Faro

Always on the lookout for a good steakhouse that is affordable and not too frou frou, to satisfy my husband’s «big hunk of steak and chips» cravings. After reading the reviews below, FARO has been on my To Try list for a while. If this is what you’re looking for, FARO doesn’t disappoint.
The steak range is affordable, and comes in small and large cuts, so those of us with smaller appetites can still be carnivorous. For $ 3 more you can add on chips, and all their meals come with bottomless salad bar. Now, for me, the salad bar wasn’t a big draw, if we go back I probably won’t bother and just wait for my steak to arrive. But hey, that’s just me, I’m not a big veggie or cold salad eater.
We’ll be back for the steak and chips! Oh and order the garlic sauce, it was amazing!

I was persuaded into getting a big lunch today. And Faro was right next to the only parking space available on the whole street. So it made perfect sense when the sky was turning dark and started to drizzle.
The place was booming at 1pm, had about 20 odd people inside. I had a look around, they were all Koreans. Which means the place is quite popular amongst their own. Which is a good sign to me about the quality of the restaurant. I mean you hardly see any Chinese people eating at your local Chinese takeaways, if any? Right?
The menu brought back some memories about high school. It’s basically two pieces of printed A4 glued to the inside of a Manila folder. The whole left side is the drinks menu, the right side is the meat menu. I thought this Faro is gonna be like the other Faros, which served all kinds of Korean delicacies. And you’d be wrong if you think that too. This Faro is actually a steak house. I was very surprised. Pleasantly surprised. I know that the Koreans love their beef, they have 120 cuts of meat off a cattle. all the major steak types that we love in nz is listed on the menu. And Faro states their beef is aged 28 days. So I had high hopes even tho I didn’t feel like a steak. I asked for the teriyaki pork Katsu, and after much debate my mate went for the 400g T bone.
Ok, now comes the good part. The Katsu is priced at 15 dollars. The t-​bone is priced at $ 28. I mean, the prices seems pretty normal for a steak house. Right? But… Lol. The price also includes the full all you can eat salad bar. I was speechless, literally. And when my Katsu arrived on the table, I was basically shocked. The portion is so generous compare to the 15 dollar price tag. And the meat is not wafer thin. It’s real nice and thick and juicy. And the sweet teriyaki sauce is just perfect for the pork.
My mate asked for a med rare steak. And it arrived med rare, I wasn’t very impressed with his choice of garlic sauce for the steak tho. Oh well, each to their own. The Faro’s version of garlic sauce did intrigue me a bit. It’s a soy sauce based sauce. I didn’t get to taste it, but my mate said it tasted fantastic. I don’t know how he could chow down a whole t-​bone, two plates of salad, and still reach across the table to eat most of my kumara fries and some of my Katsu. Lol.
Well, this is a place that really did surprise me. The beef is tender and nice. The salad is free and all you can eat. The place is warm and cozy. Oh yea, I forgot that the service is very very friendly. And a huge lunch for two plus alcohol only costed 61 bucks in total.
So Faro. Please keep up the good work.

We came here for an early family dinner Saturday night after good feedback from my partner. He recently dined here with a group for his friend’s birthday. Steak, ribs, chops or fish grilled with all you can eat salad bar and hot selections with an Asian twist. Sounded good to me! Note: it used to be fine dining Korean cuisine under the same name but has recently changed to a steakhouse.
I was overly impressed with the décor, bright red walls, a beautifully lit up bar, cozy seats, gorgeous lanterns and hanging lamps. The restaurant and bathrooms were very clean and tidy and the food on both the salad bar and hot food selections looked fresh.
I ordered a 300g sirloin, $ 23 with the blue cheese sauce and it was cooked a perfect blue rare — well seared on all sides with the inside still cool to the touch. My partner’s scotch fillet was cooked to his liking as well, a light pink medium on the inside.
Now when my partner had told me about his night out with his friends (I was on babysitting duty that night) he couldn’t stop talking about the macaroni and cheese that their whole table kept gorging themselves on, so I was keen to sample it. I usually try very hard to eat as few empty carbs as possible but this mac n cheese was SO GOOD! Creamy, oozing with cheese and bacon with a delicious topping of breadcrumbs, I couldn’t help myself. The other items such as stir fried mushrooms and veg, roasted garlic and olives, and the salads were great, but the macaroni and cheese stole the show.
The prices are very reasonable as well and they are also open for lunch. This will definitely be a regular place to dine at for our family.