Cazador

Give 3 stars for the food, 5 for the atmosphere and decorations. I guess the taste of the food is a bit heavy, or I just ordered the heavy taste one ?? Very friendly staff, a good family resturant for 20years. Neatly full house on a Wednesday evening.

I can’t get enough of Cazador! First, they are walking distance from my house. Secondly, Dariush and Rebecca are two of the loveliest people you’ll ever meet and the most gracious of hosts. Thirdly, what other place in town serves Persian inspired cuisine and game that uses almost every part of the animal? Every time I have dined here I’ve been blown away by the creativity from the kitchen and the flavour of the food. That and the interior reminds me of growing up as my father is a hunter and my Nana had the same style walls :)
In the summer months their courtyard is the perfect spot for a goat burger or some lamb’s tongue fries with a sangria, and in winter the dining room is the perfect place to hide from the weather. Our last visit was for an epic Sunday roast with the lovely team from
and it was amazing. A whole suckling pig was roasted, as was a side of venison and there were so many delicious side dishes that I almost lost count! The dessert served was a divine whisky and fig pudding — all I wanted to do after was nap!
If you’re looking for something special, something close to home, or something to give you an excuse to venture into the suburbs then look no further, Cazador is what you’re looking for.

From the outside, Cazador looks like any other trendy and hip family restaurant. The exterior is painted a dark grey and in scriptured silver lettering the name is written above the entrance. It is only once you are inside can you truly appreciate the essence of the restaurant. For those of you that do not know the meaning of the Spanish word Cazador — it is hunter. So you can only image what the décor looked like.
At first I was taken aback, but after my first glass of wine and great conversation, the coziness of the restaurant set in and it felt like we were guests in someone’s home. Just happened to be that instead of the typical scenic paintings, the décor was memorabilia of the owners hunting excursions.
The center piece and first mounted trophy was a male deer, I think, located in the center of the room one cannot help but admire it. As he is literally looking over the lucky patrons who are eating beneath him, not in an intrusive way, like a friendly visitor looking over you. I have posted the picture to show you. Enough about the décor and let’s talk about the food.
We started with the Babaghanoosh served with pita bread on the side, we had a bottle of wine, a Pinot called Urlar from the region of Gladstone, made from organic grapes. Next came the Hare rillets with crackers, horseradish and beetroot, absolutely delicious an absolute must have.
When looking at the menu, I have to admit I did not know what many of the descriptions meant. So I picked the main that sounded the most appealing to me. The sautéed Rabbit offal, with lentils, cumin & cress. Sounds delicious, right? Feeling proud of myself I patiently waited for my turn to order, when the waitress asked me what I wanted I confidently said, I will have the Rabbit offal. Doing her job she casually repeated my order and lucky for me confirmed the contents of my order. «So you will be having the liver, heart and kidney, correct? I think time actually stopped, I could feel the blood drain out of my body, after what seemed like forever my cousins laughter pierced my foggy state. I turned towards him and my sister in law had a sympathetic look on her face and was scanning the menu in a hurry. You could tell she was amused but being the soft heart she is, she chose to save me instead of mocking me in that moment. The laughter came afterwards, trust me. She quickly offered up the Game Terrain with pickles, chutney and toast which was better suited to my palate. I was grateful and quickly switched my order. Needless to say, I was a bit unsure of my order and everyone else’s all I kept thinking was what did I get myself into?
Needless to say, as soon as the food arrived I completely relaxed, maybe even let out a sigh of relief. The dish looked amazing, suddenly we were back in the cozy welcoming home of the Cazador family.
G’s order came first which was the Venison with smoked aubergine, Roast Pepper & pinenuts. Sounds yummy, right? It looked even better, hands down the best presented dish on the menu. There is an orange curry spread on one side of the plate with the yogurt in front, next was the pinenuts made in a green colored sauce and on one opposite side of the plate is the meat with the peppers in the middle.
The whole dish is lightly covered by the green leafs, the explosion of color brings this dish to life and looked very appetizing.
Then came the Braised Pheasant and Prawns with Romesco, wilted greens and lime. The presentation was a bit simple as the sauce was a bright orange and the bok choy was green, served with a wedge of lime. In my opinion a yellow lemon would have brightened up the dish a bit, but the lime was the right opposing flavour to the curry.
Next was the Chargrilled boar worth endive, blood orange and walnuts. The presentation was nice, the placement of the meat on top of the salad, blood red and regular oranges with the green salad on the side with a paprika looking spice lightly sprinkled on top. The meat was pink and it enhanced the presentation of the dish. I did not try it but the friend who tried it said the oranges added to the flavor of the meat.
Last but not least came my dish, it was the blandest presented meal of the night, but it looked exactly how one would expect. There was a piece of bread, with 2 pieces of triangular shaped game on top. The chutney to the side with 2 tiny pickles in the middle of the chutney. A small salad on the side with a lemon dressing. It tasted like a pâté, with the chutney adding a sweetness to the dish with a refreshing lemon flavors from the salad. My suggestion here would be to add some red or orange food to improve the presentation.
This was a great experience, the place is cozy, has 3 rooms and a forest like patio, is a family run business and a unique décor. An outing to remember, I would suggest it to others for sure.

After hearing good things, I’d been keen for a while to try Cazador. Out of the usual central dining locations, it was worth the trek to the burbs and would make a great local if you live nearby.
First, a caution: don’t visit if you’re vegetarian. This place is big on meat, game in particular. We started with entrees of wild boar terrine and poussin hearts. I wouldn’t normally consider eating chicken hearts but these were quite tasty and had a muscular texture. Mains were braised venison with pappardelle and rabbit with couscous and yoghurt, both very tender. After all that meat, there wasn’t room for dessert, but it looked like a number of old school desserts were covered.
Service was fine — lacking the confidence to take it to exceptional, but not to be faulted.
Now, the décor. Every review I had read mentioned the dated décor. Yes there’s 70s stucco swirls on the walls and striped sheets attached to the ceilings, but I liked it. It added to the cosiness. The courtyard out the back looks like it would be great in warmer months.
Highly recommended!

We had a delicious dinner with friends. The best rabbit I’ve had, served with green tomatoes and mash… yum. Sampled friend’s boar and venison too. All good. Good service and nice wine list. highly recommended!

Cazador is not for the faint-​hearted. It’s Auckland’s only game restaurant, and if you don’t like meat, its probably not the destination for you. The night we visited, head chef Dariush has some delicacies such as lamb sweetbreads, smoked duck and venison starring in the menu. Don’t be surprised to see various incarnations of offal appear.
The menu changes every couple of weeks, to accommodate the seasonal produce and the fresh game, which is often supplied by Dariush’s father, and previous chef, Tony. If you’re a hunter yourself, you can bring your catch along & the chef will prepare it for you with a bit of advance warning. However there are some dishes that MUST stay on the menu to please the loyal regulars to this place. There are almost always dishes of wild boar, duck and hare to choose from.
The wild boar on the night we visited was absolutely delicious and cooked beautifully. My entrée of smoked duck fettucine was also sublime, and one of the members of our party was convinced to try the lamb sweetbreads, served as a ravioli. He found his first venture into the world of offal very pleasing, and really enjoyed the dish.
You couldn’t review Cazador & not mention the décor. Plastered walls adorned with all manner of animal head trophies will watch over you as you eat. This 70’s kitsch is not for everyone, but it fits the vibe of this restaurant.
Cazador was recently welcomed into Metro’s Top 50 Auckland Restaurants, and I totally applaud this decision. Well deserved.

Good restaurant, nothing fancy but yum food. Interesting difference on a standard auckland restaurant, with all the meat being game. Décor looks like a German hunting lodge. To be avoided by vegetarians

I came here a little while back to do some filming inside the restaurant… I wanted to film here because of the décor, they have taxidermied animal heads everywhere (animals that have been killed by the family who runs the business). Cazador means Hunter in Iranian (where the family is from). If you’re a hunter you can even bring in your own kill and they’ll cook it up for you. It sounds like a really meaty manly place but actually it takes you right back to the 1920’s, and the front of house lady (wife of the son) is so lovely… when I asked her if would be able to film she gave me an entire room to myself, with the best animals heads! The son came out at the end of the dinner to say hello and he was a really wonderful guy. The food was pretty delicious too, but the people who run the place really made my night all the more special.

Hunt. Gather. Feed. The title of Cazador’s website firmly sets out the underlying principles which govern this restaurants philosophy. Specializing in game food, with venison and wild pork that have apparently been hunted by the owner himself, Cazador provides an interesting night out, with a fine standard of food to match the unique décor.
You sit under the gaze of stuffed heads of animals, a sensation that can be a bit disquieting as you tuck onto a hearty dish of your choice of meat. There aren’t a lot of options for vegetarians — but something tells me they may not be the target market for Cazador.
The Persian flat bread serves as a great entrée, but the mains are where Cazador comes into it’s own, with an ever-​changing menu of dishes ranging from wild hare to boar. Unfortunately on the night we dined, almost everything had sold out. So it may be wise to dine early, and ring ahead to see what dishes are on the menu that night.