The Engine Room
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Restaurant Open Dinner Tuesday to Saturday. +649 4809502 . Private lunches and events by arrangement Private lunches and events by arrangement, please enquire
POV: Thursday night is looking good.
Every restaurant has an engine room. This one is ours.
Carl started his working life as a signwriter, before a nasty accident involving a skill saw put an end to it.
The handwriting on the board is his natural handwriting, after years of obsessively trying different styles throughout school life. Amazingly, those lines are impossibly straight!
Long before The Engine Room, we spent years writing postcards and aerograms to each other from different countries. We have both always loved handwriting!
When we began talking about opening a restaurant, we knew what we wanted it to be: a neighbourhood bistro serving honest, straight-up, delicious food.
We wanted the room to feel relaxed. The menu would be on a board, not paper. The service informal and snappy. The chefs in T-shirts. Unpretentious, but particular.
We were never interested in trends. We wanted to build something that would still feel right twenty years later.
And the menu is still on the wall.
See you soon 💙
28/09/2026
Duck confit, kumara purée, pickled cherries, jus.
A French bistro classic, with a nod to home.
Tonight, from 5pm 💙
Not to get cheesy about it... but we do love this one.
24/09/2026
Spaghetti Vongole - the first recipe from The Archive, and one of Natalia's favourite dishes.
Here's how we make it.
We especially like it served with the small vongole in Italy, but New Zealand cockles make a pretty good version, too.
More from The Archive soon.
22/09/2026
Introducing The Engine Room Archive.
In 2012, we published a cookbook capturing life at The Engine Room. While the book has long since sold out, the belief behind it remains unchanged: sharing our approach, our inspiration, and our recipes has always been part of who we are.
Over the coming months, we will be sharing some of the recipes, stories and dishes that have shaped life at The Engine Room.
After all these years, this feels like the best place to begin.
Welcome to the Archive 💙
A good place to start.
Crisp, salty, ocean-fresh flavour and a creamy finish. Served natural on ice with Chardonnay mignonette.
From 5pm.
17/09/2026
Soon 💙
📸 Kieran E Scott
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115 Queen Street, Northcote Point
Auckland
0627
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