Eduardos

Ever since moving to Newmarket I’ve wanted to venture to Eduardos, but it’s taken me over a year to do so. After visiting last week, I realise the error in my ways — Eduardos is lovely! The décor is tacky in the most enjoyable way. As soon as I walked inside my mood lifted and I couldn’t remember why I’d even been feeling unhappy. It’s BYO, which is wonderful considering the number of wine and liquor stores around. The staff are friendly and you feel immediately comfortable, like you’re a regular customer even though it’s your first visit.
We ordered an antipasto platter, which was delicious but a little bit overpriced, and two yummy regular pizzas. Everything tasted great and was cooked to perfection. I would skip the platter and just order pizza, or the much talked about fettuccini, the next time I visit. Make sure you keep an eye out for the specials, which include $ 10 pizzas!

Very nice place. Warm and cozy but the wait for the food was a little long. Overall it was very nice and the owner is very nice and warm

Eduardos is Italian made by an Iranian and served by people from South East Asia. In the tradition of so many amazing inventions, it seems like a terrible idea.
Its owner is like a pot-​bellied, soft-​spoken version of Kramer from Seinfeld. Ive gone so often over the years that he’s become a kind of friend. In the old days orders were often forgotten. He would come rushing out, hunched over, hands clasped together, begging forgiveness and offering to make the ‘special’ pasta. Ten minutes later he would bring out a meal big enough to make lunch with for the next three days. It’s been a while since they’ve made a mistake. I miss them.
His restaurant isn’t the fanciest place in town. It doesn’t have Michelin star service. But it’s the place I go to if I’m feeling down. Sitting in that strange orange room filled with faded paintings of Marilyn Monroe, old car ads and what looks like a group torturing someone in a medieval village square somehow makes me feel better. The best time to go is while experiencing that worst of tragedies: A birthday. The staff turn on the disco lights that hang from the ceiling and the place becomes the best party in town.
We went recently on New Year’s Eve. The owner sat down with us and talked about his struggle to make ends meet. He wanted to do better for his staff and his business this year. I kept thinking losing Eduardos would be a minor tragedy. It’s one of our last bastions of glorious amateurism; a shambles that somehow assembles itself into something beautiful every single night. Also the food is really good.

Eduardo has the best pizza in Auckland: great flavours, option of chili, and thin tasty texture. And yet surprisingly, the prices are extremely reasonable, especially considering the location! There’s a daily pizza special every day which makes it an even better deal. And to top it off, the service is amazing, super friendly and relaxed. This my new go-​to pizza joint.

We love this place. It’s our go-​to for a casual night, particularly with a group of friends as it does cheap BYO.
We really love the owner and chef, who is always happy to tell us honestly what he thinks is the best choice out of two options, or on the odd occasion, create a new dish by combining two things we can’t choose between (we’ve been there enough to now be classed as ‘regulars’, it seems).
The décor is hilarious — great mis-​matching paintings/​photos/​who knows and even an in-​built disco light that will sometimes be turned on if you’re there for a birthday. It’s just ridiculous. And so wonderful.
We definitely rate the pasta over the pizzas, particularly the chicken fettucine, but the pizza is good too. They have GF bases available also.
All in all, is a great wee place for when you want to go out but feel like somewhere cosy and relaxed, rather than fancy.

This restaraunt is fantastic because of its ridiculous attempt at appearing Italian, but owned by middle eastern-​ers. Don’t get me wrong, we love the food! We love the walls choc-​a-​blok full of hallmark posters, the classical music on repeat, the jar of lollies for after dinner treats, and the lovely service. It’s just. Ironic? A bit crap? But sooo good!
Take a date here — just not for a first date if you really want to impress her

The main reason we went in here was because it was BYO, meaning that our night out became significantly cheaper due to not having to pay restaurant prices for wine with our meal. Although you do have to pay a $ 1.50 corkage fee for the privilege.
For such a tiny place, its menu was vast, with everything on it looking absolutely delicious. The pizza menu was extensive and they all looked very tempting but I decided that $ 26 for a large pizza was just too much of a rip off (especially when you can pick up a perfectly good pizza elsewhere for a fifth of the price!). I opted for the chicken fettuccine (a much more reasonable $ 18), and wasn’t disappointed; it was very rich in flavour and tasted authentically Italian.
The guy (who I assume to be the eponymous Eduardo) was really friendly and made us feel right at home, even adding the personal touch of butterscotch candy along with our bill. It was good, I just didn’t think it was particularly great value once you add up the corkage fee and other small add-​ons.