Orphan’s Kitchen

I chose Orphans Kitchen for a professional coffee catch up with a supplier we are considering using — it was the perfect place. The décor was clean, minimalist and airy. The staff were friendly and offered great sharing options for a mid morning snack. We settle on two coffees (latte and a cappuccino) with a cheese scroll and honey scone. The size was perfect for a mid-​morning snack. I cannot wait to come back for dinner — this place is wonderful. The food was simple but perfectly executed.

A great place to eat. Out hosts recommended this restaurant and it made our day perfect. I am not very into vegetarian or vegan food, but these meals are really tasty and you won’t miss anything in it. And as a German I have to say, it has the best bread in NZ! I can fully recommend this place! The service is good, but it’s even better if you get served by the lovely beard guy!

Great food, coffee and, lovely staff. A tad pricey if you ain’t use to Ponsonby prices.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a film, Brunch at Orphans kitchen is not .
Starring myself and a few other Unilocalers we sat seated at the larger tables and since I had been hearing about the poached eggs with anchovies and Meyer lemon that was a definite order for me, add a cup of filter coffee and we’re good .
The eggs came on a piece of toast, with the anchovies artfully placed and a scattering of chives and chilli flakes, for me the eggs could’ve had a couple of more minutes as they weren’t quite set in the white part but were nicely runny. I don’t think I would order this one again, even though it was really flavoursome with a nice hit of chilli and the saltiness of the anchovies as when I saw what the others had ordered I began to rethink my order, but no biggie .
I would go back for the fruit salad purple rice option which looked healthy and wholesome .
This place is always packed and always good reviews, so I don’t think you can really go wrong if you were to adopt Orphans Kitchen as your new brunch place.

This morning I finally made the early morning trek across the bridge to check out Orphan Kitchen’s much raved about breakfast menu.
I love that it’s a little bit out of the ordinary with dishes like black sticky rice served with fresh fruit and coconut yoghurt or slow poached eggs w anchovy and a meyer lemon curd on toast. Not an eggs benedict in sight…
Recently I’ve developed a slight obsession with mushrooms so when I saw they were on the menu the decision was made. They arrived in a large bowl, steaming hot, in a dark, salty broth with blobs of quark and a generous sprinkle of chives. On the side, was a rustic chunk of their made-​in-​house spelt bread lathered in burnt butter, to mop up the soupy deliciousness. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting but they were the best ‘shrooms I’ve ever had. Pair this with their ethereal, acoustic playlist, Supreme coffee and impeccable yet laidback service and you’ve got yourself a dreamy start to the morning.
I’m normally one to stick Shore-​side for breakfast, but this is one spot that is more than worth making the trip…

I had read about this restaurant here:
and decided that it would be one of the places I was not going to miss on this trip. Looking at the website, I saw that the first Tuesday of the month was «test kitchen night, and knew that the stars were aligned in my favor.
I got out of work a few minutes early and hustled over, only to find myself the first customer of the night. Not the best sign, especially because the waiter seemed a little taken aback that anyone was there so early. I assured him that I was there for test kitchen night, and we got down to the business of the evening.
The «menu» that he brought out was more like a list of ingredients that the kitchen was going to riff on that night. Seeing «eggplant, sunflower, sea grapes, and samphire» left a lot of room for interpretation. I was decidedly not excited about that course, for the simple fact that I’m not a big fan of eggplant. What came out of the kitchen converted me on the spot. I’d try to describe it, but really, the photo does it so much better.
The other four courses were equally amazing, not a dud in the group. I’ve had other meals at test kitchens where it was hit and miss, but this meal was one stunner after another, with dessert being the knockout punch.
I slowly strolled back to my hotel wondering if I had just had the best meal of the month, a little worried that the rest of the meals on this trip won’t measure up. Time will tell, but I suspect I’ll be back at the Orphan’s Kitchen in the next 10 days saying «More, please.»

There’s nothing poor about the dining experience at Orphan’s kitchen. Having enjoyed their dinners there a few times over the past couple of years, news of their weekend breakfasts led to a daytime visit that confirmed their status as one of the coolest foodie venues on Ponsonby Road. The poached eggs with sardines looked surprisingly small, perched on their toasted platform. But from the first outpouring of golden yolk from the most translucent casing I’ve encountered on a poached egg to the subtle balanced sweet, salty and sour condiments glinting off the plate, only happy things happened in my mind and my mouth. Crumpets are the home made kind, not the packeted variety. And boy are they good too! Crunchy on the outside, duvet soft on the inside, coated in butter and honey, they are a perfect simple winter treat. So what if there is no cake cabinet? And only a limited menu? Everything here has been well thought out and executed. For those reasons, this orphan is sure to have a home for years to come.

Awesome meals — loved it — pasta was amazing — good service and bread with black salt was amazing

If you want a place to have breakfast or lunch at in Ponsonby, this should be your only option. They smash everyone else out of the water on the trifecta of food, coffee and service.
Group of us out the back for breakfast. We all ended up ordering practically everything off the menu and it was all perfect. I had the slow poached eggs with anchovies and lemon on flaxseed bread. Hands down best dish I’ve had in a long time. Best poached eggs I’ve ever had as well. The smashed avocado on toast was beautiful as well, and some friends had the wagyu beef brisket and mushrooms and both were perfect — can’t wait to come back for dinner.
Coffee was tasty, not burnt and hot — can’t ask for more than that.
Service was excellent. They were busy but our coffee and food came quickly and all together. Wait staff were knowledgeable with questions we had about the menu and continually back and forth to check if we needed anything else and to top up water.
I’m going to be back here with a vengeance.

This was our first time coming here and we will be back.
The brunch menu was a bit daunting for some of our group — not an Eggs Bene in sight. There are loads of interesting ingredients among the selections.
If this freaks you out like it did most of our group I suggest you build your own breakfast from the sides menu as they did with much success.
Despite the people from Avondale being hideously hungover, all enjoyed their meals.
I had the bacon with feijoa relish and avocado. It’s sensational. I added two slow poached eggs. Perfect!
Nice atmosphere and great coffee.

Breakfast at Orphans
Nothing makes it easier to get out of bed on Sunday than the prospect of trying a new breakfast menu. Orphans has been serving breakfast for 5 days now and their serving it well.
Our waiter was a tall man with a moustache like all the other tall men with moustaches in ponsonby. He convinced my mum to try a almond milk latte instead of her usual trim latte. It wasn’t to her taste unfortunately but she proceeded to try one of their standard trim lattes and raved about how beautifully made it was, the entire car ride home.
I tried their cold pressed juice of the day pear and rhubarb, which was incredibly tart and delicious.
We both tried their avocado smash, with bacon, feijoa chutney, roasted tomatoes, and spelt bread. It was beautiful, perfect portion size and easy to devour.
All the staff were friendly and full of chat which I love.
Thoroughly enjoyed it will definitely be going back, next item to try is their ricotta panna cotta!!!

I finally made it to Orphans Kitchen after seeing all the hype online. Being a chef its difficult to eat out when you work the same hours that most eateries are open :/​However I finally made it here for a friday lunch!
On arrival we were told the dishes were either for sharing or individual serves with all of the small plates served cold and the larger served hot. We were also given complimentary bread with a beurre noisette butter (burnt butter). Normally sharing dishes are served at the same time or when prepared, but we didn’t realise they were being served as entrée and mains. This is fine but I’m not sure whether something went wrong in the kitchen because the wait between the trevally (entrée) being cleared and the mains served was incredibly long.
The skirt steak and porae were perfectly cooked. The black garlic on the skirt steak was delicious and something different you don’t see often on most menus. I think the Porae dish was nice with the jerusalem artichoke but everything else was a bit unexciting and the turnip was a bit firm to bite — meaning undercooked. I really enjoyed the cured trevally. The dish is light and refreshing but we agreed the kumara chips with kawakawa mayo was OMG. Purple and golden kumara was used and they were super crisp and super soft in the middle. They would be the best hand cut kumara chips I’ve tried to date. The dinner menu has a few extra menu items which look attractive. I would still recommend Orphans Kitchen if you want light meal options and a casual dining experience without pretentiousness.
Rating
Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁸⁄₁₀
Value for Money: Average
118 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby
Opening Hours:
Tues-​Sat 5pm-​late
Fri 12pm-​late

It’s a rainy Wednesday night and we manage to find a parking space, then get a shared table at this very popular restaurant that has so much business it doesn’t take reservations. I felt a little underdressed looking around the room. Was everyone off to a mid-​week fashion show after dinner? I guess we were in the heart of posh Ponsonby, so the look of the clientele wasn’t a surprise. Our waitress went above and beyond to explain the menu to us first-​timers. We went with the ceviche, lamb shins, rye gnocchi and boarfish. I got a bit depressed half way through the meal since the food was so tasty and I knew I wouldn’t be able to fit in dessert. The mains were a bit larger than I expected for a nice bistro like this. Don’t get me wrong though, I love hearty portions. I couldn’t find any faults in the food or service. The only reason why I’m not giving 5 stars is because I personally feel more comfortable at lower to mid-​range restaurants. Orphans Kitchen is on the high end tier of casual dining. It’s the type of place I’d go to as a special treat for a birthday or some other celebratory splurge.
On a side note, I’m quite amused by all the online chit-​chat regarding the missing apostrophe. Not that I’m a grammar queen, but what’s the deal Orphans Kitchen? Unilocal has gone ahead to correct the grammatical error, but is there another reason why it’s not there?

I feel like this restaurant could be great, it’s just got a few teething problems.
We put our names down around 7pm and were called back around half an hour (ish). We had a large group of 7, so we were put upstairs. Off to a good start, drinks orders were taken pretty quickly. Things had obviously been underestimated in the kitchen with a few things announced unavailable — that’s cool, they had alternatives. Bit of a problem, though, when they’d run out of milk for coffee. Until it was brought up, no one thought to just pop out to a dairy across the road and buy some. Thankfully we had one waitress who was totally onto it as opposed to the guy that brought up the coffee.
Food wise, the ceviche is amazing. Light, fresh, fragrant and a real pleasure to eat. Delicate flavours you will really enjoy. I also really enjoyed the wild boar boil up with its flavorful broth, yet whilst the gnocchi itself was beautifully done, I wasn’t a fan of what it was served with. Personal preference though.
I will give it another whirl, but not in the room upstairs. We felt a little neglected and out of the way. Maybe if you had 10 people it would be better. A few issues with the stereo speakers being right there…
I don’t want to bitch unnecessarily, because it’s a cool room in a very cool restaurant, but it just needs a bit of help to get to awesome.

Had a perfect mid-​week catchup with a good friend here last week and am now plotting when to go back.
The place has a lovely, airy feel to it — you don’t feel cramped in like many other establishments along Ponsonby Rd — and service was relaxed and friendly.
The real standout point was the thoughtfully-​created food (as it should be when going out to eat!). We shared a small plate (a zingy brussels sprout salad), a large plate (more-​ish potato gnocchi) and a side of yams, which was plenty for us. If dining with a big eater another plate of food would be needed.
The dished were all beautifully presented, and another nice touch was the bread and ‘burnt’ butter (tasted hazelnutty) which came out to whet our appetite before our food.
The evening did add up a bit — but when the food is flawless, no complaints… plus we did have six glasses of wine between us!

To say that we expected a lot from Orphan’s Kitchen especially given their rather impressive and exciting pedigree would be a bit of an understatement. The room, fit out, and ambiance are cozy — not cozy in the realtor sense meaning a serious lack of elbow room, although there is some truth here, but more so in the sense that the space is comfortable and non-​intimidating compared to the hard industrial eateries popping up on a weekly basis. The staff were enthusiastic, attentive, and charming despite the full house that night. The dishes we ordered were quite spectacular with exciting, interesting and refreshing ingredients and flavour combinations. Orphan’s Kitchen would have lived up to the hype had it not been for a few hiccups along the way.
After an authentic Oliver Twist fast for 2hrs while we waited for our table after being told each time that it was not far away, a slew of items on the menu which we were informed were no longer available when we finally came to order, and a premature dessert coming immediately after our starters which was simply refrigerated until we finished our mains I’m hard pressed to give this place anything more than 3 stars even though I know it deserves so much more. It may have been an off night and a series of unfortunate events however this heavily impacted on our dining experience and left us feeling a bit jaded after our meal. Since we’ve tried every main on the menu we’re unlikely to return anytime soon but would be tempted back in with a menu refresh — just maybe not on a Saturday night.

I have been eagerly awaiting my first trip here and wasn’t too sure what to expect at the Orphans Kitchen, but i have to say i loved it.
Its a unique place, the food is very different to your usual Ponsonby road establishments.
The friend i went with is a vegetarian, i have to say this did limit our choice on the menu. We chose the Brussels sprout salad w/​beetroot, goats cheese and pine nuts, the homemade gnocchi with hazelnuts plus the roasted yams. These dishes were AMAZING and a good amount for us to share.
The flavors were incredible, my favorite was the salad, the Brussels sprouts were so fresh and crunchy, the beetroot, goats cheese and pine nuts were a great combo. SO YUM!
The wine list here is vast, there is a good selection of French and Spanish reds to choose from plus an interesting selection of craft beers.
We finished off with a chocolate and tamarillo pudding which was also amazing.
The staff here are fun, friendly and all rather good looking!
All up I’m a big fan, i admire places like the Orphans kitchen for going against the tide. They have really created a unique menu with a great atmosphere.
Highly recommend to all, make sure you go with an adventurous foodie!

I really loved Orphans Kitchen, which i’m happy about as I really like Ella (RIP).
I love the soft interior, lighting and funrnishings, the staff are super lovely and know everything about the food and wine. SUCH a good menu, beautiful presentation and really fresh ingredients. Some of the dishes were a wee bit lacking in flavour but maybe this place is suited to a more delicate palate. Definitely coming back to try more of the menu. Highly reccomend as a good date night place.