The Apron Cafe — Restaurant in Christchurch

This charming gem of a small coffee shop, is a rescue haven with a few small 2-3 person tables, and a few very comfortable large booths ample for a family of 4. It is right near the Earthquake museum and is open 7 days a week until 5pm for breakfast, coffee and baked goods like muffins and scones. We were exhausted after a very long uncomfortable overnight flight, and drove around looking for someplace to eat breakfast and get caffeine. We found the Apron, between 930 and 1030 a.m. and used the street pay metered parking for our rental vehicle. It was not crowded when we arrived, so our timing was good to have a sit down breakfast. Shelly was extremely gracious to us, and explained everything we had questions about when ordering. We praised the free wifi for customers, which allowed us to make needed communications on our social media apps. The kind staff lead my parents to the building next door where the public restroom was located. I ordered a Mochaccino, with a splash of hazelnut syrup, which was a sweet, rich, bold, stamina potion and a delicious LIFE saver. Others were content with the black coffee. My dad, who is in his 80s, really wanted pancakes, which were not on the menu, but Shelly said they could make him some pancakes. We were truly blessed to have picked this spot as our first New Zealand dining experience. The food was amazing. The Ham and cheese toasty was warm comfort food. The eggs the shop uses have beautiful golden orange yolks from free range chickens who had obviously had been well cared for. The sausage and bacon were delicious and not overly spicy. The spicy chili omelettes were just right. We had ordered extra, and were provided with a plastic to go container, with a tight fitting lid, which was a reusable treasure this trip. We saved the muffin with our leftovers for a midnight snack which felt like the universe smiled on us after surviving the travel weariness. We were glad to find a unique place that felt very personal and not like a corporate chain establishment. The care and welcoming personalities of the staff were a breath of fresh air. If you can't eat in, get a beverage to go, and buy their food and baked goods to take with you for...

Unfortunately this was the worst cafe experience I have ever had. I don't usually write reviews but people need to be warned.

When we arrived the woman excitedly offered to put 2 tables together for us as we had 6 people. When we told her we were here for snacks and drinks she rolled her eyes and told us we had to sit up at the window benches.

There was nothing in the cabinet so we ended up ordering off the menu. We ordered our drinks and food. We got pretty easy to make food, 2 bowls of fries, a BLT, toasted sandwich, 2x roti and butter chicken. The wait time was very long for drinks. The first drink that came out was an incorrect order. And the last drink didn't come until some of the food had been served. We waited a long time for food also.

We were served with burnt fries, there was also something that appeared to be fish in the fries bowl, as well as hair and burnt food from the tray that was used to cook them on. The toasted sandwich had chicken and cheese in it. I had to repeat my order multiple times to the woman as she kept trying to offer other things. The chicken was burnt and hard to bite through, the cheese was poor quality. The butter chicken was very watery and tasteless. The BLT had bacon that was half burnt and half undercooked. The ingredients were not fresh.

The kitchen was rather dirty and there was a obvious lack of prep work. The woman was cutting raw chicken and then touching the pots/pans with the same gloves. She then took the gloves off after handling the chicken to only touch the pots/pans which had raw chicken on them with her hands. The tray the chips were cooked on was clearly not cleaned in a while.

When we asked about the food scraps in the chips bowl we were told it can't be fish as they didn't serve that. Even thought they offered fish and chips on their menu. The two workers then proceeded to have an argument and the man told the woman she shouldn't have served us as we all got different things.

Overall the service was rubbish  the Cafe was filthy and the food was not edible and...

Thought I'd try this cafe as reviews seemed ok however I won't be back. My partner and I arrived for lunch and we both ordered omelettes with one being keto and one chilli. We also ordered a coffee and a spiced chai which after a very long wait (considering it wasn't busy) took 20 mins for the coffee and 25 mins for the chai only for it to be a chai latte (coffee) and not a spiced chai. Took another 5 mins for it to be made so quite a wait. I was nervous about the food as the kitchen was not very clean with food and dirty utensils scattered about in the prep area. I noticed the omelette was cooked in a used pan which hadn't been cleaned - alarm bells! Both omelettes were served and were the worst I've ever eaten. No effort was taken in cooking them - The chef must not enjoy his job. The keto omelette was just egg with onion and frozen mixed vegetables with a side of bacon. The chilli omelette wasn't much better with onion and mushrooms with a side of bacon. The onion was cut very chunky and was raw. I ordered the chilli omelette at medium heat but there was hardly any heat at all. No effort on presentation, just dumped on the plate. Both were $21.90 each. Terribly overpriced. We won't be back. PS. Both staff were not...