Auckland Restaurant Review: Piha’s Aryeh Has An Unrivalled Location & An Organic NZ Menu

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By Jesse Mulligan

Tuesday Feb. 04, 2025

Viva

Seared duck breast and confit leg with mandarin at Piha restaurant Aryeh. Photo / Babiche Martens

ARYEH

Address: 20 Seaview Rd, Piha

Contact: 027 411 7046

Drinks: Fully licensed

Cuisine: Fine dining/modern bistro

Reservations: Accepted

From the menu: Gazpacho $23; ceviche $34; venison tataki $34; steak (150g) $38; fish and chips $38; ½ duck $63

Rating: 16/20

Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a

It’s certainly a commitment, driving to Piha for dinner. The trip from town is only 50 minutes off-peak but much of it is on winding roads through misty bush. We planned our journey to get to the beach an hour before our 6pm booking so we could take a nice stroll, but a thunderstorm arrived at the same time so we got stuck in the car. With no local retail for cover, we were forced to drive slowly around the community staring at landslides and murder sites like a bunch of dark tourists.

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Finally, Aryeh opened its doors and it was time to pull into the restaurant carpark, where there was a small traffic jam of other cars doing the same thing. I’m always unreasonably annoyed when a restaurant with spare tables insists on staggering their booking but perhaps Aryeh should consider it. We were seated and offered drinks very quickly but that first round took almost 30 minutes to arrive.

Aryeh has views of Piha's Lion Rock from its outdoor dining area. Photo / Babiche Martens

“I’m sorry, we just got slammed”, said the waiter by way of explanation and she was right. Looking around, almost every table in the main dining room and the charming covered deck area was full by 6.30pm. Three serving staff were doing their best to manage the rush but it was a stretch. At least the view was nice – even on a rainy day you can look out the window and know exactly where you are.

Aryeh (it means ‘lion’ in Aramaic and is a reference to the famous local rock) is tucked into the old cafe site next to the General Store at Piha North, and while the service and decor are casual, the food is pretty fancy. We shared, but the menu isn’t really designed that way – in fact it was tastingmenu-only during December and the size of the dishes means you’ll probably need two or three courses to feel full.

Chef and owner Lucas Parkinson is committed to fresh, organic produce and there are lots of treats on the plate. His gazpacho was a highlight and featured ripe summer tomatoes in a perfectly seasoned cold soup, with basil oil and textured delights like melon balls adding interest to the mouthful. I could take or leave the venison starter – cold, under-seasoned meat slices with an inky smear of beetroot and some cheffy cherries – but the ceviche was a crowd-pleaser, as usual: diced raw tuna, a little mayo and pickled daikon slices, garnished with locally foraged ice-plant.

We had a glass of white wine each and you should find something to please you on the shortlist, which also offers 80ml pours for the timid. You expect some things to be more expensive at a remote restaurant but I do just want to take a minute and note the price of our favourite Quartz Reef Methode, which is offered at $144 a bottle. That is crazy money – it costs $80 a bottle at Park Hyatt’s Onemata on the waterfront – but should provide an incentive not to over-indulge before taking on that big drive home.

Gazpacho of ripe summer tomatoes. Photo / Babiche Martens

The duck is expensive too – $63 – and was my least favourite of the mains, with not enough going on flavour-wise. It was served as seared breast and confit leg but there wasn’t much difference between the two textures – some pickled mandarin segments not enough to make the dish special enough to order.

But we loved the steak – perfectly cooked medium rare and served with a wonderful slow-cooked “cauli” gravy and balsamic reduction (they encouraged us to use this as a condiment for everything, and it worked), and best of all was the fish and chips. Beer-battered Dory with decent fries and a lovely tartare sauce, it was the sort of thing you dream about eating at a seaside restaurant.

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Venison with beetroot and cherries. Photo / Babiche Martens

I could take or leave the puffed grains and gels that came with many of the dishes. For me Aryeh works best when it’s being a bistro, serving honest tasty tucker to a very high standard (a gifted focaccia with butter at the beginning of the meal was one of the best things we ate).

One of the chefs brought most of the food out and talked us through it, and I liked this touch. I was hoping to meet Lucas but by chance he wasn’t working that evening – I’d like to think if he’d been there the overall standard might have been higher; a side of carrots and some asparagus with goat’s cheese were fine but not the sort of thing you’d cross town to eat.

The staff are friendly and do a good job, and the setting is unrivalled. Aryeh is definitely worth a look, and I hope the full house when we visited is an indication that the business model is working.