Calliope Road Café — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

To whom it may concern, staff, management, and soon-to-be disappointed customers.

I visited this establishment today, most excited to enjoy a Big Brunch. My excitement was fuelled further by the inclusion of crumbed prawns in said Big Brunch. These were to be the highlight of my meal, perhaps my whole day! I cannot begin to describe the elation that washed over me upon this discovery.

Alas, my meal was brought to me. I searched high and low, I dissected every item. My prawns were nowhere to be found! I must have made some sort of mistake, I thought, as I scanned the menu once again. No. Right there, the menu informed that this was to be a meal with prawns. The lack of care became evident.

Moreover, when I politely brought this error to the attention of the staff, I was met with stonefaced apathy. "Oh we need to update the menus. It comes with hash browns instead." Ok! Would have been nice to be informed of this before I ordered. If I go to the doctor to get a suspicious mole looked at, one would think he'd inform me before giving an impromptu prostate exam. If you are going to substitue items on the menu, tell the customer first!! Otherwise why even have a memu if you are seemingly making it up as you go! No apology, no offer of compensation for emotional damages incurred, no attempt to rectify my devastating prawnless-ness. Needless to say, an otherwise delectable meal left me with a rather bitter taste in my mouth.

I shall not dine in this...

Wow stunning flavors in this Cafe, the Beef and Shiraz pie melted in our mouths so tasty, decent crust, no leaks, melt in your mouth meat with distinctive Shiraz, I brought 3 extra to take home for dinner tonight - was assured plenty out the back if I wanted more :) but in the cafe, was served with the optional side salad, fresh n crisp, with lovely dressing with hints of sesame oil. We shared a carrot and apple muffin, no shortcuts in this cafe, they have made everything to be nourishing and tasty, little layer of cream cheese icing, nuts, and a wee bowel of tart natural yoghhurt made a melody of perfect flavor combinations. We sipped our delicious coffee's, made by a very experienced barrista to finish. We will be back!!! Thank you for the beautiful energy in your food, it tasted even better than it looks, and it all looks wonderful. So hard to find food that tastes loved these days!!! Staff were friendly and attentive to boot. We watched a huge ship leaving the Harbour, with the sun on our backs around our meal, (Pie photos in my kitchen with my own vegies at...

Kind waitresses! I work part-time in hospitality so felt upset seeing how stressed they were.. They were very apologetic as we had waited 1+1/2 hours till the first of our food began arriving. I do not usually feel inclined to leave reviews, let alone a poor one. But the food was average and not worth the wait. The eggs were overcooked, and there was a long hair in one of the orders. Poor management :(

(Probably caught them on a bad / busy day. One hour after we ordered we were told that they were down a chef, and as such there would be a longer wait. However this probably should have been mentioned prior to us ordering, as we would have gone elsewhere..)

Eating out is supposed to be enjoyable, and it was not.. Hope that others do not have the same poor...