New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Tin Soldier

by Joe R.
5th November 2012

Went here on recommendation. Food was disappointing I’m sorry to say. We only ordered from the small portion menu so maybe that was the problem but not one dish had out of the five ordered was up to scratch. Poorly seasoned, flavour combinations didn’t work, overpriced. Enough said.

by Juku
30th October 2012

The setting is very nice, I loved the open white kitchen, the light interior design and all the decorations. We ordered a few small plates, which was mostly excellent and well presented. I loved how they gave an explanation of each dish which was brought to the table – and the fact that you get complementary rolls and some olive oil. However, the roasted bread in one dish was absolutely burnt and just tasted like charcoal. Unfortunately, they didn’t mind and just covered it with the toppings so you didn’t have the chance to scrape it off.

by Amy P.
1st September 2012

Awesome food, superb service and great atmosphere. The decor of the place is also pretty cool. For a new restaurant they sure know what they’re doing. An overall fantastic dining experience. Absolutely no complaints

by Kimlash
30th August 2012

Was excited about going here, but had a very average experience, the food was really quite ordinary, not at all what we would expect from somewhere on Ponsonby Road. Quite disappointing.
Olives were cheap, cheese board had one tiny piece of cheese on it, bread was too crusty and hard. I could put together a better cheeseboard from the normal contents of my fridge.
Plus the evening was made worse when I arrived home tonight to find a rather snooty message on my phone telling me off for not honouring my booking when I had been in the restaurant, most strange.

by Wayne & Dot
22nd July 2012

Husband wanted to try the beers on tap as he works at Independent. Decided to go for lunch. Met at the door and welcomed in and seated. He chose an Independent beer and we chose 5 small plates from the menu. The food came out staggered and we got to enjoy the food/ flavours without hurrying to eat before it went cold. The food on offer was interesting and modern. Jasmine our waitress did a great job without hovering over us. Other staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome and looked after. A great way to spend Sunday lunch. We will be taking friends back very soon.

by Geoff L.
13th July 2012

We had heard good things about Tin Soldier and had a family birthday to celebrate – party of 7. We got the table near the front window. We really enjoyed ourselves. 6 small plates – lamb hotdogs, sardines, croquettes, fish pies, chicken wings and one other that I can’t remember!! All yummy. One small point – some weren’t very hot.

For mains the party had the chicken, duck and venison and sides of fries and cauli – all were pleased with their meals. Staff were helpful and attentive. We ploughed on to the desserts and between us we had the milo pudding (everyone’s favourite), rhubarb, apple crumble.

Staff were great and organised a candle to be placed in the birthday boy’s dessert which was a nice touch. A little bit of inattention at the end when we wanted to pay the bill but all in all a great night with food that was different and tasty. We’ll be back.

by Blitz Y.
30th June 2012

Thoroughly enjoyed last night’s meal at Tin Soldier!
Pretty much everything was superb. My only gripe would be one inexperienced waitress, but even she wasn’t so bad.
The decor is a mixture of low light/white subway tiles/greenery/metal chairs/recycled paper menus, but all put together in a lovely way – not too over the top nor cheap-looking. You could see the open plan kitchen from where we were sitting but it wasn’t in your face at all. I really liked that I could watch the chefs do their magic. Service was better than only ok – our coats were taken off us when we arrived, and we got lots of attention throughout the meal. The music was a mixture of 70/80s soft rock – awesome mix
And then there was the food…! We all got straight into the shared plates; the crispy wings & lamb hotdogs were delish, although the banana prawn lettuce dish looked better on paper to be honest.
We then all ordered a main to share which is such a great way to eat in a group – and the dishes are all cut to small serving sizes to make sharing easier. We had the poisson, beautifully cooked sirloin, venison, cauliflower with a very tasty harissa sauce, but my fave was the duck. Everyone needs to try the duck.
The desserts were all trialled too of course. Would have been rude not to, really. They had the most interesting dessert menu – churros, truffles, chocolate sorbet, AND s’mores with the PROPER Graham crackers too. YUM! Double thumbs up on the s’mores.
I was so astounded with the cost – after ordering all of the amazing food, a few bottles of wine, beer, cider (they ALSO sell Rekorderlig cider!!) we only paid $80 each. Not bad at all.
After 5 hours in this place and having a fabulous evening, I’m pretty sure its safe to say we’ll definitely be back.

by Samantha
22nd June 2012

Wow… the food was outstanding…. we tried a few of the dishes, prawns, croquettes, pork belly (omg was amazing!) and the Poussin which where all packed full of interesting flavours that balanced each other perfectly and were different from the usual offerings from other places. The excellent food was complemented by exceptional service… warm, friendly, efficient. Will definitely be going back

by Jennifer J.
21st June 2012

Wonderful staff from the minute we walked in, great food and love the decor. Will definitely be making this one of our ‘local’ and have already recommended to friends. Only hiccup was making an online booking that wasnt responded to til too late and no response to ph message left. however that was apologised for and will all businesses I accept the initial teething problems. So impressed with our first outing there will be back.

Comment from Amanda W. of Tin Soldier 21/06/2012    Hide »

Thanks Jennifer, we have remedied the online & phone issues…    More »

Thanks Jennifer, we have remedied the online & phone issues mentioned and look forward to having you back to dine with us… really appreciate you bringing this to our attention!

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