Merivale, New Zealand
Interesting concepts but foodbourne illness waiting to happen
Dined in August 2014
An update is coming soon
It was one of our last nights in the city, before my coworkers and I would travel south to McMurdo Station in Antarctica for work. The people in our group that had been here before recommended The Brewers Arms, so we began a decent 2-mile walk to get there, but overall I wasn’t too impressed, and more unnerved with one of their main selections.
When we arrived the dining room was full, so we opted to sit on the patio. The patio had several people as well, but because of all the cigarette smoke, I needed to go back inside and just wait for a table. A few others joined me, and eventually we all opted to move inside away from it. Inside the architecture was really nice, very colonial English style, with wood and brass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, with a sport pub atmosphere showing local and international sports.
Once we found a table, the people that had been here before from our group recommended the stone cooked meat selections. Basically, you order your cut of beef, lamb, or chicken and it is delivered on a 500 degree stone brick and it cooks in front of you. So we placed our orders and thinking that it would be brought out to cook and that the cooking process based on the thickness of the meats would be at least ten to fifteen minutes, we ordered a starter selection of breads that came with some assorted spreads.
The starter came out, and we figured the steaks would come up as well, but that took several more minutes, nearly by the time the starter had been eaten. The reason it took longer was the side items. They cooked them and had them ready to go the same time they would present the steaks, which was another thing I didn’t understand how this all worked. So we would have to wait for the meat to cook but eat the hot sides first?
From the plate presentation, you see above the salad was on one side of the stone, and the vegetables on the other. This is what I thought was the biggest risk for this presentation. Granted it was nice to see a large steak like this and the neatness to the presentation, but we had cooked potatoes, and a ready to eat vegetable salad on either side of a raw piece of meat. Then the kicker, they provided one knife and fork, so to cook the steak we would have to cut it up for it too cook faster, but then because the cutlery was bloody and filled with bacteria from the meat, we did not have anything else to eat the salad or potato with. We could have gotten another set, but there wasn’t a server to be found, so it was quicker to just take an extra glass of water on the table, put the cutlery in that and then dry it to be used for the cooked potato. The picture posted below was another person’s steak with shrimp, Surf ‘n’ Turf, and the shrimp from the picture is raw, with parts dripping over the salad.
This place was a foodbourne illness waiting to happen. The presentation was nice, but the risk was high. Another person in our group order one of the safer items, a hamburger.
But as far as meat selection goes, it is really good, they just need a new method. The final person in our group ordered the choice of any 4 items from the menu such as rump steak, lamb fillet, pork fillet, ostrich, or venison. See the picture below.
Review basics:
Overall Star rating by Wine, Dine, & Play:
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1 of 5
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Quality of food:
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8 of 10
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Presentation:
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8 of 10
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Wine selections by region:
Scroll below the main review section to see the tasting notes of the wines chosen
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4 of 10
New World:
1. New Zealand: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Canterbury, Waipara, North Canterbury, Wairarapa, and Central Otago
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Customer service:
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4 of 10
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Ambiance:
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8 of 10
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Corkage fee’s:
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American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
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Restaurant style:
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Casual
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Dress code:
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Casual
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Reservations:
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Recommended
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Walk-ins:
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not guaranteed
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however, for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance. Hire a Babysitter. See Alinea Baby Gate, god I love Alinea.
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Cuisine style:
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Contemporary, Pub, New Zealand (Kiwi), Australian, and Vegetarian
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Music styles:
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Background instrumental
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Experiences:
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Beautiful décor, Rustic, Tourist grabber, and a Neighborhood Gem.
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Gratuities:
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Industry standard is 18-20% added to parties of 6 or more
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Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
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Parking:
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street parking
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Transport options:
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Bus, taxi, limousine, personal vehicle, and walking
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Loud
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Smoking:
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Nonsmoking restaurant, and smoking patio
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Patio:
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Yes
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Food price per person
(Excluding tax & gratuity)
Price chart:
$£€¥ - Under 50.00
$£€¥ x 2 - Under 75.00
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00
Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur's
My food bill:
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Currency:
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Country :
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Price chart:
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$50.00
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New Zealand dollars (NZD)
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$$
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$36.51
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$
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£24.25
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Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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£
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€32.10
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European Union (EUR)
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€
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$45.48
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$
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$47.68
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Australian Dollar (AUS)
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$
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¥224.09
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥¥¥¥
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Visit these sites to get up to date currency rates:
Restaurant address:
177 Papanui Road, Merivale 8014, New Zealand
Cross streets:
Office Road & St. Albans Street
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: -43.512944
Longitude: 172.622135
Contact Information:
Maître d, reservations:
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+64 3-963 1620
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Website:
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Email:
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Social Media:
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Hours:
Monday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Tuesday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Wednesday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Thursday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Friday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Saturday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Sunday
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11:00 am –11:00 pm
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Standard Time (GMT +12:00)
TTFN
