Merchants of Venice

Great location and great food! I highly recommend the seafood plate to share and the gnocchi was amazing, will go back for sure.

5 stars for Brunch! 4 of us had different dishes including breakfast pizza (Yuma) and eggs Benedict — perfect poached eggs. All in all a great brunch, lovely food and lovely coffee with very good service.

Omg the food and service was sublime I can’t fault it. The only thing I can possibly fault is the portion size. Perfect food excellent service

My coworker had a craving for pizza, so we decided to try out this place in Wynyard Quarter.
It was dinner time, so the place was naturally busy. We slipped in and got a table, looking over the menu. I pointed out the number of pizzas they had available, then returned to see what items I could order (I’m trying to do the Paleo thing, so very difficult in Italian restaurants). I ended up ordering chicken cacciatore al forno (free-​range chicken leg baked in fresh herbs, tomato, sage, mushrooms, topped with garlic sauce and served with «wet» polenta. Yes, I reread the menu).
This was the first time I’ve had wet polenta, which is polenta with the consistency of slightly runny porridge. It was good, and hard to not consume all of it (Paleo). The chicken was lovely, herbs playing off of the garlic sauce very well.
Stop here if you’re into Italian. A bit hard for those trying to avoid the starchy carbs.

Dined here last night on a website voucher and the deal was well worth it. We arrived early (6pm) for dinner and were immediately greeted by the attentive manager who looked after us without being intrusive throughout our meal.
Peroni on tap (brilliant!) and a good range of Italian and local beers that our waiter was happy to recommend.
Entrees were a series of breads and delicious dips — notably the chicken liver pâté and prosciutto were great.
We both ordered the gnocchi for our main — mine with a rich Napoli sauce and his with a melt in your mouth beef ragu (highly recommended).
Pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food and service, would certainly visit again to try the recommended pizzas.

Unlike Shakespeare, i don’t think his one will go down in history. Instead I think it will be as a Shopian and die a lingering death.

The Merchants of Venice occupies a lovely spot on Wynyard Quarter and is absolutely perfect for people watching and relaxing on a sunny summer’s day. I think I have seen less people here than at say Jack Tar’s or Pescado, but the ratio of designer sunnies per capita is definitely higher!
I’m also quite a fan of the menu, it’s a good mix between authentic Italian and Italian food Kiwi-​fied for local tastes. The fact that they serve a brunch pizza is a case-​in-​point. Still they serve arancini (fried rice balls) and bruschetta which are two of my favourite Italian dishes ever, so that scores some points from me.

Auckland’s waterfront is so much better than it used to be, there are actually places to eat and drink. North Wharf has a great selection of restaurants and other eateries and Merchants of Venice is one of the better ones in this strip. The service varies depending on who you get on any given occasion, but that aside Merchants of Venice offers nice food in a nice location. The coffee is very good here also and sitting outside on a nice evening looking out at the water is not a bad way to end an evening at all.

North Wharf gets a big standing ovation for its brilliance.
I have only experienced dining here during the day– on a sunny beautiful afternoon; accompanied by my child and partner– but I truly would think night time dining with the soothing lights out at sea in the distance would set the tone for romance really.
Enough dreaming and back to my delicious luncheon, arrived to a very busy restaurant, and within minutes was seated out in the sun with a bit of shade for the boy.
Sunglasses on and a scan of the fabulous menu, I decided on Salt Cod Croquettes– anything coated in Panko is bound to be naughty but amazing, and the helpful waiter recommended Arancini which is fried risotto balls which was also crunchy and worth remembering.
For my main I enjoyed the freshly caught fish of the day, along with a salad and some potato fries.
I experienced great quick service and tasty fresh meals.
Was nice to actually have a chat with a few of the staff; they helped entertain the baby while we enjoyed the food.
I will be back again, to experience what Merchants of Venice has for dinner– I can’t wait!

One of the new restaurants on Wynyard Quarter’s North Wharf promenade, Merchants of Venice takes pride of place right on the waterfront. Possibly owing to my great love of anything remotely Italian, MoV is one of my favourites in this part of town. Like every place on North Wharf, MoV is perfectly geared for al fresco dining — it has plenty of outdoor tables with big sun umbrellas and a gorgeous view of the harbour and passers by.
While it’s a new restaurant, the décor gently nods to more traditional Italian places — look no further than the red and white chequered tablecloths. Food-​wise, it’s all about pizza and pasta — you could order a salad, but frankly they’re not much to write home about. The wood-​fire pizzas are great — I have particularly strong feelings for the fennel sausage pizza. Eat it outside on a sunny day with a Peroni — dining doesn’t get much more blissful. The service is a bit slow, but the view is too good to care much about it.