Commi — Restaurant in Christchurch

I have been to Commi several times and always enjoyed. Last night we had a family birthday and booked a table. It was busy but there seemed to be a lot of staff around. We waited for about 20 minutes for someone to come and take a drink order and eventually had to call someone over which was difficult as staff appeared not to be looking anyone in the eye. Drinks all arrived at different times and food was even worse. When food eventually arrived after a very long wait my husband had almost finished his by the time 2 other meals arrived and my son did not get his until the rest of us had almost finished. We had ordered a starter and staff had to be asked to remove dirty plates from the table as they were putting down the main meal. Wine was in short supply and although they had run out of Pinot Noir they tried to charge us for a glass we could not get. It all made for quite a stressful night which was supposed to be an enjoyable family get together for a birthday. Whilst the food was good I would be reluctant to go back for a repeat performance until they have sorted out their service problems.

Update July 2023. Gave this place another go and ordered a takeaway. Could get through for ages even though it was just after opening time. Eventually got order in, but then they forgot to include one item we ordered so we had to drive...

This was a very disappointing experience for a few reasons. We ate there on a Friday night at 6.15pm with a group of 6.

Food: DIY rice paper rolls - way too little filling for 6 wraps. measly amount of mince and vermicelli Pork "belly" - was just a cut up pork schnitzel The mains were actually OK - peppercorn prawns, lamb massaman curry, sizzling fish and sunbathe tofu were decent. The massaman curry was a highlight. Pad Thai was ok. Although it seems like a sharing menu, all dishes actually come with rice in individual portions.

Service - really bad. I acknowledge most of the staff were probably just kids in school/uni but their attention was poor. We had to ask for cutlery a few times, and they didn't come back to take orders for drinks.

The worst part was that the food took 1.5 hours to come out!! They were too busy preparing take away meals and did not prioritise the customers eating in. Also, all the dishes came out so slowly, if we were not sharing all the dishes, the first dish would have been cold/finished by the time the last came out.

Apart from that, the decor and the vibe was good, which is a shame considering the food and service...

This used to be one of my favourite restaurants, however something has changed and the service has dropped dramatically. I am basing this on two visits not just one. After they take your order and food is delivered they basically leave you to it. They don't come and ask if you would like more drinks or desert even and the meals don't come out together so usually one or two people are waiting for their meals to come out while others are sitting with their meals going cold. I have witnessed staff just standing behind counter talking so not as if they are busy. There used to be a great manager and lovely waitress there but the time before last the waitress was so embarrassed about the meals not coming out together and the hour wait she gave us our entrees for free. Last night neither of those staff were there. I arrived later than the other three people at the table and after about 15 mins I had to go to the bar to ask if someone could take my drinks order. We also had at least a 30 min wait for our mains. I would think twice before...