FoodLovers Restaurant Guide

Reviews for Atico.cocina

by Martina
4th August 2012

This business is a MenuMania SponsorOne of the Business' Favourite Reviews

My husband and I went for dinner to use our deal voucher and so far we had the best experience in Auckland. The set menu of five courses was superb.
The food was near perfection, lovely starters which we were told is a traditional corn bread from Columbia and Venezuela. Then we had a lovely and refreshing calamari slaw followed by a winterish crayfish bisque. The main was the highlight – a Tuna dished cooked as never tried before, Mr. had a beautiful steak.
Atico really delivered, as we have tried a few degustation menus before, but this was outstanding. Service was friendly and ambiance really warm….we will come back to try more …my husband promised.

by Alex L.
18th June 2013

I can’t believe this restaurant has so many rave reviews. 2 of dined there last Sunday night. It was a reasonable quiet night in the restaurant. The staff were friendly and that is why I have given it 2 stars. The waitress did scrape all the scraps onto onto 1 plate at the table. Yuck. Even my Mum would have told me off for doing that….definitely needs some training there. The dishes we ordered be pretty average at best. Jerk wings were uninspired but edible. The pulled pork was the best of the nights fare but tasted of raw cumin. For mains my husband the other chicken dish. It sounded good on the menu but was plain boring and dry. Nothing was seasoned. We had to ask for salt and limes just to make things have some flavour. The worst dish, and totally inedible, was the crab and prawn dish. It tasted of bleach and cream and nothing else. Even with liberal sprinklings of lime and salt it still couldn’t be saved. I did mention it to the waitress and the guy at the check-out. Even though I didn’t eat it, we weren’t offered any reduction on the bill. Pretty poor effort. Decor is nice, concept is very good but I have to give it an “F” for execution.

by Paul R.
10th June 2013

I asked friends for a good place to take Mrs for anniversary dinner, a few told me Atico.cocina should be a good choice. They were right, what a fantastic dinner, the food was perfect, the place is really cool, not too formal but smart enough for the special occasion. Can’t fault this place, will definitely come back with friends to try more of those great cocktails and the chicken jerk that is the best chicken I had in long time.

by sarah
28th April 2013

Beautiful food, place and service. Went last Wednesday for the special Music and the girls and I had a blast. Our waiter was a Latin guy that explains the menu very well and gave us a superb service. Drinks were a bit slow as they place was really busy but the wait was worthy …. lovely Mojitos. We ordered lots of different dishes to share , all of them excellent. No room for desserts but will definitely come back as the prices are very affordable and the place is a joy. Highly recommended!

by Kate S.
20th April 2013

It was average from the get go, first I rang to book got put on hold for ten minutes then got a call back hours lately. Unorganised staff didn’t get offered drinks and had to get up and order at bar which was just rude. Sort your staff out, was very average

by Sheryl J.
8th February 2013

What a cool place, went for the BBQ last Sunday with other 5 friends and we had a great time. The place is beautiful, It was packed but they managed to give us a table outside..lovely deck…I I call that great service as we didn’t make a reservation but they were happy with that.
The Jamaican Chicken Jerk was perfect, as I remembered from living in New York, where I tried few places before.

We spent the afternoon, drinking cocktail, listening to the DJ’s Caribbean Music and sharing the great BBQ food. The food is different but well executed and very affordable.(that is plus)

Will be back soon, my recommendation for a relax afternoon with good food and music.

by Kelly
14th January 2013

I really enjoyed having dinner with my friends here. The food was unique and excellently prepared with good portions. There were so many things which you don’t see in usual restaurants. The waiter was friendly and attentive. Couldn’t have wished for more. I will be back

by Raina S.
10th January 2013

Came here for a work Christmas Dinner (20+ of us) and walked into the dining room and thought, “This place is gorgeous!” Beautiful, relaxed vibe, decorated nicely – it had me excited to try the food.

While waiting for the rest of our party to arrive, we ordered drinks which took an age to come to the table. When I went up to the bar to query where the drinks were, it was difficult to actually ask anyone a question since I’d start to talk and they’d halt me and say “One moment”, and carry on with what they were doing – I wasn’t keen on standing around awkwardly with the rest of our workplace at the table for 15+ minutes just to ask “Where are our drinks?”

When drinks eventually were delivered to the table they were incorrect and not enough of them were delivered. We kept having to query where the drinks were, and with the increasing number of questions on our part (due to it now being over an hour since we put in the order), the wait staff got visibly frustrated with us, and this was starting to reflect in the way their conversations were – they would sigh and grunt whenever we called for them to come to our table. It was only when I got a bit firm with them and said, “You do realise I could have gone to another bar, had a drink there, and then come back and you still would not have delivered our order of drinks… right??”, that they eventually brought the right order of drinks.

But in saying that, it took them almost 2 hours to get the first order of drinks to us (which was only supposed to be tiding us over until the rest of our colleagues turned up), and it was even longer after that before they took our orders for food!

The wait for the mains was very long as well, I had arrived just after 6pm and we got our mains touching on 10pm. In the meantime, the rest of our party tried ordering drinks from the bar and they were told “No, we don’t do that.” to almost every order they tried to place. I would have thought 4 x vodka shots would have been a pretty easy order to fill?

My pork was cold, tough and a massive disappointment. Everyone who ordered the goat curry were happy with their meals, and people who ordered the chicken were uninspired.

My major gripe came when dessert was served, as by this time there was a salsa dancer on the floor encouraging people to get up from their tables and go and join them to learn how to dance – a few of our party got up and tried their hand at the dancing.

While this was happening, the desserts came out from the kitchen – we had two choices; the chocolate and rum tart, and the avocado sorbet. I was at the table while the others were dancing, and the chocolate and rum tart was placed down in front of a few people, though of course, some people were still on the dance floor. The dance floor people returned to the table, and the avocado sorbet came out. Instead of asking the people who were dessertless ‘did you order the sorbet’, the waiters just placed the sorbets down in front of them, which was met with several puzzled expressions as most of them had ordered the tart.

Knowing that the diner beside me does not like avocado, as the waiter went to put down the sorbet in front of her (she had ordered the tart), I clarified and said, “She ordered the tart, she didn’t order the sorbet”. I was told that they didn’t have any more, I responded with, “Surely you would have known that when the order went into the kitchen, not when you’re serving?” The waiter angrily then said, “Can’t you just convince her to have this??” I felt so uncomfortable having to say, “No I can’t, go back to the kitchen and see what you can do.” A few minutes later he returned and said a new order of the tart would be out for her in a couple of minutes.

The chocolate and rum tart was absolutely divine, and I’m thankful that it did taste so good, just so that the night didn’t end on a sour note. If I weren’t with my work colleagues who are a barrell of laughs, I would have absolutely hated the night. I will not be going back, and should anyone ask me about my experience at the place, I will speak honestly.

We were a large party with the company credit card armed and ready to spend. This restaurant could have made so much money from us, but instead, the rudeness of the wait staff and the long wait times meant that once the dessert was devoured, we couldn’t wait to leave.

by Sec
5th January 2013

Love this place! Relaxed but not overly casual.
Service is friendly & efficient – food is great especially the tuna & steak.
Have also had the 5 course set menu on two different occasions & have never been disappointed.

by Ella Z.
23rd November 2012

Fantastic place, great service and really good food!
Went there for my birthday dinner and I was very pleased.
The atmosphere was very relaxed, live music was fantastic and the service was impeccable.
We had tuna steaks for our mains and we were pleasantly surprised with the taste and portion sizes.

I would definitely recommend this place and I can’t wait to go there again!

by Anna
10th November 2012

We’ve been here twice now, both using deal vouchers and each time the meal and service have been excellent. The cuisine is something a little different for Auckland, plantains are not the world’s most exciting or tasty ingredient but the food is well executed, generous portions and very tasty. Tonight as we ordered I was queried by the wait staff to confirm I knew what ceviche was. A nice touch but does suggest that ignorance of diners to what they are actually ordering may have been an issue here. This doesn’t reflect poorly on Atico cocina but on its patrons. Both visits I’ve had the steak and it’s been perfectly cooked and tasty (the enormous steak knife hasn’t been necessary however). The coconut flan for dessert is also delicious, moreish and slightly too much after the generous starters and mains. All in all this is an unpretentious place and despite the descent into dodgy plink plonk jazz as we left, it is highly recommended.

by Al K.
10th November 2012

Awesome place, great atmosphere/lighting and fantastic choice of food. Entree Prawns and the Goat curry was indeed lovely, full of flavors, our waitress was also very friendly and helpful in suggesting our wine and main meals… My wife and I had an wonderful time last night and we even got free salsa lessons and got a chance to watch the show as well…will surely visit again.

by Maree H.
2nd November 2012

Just moved to Auckland a few months ago from USA where there are plenty of Caribbean and South American restaurants, and from my previous experience and tonight dinner,this is one of the best I have ever been.
Lovely deco, beautiful chicken jerk, perfect steak and with the agreement of my partner which is difficult to please, Atico is a winner.
We probably had too many mojitos but we enjoyed every single of them [0] !!!
The service is appropriate, thought more smiles will help.

Will be booking soon for our next cocktail session, highly recommended.

by Mog
19th October 2012

we used a grab-one voucher for a 3 course meal and had great time. fabulous food, lovely waiters and waitresses. some Latino dancing that i could give or take. wished I’d skipped dessert as i was just too full after and it didn’t seem to have the same special s American feel, but I’m no expert. rec commend! !!

by Jane G.
22nd September 2012

Went here to celebrate my daughter’s 22nd birthday. Food was superb but the staff seemed to go out of their way to avoid us. We sat with empty glasses for most of the night, unable to flag down someone willing to take another round of drink orders.

Once we eventually placed our food order we waited 45 minutes for tapas, hungrily eyeing the kitchen. Another wait of around 30 minutes for mains.
The table next to us waited 5 minutes for cutlery to arrive so they could eat their dessert.
Maybe OK for a cheap and cheerful joint but for a place that charges $35+ for mains this just isn’t acceptable.
Despite the excellent food we won’t be returning and don’t recommend.

by Grace
20th September 2012

Great place. Love the vibe. Music could have been a little louder. It was almost awkwardly quiet when we went.

Food was A++++! Full of flavour and great sizes. However, poor service. The waitress who served us seemed lost and unattentive. She also lacked a friendly warm attitude.

Aside from the service, I highly recomend Atico. Great food! I will be back.

by Matt M.
1st September 2012

We had a very average experience, I think the fact that we were using a deal voucher could have been the problem. The meal was just not enjoyable, I kept hoping it would get better…. well it didn’t. I wont be going back.

by Joan T.
27th August 2012

One of the best advantages of living in the city is the choice for good food.
Atico is my latest discovery, my friends told me about it, so we decided last week to try and see what is going on down at the Vic market. What a discovery, the place was beautifully decorated, the waiters friendly and charming with the foreign accent explaining the menu that is mostly in Spanish with English explanations underneath.
We ordered a range of tantalisers, all great, full of flavours . Our mains followed as expected, perfect.
our surprise was the live music from the Cuban band (I think). then people started dancing, so cool!

Atico, we love you and will certainly come back for more of those Mojitos.

by Nicholas C.
14th August 2012

I was impressed by the flavours coming from the mix of the South American and Caribbean cuisines. It is quite different to your usual restaurants.

The jerked pork croquettes entree was fairly average.
However for the mains I got the Arroz con Pollo: it was tender with a spicy hit.
My gf had the Cabra al Curry, which was full of flavour.
It was refreshingly different.

by Julia K.
11th August 2012

We had a great night – tried lots of their tantalizers (like tapas), which were delicious. We’ll be back.

by Karen R.
9th August 2012

Delightfully Spanish in it’s leanings, I absolutely LOVED my Portobello mushroom salad which was delicious with flavour. The colours of this ‘Salata Catalina’ were an amazing array of reds, greens, yellow, pink, etc. It made my eyes pop when I saw it – ‘YUM!’. At $18, I thought it was a really reasonable price for the quality of the ingredients, and to have a nice meal in this funky location.

A suggestion for improvement would be to suggest the waiter could just pour the water without asking each time, so you don’t interrupt the conversation! Though the attentive top-ups were appreciated.

The setting is a unique & light-filled space during the day-time. The deck would be fantastic on a sunny day.
Will definitely go again. It worked really well for a business meeting.

by Alana D.
8th August 2012

Situated in Drake St, Freemans Bay is Atico Cocina. Down the stairs into a dark dining room. The interior was beautifully decorated, and that’s where the appeal ended.

Greeted by the maitre d with a “wait a minute” set the tone for the evening. We waited a few minutes and then followed the swaggering maitre d to our table. There was a set menu but no wine list, which the other half had to go to the bar and ask for.

That’s when our neighbours decided to leave as there were “no good reds, they’re all blends”. We should’ve cut our losses then and joined them out the door, but we persevered.

A litre jug of sangria arrived which was more sprite and fruit than wine. That was my favourite part of the evening, apart from the company of course. The lack of music didn’t help either.

Our first course was grilled corn bread with smoky pork. The pork was more Asian style, and the corn bread was more like “a soggy pancake” as the other half delightfully put it. Then followed the calamari salad with rubbery squid. There was also far too much rocket for my liking, rocket overload.

Between the first and second course, something I never thought could happen in an eating establishment, happened right in front of my eyes. The arrogant waiter took our used, dirty cutlery off our plates and placed them back on the table for us to use for the next dish. We politely asked him to remove them and replace them with clean ones, once we had put them back on the plates he was holding, and nudge them on when he almost dropped the stack he was carrying.

The crayfish bisque as our soup course was disappointing to put it mildly. The sambuca salsa was like nothing we’d ever tasted before, however it was the plantain ‘crisps’ which tipped the scale as being the worst dish. The crisps were more like untoasted bread, with a powdery texture on the tongue.

Argentinean skirt steak was the dish we were both looking forward to the most. The other option was seared Yucatan Tuna which would have been the better choice. My steak was cooked to medium rare as I asked, however the other half mentioned that his was very well done, despite asking for the same. On the side was another plantain, which was encased in a quiche like, Yorkshire pudding textured mess. The chimichurri, on the side made the dish look like a small child had put it together.

When it came to the dessert, we thought that they couldn’t go wrong. Yet there was another surprise yet to come. The Latino coconut flan tasted odd to me, yet the other half said it was his favourite dish of the night. Seeing as he liked it so much, I offered mine to him to finish. He didn’t enjoy it so much after that as he said it tasted off and “like it had been sitting around for a week”. Consistency definitely wasn’t their strong point.

By this time we were ready to run far far away. On the way out, we both decided to pop into the bathrooms. What a mistake, we should have waited. I don’t think you need me to go into that.

Atico Cocina, we won’t be going there again, no matter how cheap a deal. If only we were as smart as our neighbours who left. We know for next time and won’t be going back. If you want rude, arrogant, waiters who don’t seem to have a clue, I suggest you brave the food.

Comment from David T. of Atico.cocina 9/08/2012    Hide »

Hi Alana, I was deeply concerned to receive your feedback. It…    More »

Hi Alana, I was deeply concerned to receive your feedback. It saddens us when very occasionally a diner shares that they do not enjoy the unique style that is Atico Cocina’s mix of South American, Caribbean, and Spanish-heritage cuisine with a twist. However to be honest, most customers are thrilled to embrace the uniqueness of flavour, presentation and the relaxed Latino Caribbean style of service. They love that they have discovered cuisine in Auckland that’s such an adventurous overseas experience right here in the city. Taste is such a personal thing, and when you don’t personally enjoy a style of food you’ve paid for, it’s a disheartening experience for anyone. We most certainly apologise for the service skill of our waiter, in removing the dishes, and will address this with him directly. Let’s take this conversation offline to address some of the finer points of your review. Dishes such as plantain are enjoyed by many, but an acquired taste for others… as a national favourite food in many exotic countries of the world, it’s one to try though – so at least you can now ‘tick it off your list’!?! Our wine list does offer over 20 reds – so the range is certainly not just ‘blends’!!! We’re pretty passionate about our red wines in South America too and we have carefully selected a wide range of red wines from New Zealand and Argentina and Spain. With regard to the toilette situation… we swiftly address any issues brought to our attention at the time. Our newly built bathrooms with hygienically serviced amenities are what they are… but sometimes a mention to our staff on the spot would be a big help when we’ve got a full house and something’s gone awry in there.

Let’s talk offline, I’ll message you privately.
Yours sincerely
David, Owner/Manager.

by karyn w.
21st June 2012

Had an early dinner the other night for the first time and really enjoyed our experience. The atmosphere was upbeat for so early in the evening, the service great and the food delicious. I had the tuna dish was was cooked to perfection and meltingly tender. My partner had the goat curry which he loved. Totally recommend

by Kay b.
16th June 2012

Had dinner here with a group of girlfriends. Great food! Loved the steak with coffee grinds and the staff suggested good red wine matches. Would go back again. Good ambience, good food.

by Juku
2nd June 2012

Pro: attentive staff, high quality food
Con: nothing to complaint – but don’t know about sources of food. doubt that it’s organic or free range, but no idea.

The waiter was great – not only very attentive but his recommendations were on the spot and refreshingly honest. We had an entree of empanadas, which were very yummy and the Tuna as main which we couldn’t have chosen better. The fish was just right and everything very flavoursome. I thought 1 entree and 1 main was just enough for 2 people without feeling too full afterwards but if you’re very hungry, you might want to order more.

by Foodie
20th April 2012

We started with “tantalisers”; delicious empanadas, and ‘arepas’ – thin corn crackers with guacamole & salsa. My main – a salmon “special” – was super-tasty, succulent salmon on sliced courgette, asparagus & other vegies with a spicy salsa. My partner’s “special” was melt-in-the-mouth duck served with figs, bok-choy & a plantain mash – yuuuuuuuum! Let’s hope they keep those two on the menu! The Monte Alpha Syrah – a Chilean wine – provided good accompaniment to these latin-influenced dishes. We’ll be back [and we mean that in a good way! ]

by paula
18th April 2012

What a place for a business lunch. The sunny deck is great for drinks and a relaxing meal. We were celebrating a deal, so we ordered bubbles and numerous tantalisers, all of them faultless, particularly those beef empanadas and the jerk croquettes.
The service was one of the best experiences we had as a group in long time.
Atico is near our offices, so we use it regularly but this time it is worth telling others about it.
I have been a couple of occasions on Friday or Saturday evening and my recommendation is to book in advanced to get a good table, although the building is superb so it is only because I like be near the windows to see the gorgeous chimney from Victoria Market.

by fiona m.
2nd April 2012

My partner and I decided to give it a go to the latest Latin waive of restaurants in Auckland. So we went to Atico last Saturday. What a great place.
We arrived around 7:30pm when the place started to get busy. The staff was really friendly and located us at the back of the beautifully designed room. Lots of colours and pretty pictures on the walls. We ordered chicken jerk as recommended by other reviewers and bluff oysters, those were divine! Our mains follow with a perfectly cooked steak for my partner and a lovely tuna for me. To finish we had a coconut flan to share as we already had a lot of food, no disappointment here.
Just before we were going to leave, the background music suddenly went up and two dancers appeared at the front of the restaurant. It was a salsa night which we didn’t know but what a great surprise for us. People at the front of the restaurant started to dance, they seem to really enjoy and knowing what they were doing. As we are not dancers, we decided to stay for a bit longer just to enjoy the great music and to see how some of the Latin culture is now in Auckland for our enjoyment.
Flavours here are a bit different from other Latin American restaurants probably because of the Caribbean emphasis, but we were very impressed by the food and service.
Definitely a great dinning and entertainment experience.

by liesje
7th March 2012

Very disappointed!!! 11 of us dined here on Friday night. After enjoying drinks at the bar we were informed the kitchen would close in 15 mins and we had to place our orders NOW! We ordered starters and mains and due to the kitchen closing they brought all dishes to the table at the same time.

Meals were lacking flavour and small. Husbands chicken chorizo rice dish was watery, flavourless and very small. Antico lift your game!

by Martin
20th February 2012

Had a fantastic summer evening at Atico. Great food and good service. The jerk pork croquettes were really nice and the Argentinean wine as expected – superb. Our group of four shared the cafe and chocolate desert and the fruity sorbets, perfect to finish our night.
I would definitely recommend it and go back soon.

by Mary D.
11th February 2012

Yesterday was our second visit to Atico and both times Joshua and the rest of the staff went the extra mile in welcoming us. The staff (even though they were busy) were very attentive, friendly and accurately described the various menu items.

The ceviche (using the fish of the day) was full of flavour and delicious. The chorizo was also a great dish. The coconut tart comes well recommended.

The setting, ambience and friendly staff all contributed to a couple of great nights out! We hope to return soon.

by cliff j.
5th February 2012

Had a great meal at Atico. Food was tasty and brings unique flavours to Auckland. Really enjoyed the Prawns I had as well as the chicken jerk my partner had. Desserts were also really good. Also Staff were friendly and attentive. We enjoyed the meal on the sunny deck and atmosphere of the revamp undergoing Victoria Market.

by Rafael
26th January 2012

Finally, Victoria Park Market building is coming back for Aucklanders to enjoy.
What a fantastic architectural work!, not many restaurants in Auckland are located in heritage buildings and Atico is not a disappointment, forget about Melbourne, we have now lots of great places in the city.

The food is great and the service reminds me of my time in Peru a few years ago where people are extremely friendly and willing to help.

will definitely come back!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Jose J.
20th January 2012

Went for dinner this week, was busy enough to feel comfortable. The venue is fantastic, friendly staff and great food, recommended! tried the chicken Jerk …awesome.

Didn’t try cocktails but will do it next time, they look tempting.

It is child friendly also, a bonus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Karina
20th January 2012

After reading the NZ Herald review I thought I would take some friends to check this place out, also the sound of the Caribbean menu was very enticing. Upon arrival we were seated with menu’s. So far so good. But that was where the pleasurable experience I had read about in the Herald ended. We waited sooo long for the waitress to take our order we ended up going in to ask her to come out and serve us. Once she had taken our order we waited what seemed an eternity to get our drinks (might I mention no water was offered and it was a stinking hot day). After suffering mild dehydration our drinks arrived and we waited and waited for our simple mains to arrive. Again, we had to go inside and ask the waitress when we could expect our meals. She couldn’t really tell us so by that stage we had enough and asked to have our food to go as we were already late back to the office. Up at the till two of us were overcharged and had to wait for the girl to figure out the till to give us our cash back.. I was very tempted to ask for ALL of our cash back but will just show my discontent by never eating there or recommending to anyone. And once I ate my “takeaway” food…well, no miracles there, it was just like the service – bland, tacky and a major disappointment.

by Samantha L.
20th January 2012

We arrived for lunch and the restaurant wasn’t overly busy, we sat down at a table, ordered our drinks and meals and waited……and waited……………..and waited.

I went to see the 2 staff on the floor 3 times before we got our meals, in the end we asked for them to be put into take away containers as all of us were late back to the office, we waited 1 1/4 hours for food we couldn’t enjoy on the lovely deck area.

When I finally made it back to the office and ate my take away lunch, I was pleasantly surprised. It was fresh, tasty and just beautiful!!!

I cant recommend this restaurant to eat in but I can recommend that if you are willing to wait an hour for lunch to take away then its awesome!! Perhaps a preorder would be the way to go

by dave j.
16th January 2012

had the shared platter and some prawns was good. nice salsa’s and tasty dish’s but not what i go for all the time. the front of house lady was great and helpful with choices..

by Jessica
30th November 2011

Went here several weeks ago and had the tasting platter. Delicious array of food and fun to share between two people.

ENjoyed Caribbean menu – something I haven’t really tried much of before.

Desserts and cocktails were also delicious.

Looking forward to things picking up when Victoria Park Market opens up.

by Sean
29th November 2011

Went in on Monday after seeing the Viva review the other week and was pleasantly delighted to find a review that was accurate for once.
The service was amazing with a very chatty and enthusiastic waiter who was extremely helpful in explaining all the dishes and how they would be eaten back home in Mexico.
The other highlight of the evening was the divine cocktails made up right in front of you in the central bar by the big blonde bartender.
We agree whole heartedly with Viva in that we will back for many more cocktails out in the sun on the balcony this coming summer!

by Mila
22nd November 2011

After reading a few reviews on this newly-opened establishment, I was excited about the prospect of eating dinner here.

It was a Monday night, the place was not busy – possibly four other small groups dining. We were taken to our table and told the waitress would be with us soon. About 10 minutes later, she arrived and presented us with menus. Some time after that, she returned and we placed our orders. I think the language barrier may have been quite large as she got quite confused with our simple order (two appetisers, two mains please) but we got there in the end.

50 minutes later and our meals had not arrived. We noticed a couple of the few other tables had also not got their food in that time. We asked the waitress when our food might be expected to arrive, given we felt we had been waiting ample time. She said she would find out for us.

About five minutes later our appetizers arrived – the prawns (there were just 3) for $18 and the chicken jerk (3 small kebabs) for $12. The food was alright– the sauce on the prawn dish was tasty if not a little full on, the prawns were juicy – the chicken jerk you could give or take.

Suddenly, our mains arrived (while we were still eating our appetizers). The restaurant’s signature dish – the Lomo Apanado (Chargrilled Prime Angus Beef marinated with fresh ground coffee and pepper, served with Spanish onions and spinach and potato, gratin with blue cheese and brandy sauce at $35) was, according to my friend, disappointing. The requested medium steak…while it came out hot, it was more than well done and was just a very small portion (perhaps it’s meant to be that way!?). The remainder of the dish was apparently a total let down.

My chicken dish ($28 with rice, chorizo and capsicum) was very bland and dry. The chicken was tough, there were just two small pieces of capsicum in it and the rice tasted like it was from one of those 90sec microwave packs – the entire dish was dry and had me swallowing copious amounts of water just to get the food down. The highlight was the chorizo but the three small slices were probably not enough to change my opinion on the dish. Alas, I did not finish my meal.

Overall, the service was below average, the food poor and certainly overpriced. I have no issues in paying good money for food, but I would expect far better than what Atico Cocina served up. The bright lighting and chart music that was playing did nothing to help the situation.

by oscar
21st November 2011

Went for Lunch today to use the deal voucher and it was well worth the effort to drive from Orewa. Try many restaurants in the city and this is one of the best. Great building, good service for a new restaurant and easy parking on the street. My ‘empamadas’ were very tasty and crispy , new taste for me and company but we enjoyed. will try evening next time.

by Prue B.
21st November 2011

Four of us dined there on Saturday night. I ordered the prawns as a main and I received THREE prawns. I was still starving at the end of my meal. My friend was still eating (literally had the knife and fork in her hands) and the waitress asked if we’d finished. We said no, so she stood there waiting. We asked if she could come back in a few minutes which she did. However that was the last time we saw her – she did not return to ask if we wanted dessert or coffee. When we left I mentioned I’d only received 3 prawns and that the service was a bit slow to which they (3 of them all hanging around the cash register talking) replied that “they’d been a bit busy tonight”.

I for one will not be going back.

by Danielle F.
16th November 2011

I love it when a recommendation actually pans out! We have just been here for lunch and I would also recommend it.

The St Lucia Calamari ensalada was fresh and delicious, along with the Potatas Bravas which were also lovely. My friend had the Chicken Empanadas which were accompanied by a yummy mango salsa which made the dish.

The service was efficient and friendly. A great value lunch at under $60 for both of us including a glass of wine each.

by John V.
15th November 2011

What a fantastic new venue!

Great menu and atmosphere, staff that cannot stop smiling and of course the cocktails.

Highly recommend a nice relaxing meal here.

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