Five Stags Rangiora — Restaurant in Canterbury

This was an interesting and ultimately disappointing experience. We arrived with high expectations after being told this was the best place for a meal out in Rangiora. We arrived early (about 5pm) and the place looked great. We were greeted by a friendly lady and we asked where we could sit. We were told we could sit outside or inside and order at the bar or to come back and see her if we wanted a table.

It wasn't until later we understood what this meant (that there are restaurant tables and pub tables) when we tired to move to a more desirable table (which happened to be a restaurant table) and we were told that there we all booked. A bit odd but ok. (none were in use when we arrived only one table was in use when we left)

We ordered a starter and mains. I ordered a steak and my wife the roast of the day which was pork.

The service was fine the starters and my steak were fine however there was something very odd about my wire's roast pork. The meat had no flavor at all, it was tough and completely bland, more like boiled pork perhaps but it could have been any sort of meat. The vegetables had very little flavor. A very disappointing meal which my wife ate about 10% of.

I was very surprised when the server cleared our table, they couldn't have missed the pork plate was basically complete full, they didn't say anything nor did anyone from the kitchen.

We generally don't like to complain as its not in our nature and people can make mistakes and have an off day. However in this case it was so bad we decided we had to say something and give them a chance to respond.

On settling the bill we provided our feedback and the only response was "ill let the kitchen know"

The least they could have done was offer an apology and they should have offered something to retain us as a customer (Clearly the meal wasn't eaten) perhaps a discount on our next meal.

This would have had us feeling that quality mattered to them and we would have been back to give them another go. Instead we left thinking well we are never going back...

Pretty disappointed after the dinner we had at five stags last night. We have been 3 times and the first time we went the food and service was amazing. The second time we went the food lacked a little and my partner didn’t want to go back but decided last night we would give it another go. The restaurant was pretty quiet and it was just the two of us going, they sat at us at a table which would normally sit 6 right next to the bar which was a bit annoying as my partner kept getting bumped by another guest everytime she went up to the bar. The flies were uncontrollably bad! We have never tried to get through a meal so quickly just for that reason, I understand you can’t help the flies in the heat but I’d expect you would have an automatic dispenser or something.

I ordered the steak with surf and turf and my partner ordered the popcorn chicken. Majority of the mussels were still closed with my surf and turf so had to force open myself and my partner only ate the popcorn chicken on her plate and didn’t touch either her chips or her coleslaw due to the coleslaw what we assume, being frozen and then reheated. It was mushy and not nice to eat at all, the chips were hard and felt like they were left over from someone else’s plate. We were discussing it between ourselves and the waitress came over and did overhear what my partner was saying about her meal but didn’t bother to ask just cleared our plates and then never returned so we just paid and left. Highly recommend ordering something else other than...

Terrible place and will never attend again. We were walk-ins, offered a table, table number and menus - and never saw the staff again. With 4 waiting staff, 2 bar people, they couldn't seem to care enough - so had to go to the bar and order drinks...

...which at first they expected us to collect, until they realised we weren't going to. We sat there bemused, watching and attempting to work out what we done wrong.

After 3/4 hour, a couple who were obviously regulars were placed directly behind us, to which they were immediately served drinks, and offered the service you'd expect.

We waited for an hour, but decided to leave.

On the way out, I approached the entry till, and with a out-stretched arm and pointed finger, we were told where we had to pay, heads pinning around in the restaurant where 1/3 of the tables were occupied.

I went up to the cashier (bar) and paid my two drinks, and was wished well.

I said to her, "If we had been served, we would've order 3 more drinks, had our 2 kids (and their girlfriends) meet us as planned, and spent the whole evening here."

She and the others had nothing to say. Clearly, the owner is hands-off in his/her role.

Compare this to the Addington Co-op; the owner is on the floor, serving and clearing tables, talking to customers, as they queue (sometimes out the front door), in a cafe that runs not less than 3/4 full everytime I go there (2-3 times per week, plus once on the weekend).

Five Stags Rangiora: goodbye and...