The Garden Shed

Nice décor, nice menu. Staff friendly and keen on helping. Family friendly place as well, they have a kids menu and coloring sheets.

Sadly im going to have to give this one an average rating, nothing bad but nothing that great either, we ordered the Shared Garden Board described on the web site as
«char-​grilled and pickled vegetables, goats cheese paté with beetroot jelly, marinated olives, brie, beer battered haloumi, house onion rings, roasted pepper and aubergine spread, pesto, baby bell peppers and house terracotta bread»
While most of it was there the beer battered haloumi, house onion rings and pesto seams to have changed to beer battered beans (weird) for which no explanation what given (the menu we ordered from may of been different from what was listed on the web site) but overall I thought the dish was a bit average for the $ 39 price tag.
Didn’t venture inside as the dog was hanging out at my feet getting pats from passerby’s but it looked like there was thought that had gone into the décor. the downside to being seated outside was hard to flag down a server to order drinks and food.
Not sure if I will be back by choice there is too many amazing restaurants to try to settle for something average.

My partner and I went to the Garden Shed a few months back and am still recovering a bit from a very average yet very expensive experience. The décor is cute and quite whimsical and would be great on a nice sunny morning or afternoon. The service overall was ok if we hadn’t had any problems but more on that later. Since it was date night my partner and I decided to splurge and got drinks and mains from a respectably represented beer/​wine/​food menu. For the main I was quite enticed by the modern take on steak and 3 veg option and my partner for the bone marrow main.
Ultimately it is hard to believe that the quality of both of our meals came out of the same kitchen. The bone marrow was cooked beautifully and was a well constructed dish. My scotch filet on the other hand was well done when it should have been medium. The ‘seasonal’ vege was a piece of broccoli cauliflower and a few carrots and the description of the potatoes was misleading and way under seasoned. The wait staff dropped off the food but didn’t come back to check if all was ok for about 10mins although there was only a couple of other tables. When I finally was able to show them how burnt my steak was they admitted the chef had been getting a lot of similar complaints and offered a complimentary drink. However as we were driving, we declined to which they offered dessert. We accepted once again one was delicious and the other a pottle of chocolate and caramel sauce. When we got the bill we were surprised to see that they charged us for one of the desserts and still charged full price for the scotch filet. All up was $ 140 for 2 beers, 2 mains, and a dessert we thought was going to be free.
I would have hoped that these would have been just teething problems for being a relatively new café but based on other reviews this doesn’t seem to be the case.

Attention to all Nike-​clad health food addicts and/​or lovers of cute cafes, here is some good news and #fitspo for you. Perfect for Junk Free June, I went to The Garden Shed on Mt Eden Road to see what’s the dealio with the new café block. Mind you, I’m too weak for Junk Free June but I do my best to ingest goodness into my body most times.
There I was in my Adidas gear and we went on a fine day where the outdoor area really had a chance to shine. So shiny that I felt like a bit of a pom sitting in an outdoor/​indoor area with my sunnies on but girl, there are just days when the flu makes me feel like my contact lenses had been soaked in onion solution. It felt a bit like I had gatecrashed into someone’s garden party with a waterfall trickling in one corner and beautiful plants overhanging. The attention to detail was amazing — from the waiting area which had a sign saying «Please wait to be plotted» to the garden spades with tap beer names, The Garden Shed truly lives up to its name without being too tacky.
There were so many things I wanted to order from the «Share with Friends» menu like the Spiced Chicken and Goats Cheese Pâté but strictly there for brunch, I could not muster the energy to convince everyone else to share. The Weekend Brunch menu was enticing itself with lots of healthy options like Buckwheat Pancakes and Grandma’s Granola. I opted for the Garden Breakfast with quinoa cakes, portobello mushrooms, poached eggs and salsa verde. I recently had a round of obsession with quinoa, because it’s so fast to cook and makes my salads more filling so I was keen to see this quinoa cake goodness.
When it came, alas, the poached eggs were overdone! I could literally bounce it on my plate and I actually pushed my knife on top to squeeze the egg yolk out. You can probably tell I like my poached egg yolks runny like that waterfall next to me, but the nice girl in me said «it’s ok, it’s just an egg».
The boys at the table ordered the Shed Burger which came like a drama queen with a knife stabbed in the middle of the burger. Filled with giant onion rings and a big patty, it looked like quite the deal. Bonus, it even came with chips.
My friend ordered the Maple Pork Belly Bites and I have to say, the small size does not make it ideal for sharing! There were probably six pieces in total, and while they looked scrumptious it was a bit pricy for $ 15.90.
The staff were gracious and friendly, apologising several times for moving our group to a smaller table which was totally ok — we were hogging a bigger table for some of our friends who didn’t end up making it.
The last cute gesture was the sachet of seeds of a mystery plant which came with the bill (which I have still yet to plant). I appreciated the small gestures which elevated the experience and made you feel that bit more special than in an average café.
I want to go back for dinner — I had spotted Salted Caramel Chocolate Pot on the dessert menu. Going there with the flu wasn’t ideal, I felt like I had the top layer of my tongue stripped because I was adding an unnecessary amount of salt and pepper to my food when I knew it was my senses being muted. Which makes it another excuse to go back and try their food. If you’ve been to The Garden Shed, let me know what to order next, and tell me if their food is naturally low in salt or if my senses were really off that day!

Well, it’s so unfortunate that I had to write my first ever one star review.
You see, it was my birthday a while ago during exams and my friends threw this great surprise birthday for me now that exams are over. The six of us went down to the Garden Shed and the environment was great! I highly suggest checking out its little courtyard in the back, summer or winter, since they made it amazing and you could tell from every little detail that they put their hearts into it. Keep reading.
My friends ordered some food to share and two of us decided to order mains. I ordered the Rib Eye Steak, (btw it costs 35 bucks or something), since it’s my birthday. We got good service and everything’s going perfect.
The food came and my friends enjoyed their shared food while as I took my first bite of my medium rare steak (cooked to the right point), I was shocked. It was so salty my tongue was tingling. I thought it must’ve been me so I tried a few more bites and the vegges were salty too but tolerable. Baked potato was awesome. But after a few bites my tongue began to hurt. Yes, you read that right, it was so salty my tongue started to hurt. I passed my steak to my friends to see if it was just me and they all agreed it was salty beyond belief. We told the waiter and he kindly took it back, said the kitchen would cook a new one for me. They made sure I wanted medium rare. So far, not bad. (Although I must say, my friend took it back for me, because she’s a super hero, and you can hear it through the doors that the chef was very upset)
Another waiter (darker haired) returned not long after explained to me that they won’t be serving me new vegges alongside my steak but simply reheat the bits I left behind. He didn’t look like he was happy to explain all this but oh well, I was disappointed but agreed as to not affect the mood of the group.
A while later they brought back a piece of unsalted steak and my (now over cooked) half a portion of vegges, my lovely baked potato was gone. I tried cutting into the piece and it was well done. I wanted to make sure so I cut through the middle and it was barely medium well.
That’s it.
There went my appetite.
On the other hand, my friend that also ordered a main had a few pieces of shockingly salty vegges in her plate too.
It’s not like they were busy, we were the ONLY table there tonight. So they honestly don’t have an excuse for how poorly the whole thing went. I’d assume cooking steak is on the 101s of being a chef.
We decided to go, and brought my plate of steak back to the front. We explained what happened and we can hear the chef/​kitchen staff in the kitchen, through the door, having a go at the whole situation. He sounded and seemed very upset and pissed off, also pretended to shoot us with automatic rifles. (There’s a huge delivery window, we can see you for gods sake)
Now most people of our group had worked or currently works part time in hospitality. We know what the poor waiters must feel like so tried not to make a fuss about it. But please know that the kitchen staff was beyond imaginable and so incredibly unprofessional.
I don’t know if I’ll ever go there again. And sure as hell I will not recommend it to anyone I know ever.

Excellent and friendly staff. I had the Shed Breakfast Board and at first glance I didn’t think it would fill me up, but it ended up being plenty of food when combined with coffee and a rosebud cocktail. The outside seating was very confortable and was covered with heaters provided. Will come back again.

Came here for dinner, overall this place is amazing great food and friendly staff. Would come here again, high recommend to others.

After hearing all the hype about Mt Eden’s favourite brunch hangout, I finally got around to visiting the Garden Shed. All I have to say is, I get it. The décor of the café is delightful, it literally feels like you’re sitting in a secret garden, surrounded by beautiful wall hangings and plants all around you. The menu itself is typical of what you’d find at any brunch locale these days, with offerings such as big breakfasts alongside raw power smoothies (the kind where you can add an optional protein shot for all you gym rats!). Pictured below is the Garden Shed Burger, which tasted as great as it looks. The photo doesn’t do its size justice, it arrived at the table held together with a steak knife, in appropriate recognition of how difficult it is to navigate a burger of that size! It contained onion rings too which was a welcome bonus. Truly one of the better café burgers I’ve ever had. Unfortunately wasn’t a fan at all of the orange fizz soda I also ordered, but all in all, I will definitely be heading back sometime!

The service was a lil slow but the feed was epic. The burger is a must. For a lil place to they have a heck of a unique beer list. Will definitely be back to try more of the menu.

Can’t believe we waited so long to try out this spot which is so handy to home! The décor is super cute and the ambiance really laid back and friendly — just what you want in a local. The craft beer list is pretty impressive and the burgers we ate were DELICIOUS! Service was a little slow to begin with but the place was packed so we’ll forgive them and definitely be back — need to try everything else on the brucnch menu to start with!

The service was outstanding and the décor is fun and relaxed. I had the eggs benny on a potato rosti. The presentation left a lot to be desired. It literally looked like they’d just slopped it on a plate. The rosti was small and on the bottom and the ham was huge on top of the rosti making it look like the ham was floating in hollandaise sauce. The hollandaise sauce wasn’t warm enough and was going stiff.
My wife had buckwheat pancakes. Again, when they came out we both looked at each other thinking, ‘did a child put this on the plate’? With that said the taste was amazing.
Will go back and give it another go. The parent store (circus circus) does things so well. How can it be going bad across the street?

I have yet to write a review which wasn’t glowing. Simply put this place is meh.
Service staff were lovely, personable, but lacking actual personality. A forced smile does nothing for me I am afraid, which our waitress had absolutely.
Food: terracotta bread with smoked butter. A cute idea, bread didn’t have any salt, so it was a touch bland. Smoked butter was awesome. I had what they called fancy fish n’ chips. It was okay. Yes the fish was cooked perfectly, the batter wasn’t heavy, but the onion rings, shoestring fries were lukewarm. Which is completely unacceptable. Plus a slice of green tomato, gherkin, and room temperature fried capers, a strange collection of bits & pieces. Really not what I personally would have put with the fish & chips.
Finally dessert, fruit pie with gingerbread icecream… Icecream was yummy, the tart, meh. Tasted of nothing really… It was just hot.
The last thing I will say is they had an awesome selection of drinks. I being someone that doesn’t drink had a ginger beer. It was & is the best ginger beer I have ever had. From the Hawkes bay independent brewing company, look it up try it out you will be surprised (well I hope).
Three people, two beers per person, plus my two ginger beers, two courses each $ 177 dollars. A little steep for me, especially considering I felt there feeling ‘my’ money wasn’t well spent.

Only just noticed the Thai place had gone and this had popped up in its place so we went and tried it out for a drink in January 2015. Fabulous décor — love the garden shed idea, and the garden area out the back looks fab (albeit full when we were there, so we had to sit inside). It’s all very airy and modern.
Although we didn’t eat anything except fries and olives, being vegan we appreciated the notation on the menu for vegan items — always appreciated. The fries we did have were nice enough, although the home-​made (?) tomato sauce was a bit weak for our taste. Staff seemed reasonably knowledgeable on the beers and there was a pretty good selection.
One downside with the big open windows to the front is the occasional mouthful of cigarette smoke blowing in, which is never pleasant, but surely smoking will soon be completely banished from outside all eating establishments.
Staff were really friendly and helpful. Can’t fault them.
We look forward to going back again.

Another new offering which we were keen to visit as we had watched with interest the refurbishment. The fit out and menu looked great but sadly the experience has left us cold. Staff seemed friendly enough but a wee bit inexperienced. The meal was awful — I had prawn tails with a dipping sauce and hubby had the game hot dog. The presentation left somewhat to be desired, and well I’m an ok cook but I certainly could have done better myself. It’s over priced for what it is and certainly does not live up to the standard we expect of the owners who also run the iconic Circus Circus Café. If these guys are to compete with others in the village they aren’t going to last long if the food doesn’t improve for what they are charging.