Market Seafood Brasserie

I’m going to be honest. Seeing as how we were taking advantage of one of an all-you-can-eat-prawns deals, we weren’t expecting too much - just that our money wouldn’t be wasted at best. Thinking back, let me tell you, it turned out to be the best I’ve spent on a meal in Auckland in a while. I do need to clarify though, that my feeling towards seafood is potentially borderline unhealthy. So for someone like me, this was a fantastic deal - steam prawn, steamed prawn, more steamed prawn, a salad bar, garlic bread and fries. And more prawn. What I mean by this is that to truly appreciate this, you need to be slightly fanatical about seafood or else you might end up feeling a little lacking in something. Maybe a little variety, said mum. Maybe BBQed ones? Is it really just steamed and only steamed? But you can’t fault them on this - after all, it was a pretty good deal for the price. And to be honest, I personally wasn’t all that bothered - the prawns we were presented with were pretty sizable, fresh, and overall steamed beautifully. The picture is of the smaller basket that came after the initial big one - the whole family praised them for this, because that way you’re not leaving chances of prawns going to waste when diners feel like they’ve had enough half way through a second or third large basket. It was unlimited during the ‘session’ anyway, so you could continue ordering, and this way you weren’t left with cold prawns. Win win for all. As for the ordering, the young waitress did a great job of keeping an eye out and approaching to see if we wanted more without being obtrusive at all. We dined outside, which was great - they put the four of us in one of the sizable tables which means there was plenty of room for the large plates, drinks and condiments. Sounds like a small thing, but there’s nothing worse than having to balance half your unnecessarily large plate off the tiny table (as is the case in a lot of Auckland restaurants). The service was pretty good overall - we did get a much later delivery of our initial prawn order for an unexplained or apologized reason (the table that sat a minute before us had already finished off theirs even before we’d gotten ours), but it was probably lucky for them that the waitress was so attentive the rest of the time that we really didn’t feel like complaining. We knew we had plenty of time anyway. Towards the end a side dish order had to be checked on twice, however (but lucky for them everyone was in such a good mood after the delicious prawns). The atmosphere overall is great, and we even mentioned how well renovated the whole area was in the last few years esp in comparison to the Sydney fish markets (no comparison. We win hands down). Overall, we really enjoyed our experience. It was a good taster to the restaurant, and just as they’re hoping for, I’m sure as a result of these deals, it left us interested in returning for a proper a la carte meal in the future.

Located downtown in the newly redeveloped Viaduct Basin/Wynyard Quarter at the Auckland Fish Market, the Market Seafood Brasserie serves up the day's catch and cooks them to utter deliciousness for any local and out of town seafood lovers. The courtyard seating area is simply lovely on a good summer or winter's day. Their menu ranges from the good old fashioned fish and chips, to more upmarket and sophisticated dinner menu that focuses on seafood. Today we came for the "all you can eat, wild Australian king prawns" special which also includes unlimited amounts of garlic bread and fries, and salad as well via the salad bar, and they do mean unlimited. Baskets of freshly cooked prawns are delivered to your table as soon as you finished the previous one, same with the garlic bread and fries platter. Doing it this way (table side) makes you feel a tad more civilized than rushing up to the food table and battle it out with other diners (which is more common with other buffet style restaurants). Service was excellent, we were greeted by the wait staff immediately and explained in detail how the dining service worked. They also come around every 5-10 minutes to check on our food, clearing our plates and as mentioned before, deliver a bottomless amount of food until we tell them to stop. The head chef is definately passionate about the food and on this occation, came out and asked for our opinions on what can be improved upon. They currently offer a lunch special as of writing this review (2012/03), and looking at the menu in general, offers rather good value for money in terms of quality and what you get. If you're a seafood lover, definately head down to the Market Seafood Brasserie and treat yourself to the day's catch.

Hands down one of the best value seafood experiences in Auckland. I come here probably at least once a week for lunch, but would probably be quite happy to dine here daily. There's nothing worse than having an overpriced, overcooked piece of seafood, and the Fish Market Brasserie has never failed in serving up delicious, perfectly cooked dishes at totally reasonable prices - usually less than $20 (hard to find at other restaurants in the city for seafood). My personal favourites are the squid salad and spaghetti marinara, and the entree sizes are plenty generous for most appetites. The daily specials also provide some great variety and value, from perfectly seared tuna to big juicy scallops, all can be had for very affordable prices. There's a beef burger on the menu too so you can drag your non-seafood loving friends along if you have to, too. They also have a nice range of wines and beers to enjoy with your meal, and the coffee (Burton's) isn't half bad either! One of my favourite eateries in Auckland, and really worth a visit.