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Hours
Sun
5:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Mon
5:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Wed
5:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Thu
5:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Fri
5:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Sat
5:00 pm - 9:30 pm
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Food and ambience
Italian, Pizza, European, Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Special Occasion Dining, Groups
Does this restaurant serve Sardinian food?
Details
CUISINES
Italian, Pizza, European
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner
FEATURES
Takeout, Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Table Service
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4.0
380 reviews
Excellent
141
Very good
111
Average
65
Poor
25
Terrible
38
Michelle P
42 contributions
Dec 2024 • family
Delicious and nutritious meal- great service, They accommodated our extra person, and two very specific dietary requirements. What a remarkable restaurant.
Well priced for such excellent service. A chance to splurge and feel special!Thanks to the very attentive waiting staff. First Class!
Written 27 December 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sqddo
81 contributions
Apr 2024 • family
We dined here and had pizza and pasta across our group and everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal. We asked if they could change out the spicy sausage on the pepperoni and they asked us if we wanted to try some before ordering - very helpful.
We didn’t eat desserts, too full after our dinners . Would happily recommend and visit again.
Written 26 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TroyJA
Whangarei13 contributions
Aug 2021 • couples
Great quality food, have become addicted to reading reviews on here but both mine and my partners meal were respectable and they were entirely different dishes.
Nothing absolutely out of this world but was higher quality than you’d expect from most run of the mill Italian restaurants.
We never got our waiters name but (we think) he was part Italian, she knew a good amount about the dishes and was able to explain to us things we were unsure of.
The only downside was the dessert, but that’s to be expected with every single resultant on earth.
I paid $14 for 4 chocolate eclairs about 1.5x1.5 cm in size, they tasted good but you can get like 2 boxes at the shops for that price.
TL;DR, It wasn’t “themed” at all, not that I was able to notice, but the mains and entrees were well above average, but the dessert was over priced, but that’s par for the course with every restaurant so take that with a. Grain of salt. Staff were hospitable and helpful.
Written 10 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
132rimis
Singapore148 contributions
Jan 2023 • family
Worst experience ever ….. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
we love Italian and my kids organised the dinner at portofino thinking it has some brand name and we have tried them at viaduct harbour and Hamilton both and it was such an awesome experience for us .
Well , we were wrong .
Let’s start with the service …. It took around 15 mins for a server to actually come and take our drinks order . And even when we were placing order it seems that server were in some kind of rush or something . Their attitude was like it was such an annoyance to attend to our table .
Our entree arrived after 30 mins …. And drinks were still missing . When we asked the server that we are still waiting for our drinks … there was an eye roll exchange between 2 servers and drinks arrived 5 mins later .
That already dampened our mood and we decided to just finish our meal and go .
But icing on the cake was the food …. We ordered caprese and prosciutto de Parma…. I seriously regret not taking a picture of it …. I can’t even describe …. They had literally taken a big size tomato .. cut into rings .. arranged 6 rings on the plate to fill up the plate and then on top of it placed a very thin … inch by inch size of some kind of sliced cheese … it wasn’t mozzarella or buffala for sure .. and there was counted 4 leaves of basil and that’s it …. That was their chapters salad … no dressing … no seasoning…nothing …. Even at home , we put in more effort than that .
Same was with every dish …. We had ordered .. caprese , Prosciutto de bufala, calamari , carbonara , penne al forno , pollo alla cacciatore, scaloppine ai funghi.
That’s a lot of food to check chefs capabilities. But sad to say , there was not even one dish which impressed us .
Veggie sides were tasteless and no seasoning . Chicken was tough , pasta was over cooked and under seasoned , all in all worst Italian ever we had in our life .
You are better off having KFC than spending money in this restaurant.
👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻
Written 14 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stephen M
Falkirk District207 contributions
Feb 2023 • none
Despite a breakdown in communication with our on line booking we were able to enjoy a most excellent dinner and service at this atmospheric Italian restaurant. Our server was very friendly and understanding of our requirements. The dishes were beautifully prepared and presented and most importantly were absolutely delicious. The supportive wines were both Italian and certainly complimented our food. Highly recommended
Written 26 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Caitlin
4 contributions
Sept 2020 • couples
Found this great place for dinner last night. Quick service and delicious food
Our meals were delivered in good time and the scents from the kitchen were tantalisingly. The table next to us ordered garlic bread and the smell was heavenly. I've been sooo disappointed in the garlic breads I've ordered recently where you cant even smell the garlic.... wish I'd ordered some from here.
My desert of profiteroles had the guy at the next table drooling!! Utterly delicious!! Highly recommend
Written 7 September 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rantin rover
Biggar9152 contributions
Mar 2020 • none
If you've been to Portofino, Italy you won't recognise the setting here on Tuwharetoa Street as it's a bit more flat and urban. Still it was selling Italian food and we were happy to take a table outside.
There is a decent choice of traditional style dishes on the menu and a selection of wines from Italy and New Zealand. When in Rome and all that - we ordered a couple of glasses of Marlborough Lake Chalice Sauvignon Blanc ($10.90 per glass).
We'd had pizza earlier in the day on Lake Taupo so went straight for mains of Scaloppine ai Funghi (veal with mushrooms) $35.50 and Pesce del Giorno (Fish of the Day) $37.50.
The veal was pan fried and served with a hearty portion of mushroom sauce, potatoes and mixed vegetables. It was lean and delicious. My wife's fish was served with a Marsalla sauce, shrimps, capers, rice and some rocket garnish. It too was delicious. To finish we had Panna Cotta ($11) and Tiramisu Classico ($15) which we both enjoyed.
Service was pleasant, the place was fairly busy and maybe with another glass or two of the vino we could almost have been in a piazza in Italy.
Two course dinner for two was $120 which we thought was reasonable value for money.
We visited in March 2020, prior to Covid-19 lockdown.
Written 15 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Anj B
4 contributions
Sept 2023 • family
The menu had changed. Some items were not available. The wine list had also changed and is very minimal. None of the food we had was at all pleasant. The Garlic Pizza bread, was so garlicy it was inedible. My daughter ordered the kids Fettucine, which as basically a bad cheese sause with some dried up bits of chicken in it. The Calarami, was really thin and chewy. Very dissapointing
Written 15 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SBEH12
Wellington46 contributions
Feb 2023 • couples
We celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary with dinner at Portofino, Taupo last night. We had a fantastic evening with brilliant service provided by the great staff as well as excellent food. The restaurant was quiet when we arrived at 7pm but quickly became busier, an indication that the restaurant is once again proving popular. We would recommend Portofino to anyone reading this we are sure you won’t be disappointed.
Written 6 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GloryGeorge
Tauranga42 contributions
Nov 2022 • solo
I unexpectedly had to visit Taupo for business overnight. The lodgings were quite a way out so I decided to get a takeaway meal.
I drove past Portofino and checked out their website. The menu was outstanding - not the usual 'boring mainstream' Italian food!
With some trepidation I ordered the fish of the day. Would it be over cooked when I sat down to eat it was a concern.
The meal was perfect and it had the beautiful flavours of shrimps, capers with a rich marsala crema sauce over tarakihi which was sat on stunning aborio rice.
I have not had such a beautiful fish of the day in quite some time and this was a takeaway.
Next time I will dine in as the restaurant looked really quite something else. That will probably be tomorrow.
Written 28 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew M
Taupo132 contributions
Aug 2022 • couples
We have been living in Taupo for 2 1/2 years and our first time here - we should have visited sooner! We were pleasantly surprised at the great service (from the guy with a beard) and the great food. Some Portofino restaurants are poor in food & service but Taupo is as good as the Meadowbank restaurant in Auckland - both restaurants are great for a meal!
Recommend scallopeine Marsala and the pasta with bacon & potato both beautiful meals 5/5 . Well done 👍 portofino Taupo - we will be back again soon!
Written 10 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mike385
New Plymouth110 contributions
Mar 2022 • couples
We enjoy Italian food and are pretty fussy about its taste and presentation . We enjoyed a very satisfying and tasty offering here. Small and unobtrusive among larger eateries we happily recommend. Good value for money and extensive menu.
Written 8 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
VeeBeeMee
Havelock North293 contributions
Sept 2021 • couples
Portofino Taupo in the past has been excellent and consistently good quality. It has been several years since dining there but thought on our travels we would dine Italian. Sadly it was not up to expectation. The penne all’arribbiata was tasty but tiny flecks of mushroom , 3 green olives and a ton of pasta. $22.50 A vegetarian meal with no veggies. The spaghetti marinara tasted awful with fishy smelling seafood. That was $28.50….and not very nice at all. I can definitely cook better and I’m not a chef!
Written 23 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dave Watson
Taupo3 contributions
Dec 2022 • couples
Food amazing
Service first class. Very friendly and attentive staff
We overheard a gentleman at a table beside us asking his friend what he would recommend. His reply was “everything”
One of Taupo’s little gems
Written 30 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
NewZealander101
Dannevirke68 contributions
Jun 2021 • none
Last night of the holiday looking for something warming, flavorsome and filling. What better food than pasta and/or Pizza. We stumbled upon Portofino, my partner is celiac and therefore we had to ask whether we could get her something to eat (which can sometimes be quite hard to find). However, Portofino make their own GF pasta and according to her it was amazing. A great bonus for all those wither allergic or just trying to cut out gluten as much as possible.
Written 27 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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