FoodLovers Restaurant Guide

Reviews for Tusk Thai Restaurant

by Sarah M.
1st July 2011

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

Went to Tusk Thai using a groupy voucher on Thursday night. The food was fantastic, even at normal price would be great value for money and really tasty. The service was also great, food was served quickly yet hot and fresh.
Would definately consider going again.

by James T.
30th April 2013

Went to Tusk with a deal voucher, had to book through a specific page on their website for the vouchers so I was expecting them to maybe skimp or put us at a bad table, but it ended up being very nice. Good was really tasty and came out quickly. Ordered the BBQ duck and the salt and pepper squid, both were cooked nicely and there was lots of meat. Not sure if I’d pay full price, or try and go at a busy time but my experience was very good.

by Lisa H.
27th April 2013

Went out for dinner night before last…I feel sorry for the chefs. The food was great, well cooked and impressive. The service was awful. They spilled the soup all over me after slamming it on the table (with no apology), we had to ask to order after waiting 20 minutes without drinks or anything. We had to query about our drinks after ordering them and desert came only after we asked after it. The waiters seemed to be running around like headless chickens with no idea what they were doing – no one seemed to be in charge, it was total chaos. They need to change their waiters as it is letting the great food down.

by Kate
25th April 2013

This is the last time we ever go here! We have tried it a few times thinking it may improve but it’s got worse. It’s always sooooo busy I can’t understand it! BYO maybe? Somewhere that takes big tables?

We had to ask for our menus and there was confusion over that. We waited an hour and a half for our mains and it took us 10 minutes to eat some of it. The staff are friendly but not that attentive.

The appetizers: The fresh spring rolls are are 2 fresh rolls cut in half with no rice noodles or fresh herbs in them.They’re put on a plate with a terrible fishy sauce with masses of what seamed like toasted coconut sprinkled everywhere? The curry puffs are like the ones you get in a packet at the supermarket and fry yourself at home. The RICE is a glutinous blob not worth $2.50. We had the vege green curry and it was just SO standard I could have made it better at home. I think they charged $22 for a curry. We also had the wok fried prawns once again in an average sauce with a total of 10 prawns max for $25?

It was so disappointing – the food courts are better than this! But the funny thing is the guy at the register didn’t even ask how our meals were, he was to busy punching in numbers because they are SO BUSY. My advice if you are thinking about going to this average restaurant consider a food court and pay half the amount of money and get your meals at a reasonable time.

by Liv W.
29th March 2013

Extremely yummy flavours in my Thai green curry – the sauce was REALLY good, and there was loads of yummy bamboo amongst the veges. The wait staff were all very smiley and friendly, and did a great job providing a special dish for my preschooler with absolutely no heat/spice in it – we just asked for fried rice with onions and egg. Spot on, thanks

Hubby was really happy with his chicken red curry too. We completely cleaned the plates!

I just have two recommendations – one was that they didn’t have my booking when I got there (I’d phoned in at about 5pm, and there was no record of it… but it was no drama – they found us a good table).
Second recommendation would be that they deep fry their tofu fresh, for longer, and in smaller chunks? I’m no chef, so am not sure what the process is, but the tofu green curry was served-up in less than 5 minutes – which was good on one hand, because we were really hungry… but the tofu was, in my opinion, not as tasty as it could be. So on the other hand, I would’ve preferred to wait longer for my meal to be served if the tofu had been freshly deep-fried to a crispness, and in smaller hunks, so you can’t taste the sections of unflavoured tofu.

Regardless, our little family had a lovely time, and really enjoyed our food. Service was great overall. The venue was comfortable and nice, and parking was pretty easy round the corner in The Warehouse carpark.

We will happily return.

by Emma G.
15th February 2013

We ordered for takeaway. The pork pastries were fine, but I ordered my duck curry very mild and my partner ordered his beef stir-fry medium. They mixed up the spiciness levels on our dishes, so I had medium and he had very mild… ruining the experience for both of us. What’s more, the food itself was very average for a high price. We will definitely not be coming back!

by Melissa B.
26th January 2013

Went last night with a group of 11 for a friends birthday dinner. Friendly service, suitable wine list comparitively and OK in terms of waiting for food.
Reasons why I give two stars.
I got dished out rice onto my plate by a communal pot. I’m not an overly fussy person but come on, give me a suitable serving size bowl with rice in it?
I am incredibly hungry after I left. The curry was spicy and recommended – I had the lamb but it was though someone threw spices in there to make it seem more or less authentic.
My potatoes were barely cooked, not soft and moist in the curry juices. As carbs and I have our on off relationship – the curry needed to have been more up to game. Veges were not market fresh as specified and those three pieces of lamb one of which was fully fat is possibly the reason why I am disappointed.
Average, overpriced – wish I had more of a say where the dinner was held.

by Francis K.
26th November 2012

We went there last night with a deal voucher. The service was a bit slow but the restaurant was packed, so we thought fair enough. The waiter was also very apologetic about this and gave us a bit extra in our appetiser, which was appreciated. We had the green curry and the chicken cashew nut, and it was delicious! The portions were the perfect size, we were both stuffed with only a few veggies left on each of our plates. I would eat here again.

by Anna W.
21st November 2012

Went yesterday eve to dine with two friends with a voucher. Definitely felt like second class customers. Very unfriendly service and even when we said from the beginning we would like to pay additionally for seafood or drinks, every single time we would be reminded by different staff it would cost more, which we have had just discussed .One of us did try the BBQ Pork and it turned out to be almost rare so just not eatable, the Pinot Noir offered from the wine menu turned out to be a different choice, so when we ask to see the bottle, we discovered it was another selection, questioning the choice, the answer came very bluntly, we only serve a special kind of red wine with the voucher meal. wow, thanks, but no thanks for that sort of service, the rest of the food was not even average, very unsatisfying, since it was our first experience with Tusk and we received another voucher to be spent on a next visit, guess what we did with that lovely voucher, in the bin, they won’t see us again at Tusk

by David C.
11th November 2012

Went there with a voucher for dinner for two tonight. We were not greeted at the door, had to get the staff’s attention ourselves. We were shown to our seats quickly enough, but were just abandoned there as soon as we sat down. No menu, no water. After 10 min someone finally asked if we had menus and brought us the menus and water. After we decided what to get it took ages for the staff to notice us. We had the salmon red curry and duck dish. The duck was pretty good, but the salmon was just average, really just red curry with cooked salmon added. We wanted more rice, again took forever to get anyone to notice us. You’d think a raised hand should be raised for no longer than 30 seconds before someone sees it and comes over. Apparently not.

The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t spectacular either. For that price you’d expect excellent service and excellent food. The average to above average food was really let down by the front of house, which aside from one male staff seemed very disinterested and disorganized. The woman that came over to give us more rice said nothing the entire time. No smile, nothing. When I got up to active find them to say that we’re ready to order, the guy I asked just kept doing what he was doing. Took a whole minute before another waiter came to take our order.

Would’ve given this place 3 stars if not for the final slap in the face before we left. We were told that seafood dishes were to be charged an extra $5. Our voucher was taken away as soon as we arrived and no one told us of this rule when we ordered the Salmon. Absolutely disgusting service. Will never go back again, not even with a voucher.

by Kris
9th October 2012

Went there on Friday for dinner and used a voucher. First of all we asked to be seated inside and staff said no space available but could see there were at least 4 tables free and didn’t had reserved sign on them. we were placed at the back of restaurant near to the door which opens into their storage. (Was not impressed at all)
Second the entrees were like just heated up in microwave which were served within few minutes after placing our order. Which raised our question is it even fresh we had prawns and salmon skewers.
In mains we had garlic beef and red curry. Beef was nice but curry was too runny. I had better red curries at other Thai places. Jasmine rice was way below the standard, first serve of rice was too sticky and looked old.
Overall I would rate this place very low say 3 out of 10.

by K-Lee P.
22nd September 2012

We dined (4 of us) at Tusk tonight for a friends birthday. Restaurant was busy and the atmosphere was lovely. The food was delicious, service was very good and the staff was friendly and attentive. Thank you for a great dining experience, would definitely return again

by Erin S.
10th May 2012

Four of us went there last night. It was very busy as it was the last day to use the voucher. We tried the lamb curry for the first time. It was delicious – very tender and the curry was perfect. We also had the fresh ginger beef and that was very tasty. The chicken dishes were very nice too. We were also given a $20.00 voucher which is definitely going to be used as the dinner we had hit the right spot. Well done Tusk Thai.

by David B.
11th January 2012

The Tom Yum was very good and I would recommend it, outside that every other aspect was just ok. You do get to watch the odd flaming dish leave the kitchen which I am sure kids would enjoy.

Would not walk over hot coals to go back.

by Areena S.
7th October 2011

We bought voucher to try out Tusk. Great service, brilliant food, took awhile to get the food and they ran out of beef! over all not bad.

by chloe
11th August 2011

Very very western. Doesn’t taste anything like the food you actually get in Thailand. In saying that I’ve given up completely on finding a place in Auckland that does

by Sharon
8th August 2011

Just had another dinner here last night and have to up my star rating as, although packed (the last night for the voucher) staff were on to it. Friendly and attentive to all diners. Thank you for your service, hats off to you all. Food was good, hubby had the whole chicken – a first for him, perfectly cooked.
8 Aug 2011. Been here a few times a year or so ago and food and service was consistently good. Went recently with a voucher and while it was busy, staff seemed to be fast with food delivery and continued to fill our water glasses thru the evening. Quality of food was good, as expected. However we had the 4 course banquet and while the main was sufficient I felt the entree could have been a bit more generous. Unfortunately the most disappointing part of the meal was the dessert. For 2 people: 2 small pieces of jelly, 3 slices of apple and 3 of orange + 1 grape. My husband offered to share it by cutting it in half by I respectfully declined leaving him to struggle his way thru the entire plate. I dont know if this was due to the voucher or the economic climate but if this is the dessert offering, it could have been alot better for minimal outlay. Overall a nice evening and thanks to the main we didnt leave hungry. Thank you.

by lovetoeat
20th July 2011

Love your snapper as main and for dessert the deep fried ice-cream is yummy…soooo special.
Good value for money too.
On the downside, a bit too tight for space and parking is an issue sometimes.
Decor is lovely.
Value for money.

by Aaron
8th July 2011

07/07/11 – We attended Tusk restaurant last night as a group of 18 for a birthday dinner. The birthday girl had long been waiting an occasion to attend this restaurant, which looks so great from outside and is also nice in the inside. To her misfortune and a ruin birthday experience the following was observed/happened.

1. Drinks – We were not asked if we wanted drinks but in saying this they served plenty of water. Wine glasses still left on the table (we only required 5)

2. 4 of the 18 were vegetarian – YES we know how difficult it can be to cater for vegetarians so we made an effort to order their meals first so it was kept separate from the others (we aren’t as fussy as we sound). Instead of vegetarian spring-rolls we received a prawn entree. YUM for a non-veg but being a vegetarian and having prawns for the first time is quite disgusting. Not a good way to start off your meal. The entree was replaced by spring rolls after we made the staff aware of the mix up.

3. Mains took 30-40 minutes after the entrees (thank god for i-phone’s and the great Simpsons game). Yes we should socialize but theirs only so much you can say to the person in front of you (the other option was to yell to the other end of the 6 tables set up side by side).

4. Wooohooo mains are here – “I bet they forget one persons meal”. Not only did they forget one person’s meal or mixed one up with another (god knows which one happened there was no system in taking the order just a white piece of paper with lots of orders on it), but, they forgot the birthday girls meal. Most restaurants would acknowledge your have 18 guests in your restaurant because of the birthday. Restaurant manager – “mm maybe we should pay particular attention to her after all she did bring in the business tonight, nah lets not she’s just another person”.

5. So they forgot her meal – she nicely went and asked the staff if they could make a new one for her – reply “no sorry we are to busy will take 30 minutes”. Birthday girl comes back upset (way to go tusk for spoiling the party). We kindly asked again to make another yummy pad Thai, urgently, as we are here for her birthday and we would appreciate the effort, if required well pay you double just get her the meal. Reply “sure I will make it right away” – why not say that in the first place instead of fluffy around and ruining the birthday dinner.

6. Great! I’m full now lets have the birthday cake! – After asking 3 times the staff finally brought the cake out. By this time mood was ruined and birthday spoilt.

Overall, bit of a pity especially as we changed our option from ZAP down the road to TUSK as per the wish of the birthday girl. They didn’t come close to the service you’d get at ZAP (totally recommend ZAP, its cheap and cheerful with amazing Thai). Food at TUSK was generally okay and although the long wait you get a fairly good portion for the price and it was warm. No other complaints just bit disappointed with the service.

Do try it for yourself this is simply my opinion and experience. If you don’t want to take the risk go to ZAP (no I don’t have anything to do with the place financially or any other way its just my favorite).

by Bob I.
8th July 2011

Went to this place last night, has great ambience and is well setup and overall pretty good service. I had the steamed whole fish with chilli, it was awesome and well worth the money, however I tasted some other dishes and they were pretty average, and my son had the roast pork which was like a large starter, bit tough and very chewy and very dry !! The dishes are pretty small and quite expensive.

Would I go back ?
I suppose if I wanted to go to a place with great ambience with average Thai food I would.

by Bobbi S.
7th June 2011

My wife and I go here regularly and often take friends and family. the food is great, the service is always on the button. No matter how busy, staff always seem to be able to squeeze us in, even if there is a brief wait. Happy to have a couple of drinks in the small bar area. Favourite dish – hmm salt & pepper squid, but then again the curries are great and so is everything else. Great Thai!

by Kerry S.
18th April 2011

Nice decor with mixture of Thai and the modern element, but the food is quite disappointng us, with the green curry lack of taste and the chicken portion is not enough to share with my wife. But the waitress is quite good when we told her the problem and she apologized to us and made effort, that’s why rate 2 stars.

by Winston
28th January 2011

Came here on a Thursday evening and restaurant was full. The food for me wasn’t bad but just okay. Staff were friendly and attentive. Atmosphere is very cozy.

by Stephen C.
9th June 2010

Wonderful food and great service. I am always greeted politely and although this place can get busy, the food and ambience make it a great venue for casual or group dining. I love the open fire!!

by Tusk
20th September 2008

Really nice – have been here a few times now and the food is always very good – had a bit of a wait for our meals last time, but worth the wait.

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