Lakefront Café — Restaurant in Fiordland Community

From what I can see this cafe/restaurant is trying to pick things up a bit before they properly launch their dinner service which is why their menu is currently incredibly limited (burgers and fries only, with a side of potatoes). We were disappointed with our experience, but acknowledge that this is obviously a learning curve for the inexperienced team. One chef preparing one burger at a time through the open kitchen meant there was an incredibly long wait for any food to arrive on a very quiet night (50 mins) which wasn't acknowledged with us when we ordered. I don't feel the price of the food was justified. It would be worth noting to the chef that without any music/chatter in the dining area, the voices in the kitchen carry. The conversations we heard clearly didn't give us a lot of confidence in our meals - and also made us feel like we were waiting unnecessarily long to get food. Food was sent back under cooked from the other table, and we were able to hear the chef and team discussing that. The customer service from the wait staff was wonderful, and the location and view is great, so I hope with some adjustments and more learning this could be a...

Absolutely shocking customer service. My family of 9, including 2 young kids, booked a tour (an expensive one as well) and tour guide told us that we can get some coffee and stop for a toilet break before we head off.

My elderly parents went in to use the toilets first while I was getting my kids down the bus and upon entering the cafe I saw the owner of the cafe chiding my parents that they cannot use their toilets because they are not customers and they need to use the toilets at the park. We were fully intending to grab coffee and some food but just have not gotten to it yet.

It doesn't matter that she thought we weren't gonna buy anything but that is no way to speak to any people, especially if you are in the hospitality industry PLUS in a tourist area.

We spent almost $100 on coffee and pastries because that was the only spot and we needed to go off soon. Money NOT WELL SPENT AT ALL. Coffee tasteless and pastries were substandard. Will not recommend and will never go back, I rather spend the money somewhere else where we are treated...

I would love to try have a coffee in this place, but the customer services showed me a lot. Really I’m from Brazil and I had just 1 $5 and 1 $10 NZ notes in my pocket, I used the public toilet on the side of the Lakefront Cafe and their changes machine was out of order. I got in to Lakefront Cafe, told my tragic short history and just asked if the staff could change the $5 note into the coins. She said, “we don’t have many coins” I completely understood, but in front of the cashier had a “TIPs coins” I gently asked if she could use it to change my note, she asked me to wait and she went to the kitchen asked someone and came back to me and said: Sorry we cannot do that.

End of the history, I gave my $10 note and asked for a Water Bottle and she gave me the coins as change.

It’s unbelievable how people care about another.

You guys need to learn more if you guys really want to be a Welcoming City for...