Charlotte's Kitchen — Restaurant in Bay of Islands-Whangaroa Community

Ordered takeaways and was told 25 minutes to pick up, arrived exactly 26 minutes (from the time I first called to the time I paid) took the order to the car to check we had everything before heading home and omg the food was stone cold. 3 pizza, 3 chips, smashed potatoes and 2 cos salad $180. The cos salad used to be the best -a good portion size of small cos lettuce, cheese, warm bacon bites, little croutons and the yummiest dressing however this time we received 6 salad leaves that were dirty, holy and bug bitten… cold bacon bites that were clumped together, rock hard chunky of bread “croutons” and a thick mayonnaise for the dressing. The 2 prosciutto pizzas were stone cold and only had one sad little piece of prosciutto on each slice, smashed potatoes (5 chunks of potato, probably didn’t even make the size of a whole potato) were probably the “warmest” thing we got and that’s being generous. These tasted like old oil with salt. The 3 chips were again… stone cold, hard and chewy… the aioli it came with tasted fishy (wtf)? The best looking thing was the mushroom pizza and even that was lacking the main ingredient/topping MUSHROOMS….each piece had very little sliced up mushrooms and surprise surprise … STONE COLD. Really disappointing as charlottes used to be a go to and now $180 for cold, hard… very little food was just a waste of money for disgusting food. Not sure what’s changed as to why the food has gone so downhill but seriously a little commonsense to not have food sitting on the table getting even more cold could have scored 2 stars instead of one (probably not because that was cold and disgusting). To make it even worse- the restaurant wasn’t even busy … so no excuse...

I would give 10 stars for service if I could. We've ordered the pizza of the day and the taste of Tangaroa. The pizza was pulled pork, absolutely stunning. The size was massive with crispy thin crust, and the taste of mozzarella was strong and amazing. The salinity was just perfect to express the taste. The platter was impressive, didn't have the oyster in the photo but it was creamy and not fishy at all. The clams are not the species you buy in supermarkets (new world and stuff), but a very delicious species with wonderful texture. The tuna poke was great... I can't find any flaws on the food apart from can't get enough. The drinks are also amazing, the tap beer was fresh and fizzy. Also recommend the bootleg rascal, love the mixture of rum and tea. The atmosphere was also cosy and lovely. The cool ocean breeze was exactly what we needed in the hot summer. If you're lucky or you made booking, you'd be able to dine on the deck and enjoy the wonderful harbour view. The food are a little expensive but definitely worth it. Especially considering the cost of living these days and the quality of foods they used (and services). The servant was a handsome man with wavey medium length hair tied up, unfortunately we didn't catch his name. He provided the best service I've had in New Zealand without being any exaggerated. He talked us through the daily special fluently, carefully and clearly. He's super passionate and patient, and checking on us every few moments. Thank you so much sir for your wonderful service so we could have a...

Best dining in Paihia outside of the hotels (about which I cannot comment). Very good service, our waiter knew the menu well herself, gave accurate advice, and was very charming to every member of the family. Gnocchi was good but not really interesting enough as a (small) main. The kids’ carbonara was an ideal portion but a little bland even for a child. Rotisserie chicken was a huge portion (warned by the waiter), and could have benefited from being in a hot plate. It was delicious and tender, but cooled before it could be finished, also needed more seasoning. Having said that the cruets provided were ample and of top quality. The brassica slaw was overpowered by the very sweet mayo, it would have been nice to get more of a bite from the curly kale in it. The hero of our meal was my fillet steak. After a bad one the day before at a neighbouring establishment, this was a lesson in grilling. A steak knife was neither offered nor required, I could almost cut it with my fork. The legume salad was fresh, of ample size and perfectly dressed. The accompanying shoestring fries (I eschewed the kumara fries - I can’t stomach it) were also perfect. The pick of our desserts was our Marquise, balanced and rich. Thankfully, In 20+ degree heat, for the first time in Paihia our white wine was served in a...