The Rising Tide — Restaurant in Bay of Plenty

Just had one of the worst experiences going out for dinner with the manager and the old lady who was at the door with him. It all started like this: it was our first day in the city, so we decided to meet up at one time with one group of friends and later with another group. We arrived at 6 PM, ate, and drank with everyone at the table. After about an hour and a half, some friends who were already at the table were leaving, and five new friends arrived. Then, quite rudely, we were told we only had two hours. Our newly arrived friends responded that instead of giving them a new table, we could all stay at the same one and simply reset the two-hour limit. There were about eight of us, constantly ordering and sharing the table.

Ridiculously, they replied, “The five of you who just arrived can stay, but the other three must leave because your two hours are up.” It was one table we could all share comfortably, but for some strange reason, they wanted to kick out three of us.

After a very uncomfortable moment, we tried to explain the situation to the woman who was attending us, telling her it made no sense — not even from a business perspective. There were several tables behind us with just three people, while we were a group of eight actively ordering. After a while of being verbally mistreated and accused as if we were doing something wrong, in a very unpleasant manner, I asked to speak with the manager. That’s when this blond guy appeared, who seemed more reasonable and agreed to let us stay with our newly arrived friends as long as we kept ordering (which we always did). We ordered eight burgers and beers. The order took a little while to arrive, which was understandable.

While we were eating, another woman, this time a Spanish speaker, came over and said, “You have to leave in 10 minutes.” We explained again what the manager had told us — we even placed the order because he said we could stay. It was frustrating to feel pressured to eat and drink quickly after paying. She left, and shortly after, the same woman from earlier came back saying, “You have 10 minutes left.” At that point, the situation became overwhelming. The whole time we were eating, the manager kept glaring at us. There were tables for eight with only three people, tables that had arrived at the same time we did and were still there. But for some reason, they were fixated on making us feel unwelcome.

We tried telling the manager that if he had said we needed to leave in 10 minutes, we wouldn’t have ordered anything. But he didn’t understand and kept insisting, in a very aggressive way, that we had to leave in 10 minutes.

They kicked us out. We were charged like any other customer — we had 13 burgers and 13 beers — but had a horrible experience. What we went through was truly awful. We have never been treated like this in any restaurant...

The short: Good - Nice bar food / snacks, fast service. Average Prices Bad - Industrial and scattered decor, parking

The Long: My wife and I were told about this place a while back, and we finally decided to try it out. Immediately, parking can be an issue during peak time as it's location is surrounded by many of the companies operating on the edge of the port near Mount Maunganui (Partial industrial zone), meaning the customers line the street up and down in the only legal places they can park. Again this was Friday night, around 7pm so peak time.

Upon entering you are presented with an outdoor seating area which stretches the length of the entrance, narrow but long, with sufficient heating during cold nights and a good shielding against nasty winds. Inside has a scatter gun approach to seating, with a few half walls preventing a smooth transition from one side of the restaurant to the other ... and a couple of dog leg corners from table to bathrooms.

Ordering is done 1 of 2 ways. The more traditional talk to the server and order from menu ... or a groovy system of download an app for your smart device, setup a payment method and account (roughly 5 minutes work), and you can enter your table number, order straight from the app and have it arrive at your table. Very cool for those of us who are no terribly afraid of technology. The tech systems in place for ordering at Rising Tide that is similar to those of an Izakaya of Japan. So my wife and I were right at home. Though you can order in the more traditional sense of talking to a waitress / waiter, I would recommend getting a tech savvy friend to show you the ropes with the app, as it adds a new dimension that many New Zealanders would not be used to. But once you know it, it is really enjoyable.

The food is fairly standard for the most part. A basic selection of bar snacks, tapas and burgers ... however a minimal wait time from order to arrival, and it is presented nicely.

They have a working brewery on site, and the craft beers they offer are enjoyable and cater for a variety of different tastes. My wife was happy with the wine selection ... more reds would be nice ... but that's getting a little too picky.

Price was a reasonable 'middle of the road' ... exactly what you would expect, meaning we were satisfied with the price we paid for the service and food we received.

Considering the above I was happy to give Rising Tide a 4 star. It looses a point based on appearance and cluttered table placement, and even though the food (excluding Burgers), would fall under the category of tapas only, the app ordering system adds a different kind of flavor. Service was fast and friendly!

Check it out...

On Sunday March the 5th, my new wife and I booked 2 tables of 20 at The Rising Tide to have our “Day after the wedding” celebrations. We had friends and family who had traveled from overseas and all over New Zealand to spend these incredibly special few days with us, one of which was an afternoon at The Rising Tide. We anticipated a great afternoon filled with food, drink, and an abundance of love.

Instead, we were met with some of the most hostile service we have ever experienced. For an establishment that prides itself on its service, we felt this was incredibly disappointing. The majority of the younger wait staff actually met us with smiles and we enjoyed their efforts, but the worst service provided was from the two managers on the day (we didn’t get their names). Food and drink orders were met with sighs, many of our party had encounters with extremely unhelpful staff, some of our group were scolded for moving seats or not knowing our table number when they went up to order, and one of our group even heard one of the managers refer to our group as “a bunch of c**ts”. We felt unwelcome and unaccommodated with various groups of friends and family commenting on the terrible service. It was actually quite embarrassing for us and it unfortunately put a dampener on one of the most important weekends of our lives.

Considering the amount of money a group of our size would have put through the tills that day ordering both food and drink, we were extremely disappointed in The Rising Tide and their sheer lack of hospitality. We will not be returning and will be letting all our friends and family know to avoid visiting. We provided feedback directly to your website yesterday so we could avoid having to leave a public review, but it's now 24 hours later and we have yet to receive a reply, which just highlights your team's lack of care.

I would recommend a complete overhaul in your management. If they are too tired (or too hungover) to work a busy Sunday, they should consider a change in profession. As someone who has worked hospo throughout my life, providing great service is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. Your management should strive to remember this.

I hope you take this criticism sincerely, and by making this review we hope your team might just put in the required effort next time someone else trusts you with making sure their friends and family are felt accommodated...