Ilex Café — Restaurant in Christchurch

After waiting 40min for an order we approached the checkout and was told they were busy and it was on its way 50 min into our wait we asked another staff member who said they would check only to come back to ask what our order was as the cook did not have a record of this. After waiting further 5 min a dish not what we ordered was placed in front of us we were asked are we happy to have this while we wait. We asked how long it would be they were unsure and because we had waited so long already and had a meeting in 30 min we advised we would be happy to take what had been given for now and asked for a refund. The manager came out with an attitude. Asked us had we been told it was a 40 min wait - we said no - she then asked who had served us - we advised she had done- her response was that could not be true as she was not on the counter - we then advised her which counter we were served from and she changed her tune and advised she then would have told us there was a 40 min wait. We advised her specifically for cabinet food 55 min was too long and her service was appalling. She handed us our refund and stalked off. I am surprised by the level of service from the manager in this instance and how rude she was. Not only this I am appalled she attempted to suggest we lied who served us and when she was caught in her lie changed her tune. We will not return. As a side note the meal they bought out was stale and most of it...

We dined at lunchtime on Wednesday 26th Nov 22. The food was great but we were made to feel so uncomfortable being in who identified herself as the managers presence. They were seemingly very busy at the time, after 35 mins we made them aware one of our tables orders must have been missed because others ordered quite a bit after were all out. This manager came to the table and requested repeatedly to know which staff member had taken the order, what hair colour, which counter etc. the lady who ordered simply said she couldn't remember (yet she kept pushing) because it was clear the manager was going to gun for this person and we all felt off about that given it was a mistake while they were run off their feet. She continued to flap around stressed and ridiculing staff in front of customers. To top it all off she totally overloaded a tray of dirty dishes and even customers commented that there was no point trying to carry that many. Of course she struggled half way to the kitchen and then called a young male worker to take over, the look on this poor man's face he knew he was going to struggle! It was too heavy for both of them and she had no disregard for his health and safety handing the ridiculously overweight, large and awkward tray over to him. She truly made the dining experience awkward by trying to make us dob in her staff and a total disregard for her own or her...

Unfortunately wouldn't recommend Ilex to anyone. We came today for brunch and I'd say it was hands down the worst cafe both of us had ever been to. For starters every food item on the menu was severely overpriced for what we got -small portion sizes, basic toppings etc. The outdoor umbrellas in 2 areas were also broken, and they have a HUGE seagull problem (this obviously isn't their fault, but something really has to be done about it.) The seagulls would swoop in at any chance they got and managed to snatch an entire half of my sandwich, which I had paid $18 for. The iced drinks were also awful, super milky and no flavour. But the worst part was the service. I don't think we got a single smile from any staff member while we were there, despite being super friendly and polite to them. Our food and drinks were slammed down on our table without a single word from the waitstaff, and near the end a girl came up behind us and started clearing away our plates without asking if we were done or saying anything to us at all. No one so much as checked in to see if we enjoyed the food. At that point, despite not being finished we decided we were a bit over it and left anyway. We were both super disappointed with the service, atmosphere and food. Experience as a whole was very poor and we're...