The Hunting Lodge Winery & Restaurant in Waitakere

Great food, drinks and experience.

Absolutely amazing wedding venue. Kim and the entire staff were happy and so onto it. We had shared plates that were cooked to prefection. Totally recommend this venue.

Wonderful venue, food is great , very accommodating maître D. We were able to take our little dog to the lawn bar. Looking forward to going back.

We stopped here after having a flight at Westbrook Winery, almost as a throwaway, "were in the area" kind of thing, but we are very glad we did. The host made sure we got a table even though it was very crowded, and he was kind enough to help us when it started to drizzle, so that we could move our table under the covered part. The selection was great and the wines tasty; the only thing I wish was that we stayed for food because it looked really good.

Went there couple weeks ago and it still plays on my mind enough to write a review. I checked the tables to see if any were reserved, 2 were so I put my bags and drink down on the UNRESERVED table and told my husband Id got a table. I got back and sat down and then 2 adults and 2 children walked towards my table. The "??manager" then proceeded to set down menus and asked me if these were my bags. I replied yes. The female family member said that they were told they could sit here so I had to move. I said I had my bags and drink were there already and it was not reserved. The ??manager said it must have been a mistake on the waitress as she was quite slow ??? Rather than make a scene which I believed was quite deserved I moved. . Needless to say I moved. But it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I was a party of 2 and they had about 4. Maybe more money being spent?. How wrong!! I guess they were the ones who missed out. . I live within 5 km of there and came frequently with friends and family. Especially for big events. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Amazing helpful staff...Great selection of wines and incredible facilities and activities. We even saw the Rockup team doing archery with over 60 people.

Place was absolutely beautiful, extremely nice premises. Staff were very friendly and attentive. Food was amazing! And something you don’t often think about: the seats were very comfortable. View was also stunning, gorgeous place out there

We were a party of 8, the location is wonderful and setting is excellent. The service was good and the wine was excellent.The food was underwhelming, the sirloin between the 8 was 8nvonsistent while my wifes was on the vege of well while the other we medium. The Pate had a jelly yet no jams required something to avoid dryness. The rib was dry a barely warm. The octopus was cold. The profiterols were dry and hard.The menu has potential, not sure if the large party threw the kitchen off.Will give them another chance in 1 month and in summer.Support local.

Selected the Trust The Chef option. Outstanding, loved every bite. Beautifully presented and elegant flavourful combinations.

Went on a Sunday when traffic should be better but not so. I thought we would need a camel and packed lunch but surprisingly we got there in reasonably good time. Sat down and waited a wee while to be found by the waitress. Menus arrived, food and drinks on same fold out.Plainly written and concise descriptions.Choice of one, two, three or four courses or take the Chefs option which sounded good. The offerings arrived with good space between courses. Well presented, extremely tasty and uncomplicated. Portion size acceptable. Nice to go out and have something you wouldnt normally have at home. Smallish wine list but how easy to choose! Desserts were brilliant with some having a unusual twist but very tasty. Good ambience and flash toilets albeit a bit tiny but cosy. Well worth a visit.

Had a good time. Everything was good and enjoyed the day as it beautiful day.

Amazing delicious meals, lovely friendly staff.

Nice place to have lunch at. Ambience of the place gives a calm warm feeling. Food was Ok, to be honest bit of a hit and miss with some of the menu. If addressed place is a awesome place to visit but food wise yeah/nah.

We booked for 11:30am and we arrived a bit early. We asked to enter the restaurant as it started to rain. A male staff allowed us to come in but then another female staff rushed out towards us telling us to basically get out. Her tone had attitude and was surprised why she was so unfriendly. She couldve told us nicely and would have achieved the same result. Now I know why friends dont recommend this place and I would not recommend this place to anyone else.

Total joke... 2nd time Ive been here and 2nd time I have walked out. Only thing to commend is the chef from the main rearaurant who walked us back to the tasting rooms and got a member of staff to serve us...

Our glamping stay was wonderful! Dinner at The Hunting Lodge restaurant was great. We enjoyed sitting outside our tent after dinner, with a glass of wine, stargazing rugged up with blankets. Our lunch at the Lawn Bar the next day was delicious. Lovely wine, the best coffee I’ve had in a long time. Wood fired pizza and Wagyu brisket burger were seriously yum. Really good service across the board. I honestly couldn’t fault a thing. We’ll be making the trip from the other side of Auckland again very soon!

Had birthday lunch with a dear friend, delicious food, neat and spacious. I love their toilet, well maintained.

My partner and I had dinner here after ecaping our twin newborm babies for the first time. The service was impeccable - the waitstaff were warm, friendly and nothing was too much hassle. We had the chefs special which was amazing and my gluten free requirements easy to cater for. Highly recommended. We will be back soon.

Lovely day for Mothers Day. Good venue. Wonderful staff, good service.

Great setting, but food was average at best along with the service

We came here as part of our wine tour dayout vineyard #2 and it was a beautiful vineyard with great vibes and atmosphere.Came here to taste the wine in which we did and had a grand time in doing so with all of us. As we only did that thats all I can review as we all thought it was great.We had great service, the outdoor area was a very large area we could even bring the dog which he enjoyed too.Would recommend this place as it has a great vibe to it for families and all no matter the occasion.

Whilst I love the location and the amazing alcohol; I think the food is overpriced and limited in options. Also think they need more staff as the service was pretty slow.

We were excited about dinner with friends - its a beautiful setting and lovely restaurant. Unfortunately the food was very average verging on bad. Our table ordered the 6 course chefs menu and although some things were great, other things should not have left the kitchen. The risotto was stodgy. The cheese board came with stale plain crackers and also some salt and vinegar ones which was very weird. Unfortunately, I dont think we will be back but I really hope these things are addressed because it has such potential to be awesome. The homemade gherkins were amazing, as was the chocolate sauce in the dessert. A bit disappointing.

Had a great time there. Food’s amazing and wine’s even better. Staff was super friendly and helpful. I made a last minute booking, they were packed with events and still managed to book me in 👏👏

As a bus driver its the worst ever place to pickup from at night. Theirs no pickup point or turn around designated area for the bus to safely pick passengers up from and if the bus has to reverse up the drive in the dark their are no road markings to follow on the drive way it is not lit up to see if you would end up in the drain which are located on both sides of the driveway staff dont help at all in that situation... Its bad.. really bad and its been like that for years.. 🤬

Always amazing. The food Is great and it’s a wonderful outdoor environment for everyone. Whether you’re a family, have a dog, are a local, dress casual or dress up, this place is great!

Okay, but not great. Stood waiting for someone to scan our covid passes for seven minutes (arrived at 11:42, Sat 22 Jan 22). Once we got a table (by the toilet doorswe sat waiting for more than 15 minutes before we got our drink order taken (which due to the time was drinks and food). Ordered Blue cheese and pear Pizza, lamb wrap and kids margarita pizza. Lamb wrap was good. Blue cheese pizza had very, very little blue cheese. Kids Margarita pizza was an absolute joke. Size was appropriate but almost no sauce, a little cheese and was actually quite burnt. I tasted it and it tasted like basic bread, burnt, with a smattering of cheese. The kids pizza was also the last thing to arrive. The Margarita listed on the menu had prosciutto and basil listed along with tomato. Complained about the kids pizza when paying and got told thats the way kids like it - an absolute joke! My three year old likes food, not tasteless bread with a smattering of cheese on a blackened base. The kids version had no flavour at all and was such a let down we had to go get another meal for my son on the way home as he was so disappointed. Dont go here with kids!

Went for a wedding. What a fantastic space, stayed for the reception in the cellar which is a comfortable space even on the hottest of days. Wonderful place and super friendly staff.

Ordered 2x takeaway picnic packs to share for a birthday picnic with family. So tasty, well packed and a large amount of food. Staff were friendly and well organised. Cant pick a favourite from the pack as it was all so delish.

We had 3 Course Dinner !! OMGElegant, relaxed setting. Excellent ServiceDelicious, generous servings. 5 Star all the way.

Stopped here for lunch on our wine tour of the area for hens do. A definite must come back to do a wine tasting.Shared pizza and they were great

Always a nice place to visit for lunch. A bit windy on the hill this time. My friend asked for a hazy, they said we dont have hazy so he had wine instead. I know liberty do hazy and I know hazy is popular, maybe swap out on tap something for a hazy? Even a seasonal tap would be great. I know Hunting Lodge is a winery, I know they are supporting local breweries, maybe ramp up to the seasonal tap to look more like your on to it with your beer selection?

Had a really wonderful experience at the Lawn Bar in spite of power difficulties (windy days!). The staff were all very friendly and accommodating, and we took our time savouring the charcuterie and frontage platters with a Liberty beer paddle each. Everything was delicious, and we heartily enjoyed chatting with our server as well!

Great place but the pizza oven didnt operate in the rain which meant our three celiac group members had no decent gf options 😕 would be great if they had a bread substitute for the rolls!

A great find in the Country with amazing food, good wine list of local and imported wines in a restored old building full of character. Artisan shops and a wedding venue too. Highly recommend

Came here on a wine tour and had a wonderful time! Britney was great! All the wines were delicious and we will definitely be back for a lunch and more wine!

Great location to relax and taste some wine. Situated outside of Auckland noise in a serene environment. Beautifully maintained vineyard and resturants. Staff was friendly, wine was perfect and pizza was authentic. Loved it

We did a LOT of venue shopping for our wedding, and when we finally found The Hunting Lodge we knew we had found the perfect spot. It ticked all of our boxes - location, space (for over 100 peoplefurniture, lots of parking to name a few - all while staying within our budget. Also its BEAUTIFUL. The Barn is the perfect blank canvas to create literally whatever you want, and we definitely got what we wanted! And dont get us started on the catering - the food was delicious with generous portions for our guests, and the wine (which was VERY important to uswas even better!! From day one, Alex was incredible with getting us all set-up, and Mariana took over things effortlessly; both made us feel welcomed and well looked after throughout the whole planning process. Then to throw in a lock-down and us having to reschedule our wedding into the mix, Mariana was absolutely amazing with helping us and our vendors navigate to a new date (in summer, which was definitely a pro, not a con!!). And then on the big day, Mariana and her fantastic team looked after us and our guests phenomenally - we truly felt like the most special couple in the world. We could not be more thankful for everything everyone did to make our wedding so incredibly perfect - whoever has the honour to have The Hunting Lodge and their events management team as part of their wedding are sure to be in good hands xx

Unfortunately this is not the best review on behalf of a friend. We attented the wine down event as a group of 4. My friend paid $12 for a childs plastic cup half full of wine. It was rediculous. The set menu was very limited to choose from, not alot of options for a pregnant women. We could only pay via eftpos not cash which made it difficult. We thought we were heading along to a beautiful winery only to be disappointed by the lack of class. We will not be back sadly.

Cockroach walk across my table! Food were completely tasteless and bland. Not even the vegetables were fresh, ingredients looked like cut up by a young child definitely not an experienced chef like you would expect. The portions were either small or ordinary, especially for the price. The long wait for the food was also very ridiculous. The service was terrible. The waitress was very unfriendly and seemed untrained and had zero customer service etiquette. My friend had to ask twice before her drink was delivered, and we were never asked how our meals were. Poor attention to detail, not even their cutlery was not polished properly, there were some stains on the knifes and that certainly put you off.Overall, we were bitterly disappointed and would certainly not return or recommend the restaurant to any family or friends.

Great atmosphere, reasonable pricing, good range of wines and very friendly staff all came together to create an amazing outting, well worth the short drive from the city. Next time we will have to give glamping at the winery a go!

Organised a surprise engagement party here and the staff went above and beyond to ensure that everything was running smoothly, while having to wait on and maintain other guests in the main restaurant. Would DEFINITELY recommend coming here! Could not fault the night at all!

I have been lucky enough to have experienced the hunting lodge several times over the last 28 odd years, the service, food and experience has always been legendary, so it was with much anticipation that we once again had the privilege to dine at this iconic restaurant. To make it even more special we were there with friends who where married there. From the time we arrived until we reluctantly left we were treated to the best of service, next level dining, wine to die for, beyond 5 stars. Highly recommended an experience you will not forget.

Absolutely love this little gem of a restaurant! The food was some of the best weve had in Auckland, beautifully presented and very unique flavours. Particularly enjoyed the charcuterie we had to begin, still thinking about it!! Lamb was cooked to perfection and just the right portion size. Took a bottle of their wine home with us, divine!Super professional service with a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.The restaurant itself is gorgeous, perfect for special occasions or a weekend destination lunch on their verandah. We will most definitely be back!!

We had lunch here recently, definitely a place for the well heeled. The food was not to my liking, almost as if they were trying too hard to put all different sorts of things together to make the meal appear trendy. The wine and beer prices were ridiculous and the selection was average. The cheese board was very basic and the desert selection was poor and expensive. The staff were very attentive although I found it quite disconcerting to have the chef constantly peering at us. I was with 12 lovely young women so perhaps it was understandable. Creepy though.

Amazing winery with beautiful views. Did their wine and tap beer tasting with a few friends and wine training led by the staff called alcides was amazing, he had a lot of knowledge in the range and was so informative. He showed us the vines close up which was so fascinating to see. The bar & resturant was quite nice, hoping there would be a bigger range of food in the future. Would definitely recommend this place and return next time.

Had my hens party lunch there. I thought the whole experience was amazing. The food was great. And one of our party was celiac and dairy free. They went out of their way to ensure she could eat almost anything with a few changes and made her a special, one off dessert.There were 8 of us and everyone left feeling beautifully satisfied and wanting to go again. I use to be a regular at the hunting lodge. Haven’t been for a few years but will DEFINITELY be back .... and often. Thank you to the staff and chef(s)

Spent a lovely long lunch here with group of 13. Chefs choice menu. Food was absolutely stunning. Every course was a delight and each bought out with perfect timing. Outstanding waiter was experienced, knowledgeable and showed just the right amount of attentivness. Manager was extremely accomodating of a late notice gluten free patron request. Lovely environment and great space for large group. Highly commended and recommended.

I was very excited to try this place, it looks so picturesque, and I thought the food would be amazing. I was underwhelmed. It all started when the water asked if we wanted still or sparkling water, my daughter piped up and asked for sparkling. Then we ordered the mains and I asked for my steak to be cooked medium - it came out well done. I asked if I could please have another steak, cooked medium, the waiter went away then came back and said that the whole batch of steak would be like this and that I should pick something else from the menu. Dont they cook steak to order? I ordered the lamb which was lovely, although there were alot of broad beans and I dont like broad beans so I just ate the lamb and artichoke puree. By this time my daughter didnt want to finish her dinner and asked if we could take the rest home, the waiter said that they dont do that. I paid $18 for a very expensive kids meal, I should be able to take home what I paid for. We decided we wanted to just pay the bill and leave, and I was surprised by a $10 charge on the bill. It was for the sparkling water. Who charges $10 for a glass of sparkling water and doesnt even tell you, that you are going to be charged?! Its fair to say, I did not enjoy my time here and left feeling hungry and ripped off.

I have to say that this is one of the best meals that I ever have in NZ, talking about complexity and flavors. I went to celebrate my anniversary with my partner and we had the set menu. That was great, highly recommend for a special occasion. Atmosphere is great, really quite and with a beautiful view of the vineyards.We took the wine matching option, and it was a good surprise for me to enjoy a meal as much with white wine. I prefer red wine, and I usually drink red wine, but this winery has excellent white wines (better than reds).