SOBAR Surf & Turf — Restaurant in Bay of Plenty

Awful Experience – Spoiled Meat, Overpriced Food, and Shockingly Rude Owner

We ordered the $27.50 steak deal, which came with a rump steak. When it arrived, the meat had a strong rotten smell and was covered in an excessive amount of rosemary, seemingly to hide the taste of spoiled meat. We sent it back and asked for it to be replaced with a burger. The burger was below average, but we accepted it.

When we went to pay, a man behind the bar was fixing our receipt because we had been overcharged. He approached us with an attitude from the start. My friend politely mentioned that the steak had smelled and tasted rotten. He immediately replied, “Looks like you don’t know the taste of rosemary.” I stepped in and said that this was a rude thing to say to customers, and that the meat was clearly spoiled, as I had tasted it too.

He then became verbally aggressive. I asked if he was the owner, and he said yes. I told him, “Look at the way you’re speaking to your customers—you should be more respectful.” He continued to insult us, insisting the meat was perfectly fine and had only arrived the day before. I repeated that I had tasted it and it was definitely spoiled.

As he kept raising his voice and becoming more aggressive, I felt overwhelmed and said “shush.” I even said, “I know it’s not polite to say that, but you’re being very aggressive.” He responded angrily, saying, “You don’t get to shush me—you are not the owner of me.” Despite everything, my friend still paid the...

Our recent visit to this amazing surf and turf steak bar was nothing short of outstanding. From the moment we arrived, the service was exceptional. Our waiter was incredibly attentive, carefully listening to the orders of four adults and three children, making sure everyone felt heard and looked after.

The highlight of my meal was the steak bite poké bowl—a stunning combination of flavours and textures that truly awakened my taste buds. The ataahua mix of edamame beans, cucumbers, pickled carrots, and tender steak bites atop a bed of quinoa and salad was both refreshing and satisfying.

My whānau were equally impressed with their steak meals, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed their well-prepared children’s options. Our waitress was warm and engaging, frequently checking in to ensure we were happy with our meals.

We made sure to pass our compliments on to the chefs—the meals were definitely worth the price. We left feeling full, satisfied, and grateful for such a welcoming dining experience. A big shout-out to the entire team for delivering such a memorable Lunch. We’ll...

Hands down worst experience we've had dining out, we arrived about 8.30, waiter was super friendly, she directed us to a table then gave us the menus and that was it for good 5-10 minutes, no one came to us, so went up to the bar ordered our food and drinks, obviously you'd expect the drinks and food served to your table, nope we asked another waiter he said no you have to go to the bar to get your drinks by that time it was after 9pm, then we saw him give drinks to the table next to us, really? We got our mains first, no entrees, the mussels were yum, the deep fried pickles interesting, and we asked for the loaded fries and bacon to be on the side and asked for our order to be repeated just to make sure, and as we expected the loaded fries came with all the bacon on top! Really disappointing! And when we shared our experience with the waiter she said that's what happens because it's late? Well stop serving food if you can't accommodate your...