Dear oh dear oh dear. Under new management. I really don't like to see my local businesses slide off down the hill but this one has well and truly hit rock bottom. Before I explain why, I will say that I don't think the food is the worst element here as a couple of the dishes our group ordered were ok.
The woodfired pizza oven is no longer employed. Sad and ignored behind blinds in the corner. So no more of the thing they used to do best. The menu is now 3/4 Thai and the rest Mediterranean. That means exactly what you'd expect - mezze plate, falafel, kebabs etc. All in the most massive American-sized portions you can imagine. I'd prefer less food for a cheaper price.
The husband's Chicken Kebab thing was ok but unfortunately I ordered the Vegetarian Fettucine ($21!!) from the Specials and while again it wasn't bad, it really wasn't good. Advertised with mushrooms, spinach and parmesan in a creamy sauce, it was three parts vegetable, one part pasta and zero part sauce. They also decided to put pickled artichokes (you know, from the deli) in it along with some strange and strongly flavoured varieties of mushrooms. Overall, a vinegary, full-on mushroom casserole with a few strings of pasta and an oily coating that could not, in any way, be referred to as sauce. The one kid we had with us had a Thai Chicken Soup that we requested without mushrooms. He enjoyed it but unfortunately there were issues.
It was a Monday night, there was no one else there. Our waiter seemed like a nice man but we could barely hear a word he said and clearly interacting with people was not something that made him terribly comfortable. We watched him take our drinks order to the barperson/manageress, who we then watched do several other things at a very leisurely pace (clearly not customer-related) before eventually pouring our drinks.
Our son's soup came before the Breads & Dips and was full of floating mushrooms. We said the wait for the one WITHOUT mushrooms wasn't a problem because that was his main course and really we wanted the starter first. It still came back while we were eating the bread so he was finished by the time we were getting started.
Worst of all, upon telling the woman at the counter that we weren't happy to pay for my pasta as I barely ate it (and giving her the reasons why), she argued. She didn't seem to understand the concept of ratios and kept telling me I had the normal portion of pasta and that no one else had complained about it. Well that would be because no one else has ever eaten it in your vast empty restaurant!
Her excuses and justifications went on and we ended up paying for half. A better establishment wouldn't have charged us at all. Like I said in my first review of Apadana, setting up with Thai food directly opposite two of the area's best Thai places was not a smart move, no matter how good it is. Taking away the pizza is just plain crazytown.
Please can someone come and take over Apadana and turn it into a lovely neighbourhood Italian restaurant? Or a bistro? Balmoral is full of delicious Asian eateries as now the whole of Auckland knows, but it would be great to have a place to go where you could eat say, a bowl of pumpkin soup with garlic bread or fish with salad or for those so inclined, a steak. Hey, I'd also be really happy with a pub - this place is big enough. I'll be watching the space for its next incarnation that I predict is not too far away. read more