Ampersand Eatery

Lovely service with great modern industrial ambience. The food was very good with familiar flavours that are well executed. We had the mushroom risotto, halloumi salad, roasted lamb, prawn spaghetti and truffles fries. My favourite was the prawn spaghetti, the pasta was fresh, the prawn was tasty and the dish wasn’t soaked in cream. I would have like more fresh parsley and add another dimension, but overall everything was delicious and the relaxing environment and friendly staff made it an excellent evening.

I was happily surprised when we were able to get a parking spot in the Orakei Bay Village area since it is usually really full. We went through the door in the parking lot to the espresso workshop counter to Ampersand. We waited at the counter and were led to a table near the bar. It looked like the back area was like a balcony that overlooked Orakei Bay. We went for lunch so the views were quite nice. After being seated we gave drink orders. Then we ordered the meals a short while after. The ice chocolate was nice. I had the breakfast ramen with pork belly and shared the devilled lamb's kidney. The breakfast ramen was nice. The main flavour was the kimchi which gave it a nice heat. The pork belly was also tender and almost on the dry side. I really liked the lamb's kidney though. Breaded and fried and then mixed in the savoury sauce with mushrooms and bacon. It almost had a sweet and sour feel to it. Service was friendly. Food was tasty. Not a bad place to stop by for a meal. Edit came by for the geat cheese ravioloi and it had a nice flavour but it was a bit stodgy.