The Pedal Pusher Rolleston — Restaurant in Canterbury

Pleasant staff but could have used an extra set of hands or better training Specials such as pasta of the day were not provided and no checks at table except for drink orders no upsales or discussion of entries were had. No warnings of delays were given. We did get a your meals are late but coming would you like to order another round of drinks.....not really an apology or explanation. Breakfast brunch menu was as expected pancakes, French toast, fry ups. Brunches were mostly salads burgers and salads no stand out signature dishes.

We were there for lunch at 1pm wasn't what I would call busy at all (I have a hospo work history and very much understand the ratio stuff to customer)

My dirty chai just tasted of coffee with burnt milk topped with cinnamon came with no sugar or offer of sugar. It was terrible.

It took some time for our orders to be taken then about an hour from then for our food to come.

I ordered grilled fish for my baby and it came out salty and dry extremely over cooked the seasonal vegetables that comes with looked unappealing slimy looking greens no kid would eat (I love veges I didn't want to eat it) with 1 bit of broccoli and 2 slice of carrot. we switched out the mash for chips due to dairy allergy and was the best bit of her meal for $12 I would have expected better really, it was the healthiest allergy free meal on the menu.

My bbq beef sandwich flavours were nice but cold and I'm not sure why they call it bbq? It had no smoky bbq flavour you associate with bbq. The bottom half of Turkish bread was soggy and I have no idea where the cheese sauce went if was added at all? Again the chips were hot and crisp best part of the meal. My O/H had the same with the same disappointments. the sandwich was roughly the size of half 1kg block of cheese, the chips came in a basket and held about the same amount as a large coffee cup from the cupboard. This meal costs about $27 I do not think it was good value could have got a really good steak with all the trimmings elsewhere.

My other child got the French banana bread and loved it but said it was also cold when arrived.

We left still hungry. I have not asked our other 2 guests their opinion but my household were very disappointed after hearing such good things.

Gave 2 stars due to the venue being nice and family friendly, due to our experience and cost I feel...

We visited here a few weeks ago. Not sure the location is the right spot. I would've thought in the actual shopping area near Countdown would be more appropriate. Still, it caters to the newest residential areas I guess. As a restaurant I thought it lacked appeal in comparison to the city branch which has alot more character. There was no ambience. I can't pinpoint exactly what it lacks but there's something missing. There was plenty of seating with two outside areas, one for smokers. The doors were open as it was a nice day. We were seated in the restaurant side as we'd requested. After our meal we went into the bar area. The bar stools need replacing. They're practically the same size as the table so you sit well above the table. If you're tall like my brother is at 6'5, you're bending over it. Anyway, the menu offered a small plate menu before 5pm. They had dumplings for $1 each, so we ordered enough for six people. You also had to pay extra for the sauce at $2. The chunky chips was a very generous portion, not greasy and served with tomato and aioli. To top it off our desserts were again, very generous servings. Although, you had to wait until 5pm for dessert! Creme Brulee with berry compote and ice cream, Sticky date pudding with baileys and butter and the trio icecream with berries were delightful. Food wise: the portions presentation, cost were more than reasonable. We were all very happy. Drinks service to the table was also ok, the service was attentive. However, you would think when serving drink orders they would also clear the table of the dirty plates at the same time. We found we were always prompting them to do this. Initially, when taking drink orders they wouldn't take away the dirty glasses so our table was filling up with dirty dishes. There was a young duo performing, a guitarist and singer. As muso's ourselves we felt they lacked soul with no connection. Her voice was nice, a bit soft for the songs they chose and you couldn't hear her over the guitar. Still, our toes were tapping and with practise and confidence I'm sure they will grow. Overall, it was an 'OK' experience hence, the...

I had heard good things about the bar snacks/Friday drinks vibe from Pedal Pusher so was quite excited to try it for dinner. Unfortunately I was very disappointed. I got the aglio e olio pasta which I found to be very lacklustre. Admittedly some of that could be my fault for not adding chicken or prawns to the dish - I just ordered it basic, as it comes by default. It was very boring and definitely not worth the $28 price, especially when compared to similar pasta offerings from other establishments. The garlic bread was probably the worst I've ever had at a restaurant - very undercooked (soggy, not remotely crunchy, seemed fresh rather than baked in an oven as I would expect). My partner got the chicken burger and said it was about what she would expect for the venue/price. I tried a bite and agreed it was about what I would expect, so the food rating got raised up for this. It should also be noted that we did hear from others at our table that the beef cheek was very good - so maybe order that instead of what we did.

Service was a 3/5, our 2 drinks (coke and wine, not cocktails or anything fancy) took about 10 mins to come out after our drink order was taken - we thought they might have forgotten about us. Food service was okay / as expected for the mains, but dessert was a bit random - everyone else had well and truly finished their desserts by the time the 'Shanky's Dream' desserts arrived. They arrived about 10 mins after desserts served at the same table. It must be noted though that the Shanky's Dreams received high praise both in terms of taste and presentation, when they did arrive.

Overall rating - 3/5 is generous, plenty of room to improve and there are lots of other offerings in Rolleston these days. We will definitely be back to try Pedal Pusher again though, and hopefully that will give me cause to increase the...