Manuka Restaurant — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

Absolutely appalling service today from whom I believe to be the manager, they were at the payment counter - please reconsider coming here on a public holiday. Not only would you pay 15% surcharge, you’ll probably also receive horrendous service. Arrived around 12pm for a table of 5 (3x adults, 2x 2yo), we sat down for 40 minutes wanting to order food. We asked 3 different staff, 2 of which told us they will get someone for us, the last one said they’ll be with us soon. 10 minutes later, I see them serving someone at the gelato counter. The whole time water was not offered on the table - all the other tables around us had them. Slightly annoyed, I walked to the payment counter wanting to ask if someone could come take our order, I was even happy to place my order at the counter and pay since everyone seemed too busy to help with tableside service, as my daughter were hungry and getting restless, the manager(?) proceeds to tell me “we can’t serve you”, excuse me? You’re telling me that you won’t serve me because I was annoyed that I’ve sat waiting for 40 minutes for someone to even take my order. Mind you, between the time we sat down and when we left, the table next to us not only had their orders taken, they also had nearly finished their meals. Completely understand that they were busy, but the attitude from the manager was uncalled for, and I do not understand why their waiters could not take my order after they had delivered the meals to the table next to us. I wasn’t even waiting for my meal to be delivered, I was waiting for someone to come take my order! I used to come regularly prior to having children, but I not be...

I was not going to write a review for this restaurant, but in re-visiting this restaurant’s other reviews, I really must. My experience, apparently, was not a fluke.

A group of four of us decided to lunch at Manuka on our visit to Devonport. Someone ordered the seafood chowder, another salmon. I ordered an omelet. It was flat, burnt, (no, really, burnt) and inedible. I told the waitress. She replied, “This is how we cook our omelets, there is nothing wrong with it.” I’m sorry, I said, this is not acceptable. Distressed, she went back to tell the chef before removing the dish. She returned and said, “Chef is wounded, his heart is wounded that you do not think this omelet is satisfactory.” Stunned and feigning concern for the chef, I asked her to take it away. She then reached into the plate, grabbed a handful of omelet, ate it in front of our friends and the other customers, and said, “There is nothing wrong with this!” At this stage her actions rendered accepting the omelet and continuing to eat it moot. Hopefully, she is not at the mercy of a temperamental chef with anger management problems? Please take this back, I said. “Can we cook it again for you?”, she asked. If this is how you cook your omelets, no, I said. “Can we get you anything else?” At this point, my appetite was exhausted, so I said, no.

The omelet at Manuka is now a topic of lively conversation, but not one I...

My friend and I visited today and had an awful experience with the waiter with the grey pony tail - assuming he’s the manager, and clearly has a track record for rudeness and terrible customer service after some of the other reviews I have read! We arrived at 1.45pm and were seated and given menus - at about 2pm the waiter stomped over and asked if we had been told that they close at 2.30pm. We hadn’t been told this, nor had anyone been to take our order to allow us to eat and finish up before they closed. We felt unwelcome from the get-go as his attitude was very hostile towards us. My friend has celiac disease, which means she can’t have the fries in most places due to gluten contamination, and asked if they could please be swapped for a salad. A perfectly acceptable swap due to a dietary requirement. The waiter refused and snapped that “you get about 5 fries in the dish so you can’t swap it for a salad, if you want a salad, you need to order a salad.” So rude and unaccommodating, not to mention the fact that the cost would be nothing or marginal to make a minimal swap of this kind. When we paid he apologised for the lack of communication on closing time, but not for his appalling attitude....