Eating in Epsom is something I’ve not done much of, but this little beauty brings saucy Italian fare along with a large dose of Faulty Towers-style fun.


We chanced upon this restaurant whilst driving towards the Lido along Maukau Road, doing a bit of reconisnace on where to eat after the film. We were looking for a small middle-of-the-range family style restaurant that would suit our jeans-wearing mid-week house escape. And we spotted the perfect looking place, a cheesy Italian restaurant exterior that had an air of cute sincerity about it.


This was the first time I went to Me Ne Frego, and I’ve been back since. When we arrived, a rather hairy, dour middle aged man threw some menus at us, served a couple in the next table, took away some empty plates at another and then stumbled to the kitchen to start making pasta. Quickly assertaining this man was possibly the owner and certainly the only person working at the restaurant, we settled in for a long wait for food. 


It was worth it, the dishes cooked by Mr Grumpy were in fact stunning. I’ve since learnt that this man is the owner, named Steven (Stephano), a half Italian who grew up in Italy, learning his love of food and ability to cook there.

The seriously cool thing about this place is Stephano. He is entirely ill-suited to be front of house and can be extrememly rude and bad humoured towards customers. Check out the reviews online, I’ve spent half an afternoon laughing at them. 


His ability to cook beautiful food is the other reason to go. He has seriously been touched by the hand of God in that area, so it makes his quirky personality a part of the fun of this little place – where else can you chance getting abused whilst eating out in Auckland?

By the way, Me Ne Frego translates to “I don’t give a damn”!

| Master Bite