New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Fortuna Buffet Restaurant, SKYCITY

by Roz8
15th March 2012

This business is a MenuMania SponsorOne of the Business' Favourite Reviews

In terms of value for money – this is the place to go! I had a buffet breakfast there with 4 mates and ate my weight in delicious breakfast goodness. The highlight? the pastries and eggs benedict with bacon. The low? I would have liked to see some banana and avacado on the menu but for $29.90 i really can’t complain. The service was fantastic and the food fresh. A winner in my books.

by Wayne S.
26th April 2013

Went here with friends before Christmas and staff were friendly and overall experience was much better than expected. Only downside for us was the place was packed, very hard to get through the tables carrying plates of food and lots of dishes were empty on the buffet as there were so many people there. Food itself was good and was perfect for catching up with friends in a nice but not too formal atmosphere.

by Haden H.
24th March 2013

Surprisingly good!

The pasta dishes were exceptional. The guiness pie was delicious with a nice crust and there was a great variety of salads and other cold dishes.

Service was efficient and place was clean.

Would definitely go again.

by Tony M.
12th March 2013

This place has improved from 3-4 years ago. However it still feels like a slightly upgraded version of Valentines…which I am personally not a great big fan of…

Standard NZ buffet food, eg. chowders fisha and chips roast food mussels etc…Not special spices or sauces…

Good place to try meet some rugby players scoffing down food

Recommend The Observatory Restaurant if you are thinking of something more special.

Service: 3/5
Wait time: 5/5
Environment: 3/5
Food Quality and taste: 1/5
Price range: $30+ pp

by Jo W.
25th February 2013

Boring array of food with average flavors, though none of them tasted bad. The roast was dry and flavorless. Don’t expect much seafood. If you re bulking for the season and looking for value for your money, by all means come here. Otherwise i would not commend.
One of the things i can highly commend though is their Panna Cotta, definitely one of the best i have had, silky delicious smooth with real vanilla bean and liquor aftertaste, I had six of these baby. Other deserts were not too shabby as well, much better than other “premium” buffets or high class restaurants in my humble opinion. They did serve seasonal fresh (uncut) fruits too, which was a lovely change.

by Felicity
8th February 2013

my gosh the make over at fortuna was so worth it
I’m glad they reviewed their menu too because the night we dined was really good.
#1-Food is excellent for $$. oysters were lovely and fresh but a tiny bit gritty still, everything i tried was lovely except dessert, maybe we didn’t get all the options that night cause it was very basic, fruit pudding,Pavlova,choc mousse, something strange & unnamed in a shot glass, wasn’t good.
the decor is lovely.

by Kelvin H.
8th December 2012

Wow have things improved here.
Not been back for years and now next weekend will see us dine for the third time in two months. One lunch that was really good . Love the included soft drinks.
Great variety and quality of food at all times.
Variety of soups could improve two out of two vegetable types is boring.
Cookies with coffee are great if still warm.

by Kirsten N.
1st October 2012

Fortuna is a great place for a buffet.

The food was great, it is good that the non alcoholic drinks including coffee and tea were free and the dessert was sweet.

The 1 thing I would like to say is that after having a couple plates of food and them building up on the table they never got picked up and I had to actually ask one of the waitresses to take them from our table. It wasn’t very busy either last night (Sunday 30th Sept) so would of expected them to come round a lot more often and check if any dirty plates need to be taken away. Other wise the place looks great after the re-vamp but maybe the service needs to be looked at.

Thanks

by Charlie
11th September 2012

I don’t really have anything bad to say about this restaurant. we dined here with a group of our friends and my workmates and it didn’t disappoint. food was never short as they kept topping it up. a true kiwi menu as it draws inspirations from everywhere which is what represents new zealand these days. everything was up to the standard and the setting was great. I have been here before and will definitely be coming back more often now

by Jasemine W.
1st September 2012

Pretty good value for money, great ambiance since renovation, excellent service and a good place for family and friend hangouts.

by Rodney M.
13th April 2012

Amazing lunch buffet menu, value for money.
Enjoyed the new atmosphere cant wait too go back for another meal.
Friendly staff and very tide environment A+.

Highly Recommended too everyone

by wrecker4
22nd February 2012

I got sick of the old Fortuna food and set up but since the new Fortuna has opened, I am really happy with the changes, the food was excellent and I loved the home made pizza. It was made on crusty bread, so tasty, I love these two for one deals, it makes it a cheap lunch.
The only bad point was having to wait outside for the doors to open, they were late opening up and when you got old people having to stand with bad knees it’s a hassle.

by Curtis C.
7th January 2012

Fortuna is a restaurant our family goes to a lot when we’re in Auckland. Its a really nice and it’s always got something you want.

I like the service, the environment and the amount of seating it has.

The food is great fun.

by Paula H.
4th January 2012

Went there last year. Food was yum. The chef made my sister her own fresh cooked fish because she has allergies to lots of foods. Going again soon.

by lynelle
20th October 2011

I have been here quite a few times with family and friends. Some days it would be packed bt I found that if you go after 8pm you won’t end up standing in a line queue. However the price is ridiculously expensive I guess the view and surrounding must count for it. With their breads their was a dead insect in their so we stayed well away from it. They have oysters which is what I like their food are delicious but I like their desert especially the choc mousse in the lil cup. They always have two soups on but Im not a soup person I love the pasta.

by Chris
23rd March 2011

OK, unlike your usual run at Valentines (needless to say they are so overated now!!!), Fortuna does have a nice, and I mean NICE (not perfect) selection of food… I wont say I dined there as this would be killing it for those fancy people who eat at flash restaurants but I did eat there with my partner, sister and her partner. The seafood was…. well yes they did have it. The OTHER selection of food was nice aswell… I loved the Ice Cream machine which brought back nightmares of working in my sisters cafe truck shop (that’s a good thing), ohh or the runny soup like stuff i got from another ice cream machine at another family buffet restaurant – you don’t need to be a genuis to figure that one out… Overall a nice place if you want to eat and chat loudly over a meal with friends or family…

by Paul K.
1st August 2010

Really loved Fortuna. The food was nice and hot. If people go I recommend you go on a Sunday because the seafood special is really worth the price. Something I like about this buffet. The atmosphere is nice and modern unlike other buffets , Ive been to VIP Valentines. The food was the best. SO much desserts to choose from the salad bar and even the Hot Chocolate machine although it was a bit to rich and I had to add some milk onto it. The 2 soups, Potato soup I think and the Broccoli. Really good soups I ended up hogging the soups haha

by sara
23rd May 2010

Went here last night for my daughters 21st. Would NEVER go here again. Waited in line for 25mins to find only 7 main meals and it was mostly fried food. No one went back for seconds because we didnt want to wait that long in line again. Not a variety of desserts and all the kids could eat was ice cream. Overall a massive waste of money.Then they tried to charge me $7.50 each for two peaople that didnt turn up.
You can pay less and get more basic variety of food from Valentines…

by Kathy L.
13th April 2010

first time there friendly service.
delicious food!
going again!!!!!

by food n.
1st April 2010

I dined in fortuna over the weekend and have not been able to stop thinking about my experience there.
The staff were so friendly and helpful, it is nice to see people who are generally happy to be providing you with service. The food was ok, a lot better than I was expecting, and very reasonably priced.

by Ashling
26th March 2010

We have been to Fortuna many times and are always very impressed.
The food is amazing, always fresh and it changes every now and then with the seasonal menu.
I’m pretty sure you could not find a quality buffet meal with 3 courses (always 2 delicious freshly made soups) and a fantastic cheese plate with the range of selection that fortuna has for the price it offers. Plus the unique DIY salad station is such a great idea.
We have been to valentines in the past and have been utterly disgusted by the food they have on offer and would never dine with them again. So if you are looking for a very reasonably priced buffet in auckland Fortuna should definitely be your pick. Food is great, staff are friendly and helpful and you will have an awesome time.

by han
9th March 2010

Quality is always fine the the price is good, been here a heap of times before and always come away happy.

by David
2nd April 2009

The food at Fortuna is pretty basic – most of it originally seeming to come from a packet. I was here just a week ago, and saw the chef making the mashed potato from a packet of potato flakes… that’s a typical example.

Valentines is definitely a better option for similar money. In fact, almost any buffet anywhere in Auckland is probably better value in terms of food quality.

I can speak highly of the Seafood Buffet (which has plenty of non-seafood items too) in the Observatory restaurant in the SkyTower – that’s about $50 a head for dinner, but the view and overall food quality make it good value for money.

Fortuna pales in comparison. Saying that they have a very cheap lunch deal for $9.98, and a cheap 5pm-6.30pm buffet dinner for $14.98 until the end of June – phone 0800 skycity to book (essential). This price promotion makes the buffet actually very good value… but only on this temporary basis.

Why have they reduced / almost halved the prices? Probably because the reputation is so poor -because we’re all sick of the packet type buffet fare… maybe this latest promotion is a chance to make things better.

Watch this space!

by RB
22nd December 2008

Food is ok nothing special at all, as I would expect better from this place, food at Valentines Lincoln Rd has far greater variety same quality for the same price….Come on Fortuna

by Vicki
12th July 2008

Top service. Food is always lovely. My nephew is allergic to dairy and the chef even made him his own special dairy free meal!

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