Under The Red Verandah — Restaurant in Christchurch

Normally a favourite of ours, we've been several times and has always been a good experience, however, this time was a bit different. I went with friends and we were seated in the cottage which was cold despite the gorgeous weather as there was no sun coming in. This space had one other table seated but I found it very loud, not because the other table was loud, I just think the space may have not absorbed this sound. After we ordered, approx 30 mins went by and our waitress came back and apologised because our order hadn't been entered at time of ordering - which is fine, mistakes happen and she did give us a complimentary coffee and soft drink for the table. They were also able to prioritising bringing the children's food out as they were already complaining of being hungry prior to the delay in the order being entered. This just meant that between our entire party arriving and our food being brought to the table, there was about an hour wait. When the food did come, it was nice food, however, my friend did find a hair in her food. She has vivid colourful curly hair, and this was a blonde looking straight strand which no one at the table has.

I felt that overall, the experience was OK, nothing major went wrong, however, it was a series of events that made this experience less enjoyable. I normally leave here and can't wait to return, but this time I think I may have a break...

We ( 2 adults + 2 young kids) went to this cafe on Friday at 11.40am for a lunch outing. One of the staff (wearing glasses with a side shaved hair) served us with a friendly smile. We thought this cafe has a very good customer service. Unfortunately things went downhill very quickly after 40mins of food waiting, while 3 tables who arrived after us got their orders continuously before us. My husband decided to lined up to pay for our drinks and cancelled our food order. Our table waitress then told him that our food is 2-3mins and she couldn't cancel our order. After that she turned around and walked away muttered out loud " Can't you see we are fxxcking busy!". This happened while my husband is still in the queue in front of the tilt with my kids next to him. If my husband can hear her, I am sure my kids and other customers can definitely hear her. After the food arrived, the lady kept walking passed us with a sour face without even an apology. Now this behavior is not acceptable and is rude regardless how many good reviews this cafe has received online. One should be able to control their frustration in front of customers at all times. The staff should have chose to vent her swearing at the back of the cafe or even in the toilet. Despite this, the food was good. It's up to the future customers whether they want to risk spending their money there and ro receive bad...

Well I did it again.... one look at my meal and I can't wait to get amongst it and forgot to take photos to prove just how fantastic our meals WERE!! So now I will just have to explain it with my prose only. My wife had fish of the day, pan fried fish, red cabbage and potato mash. You would have see it to believe it it was sooo good. I had eggs benedict on toast with crispy bacon...lots of it tooo! The bacon was as I said real crispy but not so you couldn't crunch it up easily enjoying every bite. The eggs were perfect complimented by the hollandaise sauce. Both plates were of generous portions making them a meal not a lunch snack. We polished these off with pleasure not requiring anything else although the cabinet food looked so tempting. The serving staff were all so friendly to all patrons and to each other, a sure sign "Under The Red Verandah" is a place you MUST NOT MISS. I consider the menu is extensive as lunch selection is added to by the breakfast menu and can be ordered from till 3pm. Two meals and a drink each was around $50. Worth it too. I challenge you to dine here and NOT be well satisfied and complete. Go on...try it...