Meshino Cafe — Restaurant in Christchurch

I made a booking for 12.30 for 8 people. When we got there there was a Post It note with our booking name on it, and stating for 8 people plus another post it note with another booking name. There was 1 table with four chairs. We then spent the next 7 or 8 minutes moving other tables and chairs to accommodate 8. Not once did a staff member come accross to help or even acknowledge us. I ordered the chicken vietnamese salad. It looked good, and had lots of chicken, but the chicken was very very dry. The salad was meant to have had a dressing but I couldn't taste any. In hindsight I should have gone up to the counter and asked for some to be put on but they were very busy. Disappointing meal and service. The others in my group enjoyed their meals. You have to go to the counter to order and you pay at the same time. (It does say this on their website). We didn't receive any menus, at the table so went to the counter to get some, the lady behind the counter said you've taken too many , put some back. We ended up sharing 1 menu between 2. The menus are just photocopied A4 sheets of paper. Our group received the food at the same time and it didn't take long...

We arrived at 11:10am on a Sunday. The cafe felt relatively busy with 2 people in line waiting to order before us.

When it was our turn to order, the lady that was serving went to deliver coffees to a table. Another staff member then just stood loading oranges one by one into the juicer (it was already 3/4 full) whilst we waited. Another staff member noticed and came to take our order. We ordered an iced latte and small flat white. We were told the coffees would be handed to us through the window to outside. After waiting 15 minutes I went back inside to ask if our order was missed. Only then did the drinks start being prepared.

In short, it felt like there were plenty of staff on but no manager present giving structure and priorities.

Positive:...

We were used to going to this place right after the COVID lockdown and it was a nice experience. Our last visit (Monday May 12, 2025) disappointed us so much that we will NEVER go back again until there is a big change in the kitchen and the staff. The two hot chocolates we ordered were ok but it took them more than half an hour to make them. And the order from the food cabinet, a sort of a quiche, was average but edible, the eggs bene was a real catastrophe. Old bread eggs barely cooked with a hollandaise sauce out of a jar. Extremely disappointing. And the service was inexistent. The staff didn't seem to care about customers ... Bye Meschino, you'll never see...