Dux Dine — Restaurant in Christchurch

Wow someone should remind Dux Dine that they are in the "hospitality" business as I'm pretty sure they are unaware of the meaning of the word. Here goes our 'experience' last night. After booking a table for our family of 4 at 5pm I arrived bang on 5pm from work as my wife and kids were coming from home. I was shown to my table (that was booked) and the waiting staff passed me no less than 6 times before I had to grab their attention to get a drink. The place was not busy at all but the waiting staff all seemed to be interested chatting amongst themselves. Then when my wife and kids arrived we asked to be moved as the table were were at was on the veranda and it was cold. When I asked if we could be moved inside I got a barrage of arguments from the staff saying in a huffy tone "we're fully booked" to which I replied "yes, and we booked our table so we'd like to be moved please". "On no we can shut the doors". "No we'd like to be moved please". After much argument we were finally relocated inside. Then after ordering the food arrived and my kids "pizza" was actually a half pizza (cut in two). Now I'm a pretty smart guy and I know what a pizza is - it's a full circle of pie dough with toppings cut in various pieces, not half a pizza. I pointed out that the kids menu didnt say "half pizza", it said "pizza". We eat at a lot of establishments in CHCH and never have I seen a kids pizza cut in two. When I said this to the waiter I got an very audible "groan" and she took off leaving us without food. Someone more senior (I assume) came over and tried to argue that it was a kids portion but I did point out that the half pizza was markedly smaller than my wife's pizza (in circumference) and it was also cut in half. I reminded her that the menu didn't state "half a pizza" but because my other sons food had arrived I decided to just accept it and move forward. Then when I paid the bill the guy at the counter asked "how was everything" - I replied "not very good especially the service". He didn't say anything and just took our money. Really? Is this what passes for staff training? How about the follow-up questions to find out how to improve? Nothing, Nada, Zip, Zilch......they just don't care. SUMMARY - Really with all the stiff competition in the market, Dux Dine management should be advised that staff in hospitality should be there to make paying customers feel welcomed, feel looked after and well served so they want to come back. The food was forgettable, the "service" was seriously lacking -- we...

My family and I were so disappointed with our experience at the Dux Dine yesterday. We were placed outside, ordered our food, and then the wind got really intense. We moved inside, and I went to tell our waitress, and she said that table was booked. So I asked if she could find us another spot inside, please. She got visibly angry and didn't speak another word to us while she grabbed our cutlery and slammed it on another table. It was horrible; we were out celebrating, and she completely ruined it for us. It's odd as well because the waitress wasn't even our one, she had greeted us, but another person had come to get our order etc. I have no idea why our asking to be moved was such a massive problem for her. We had already ordered. Otherwise, we would have left. Then we received our meals which we were also really disappointed with. One fish burger, which was okay and two salads that were tiny. I've never ordered a salad that small, particularly one in that price range. The tiny piece of salmon was ridiculous, and the other salad barely had any protein in it, just a few tiny bits of feta cheese the rest was basically a sad, small pile of lettuce. We ate quickly, paid and left, going to 'Slice & Dice' as we were still hungry. So thank you 'Slice & Dice' for saving our family day. I will not be returning to the Dux Dine again. Clearly, things have gone under. It's such a shame because I've been there quite a few times, years ago, and it was fantastic, but obviously, there has been a change in management or something because this was overpriced...

The customer service was disappointing. Despite having a reservation for three, we waited over 30 minutes before anyone acknowledged us or came to take our order. The lack of attentiveness significantly impacted our experience. Two staff members informed us that the restaurant was understaffed, which may have contributed to the delays in service. Given the circumstances, continuing to accept walk-ins may not have been the most suitable decision. Despite the main menu being predominantly seafood—with limited non-seafood options such as a mushroom filo, gnocchi, and a salad—I was content to order a pizza. However, after waiting an additional 30 minutes a total 1 hour to order our food and receive a drink. I notified the staff that we were ready to order, I was informed that pizzas were not being served that day. This was not communicated in advance, which we then decided that this place was not worth our money. When we went to pay, we politely mentioned that it would have been helpful to be informed in advance about the unavailable items on the menu, especially after spending over an hour waiting to place our order. The owner, Ross, who was nearby waiting to collect food from the kitchen, overheard the conversation and, rather disappointingly, appeared to dismiss the concern by remarking to the kitchen staff, ‘Eh, it’s not our problem.’

Overall, the experience was underwhelming—from delayed service and limited menu communication to a lack of accountability from management—which left us quite...