Carlton Bar & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Christchurch

It is a terrible dinning experience ever in chch that over imagination. Firstly, I have to admit the food was good. However, the staff was rude and mannerless to us, while she treats another table with a normal attitude. We ordered 1 wine, 1 beer, 1 kids burger, 1 eye fillet and 1 lamb lion. One of the staffs was kind to ask whether we want the kids meal earlier than another 2, I was happy with that. 15 minutes later than the kids meal coming, we finally got our 2 dishes. I said mine is eye fillet when the new staff( look like new trained) asked me who has the steak. And she gave me one dish and my dad got another. The shock is, one minute later, another staff came to us and questioned me straight forward: did you only order one steak? I said yes, and another lamb lion. Unbelievable, she said sorry I have to take your dishes away since we’ve given you wrong meal, while she took the meals straight away when I was still confused. Please note, I didn’t feel she felt sorry to me at all due to her strict attitude and I was not explained why the meal was wrong. The most interesting part was she went to another table where the meal should go and kindly apologized and explained their meal will be taken another 10 mins. Okay, another 15 mins later, our correct meal was coming. We were waiting for the meal over 30 mins at that time but no one apologized to us for the delay. I don’t think it is a reasonable that they treat different people in a different way. So, I asked the staff: can I please know why you questioned me ‘did you only order one steak’ at the first time when you found you provided wrong meal and took away the meal before I understood, after I paid the bill. She answered: because it is not your meal, you shouldn’t have the meal that is not yours. OMG!!! Unbelievable! Further, she explained that the new staff missed to order lamp lion and that’s why. Excuse me?? You missed to order, you provided wrong meal, and why let me feel it is my mistake?? I totally understand new staffs making mistakes, I also understand you are busy so I even didnt rush the meal once. But! It is not understandable you let me feel I did something wrong when your team made the mistake! To be honest, I didn’t feel she felt sorry to us until we left. The most horrible thing is my boy was looking at the whole story. I strongly not comment this restaurant. Horrible attitude horrible managing horrible dinning experience for us. Every restaurant in CHCH is better than this one, after all, people not going to restaurants...

Beautiful food and exceptional staff.

Booked 2 hours prior. Dined in on Monday night 22nd November 2021 at 8pm, party of 5. Upon arrival we were seated and served drinks immediately.

Our first server was a beautiful lady who was patient, kind and went above expectation to ensure we were satisfied. She was also we'll informed of the menu items, which helped us to determine what was best to order. She filled our water glasses when needed, as well as suggesting different beverages to accompany our meals throughout the night. Half way through our meals we changed waiters to a pleasant and humorous young man who also made sure our beverages were of the right liking as well as assisting with dessert options. His sense of humour was the perfect addition to end a beautiful evening.

All in all it was a wonderful place to spend my last dinner with my whanau in Christchurch whom I hadn't seen in a year. The staff made the night enjoyable, the venue was cozy and welcoming with beautiful history on display and the food was the cherry on top as it was delicious beyond words would ever do Justice. I'm a big eater so along with my own choices of entrees, mains and dessert I tried everyone else's also.

Photos are of our menu choice below: Entrees: -King prawns with salsa -Pork belly (dipping sauce was super good) Mains: -Tbone steak with roast spuds and side salad (can switch spuds for chips) with choice of 2 sauces we choose mushroom and peppercorn -Lamb rack with roast spuds in dripping gravy, side salad and 2 sauces. -Beef rib on mash with dripping gravy -Pan fried salmon with crispy skin with roast spuds in dripping gravy with salsa and greens Dessert: -Chocolate lover - moist chocolate cake with dark chocolate ice cream scoop, strawberries and chocolate sauce (heavenly good 😊 can swap ice cream for vanilla also) -Forgot the name - was like caramel panacotta with soft meringue and roasted almonds

Highly...

After travelling all day to get to Christchurch my friend and I decided to look through dinner options, our first choices were fully booked as Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days of the year for most restaurants. We called the Carlton and to our delight they accepted the booking. When we arrived there,the first thing we saw was a sign stating that there was a “fine dining” dress code. We were a little taken aback and nervous as it’s stated as casual on google and that’s how we were dressed, however no mention was made of our attire. Before we were able to sit down we were asked for our I.D. I had to run back to the hotel to get mine as there was no mention it would be needed and I was drinking just water anyway, I thought perhaps it was a child free restaurant but a screaming baby heard 20 minutes later soon dispelled that idea. We were seated at a booth just beside a till that seemed to be a hub for the staff, often I would have to pause my conversation to my friend as it was not worth the effort to be heard while the staff discussed matters right beside us. They were very generous on pâté for the starter, too generous considering there were only 6 crostini, (maybe the owner could half the amount of pâté given and save themself a lot of money) The general atmosphere was very uncomfortable as it was hard to work out if it was meant to be fine dining or a pub. The first impression was highly intimidating, but continued to subside as we realised the food was just overpriced and the attitudes were just snobbish. IMO they should either lower their prices and just serve good old fashion pub food or raise the quality of food to match the prices accordingly. One of the most uncomfortable dining experiences I’ve ever had which seems to be a trend according to other reviews, to be fair though, I may just still be feeling very defensive from that intimidating...