MEATATARIANs heaven: Best steaks in Auckland in New Zealand

"Outstandingly Good! This was my 3rd visit to Soul and was by far the absolute best.  Not sure if booking helped plus being lunch it was a lot quieter than the usual hectic dinner crowd and queues.  Either way we were welcomed to Soul and received wonderful service as we  were shown to our table in the lovely flower pot adorned atrium setting showered with sun. The menu is not huge but still takes a lot of careful deliberation due to the innovative nature of the meals.  Divine...divine... divine.. they all look divine!!! We settled on the Scampi cocktail with whipped avocado & Moroccan ketchup to share as our starter.  I wish I'd got one each but at $28.50 it was not going to happen  It arrived in a martini class (nice touch) and had about 4 large prawns in a divine avocado mousse with salad and had a large crumbed scampi on top.  Divine! I then chose Roasted Savannah beef fillet, smoky potato purée, beef marrow + horseradish pesto (excellent value @ $38.00).  As a self proclaimed beef connoisseur I can honestly say this was one of the best steaks I have had in many many years.  Divine does not do it justice.   My partner ordered the Merino lamb rump with mini lamb & pumpkin pie.. Again another wonderfully good meal.  We had the Creamed feta spinach with fried almonds as our side ($8) which was the perfect accompaniment to this fabulous meal. Having discovered gluttony is a wonderful sin.. we proceeded to share a dessert.  Our waiter insisted the bittersweet chocolate was the one but knowing our own minds too well we settled on  the Hazelnut meringue, praline parfait, Valrhona milk chocolate brulee & pear confit ($16.50).  We both had to agree this is the best dessert we have had.  ( Admittedly we are not huge dessert people but do love sweet things).  This was a subtle sweetness with heavenly flavours of praline and pear which worked so well together in presentation & taste that we have made it our top choice for a dessert.   So as you can see I'm not sure whether the moons were all aligned in the right places or we had an extra dose of happy that morning .....I apologise but I can only say one word... Divine.. over & over & over... Soul delivered us a little slice of awesome today...."

"If you've ever been to Italy you will know its about dining with warmth, family, friends and fantastic food.   Prego epitomises this and never disappoints.  It is the hub of the colourful Auckland people scene.  You never know who you are dining with but you know you've seen them on TV, in magazines or just know they people who want to share in that buzz of I'm an Aucklander and I'm special.   We strolled up at 2.30pm looking for a late lunch and were greeted by the wonderfully efficient staff.  We chose to sit outside (I mean who wouldn't on a gloriously sunny day).  We sat under the gorgeous canopy of a huge yellow tree (hate to admit I don't know its breed) but the setting has a reminiscence of Italy. We ordered the calamari to start which arrived fairly promptly (what you want at 3pm) and was beautiful.  A light batter and scrummy aoili on rocket salad.  Perfection!!  We added two glasses of a strange sounding red wine which the waitress assured us was good...she was right,  it was excellent.  (Don't you  love staff you can trust). As self proclaimed steak connoisseurs we couldn't order anything but the Surf and turf.. a prime piece of beef adorned with 2 grilled prawns and surrounded with the (yep an OMG good) bernaise sauce... on a bed of polenta which was a new experience and one in which I want again as soon as possible.. OMG yum!  We accompanied this with a rocket salad (with shaved parmesan and balsamic dressing)- a must when having a good steak. Yep I can die now and go to heaven ( again!!)  it truly is a 10/10 meal. Cause we are crazy and have discovered gluttony is a wonderful sin- we went on to try the Tiramisu for dessert (sharing one of course- we are not that crazy)...  It was presented beautifully and was good.  Possibly could have been a bit sweeter in the syrupy parts but the mousse-like majority was divine.    Perfect food, wonderful atmosphere and excellence in all things Prego keeps this as my number 1 Italian (well #1 in most categories)  in Auckland."