The Old Vicarage

Its times like this you wish there was a 5 star plus rating. Food was fantastic and the young man that served us was outstanding. He made us feel very comfortable and was attentive without being intrusive. We will be back after the end of dry July.

This was my first experience with First Table.
The Old Vicarage was an excellent choice. We were welcomed by the friendly, smiling staff as we walked in. We sat at a table for two by the fireplace. There were lots of cosy rooms and wee areas to dine. We had the soup and bread to start.. this was delicious. We ordered lamb and steak with a side of potatoes. Both mains were to perfection, accompanied by an Akarua Pinot and a strawberry beer.. yes strawberry beer- absolutely loved the new drink available. For dessert we had the cheesecake, this was delicious.. after our meal we went through to the bar where live music was playing. Just a perfect place to dine. Great food, fantastic vibe, friendly helpful staff. Thanks for a wonderful evening.

Amazing food and absolutely outstanding service, we will most definitely be back! Do yourself a favour and have the Moroccan spiced salad (with the lamb)

Hey! The Old Vicarage is such a quaint and welcoming return to the dining of my youth. The rustic charm of the aged wooden beams and the warmth and intimacy of the lighting create a sense of relaxation from the moment you step in the door.
The food, as always was exquisite, and my mother and I both devoured the lamb shanks. She doesn't eat very much these days, so that is a testament to her enjoyment. I almost wanted to change plates with my sister who ordered the Groper. It melted on her fork. Very tempting.
The others were full by then, but I couldn't resist the cheesecake. I wasn't disappointed and savoured every creamy mouthful of chocolate. The sauce was particularly yum.
Thanks also to the wonderful crew, who were sensitive to my mother's needs, and who patiently put up with our complicated splitting of the bill at the end.
A truly special way to spend a special birthday. Thanks, Old Vicarage. We'll be back - yet again!

Can never go wrong with the old vicarage! Amazing food, amazing service and amazing atmosphere. Would highly recommend any food off there menu and a bonus that most of the food can be gluten free. There’s not many restaurants that cater for gluten free but the old vicarage has a full range as well as dessert which was to die for!
All round amazing

If you enjoy good food and service then this eating house is the one to go to.
As a party of 4 we enjoyed our evening from the time we walked in until the time we walked out all immensely satisfied. The fish of the day thepulled pork was moist and full of flavor.
The staff were very efficient, and attentive in servicing our needs,
It was a great experience in a warm environment on a cool evening. Well done everyone at the Vicarage you did yourselves proud.
Thanks.

Top rate! We all chose a different meal after sharing the calamari entree. Dessert was strawberry cheesecake. And everything was just right.
Good humoured and efficient service completed the experience.
Thanks for catering for us gluten free customers so seamlessly.

Had a lovely meal at The Old Vicarage the other night. For the meals we had the Fish of the Day, The Moroccan Salad with Salmon and two of us had the Beef Fillet. We all very much enjoyed our meals. We didn't order starters, only because we wanted to save room for our mains. The food was delicious and the portion sizes were very generous. We also watched around the other tables to see some of the other mains and they just all looked so amazing. We will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu. I'd also like to say that the staff were very attentive, and that added to making the whole night perfect for us. Thank You!

Wow! Where to start. The staff were bubbly, friendly and helpful. The meals were absolutely amazing delicious. They say you eat with your eyes, well, when the plates arrived, our eyes were devouring the food before we could pick up the knife and fork. So well presented and equally tasty. Highly recommend dining here, you won’t be disappointed. Compliments to the chef and the staff.

As a family group of 3 we each chose a different dish and each was OUTSTANDING! In fact we wanted to share a tasty morsel with each other because it was so good. We also passed on our compliments to the chef. Highly recommended.

It was a pleasure to take my Auckland based Brother and his partner out for Dinner prior to them heading home - not to mention the First Table option seeing we are retired people. My brother, and ourselves, are very complimentary regarding The Vicarage - the dining atmosphere was wonderful, food and service were both A1. Friendly, obliging table service. I must thank you for giving them (and us) a great experience. Many thanks again

What a great place! As always, the food was AMAZING. Learnt long ago that it's impossible to get a bad meal at the old vicarage, no matter what you order.
The most outstanding thing was the service. We were advised on things most restaurants don't tell you (e.g. entree size being massive so to order the smaller portion etc). Was so nice to have waitresses with a sense of humour too (thanks to Danielle!)
All up, we were impressed once again and will be back soon!

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner here! Service was friendly and we felt welcome right from the start. We were seated in a beautiful side area surrounded by stained glass windows open to look out on the gorgeous garden. Food was lovely. We started with the fish cakes with mango chutney which I didn’t know could be so tasty. For a main I had the salad option with smoked salmon and it was cooked to perfection. My partner thoroughly enjoyed his venison as well. We finished with the valentines’s special they were still selling with a sampler range of valentine’s desserts and it was absolutely divine! The brownie on here was the best I have ever tasted and we fought over the last bit. Thanks for the amazing meal and wonderful service :)

I love the venue, it's such a great setting to relax in for an evening of fine dining.

I had the fish of the day, salmon, and it was fresh and beautifully cooked. It was topped with pesto and served with very tasty roasted baby carrots and potatoes. With it I enjoyed a rich smooth Australian Shiraz.

The sticky date pudding with caramel and ginger ice cream was perfect!

Lovely welcome when we arrived. Had two fussy teenagers with us and restaurant were happy to cater for them but in the end we went with the standard menu options. It was a great chance to try different items to broaden their tastes and although they weren't all hits they were all well cooked and presented. Initially it appeared the mains were rather small portions but it was an illusion created by the large plates and we all felt very satisfied with the amount of food. Would definitely consider returning.

Last night Tash was the most patient and understanding waitress one could ask for when she was faced with 3 guests who all had allergies, one with multiple restrictions. If you have coeliac disease you will be over the moon with the choices.The young man who handled our bill was a ton of fun sending us away with a smile on our faces. Let's not forget the food. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented. I wholeheartedly recommend visiting The Old Vicarage.

Our food was lovely and portions were perfect. Seane, our server, was friendly and relaxed. She also had a very good knowledge of the menu. We had the fish of the day and the lamb rack. For dessert we both chose the cheesecake which was delicious. Thank you for an excellent meal.

I went with two friends, the food was fantastic. I had the calamari followed by the venison and I couldn’t fault either of them. Generous size and absolutely delicious. My friends had mozerela sticks, pork belly, the broccoli side, garlic bread and the banana and peach pudding. Everything was wonderful except the pudding which was a bit disappointing. All in all I would definitely recommend this lovely restaurant in an absolutely gorgeous old house. Perfect for kids too with a garden outside to play in

This is going to be one of my favourite restaurants. The service staff are exceptionally enthusiastic and friendly so that means they're better than excellent and the food is better! We had five different dishes and they were all superbly cooked and flavoursome.
Well done Old Vicarage.

What a treat to meet up with an old friend over a lovely glass of wine and great food. (The pork belly was just scrumptious!) Only just had room to share a dessert! Will definitely return there, lovely atmosphere. Many thanks, The Old Vicarage

From the minute we walked in the door until we left the service was fantastic, which is a little bit rare these days. And the food was absolutely outstanding especially the lamb rack yum yum. Thanks Old Vicarage

I love The Old Vicarage. From its cosy atmosphere, to its delicious food, to the attentive staff - it never fails to please. Last night, I enjoyed the pork belly bites (which were a little fatty, but the apple sauce was amazing), the salmon (which was perfectly cooked and I could not fault) and the gingerbread and salted caramel cheesecake (which basically ticked off a bucket list item. Soooo good!). The staff were friendly, welcoming and attentive. The food was brought out efficiently. Overall, a fantastic experience!

Seated in a warm room and the waitress came over and introduced herself and we ordered drinks. Water was topped up a few times in the evening.
Pumpkin soup was delish and I was surprised with how much there was.
We both had pork belly for our mains and it was so tender and came apart with the fork.
Meals and service were definitely excellent.
Would recommend to all.

We enjoyed drinks in the bar before being taken to our table - the service was so friendly and attentive and the food could not have been more delicious - Bluff oysters to start, the pork belly and fish of the day with a side of baby broccoli. We should have stopped there, but then enjoyed the amazing gingerbread and salted butterscotch cheesecake and three scoops of Kapiti icecream, with desert wine - all beautifully presented with flavours to match. What amazing value to enjoy!

The fillet steak was amazing and beautifully cooked. Service was quick and friendly as well as unobtrusive, have never had an average experience at this restaurant , always consistently high standard, will keep coming back again and again.

We were warmly welcomed by Keegan who was also our waiter for the night & he was a great waiter, very tentative. He showed us to our table & went through the menu, firstly introducing himself which was a nice touch. He promptly came back with a water jug & filled our glasses. We were given adequate time to view the menu & gave him our orders. Everything came out in a timely manner & the food was delicious. The only thing to consider is this restaurant is a family restaurant & we were in a room with other families & wee children are noisy even when well behaved.. So if you are wanting a quiet meal then you will need to take that into consideration when you go first table at 5.15pm.