Two apps now compete to knock your restaurant bill down in New Zealand, and they work in very different ways. First Table has been serving up 50%-off food since 2014, while EatClub launched locally last month promising up to half off the entire bill, drinks included.
First Table is the planner's tool. You pick a location and date up to 14 days ahead, then choose from set time slots at participating restaurants. What began as an early-bird scheme now covers breakfast, lunch and evening 'last table' slots across the country - from Gore to Russell to Waikanae Beach. The catch: you have to mention the app at the counter, drinks are excluded (and often a minimum beverage spend applies), and if you're more than 15 minutes late, the deal is void. There's also an upfront booking fee, typically capped around $15 per group, and each restaurant lists its own special conditions - one diner we heard about booked a Japanese place without realising fish dishes weren't covered.
EatClub is the opposite: dynamic, last-minute and discreet. Restaurants set their own discounts (35% is more common than the headline 50%) within an arrival window, which shift daily like a reverse of surge pricing. You book the deal but not the table, so you might wait if the venue fills up - though deals usually only go live when there's plenty of room. Discounts apply to everything on the bill, and payment happens through a digital card, so even the restaurant doesn't know you're using the app. A 2.9% transaction fee (minimum 20 cents) applies, venues pay a commission, and cancellation is free before your window opens. The downside for now: it only operates in Auckland and Wellington, with 250 venues at launch.
Real examples show the savings are genuine. On one recent Wednesday in Auckland, Culprit's $125 tasting menu dropped to $62.50 per person via First Table, while Baduzzi offered 35% off for 8-9pm arrivals on EatClub.
Opinion is divided on what these apps mean for hospitality. Some restaurateurs credit First Table with saving slow winter nights - a half-price table beats an empty one when wages are fixed. Others call both platforms predatory, arguing they train diners to only eat out at a discount while the platforms take a cut. Even Marco Pierre White, a 5% owner of EatClub, shrugs it off: restaurants have always run deals, he says, calling an empty table perishable inventory, like an airline seat.
So which suits you? If you like certainty - a guaranteed table, booked ahead, ideal for a planned night out or a group - go First Table and just read the fine print first. If you're flexible, dining in Auckland or Wellington, and would rather nobody knew you scored a deal, EatClub's dynamic discounts are the smoother, more discreet play.
For travellers, this is a genuinely easy way to stretch a food budget in New Zealand's pricier cities, especially with a tasting menu effectively halved. Just time your booking around your itinerary: First Table rewards forward planning, EatClub rewards spontaneity.
