THIRTEEN50 Bistro and Bar Ray Emery Drive, Auckland Airport, Auckland 2022

"Tiny bistro and bar located inside Novotel’s Auckland Airport Hotel. Not many seats so if you are after food, bookings are recommended in advance. Service was swift and friendly and seems things have improved recently and there is visible more staff. Food okay, nothing spectacular. Recommend beetroot salad. If you are after quick bite you can get some snacks in the bar. Bar is well equipped with variety of drinks for everyone’s taste"

"How far you have fallen! We used to love a meal in the Novotel Auckland Airport before and after overseas trips. We should have backed out when we joined a queue just to ask if we could have a drink at the bar as we were a little early for our 8pm booking. We were told that was fine but had to rejoin the queue when 8pm arrived! I queried this as we were already in the restaurant bar just to be told 'that's the way it is'. Anyway, had a drink, 8pm came round, rejoined the queue and got seated only to be ignored! Hubby asked for service which was reluctantly given. The waitress took our order but only for one of us! We didn't want buffet so chose fish and chips off the menu and got only one portion. They argued that only one was on their docket! I could go on. Anyhow, avoid the olives, tiny with all pip, no pulp. Chips were soggy, fish mushy. They need a leader and more appealing menu. Bring on the Pullman- hopefully they will have a good restaurant."

"Probably should have read the recent reviews in advance, as my experience was similar. It would seem as though they are understaffed, and the staff they do have are exhausted and tired. That said, the service was quite slow, and there was a sense of tired apathy among the waitstaff - again, probably due to more systemic management issues. The 'Garden Salad' was mixed greens with some whole red grapes dropped on top. On a positive note, the dressing was good and the fries were good. Unclear what the solution is, but this establishment is well below the caliber of the hotel that it is located in. If you're up for the walk, you could grab some exercise and walk the ~1km over to the domestic terminal to find a range of food options that will be served more promptly. One would hope that management would want to address this issue for their staff and for their customers."

"Ate here with the family as it's in the hotel. What a mistake. Service was poor at best and mostly absent. Beverages took an agonizingly long time, but not as long as the food. There certainly were lots of other patrons, but we heard many complaints from them as well. The buffet chicken was evidently good, but the pork chops were as dry and difficult to cut as cardboard. Of the food we ordered, the fries were undercooked, and the insides of them were just warm. The charcuterie board was a series of cheap, bland meats and cheeses, of which one bite put you off of eating more. The fish was OK, but the portions were small and the breading wasn't completely cooked. Finally, this was one of the most expensive meals of our trip (top 2), and was the worst of the entire trip. Please take your business elsewhere, this place is terrible."