ampersand eatery

On arrival we were greeted by a very friendly female staff member who recognised me & my friend from one of their other eateries, Howick Village Cafe and Hello Stranger. From that moment on we knew the service and the food would be top-notch. Ordered Seafood Chowder which was creamy & tasty and packed with good-sized pieces of seafood (and not typically bulked out with veges). The Buttermilk Fried Chicken Benny was beautifully presented and delicious. Coffees were hot & strong. A good selection of sweet & savoury cabinet food. This eatery is dog-friendly and everyone is well looked after by the staff.

Hidden gem alert. Mum swears it’s the best fish and chips she’s ever had—light, crispy & delicious. Service was warm and accommodating, and the space is spacious and inviting. No idea how it’s still under the radar—thank Google for the tip-off.

Today was my first time having lunch with friends here. The service was extremely friendly, the food was amazing, and the environment was great. I highly recommend this place.

The staff here are very friendly, kind and helpful and the food was pretty amazing with various spices being used in them. Loved the Iced Chocolate beverage as well… The prices were reasonable and the scenary surrounding is pretty good.

Went for brunch under new management. Food was great, eggs were the right amount of runny, bacon and hash browns were crispy. The place was buzzing and busy, light and airy. Recommend a visit if you're at Okarei Bay.

Lunch here today with friends, quite happy with the meal and service!

This café is quite busy, but it’s definitely worth the visit! We ordered the Big Breakfast, Breaky Burrito, and Prawn Cocktail. All the dishes were well-presented and tasty, with the Breaky Burrito packed with a variety of vegetables. A nice bonus was the beans that came with the sourdough bread. The only downside was the service—it was a bit slow, and we had to ask multiple times for water.

I first became acquainted with Ampersand through my best friend, who owns a dog, as we were seeking a dining establishment that accommodates pets. Ampersand is notably welcoming to dogs and treats them with exceptional care. However, the primary reason I felt compelled to write this review extends beyond their pet-friendly policy. The true measure of a place—and its staff—lies in how they handle challenges, as it reflects their level of professionalism. Over the past month, I have been thoroughly impressed by Ampersand’s approach to managing difficult situations, particularly their interactions with challenging customers. While the quality of their food is commendable, their ability to resolve issues with grace and efficiency is even more noteworthy. This level of service is deeply appreciated and deserves recognition. Thank you. (My recommendation: Lamb kidney. Espresso Martini.)

Nice ambiance . Pet friendly. Nice views indoor/ outdoor . Limitirfmenu . Quaint , busy and inside a mini mall. Serves everything from coffee/tea to wine and bar drinks Food was very good and served quickly once the order was taken . In a great location to go for a walk also .

I was really excited and been anticipating the opening of this joint venture of an experience local chef and one of my favourite coffee shop. Maybe I caught them in a bad time, the experience was not what I expected. The location: newly revamped Orakei Bay Village, where things are really starting to pick up. Sits high above the Orakei Basin with a view of the bay and the city, perfect place to spend the weekend mornings. Very family oriented. There are two toilets in the restaurant also, so you don't have to go outside to the main area. The coffee and drinks: no complaints, try out their ice coffee!! they also have fresh juice and a small local brews on tap. Service: this is the biggest downfall. Maybe they just have not sorted out the flow, but it took way too long. We went as a large group, and have repeated requested them to serve the children's meal first, but it still took more than 30min before anything arrived. During that time, we ended up having to visit the nearby supermarket on 2-3 occasions to buy snacks for the little ones. Hopefully this will improve over time! Food: you can taste the freshness of the ingredients, unfortunately its sort of ruined by the amount of peas you see in each dish. Nothing against frozen pees, but when you are pay more than $20 for a branch dish, you hope to get some fresh greens as well. Everything in general is salty. The serving portion is also a bit on the small side for the price. Somewhat disappointed with the experience. Will give this place 4 for a coffee shop, but really a 2 for a restaurant. We've visited this place twice over the past 2 days, and similar disappointing experience each time. Hope they really get their act together, plenty of room for improvement.

Setting: a big space with a deck overlooking Orakei Basin and walking distance from home Food: a tasty twist on the usual cafe fare Wine list: beautifully different Service: haphazard Excited by a new cafe opening close to home in an area (Orakei)where there aren't many decent cafes, we've visited twice in the 3 weeks that it's been open. The first time I had corn cakes with wild mushrooms which probably now carry my personal award for best corn cakes in the city. They're made with polenta and had a lovely texture. My husband had the smashed avo with poached egg which he raved about. The second time, I had the spaghetti with seafood which I'd spied on the previous visit and liked the look of. The spaghetti was a great texture but sadly the seafood was a bit overdone. The dish was also tiny which necessitated the need for something else, so we settled on cheese. From a selection of four, we chose the Brie and the blue which we're both fine, but not amazing. My husband had the cheeseburger which had a very tasty pattie, but was so dripping with butter/cheese that he couldn't pick it up, so ate it a knife and fork. As for the service, I know they're new and it's hard to get good staff in a city with so many restaurants and cafes, but this isn't the owner's first cafe. A little more training or process would be good. On the first visit, our waitress was so distracted that while taking my husband's order she looked away and we were tempted to ask if we were interrupting or boring her. I then had to ask her twice for a wine list whilst she stood by and wondered what to do next. The second visit was better with a more attentive waitress. However our food arrived before our drinks (a personal dislike) and our mains were brought out with no salt or pepper, despite both badly needing them. In summary, I like Ampersand and I will go back again, but not if I'm really hungry. I'm sure the service will get better over time.

I went with a friend for coffee and loved the location & setting. Went with my husband for dinner the following night & we were both hugely impressed with the service, setting & food. We dine out often at a variety of restaurants both cheap & cheerful and top end around the country. Not often we both say "wow" but were in agreement with this sentiment at our meals at Ampersand. We will go back a second time to confirm our thoughts, meanwhile good luck for continued success.