Portofino Meadowbank sits on Dorchester Street, just off St Johns Road, and has long been a local favourite for quality Italian meals. Year after year its friendly, capable staff serve traditional Italian dishes made from fresh local ingredients to a loyal base of regulars — earning the restaurant its reputation as the go-to place for Italian food in Meadowbank and the surrounding suburbs. The space has been renovated in recent years to make it bigger and give it a more modern feel, but the cooking and the welcome are unchanged.
The restaurant is part of the wider Portofino family, established in Parnell, Auckland in 1980 and now a loved, family-owned group with locations across New Zealand. The cooking draws on the rich flavours of Northern Italy and the freshness of New Zealand's local produce — an al fresco style that pairs Italian tradition with the abundance of local ingredients.
Diners can choose from a full dinner menu spanning cold antipasti, pizza breads, pastas, risottos and secondi piatti, plus a dedicated dessert menu, a wine list and a takeaway menu. Doors open from 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
On Dorchester Street, just off St Johns Road, Portofino Meadowbank has been doing the same very good thing for years on end: serving traditional Italian meals made from fresh local ingredients, plate after plate, season after season. That consistency has earned the restaurant a reputation as the go-to place for Italian food in Meadowbank and the surrounding suburbs, and it explains why so many of its tables are filled with loyal regulars rather than first-time visitors.
The formula here is simple and sure: friendly, capable staff, generous Italian cooking, and a space that was recently renovated to make it bigger and give it a more modern feel. What hasn't changed is the welcome, or the food. Dinner service runs from 4pm, Tuesday through Sunday, and there's a dedicated takeaway menu for nights you'd rather eat at home.
Meadowbank is one branch of a much bigger New Zealand story. The first Portofino opened in Parnell, Auckland in 1980, and over the past 45 years the family-owned group has grown into a loved and trusted name with locations across the country, from the Viaduct Harbour to Christchurch. Wherever you find one, the philosophy is the same: inspiration from the rich flavours of Northern Italy, expressed through the freshness and abundance of New Zealand produce. The kitchen calls it a certain al fresco quality — the warmth and authenticity of Italian tradition, set against local ingredients.
Start with the antipasti freddi if you like: bruschetta classica piled with fresh tomato, basil and parmigiano, a bowl of house marinated olives and feta, or prosciutto e melone o pera when the season allows. Warm pizza pane — garlic, chilli, cheese or pesto — is there to share while you decide.
The paste e risotti section is the heart of the menu. Penne all'arrabbiata comes loaded with mushroom, capsicum, olives, chilli and parsley in a pomodoro sauce; rigatoni amatriciana pairs bacon, onion and garlic with pomodoro and Italian parsley; and the rigatoni Portofino, with spinach, sundried tomato, feta and herbs in a panna sauce, is the house signature. There's spaghetti alla vongole for clam lovers, risotto alla pescatora with mussels, squid, prawns and smoked salmon, and a comforting chicken and mushroom risotto di pollo. House gluten-free pasta is available, and every main can be made gluten free on request.
Secondi piatti lean classic Italian–New Zealand: pan-fried veal scaloppine with pinot grigio mushroom sauce or sweet marsala, grilled eye fillet in green peppercorn-mustard or chianti vino sauce, oven-baked lamb cutlets with a melon and crema sauce, and a grilled fish of the day with garlic, capers, shrimp and lemon. Save room for the dedicated dessert menu, and pair it all with a pick from the wine list.
Reservations are recommended and easy to arrange — submit a booking enquiry through the Portofino website or contact the restaurant directly. If you're heading somewhere afterwards, let the team know when you're short on time; the menu specifically asks guests to advise staff. Large groups are well catered for with a set menu, though note the minimum charge of one main meal per person and the one-account-per-table policy. A surcharge applies on public holidays, and all credit cards are accepted.
Whether it's a midweek pasta, a long secondi-and-wine dinner or a takeaway rigatoni on the couch, Portofino Meadowbank delivers the same thing it always has: honest Italian food, served with genuine hospitality, year after year.