Birdcage Tavern/ Restaurant

Stopped here for a bite on a Sunday evening. Good service, nice outdoor setting and decent wine selection. However, the food left a bit to be desired. The steak and polenta fries were overdone and the pork belly under-​stripped of its fatty coat. Overall, more of a nice place for Friday evening drinks with friends.

Nice relaxed setting next to Victoria Park, lovely interior. I’d wanted to come here since the building was put back in its spot. Found a nice shady table outside and settled in. Glass of wine and menu in hand, I chose the steak, rosemary potatoes and red wine jus. My friend ordered the polenta chips and aioli. Have to say the polenta chips were not at all silky inside, just hot and dry. My steak, which to be fair I had ordered medium well, was really tough. However, there was no excuse for the watery jus. Disappointing.

Great location, just outside of the city and in a great place to capture the sun! Good priced food and beverages. Awesome outdoor courtyard which gets all day sun. They have a fairly basic menu however it’s good enough to meet even the fussiest persons needs. The bird cage is very iconic and such a beautiful Victorian building (once of the few original pubs left). Be sure to pop in and give this place a try… you won’t be disappointed.

We chose the birdcage because parking around here is easy especially during the day. I had lunch with friends here on Friday, the wait staff were very attentive & patient as we were too busy catching up to look at the menu!
I ordered the ribs which was a huge portion & they were delicious! Often ribs can be tough & chewy but these melted in your mouth & fell off the bone.
I would definitely go back to the birdcage.

I haven’t been here since it was Shanghai Lil’s but wanted to check it out after its big adventure.
The person who greeted us was lovely but explained that since there was a private function that night (not yet begun at around 6pm), we could either take a seat in the restaurant — wicker chairs, tablecloths, cutlery settings, or go through to the bar.
We weren’t there to eat but were told that if we did want food, they could only do bar snacks. Again, due to the all-​important private function I suppose. We weren’t keen on sitting in the restaurant, so we went through to the bar which was also being set up. Apart from the staff member sitting eating her dinner at one end of the bar there were no seats available and none offered. We eventually had to ask for stools and with no table available («that’s for the private function») we had to perch at the bar.
The barman was friendly and welcoming but the superior and sour female staff around him just added to the feeling that we weren’t wanted. By an amazing feat of anti-​hospitality the girl behind the bar managed to totally avoid any eye contact or acknowledgement at all (water would have been nice but were we invisible?) and only offered to get us a refill when we stood to leave. Truly, I’ve never felt so unwelcome in a bar and couldn’t wait to get out of there. Of course when the private function guests starting arriving, much fuss was made.
I don’t understand why they didn’t just put up a sign, close the doors to the public and write off the couple of hundred dollars they might make from walk-​ins. A much better business move than alienating people and making them never want to come back. Oh and maybe hire some staff less interested in being cool and more interested in the customers? Lovely maitre d’ and barman notwithstanding; totally unprofessional, every single one of them.

I’d respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer about the preservation of this building being «absurd» — in fact, I’d lavish praise on the organisations responsible and say it’s one of very few examples of Auckland respecting it’s built heritage in its quest of building motorways! Preserving the building is one thing, but moving it back to it’s original location is quite another — it respects the context and standing of the building in the way that shunting it up the road just wouldn’t. Now to the restaurant itself, I can’t say I ever went to the Birdcage pre-​tunnel, but my first visit was good without being great — my chicken dish was a bit dear for what it was. On food alone I’d go three stars, but my love of heritage protection bumps it up to a four.

Recently reopened following an absurd preservation activity to build the Victoria Park Tunnel that saw the building hydraulically moved approximately 50m backwards, and then forwards again to its original location. I was never lucky enough to visit this Auckland institution before it closed but it has a colourful history of over 100 years and it touted as the City’s oldest pub. It’s reopening has clearly been well publicised as the patio area was heaving when we arrived early on a sunny Friday evening. It just felt like another new bar to me, not really offering anything new, but I guess that isn’t really the point. I had heard that it was stuggling to capture it’s previous atmosphere so hope it does’t try to survive based just on it’s history, but judging by numbers during my visit there are plenty of people willing to give it a chance.