New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Freeman & Grey

by Alex M.
13th April 2013

This bar is a popular spot on Friday nights. Because of this I went there this Friday as lots of my friends were there. Not really sure what all the hype was about. Drinks took forever to be served but that is fair enough as it was very busy. However what I don’t understand is the lack of air conditioning upstairs. You were basically sweating just standing there. The thing that disappointed me the most was the bouncers. The bouncer that was controlling the upstairs was on a power trip. There were numerous people upstairs in a much worse state than my friends yet the bouncer came and took my friends outside for being too drunk. He was actually our sober driver. He tried to explain that he wasn’t drunk politely and then was very forcefully escorted out. Because of this bouncer being completely unreasonable and just throwing his weight around I will not be going back to this venue again.

by Carol H.
4th April 2013

I have dined in at Freeman and Grey and have mixed reviews for it.

For food, my partner and I ordered a platter and 2 tapas. Drinks were vodka/soda/lime and a Bloody Mary. The platter was mega. Initially the $50 outlay was a bit of a shock, but not when the food arrived. It was of decent quality and quanity. No complaints there at all. The tapas were average, nothing to write home about and not a reason to go back for.

When I ordered a Bloody Mary, I was told that they could not make it because they had run out of Tomato Juice. This is in spite of a supermarket being less than a km away and a dairy being open directly across the road. I would have been prepared to have waited for the juice, or at least given the option to wait, so this was disappointing.

On the toilet front, the floor was sticky and dirty. The cubicles were clean.

The service of the staff was friendly from the waitress but very casual and a bit ‘too cool for school’ from the bar staff.

The loyalty programme that Freeman run is also great, short term, but I have become very over receiving regular texts from them.

All in all, a sub-optimal experience.

by g r.
22nd January 2013

Dined in at this establishment two weeks ago. The front of house staff were diligent and quick to attend to us.

We ordered a couple of the small plates. Some were very tasty. Others ( calamari ) may not have been at its freshest.

Beers on tap were reasonably priced.

Ordered the chicken pizza, which stated ingredients such as ” sweet chilli- chicken- cream cheese- pinenuts- with a tomato base”. But there was no cream cheese on our pizza. HeH…..

Overall a good night out for a dinner.

Would recommend

by Stu H.
18th January 2013

Went last night for first time, the place was busy but not packed with your typical Ponsonby crowd which was nice for a change. Pretty relaxed atmosphere for a beer. Didn’t sample the mains menu but snacks where great. Stuffed mushrooms yum! Some of the tables next to us where dining and it looked pretty good. Little annoying that the toilet is upstairs but that’s about the only negative! Definitely heading back soon.

by Regan D.
22nd December 2012

We went here for our staff Christmas party. I felt the food was very reasonable and well prepared and came to us in a timely fashion. The staff were helpful and friendly for the most part and the location is top notch. Nice layout and decor and awesome balcony up top for hanging out and shooting the breeze. Great one for summer.

by Ellie M.
21st December 2012

Cool venue that was really let down by the service. There were quite a few staff on but we had to stand at the bar for a good ten minutes before anyone acknowledged us; I totally get that you might be busy, but a smile and an “I’ll be with you in a minute” wouldn’t go astray so we knew you weren’t just blatantly ignoring us. We went on a Wednesday night, was pretty quiet and managed to get a seat down the front by the footpath, ideal for a yarn and some people watching. Didn’t have any food but they had a reasonable range of Mac’s; not too much on the cider front though but tried the new Ginger Brew, pretty good.
I guess it was only one visit, might have caught them on a bad night so will go back for sure.

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