Soul Bar & Bistro

Is there a better place in downtown for a long lunch on a sunny Auckland day that Soul Bar and Restaurant? Last weekend I dined with my husband and a small group at Soul Bar and had a fantastic experience. The food was delicious, with interesting tastes in our shared entrees and and a perfect crab ravioli for my main. The wines were all great and we were ably assisted with our selection by Vicky. Vicky was one of those people with the perfect balance of friendliness and professionalism, and we found the service excellent. Soul Bar has been consistently good for a long time and the food is fresh, interesting and tasty - and the location speaks for itself.

I was having 2 dinners and 1 lunch at Soul during the past few months and was never disappointed. The food was excellent, the staff friendly and attentive, though the portions were a bit small and of course the price tag could be less. That said I've had a great experience every time and would go back for the seafood chowder alone - one of the best I had anywhere.

Have eaten twice at soul and have been twice disappointed with the whole experience.

Slow and uninviting wait staff, raw and/or cold mains, no attempt to rectify or apologise when comments about meals were made to the wait staff.

Then the final blow came with the bill when there was a 15% holiday surcharge on top....

I would happily pay the additional 15% anytime if the food was up to par. However, it was severely lacking in flavours, temperature, portion size and presentation.

Not cool.

Should be renamed Soul-less.

Soul is the best restaurant and bar in Auckland. Situated right by the water in the viaduct, their seafood is second to none, with friendly bar and waiting staff and a fantastic selection of wines. I have booked a table at Soul for the day of the RWC Final? Why? Well there's nowhere I'd rather be.

I have eaten at Soul numerous times in the past with differing opinions. However during the last 8 weeks, building up to and during the RWC campaign, I have frequented Soul Bar & Bistro at least twice a week and cannot fault it. From its fantastic brunch options and diverse wine list, through to its top quality dinner experience the menu never disappoints. Add to this the friendly, attentive yet not over-bearing service and you have a place where you'd fear not take any clients for friends.

The location is superb, the reputation high and bookings are sometimes hard to secure. However it is all worth it for one of Auckland's most reliable dining experiences.

Went to Soul Bar & Bistro as we had heard it was fantastic, what a let down it was. When you are paying that kind of money you expect what you pay for...cutlery was dirty, food came cold and side orders came halfway through our meal , just so disappointing when one has looked foward to eating there, would definitely not go back to Soul Bar & Bistro again when there are so many others down there to choose from that are cheaper and way better.

Just the worst:
worst food
worst service
worst prices
worst ambience
but best location
Everything fits within a price band, I know that. But Soul bar and bistro wants to clean your wallet out with some pretty lousy food (not all that we had but enough to totally spoil the evening). Some pretty lousy service. noise that made conversation impossible.
Generally we would have fared better - price wise, food wise, cost wise and enjoyment wise - doing a Big Mac. That tells you!

My Partner and I recently went to soul for an early dinner. I was highly disappointed in my overall experience. The service wasn’t up to the standard I would expect, it took us at least 15 minutes to be given a wine list, and another 20 for the waitress to take our drinks order, I even had to get up and get my own menu.Once our food arrived the presentation wasn’t very nice, looked like something you would get at Dennys…My partner ordered the Pork Belly and I ordered Macaroni cheese (which you would expect at Soul would be amazing!) But none the less it has a thick layer of orange oil on top, I though maybe it would dissolve into the macaroni but once I gave it a little stir I noticed that all I was given was a whole bowl of very liquid cheese with ¼ filled with actual macaroni pasta, I had about 3 mouthfuls then immediately felt ill and told the waitress, all I was offered was another drink (which I could not have because I was driving) and yet I still got charged for my meal, my partners was meant to come with Kumra and baby Bok Choy but the Kumra was absent and when asked they said they didn’t receive their daily order, wouldn’t you think to use potato instead?I used to love soul but my last experience has made me never want to return