Latest from Life & Style Reviews

Review: Sake Bar Nippon

Trepidatious first impressions are soon forgotten when familiar fare is served with flair.

Brunch: Deco Eatery, Titirangi

The look is five-star. Blond wood furniture, blue Mediterranean tiles on the floor, palms in copper pots and smartly dressed — and friendly — waitstaff.

Bar review: Conch, Ponsonby

The vibe is pretty much everything I want in a bar. Somewhere convivial to drink with friends and listen to some excellent but non-intrusive music, without having to queue up or deal with any boneheads.

Restaurant review: Peasant, Mt Eden

A pending liquor licence and chilly dining room couldn’t detract from the outstanding Vietnamese flavours on offer.

Brunch: Black and Gold Coffee / Eatery, Rosedale

Expert baristas bring passion and flair to a new venture north of the bridge.

Bar review: Scarlett Slimms and Lucky, Mt Eden

The vibe is relaxed and gets busy as the Saturday night crowd begins to emerge in Mt Eden.

Restaurant review: Nanam, Royal Oak

Gone too soon, Coco shut its doors in November after barely 18 months of serving its Vietnamese-inflected pan-Med food.

Bar review: Leigh Sawmill, Leigh

The Sawmill has a great range of craft beer brewed on site, and a more than decent wine list and cocktail menu, and the cheerful bar staff are always helpful in finding something to your tastes.

Restaurant review: Coast, Orewa

A great platter sets a high bar at this new Orewa eatery.

Brunch: Crumb, Grey Lynn

On offer is a small selection of about half a dozen different, delectable sandwiches. There's also a selection of sweets from Meola Kitchen.

Bar review: The Kingslander, Kingsland

There’s a pretty comprehensive range of Monteith’s on tap, and we were preparing for a long evening of cricket viewing, so we opted for a pint each of Radler and Golden to begin.

Review: Hansik Restaurant & Bar, Freemans Bay

Review: Matterhorn, Freemans Bay

Restaurant brings a taste of Wellington to the north.

Brunch: Corelli's, Devonport

Corelli's has a great location on the corner of Rattray St and Devonport's main drag.

Bar review: Orleans/Racket Bar, Auckland CBD

We couldn't go past the idea of slowly sipping an Old Fashioned this chilly autumn evening, perfectly smoky, finished with a big berg of ice.

Review: Deco Eatery, Titirangi

Getting invited out to dinner by a restaurant reviewer is not as good as it sounds. Frank Bruni, the erstwhile restaurant critic at the New York Times, made all the ordering decisions and his companions had to pass their plates clockwise on instruction.