Kiwiana

Kiwiana has the best berries and whip cream option on the brunch menu plus their veggie omelette is the best I’ve had in NY. So good. Not to mention the waiter was super polite and professional. And for this they deserve a 5 star rating.

If I come back here, I don’t think it will be for brunch, but rather dinner. The service is very strange, not in a bad way, but it’s weird because everyone is helping every table and also everyone is doubling as a hostess but then there are some people that just stand in the background. There was a point where I was clearly looking around for our server, or any server, for that matter, and the ones that weren’t busy were just kinda standing there. Their brunch menu is very limited, especially for vegetarians. I got the poached eggs veggie dish — eggs were a little watery tasting. Oh also — their freshly squeezed OJ will be mostly served in a cup of ice. Would you like some OJ with your ice?

While the food was good, the staff was incredibly not baby friendly for the first 45 minutes of the experience. Finally they came around. No high chairs, no stroller around anywhere… this is park slope for brunch people.

On a rare Saturday when neither the man nor I were working we decided to check this place out for brunch. We called ahead & were told there was no wait, score or red flag, not sure. Brunch is cash only, major. Décor is really cute & quaint, no wait time was true.
Food:
–scone: very small but delicious, homemade jam was great
–eggs Benedict/​eggs florentine: eggs were good but I thought l the hollandaise was a bit to mayoy, the potato hash was kinda burnt. I got the «fries» instead of the hash but really they were baked potato wedges, not into it.
–pork sliders: the bc said they were amazing, so good in fact that he had one before his eggs & another one after the eggs for dessert
The brunch was kinda underwhelming overall. Atmosphere is cute though & I would probably see what they offer for dinner before making my final decision on this place.

The salmon with poached eggs is absolutely the best I’ve ever tasted! Cute little spot with pleasant atmosphere and attentive service.

Absolutely amazing. Food, ambiance, service.
It’s so pretty inside, nice and bright. It was the ideal brunch location.
They had different flavored mimosas. I stuck with orange juice but I thought it was really cool that they had different options. Not everyone likes orange juice, although they should because it’s delicious and gives you vitamin C.
The food was so good. I had a Mediterranean omelet and now I’m really wanting one. It also came with a side of hash browns but they were like a mini cake and seasoned perfectly.
Everything was great, but what really tipped it off was the service. Everyone was so sweet, nice, attentive. We had a revolving three servers and in retrospect you’d find that unengaging and impersonable. However, that was far from the case. Each one was awesome.
I definitely want to come back here, it was a ⁵⁄₅ completely.

Went there for brunch, everything was stale, and the fresh orange juice was very much watered down!

This place is awesome. I love how they incorporate spices into their breakfast dishes. This totally beats regular brunch/​breakfast spots. CASH ONLY!
Here’s what to get:
1) Scones — $ 2 each (nice way to start your meal)
2) Chai-​spiced french toast — a nice twist to your french toast (comes with 2)
3) Potato hash — can I get the recipe for this so I can make it every morning? I usually don’t eat any type of potatoes that come with my breakfast but my is this amazing. Must try for sure!
I’ll definitely be back here.

Brunch was okay… i had high hopes. we were seated right away which was nice for a saturday morning at 11:30. we had the french toast, and yuca tater tots to start, which were both pretty good. i also had the kiwi mimosa and the eggs benedict, which was not very good. boo. the hollandaise sauce was extra tart in a bad way and the potato pancake was too salty :(

Kiwiana is very artful with their plating. We started with a watermelon salad with featured five rectangular prisms of watermelon stacked on top of each other like logs and sprinkled with feta cheese, edamame beans, mint leaves, and ground black pepper. It was presented nice, but there wasn’t anything impressive about the tastes.
We also had the whitebait latkes which came with grilled lime and tartar sauce. I’m not entirely sure why the lime was grilled. It didn’t add a char flavor. The latkes were were more like deep fried patties than traditional latkes; there was much more breading.
Lastly, we had fettuccini with a beet sauce for dinner. I like the creaminess of the sauce yet it was much lighter than typical white sauce like alfredo.
All in all, I liked the artisanal presentation, but I wasn’t impressed by how flavor was developed in the dishes.

I held a bridal shower for my friend here. Mark was very helpful with the menu and changed it according to our needs. We wanted a more brunch-​y menu and he was able to accommodate us. He told us the price per person would be $ 25. And I’m not sure if he over charged me in the end bc when one of the server gave me the receipt in the end, he told me $ 30 per person and I had to tell him, no, Mark said its $ 25. Then he said okay it’s $ 25 but I don’t think he went back to correct the receipt. But I’m thinking, it’s an extra $ 5 per person, if they wanted unlimited non alcoholic beverages but not everyone ordered seconds. So shouldn’t only certain guests be $ 30 cuz of the unlimited drinks instead of everyone?
The whole group and I didn’t like how the two workers were standing downstairs in the wine cellar staring at us the whole time. We were an hour early to decorate and they were standing there watching us decorate. This made us very uncomfortable.
The food was really good. I love the yucca tater tots. They were my favorite. And that was the only item that stood out.
The place was very nice and big and Mark had no problem with us having only ten guest.
I would definitely recommend this place to others for baby shower, celebrations, birthdays and bridal parties etc.
Minus one star for the workers who were downstairs the whole time staring at us!

Celebrating my first birthday since having a kid, I was looking for a place that was (a) in our neighborhood, (b) good for groups/​took reservations, and © welcoming to kids. I found all that, PLUS delicious food and an incredibly nice and helpful chef/​owner in Kiwiana! I had originally made a reservation for a party of 10 but the guest list fluctuated a number of times and Chef Mark was patient and accommodating. Since the party was so large, he asked if we could go to a prix fixe menu which I appreciated because it made everything easier and more streamlined. He even included an unlimited (nonalcoholic) drink option of fresh juices, teas, and coffees that was a huge hit. On the day of the brunch I was delighted to see he’d even made personalized menus for our party.
Everyone had a wonderful time at the simple, classy brunch. We had about 3 of the servers devoted to our table (we took up ~30% of the restaurant!) and they were all great. Highly recommend this place!

Stopped by here for brunch w my sister. We tried the oysters, pulled pork w poached eggs and the smoked salmon w asparagus. We thought the smoked salmon was gonna be the lox kind but it was an actual salmon thats seared. Tasty tho and paired nicely w asparagus. The pulled pork was very tender and moist. No complaints abt the food. Service was decent as this couldve been they were workin w a baby shower party indoors. We had to ask several waiters/​waitress for things before we got it. Hopefully this was jus on a rare occasion. Btw, wkend brunch is cash only! Will visit again!

Let me tell you something about Kiwiana. It was the first business I ever bookmarked on Unilocal.Unfortunately, it just kind of fell down my list of to-do’s, and it took about 4 years to make my way over. But yes, it was worth the wait.
Started out with the scallop ceviche (served in a scallop shell), which was incredibly fresh even though we were maybe their last table of the night.
Followed it up with the beet pasta and the rack of lamb. The beet pasta was actually made from beets, and not just pasta with beets mixed in. This gave the pasta a sweet taste, and it was a nice light dish. The lamb was decided not light, but was cooked perfectly medium rare over rice pilaf and a great yogurt sauce with goat cheese balls. Great for sharing.
Finished off with the lemon poppy seed panna cotta, which was a nice tart dessert to close out the night. Probably not everyone’s cup of tea if you have a severe sweet tooth.
All in all, I really enjoyed Kiwiana, and wish it didn’t take me so long to get there!

Ordered: Kiwi mimosa, Homemade scone, and Chai-​spiced french toast
Pros – The french toast was light and fluffy. It went well with the cranberry jam from the scone.

Unexpectedly good late night dinner. We had kind of crashed early evening after a long day of drinking and activities, so we were hungry and just looking for a good meal. Kiwiana delivered that and more.
The restaurant was mostly empty by the time we got there, and it was a nice, cozy space, great for a date. It’s hard to categorize the cuisine. Supposedly the food is New Zealand-​inspired, but it seems very diverse.
We ordered a scallop ceviche dish that was a special that evening. It came nicely presented in a scallop shell and was garnished with a lot of garlic and a juice that I couldn’t identify. It was kind of tangy, sweet, but also salty and altogether delicious.
For the mains, we were considering the lamb and the burger, but our server kept telling us how huge the lamb dish was and it could easily be shared, so we thought it might be too much food and nixed the burger and got the beet and pecorino fettuccine instead.
Just FYI — the lamb is NOT too much food. We could have managed the burger, which looked great. Although if we had, we wouldn’t have even considered the pasta, which was absolutely wonderful. It’s actually fettuccine made out of beets — not just a sauce like the menu says. The slightly sweet, chewy texture of the pasta combined with the creamy beet and pecorino sauce and toasted pine nuts was fantastic, plus it made for a very pretty dish. The lamb was also delicious, with Moroccan spices and rice and yogurt and little toasted cheese balls.
We finished with the lemon and poppy seed panna cotta, which was good but nothing special. Service was great throughout the entire evening as well. Overall a great place and we’ll be back and try the burger (Well, maybe. I still want more of that fettuccine.)

Kiwiana is an incredible dining experience where you can taste New Zealand cuisine in its full glory. It’s a cute and cozy restaurant that’s great for a group of friends or a date.
The cocktails were expertly crafted. The farmer’s daughter is a nice concoction as well as the Kiwitini. The nice wine selection has a lot from the Australia region.
The chilled corn and crab soup with pop corn and chili were a nice way to start.
Food wise my top pick was the smoked and pickled mussels. By itself it’s already good but combined with the butter and bread it becomes mind blowing — it’s unlike any other seafood dish I’ve ever had. The lamb was perfectly prepared — tender and well seasoned. The yuca tater tots were nice — a more starchy and flavorful version of American tater tots.
The ribs were also tasty and had an interesting combination of manuka and marmite which came out surprisingly well.
The service was top notch — friendly and fast. I’d come back here again in a heartbeat.

My friend and I came here after spending a day in Prospect Park. We were hungry and just looking for something to eat, and I’m so glad we decided to go here!
First off, the décor is cute. There are plants all around, and there are even fresh flowers on the tables. The tables may be close together, but I didn’t feel that I was on top of anyone. We were able to be seated pretty quickly, and it didn’t take long for us to get out $ 7 glasses of prosecco and appetizer.
The food? SO GOOD
— Yuca Tots: I wish they were just a little crispier, but the inside was so tasty and smooth. It came with 3 sauces, one of them involving bacon!
— Horopito Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Kale Slaw and Garlic Mashed Potatoes: it came with a drumstick and 2 large pieces of chicken that were fried to perfection. The meat was still super moist and juicy. Tasted even better with the truffled honey! I loved the mashed potatoes and even though I don’t typically like salads, the slaw was just what I needed to lighten the dish
— I only had one of the pieces of lamb, but it was cooked properly and super flavorful
Service was also solid! They checked on us at the beginning of our meal, were friendly, refilled our water before it was empty. I appreciate them giving us plates and utensils and clearing the table at appropriate times. They were able to anticipate our needs, and did not take too long when we were paying our bill.

Sometimes you can appreciate simplicity. Sometimes you can appreciate complexity. The brunch at Kiwiana is a perfect demonstration of how to elevate simplicity to complexity without overdoing it.
My boyfriend had the kiwi burger with a sunny side up egg, pineapple, beetroot and arugula with hand cut fries. The flavor of a simple burger was perfectly accompanied and balanced by richness of the running egg yolk, sweetness of the thin pineapple slice, earthiness of the beetroot and slight bitterness of the arugula. The hand cut fries were potato wedges which is how we like it. The highlight of the whole dish was the condiment. The mayonnaise that came with meal was no ordinary mayo. It was bacon infused with a hint of herbs that resemble pepper and rosemary (our bold guess). It was so good that my boyfriend asked for seconds and the server was super accommodating.
I got the Fry Up which includes eggs any style (I had it sunny side up), bacon, sausage, toast, roasted tomato and potato hash. It reminded me of a full english breakfast without the baked beans and mushrooms. It might seem like a just large plate of breakfast food; however, all the components are paired up seamlessly for me. The eggs with toast. The bacon with tomato. The sausage with potato hash. The block of potato hash was my favorite. It was crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. You can also taste a splash of cumin in the seasoning which is quite unique.
The service was ok but the ambiance and décor was refreshing. Daisy on the wooden table and plants hanging from ceiling. The whole space is cozy. Cash only for brunch and I can’t wait to go back and try their dinner.

I remember Kiwiana fondly for two things:
1. Their cheese board with ANZAC biscuits. This appetizer was unexpectedly the best part of our meal. There were cheddar, jack, and blue cheeses, accompanied by toast, the lovely oatmeal-​cookie-​like ANZAC biscuits, blood orange marmalade, and ricotta with cashews. The ANZAC biscuits were delicious and I still think about them. If I had an ounce of baking skill I would attempt to recreate them, but instead I dream and scheme to go back. Every other accompaniment went with the cheese perfectly. This is a must-​try.
2. Outdoor seating on a sunny day. Beautiful way to spend your afternoon in Park Slope.
As for dinner entrees, they were passable. My husband’s Kiwi burger was less than he hoped for: the meat didn’t seem well seasoned and the fried egg didn’t add much. I liked my buttermilk fried chicken, and the honey went well with it, but it didn’t blow me away. The kale seemed more of an afterthought.
In any case, the cheese board, convenient location and nice outdoor seating was enough to convince me to come back and try the ribs. Or the brunch. Or a plateful of those delectable ANZAC biscuits.