learn some CS skills and etiquettes from the likes of Paradise or Nikkis!
I love the charcol chicken n lamb on rice..the taste is freash n nice. Karahi chicken is also full of great traditional flavours. Good value for money. Easy to find car park. I like the interior decor of this restaurant. Great presentation n friendly staff.
Excellent service & mouth melting food.
A must restaurant every weekend.
Favorites:
charcoal chicken
Steak with mash potato
Hummus with Lamb
Totally for it.
Go go Des Traditions!
I was curious to try something different from
Paradise... And the reviews on Zomato helped my decision on selecting this joint. I loved loved the interior of this place.. Which matched their brand :)
Service was good... But I was tad bit disappointed with my meal. Display of the food was awesome though. Maybe it is cuz I ordered European food at a desi joint...
However, I am planning to go back to try their Indian cuisine next time.
Dined in last night and was a bit unsure due to the location, but one bite of my grilled lamb cutlets and you had me thinking about what I want to order the next time I come back. The best lamb cutlets I've eaten in a long time and what makes it better is that it's halal, very hard to find restaurants that serve halal lamb cutlets. Good presentation and very satisfying. You'll be seeing more of my husband and I.
Been here probably 7 or 8 times already, consistency is always there and never been let down. Have to say I do not feel like going other restaurants after eating from here many times. As a regular eater at restaurants across Auckland, this in my opinion is definitely by far the best food to taste, take my word for it.
Marinated charcoal chicken was a clean dish. Quite a versatile restaurant for you to take your family or friends. Definitely hit the spot
Very Tasty food with good customer service ..
Plenty of of parking with convenient-timings
Will convince others to visit at least once .
Do Go ..
This is really amazing place to offer you an authentic Pakistani / Afghani cuisine. Taste is great, service is efficient and above all, the interior decor is awesome. I always invite my friends there and they enjoy the food and place every time.
Nice friendly and warm atmosphere. My favourite is the charcoal lamb on rice and the serloin steak. Presentation is impressive and tastes just as good as it looks. Hard to find a similar halal restaurant with the same dedication. Will go again!!!
When you go to a place that sells multiple cuisines I never get my hopes up because most of the time it turns into a bit of a fusion. This time I was pleasantly surprised! Pasta dishes were exactly what what they should be, and so were the others. We enjoyed all of our meals here and look forward to going back.
Great dining experience! Very friendly and professional owner whose reccomendations are worth noting when ordering.Restaurant setup is great and just loved the furnishings! The food is just great - inexpensive yet so fresh,delicious and serving portions are just perfect. Love the variety in cuisines offered - highly recommended!
Great family restaurant, Very traditional, beautiful seating
reminds back home style............ food and service is great... worth going there for sure....................
I love this restaurant! Seriously.. The biryani is awesome! And I love the customer service.. The lady who serves us is awesome and very nice. Even recommends to us what's Nice and healthy and how they make it! The owner is also a nice guy! If you want quality in food and customer service. As well as a nice place to sit which looks so traditional do go to des traditions!! ????❤
Wow!! Where do I start? Des Traditions is definitely a restaurant here to stay. Authentic halal food. Delicious and fresh food. The owner of the rest is actually genuinely concerned about the food and quickly pops over to ensure that you are happy with your meal. The servings just right and the price per meal is inexpensive.
I found my experience at this Afghan restaurant to be quite satisfactory. The spacious and pleasant ambiance, albeit with parking challenges, made for a decent setting. The staff's friendliness added to the overall positive impression. The meal, prepared with fresh halal ingredients, was well-cooked and flavorful. Although the rice didn't quite match my preferences, the delightful sauce made up for it. The prices were reasonably fair.
We saw the recommendation from other social media and decided to try it out with friends. We ordered Mixed Charcoal platter and Charcoal Kashimiri Lamb shish.
The lamb and chicken were very tender and well marinated, weren't tough as what we thought might be. The flavour was not strong as Indian food.
They were renovating downstairs, so only have got tables upstairs. We will check out after 3 weeks time, hopefully the environment will be better at downstairs.
The only authentic Pakistani food serving restaurant in Auckland. Service has been up and down for a while but really enjoyed the breakfast buffet even though we were a large group.
The paye are nice but the channay reminded me of Lahore which is such a treat.
Tried the meat platter for 3 ppl.
Taste is good but meat does not well with the price.
For taste, I may revisit but considering the quantity, I will rather explore some other options.
Ambience is great, nice seatings.
Parking can be a problem.
Tried Khunafa, not up to the mark.
First time here, took a chance it turned out great. The Lamb nihari was divine and Mixed Charcoal Chicken and Lamb was good also. Could have gone a bit heavier on the bbq flavour. Just my 2 cents!
As a fan of Middle Eastern Cuisine, Des Traditions does not disappoint! We dined here as a group of four, and we all loved what we ordered.
The Hummus with Naan was a must try, great sharing portion for a small group, flavour and the naan was moorish.
I personally ordered Daal Chana, and it was one of the best daal I've ever had. I also didn't expect so much flavour from their rice.
I managed to sample a bit of the Marinated Charcoal Chicken, and Arayes with Lamb Cutlets at my table. They were all incredibly tasty with very well cooked meat. I am definitely coming back to order these dishes of my own next time.
This restaurant was very popular around dinner time. It could get quite loud as many families with kids come here to dine. We arrived shortly after 6pm and their service was very prompt.
I went there with one of my friends, the food was delicious. I love chicken, so the chicken was soft and delicious “ and the butter naan as well ☺️
Met up with several friends at this place for dinner. The restaurant was packed and 7 of us had to squeeze into a booth (we did not make reservations, imagining it would be empty on a Tuesday!!). Anyway, we had a great time. The food was excellent. We ordered some Hummus with meat, Baba Ghanoush, and a huge grilled platter of various types of meat over a bed of rice. For dessert we had a small piece of semolina cake and a few baklava pieces. Overall, I would say it was a lovely meal and recommend the place!
Authentic Desi (Pakistani) taste! Delicious 🤤 Not the yucky same tasting gravies and curries you get at Indian restaurants.
Awesome food.
Must try Hummus and Naan($10.95)
Must try Mixed Charcoal chicken and lamb.($28.95)
Must try Lamb Kabsa ($25.95)
Value for money food.
Plenty of Off street parking.
Those who prefer excellent customer service should consider takeaway rather than dine in.
Excellent food!!! Super fresh and super tasty service was friendly 😊 & professional
I have ordered Marinated Charcoal chicken, its delicious with big servings.
will recommend this dish if you are more into chicken. One meal can be shared for two.
Parking; off street parking
Craved this for a while and the Mrs picked Des traditions for a family lunch. Can honestly admit the meals were worth it. Kids ate well as well which makes any parent happy.
I recently visited a Middle Eastern restaurant and was impressed by the authentic atmosphere and well-equipped kitchen. However, the restaurant is located quite far from the city. Despite the distance, I thoroughly enjoyed the "Arayes with lamb cutlets" that I ordered. The dish was delicious and I appreciated the quality of the food. Thank you for a great dining experience.
Yummy food. We were in a 4 of us in a group and had tummy full lunch for a cost of around $25 per person (going in group helps). We had hummus and meat(10/10), baba ghanoush(7/10) and naan, mixed charcoal platter (8.5/10).
Generous quantity, decent prices. Hummus and meat will be my favorite. Can't wait to try their buffet breakfast this Sunday.
2nd visit review- satisfactory with some dishes. Didn't really enjoy the 2nd time visit, but however the buffet breakfast during the weekend was satisfactory for the price they charge.
Impressed with our food tonight ☺️ 😁🙌
New go to for this cuisine. The garlic yoghurt dip/hummus/traditional dips alone winner for me. Meat so tasty n succulent salad fresh chicken filling in wrap on point mm 😋
Got my charcoal fix tonight
Des Tradition is a gem! Their kebab platters and karahi are fantastic, and the naans are a must-try, tried their brunch menu, and it was nothing short of amazing. The whole family enjoys the diverse and delicious offerings at Des Tradition. It's our go-to spot for delightful meals!
sakinaart_craft sakina kachwala
+5
Amazing food , soft meat and chicken , great taste . loved the food, Must try Kunafa as sweet, Mixed charcoal Kings platter if more than 4/5 people.
Chuahdary Abdul Waheed
+5
While visiting Auckland, NZ, last Saturday as a US visitor, I found this restaurant through Google, went through a few reviews, and then decided to have dinner there. I would name that gentleman from the restaurant ‘Jawad,’ who assisted me in selecting the food. He was super friendly, kind, and professional, so friendly with the guests, and always took care to offer the best service, quality, and warm food! I highly recommend this place and ask for this gentleman Jawad to serve you.
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