Moo Moo Smokehouse & Grill Ormiston — Restaurant in Howick

Dined here on a Friday night with my family. I had done an online booking on the same day, around 8am and got a confirmation email back around 10am. When we went in the restaurant, the waitress asked if we made a reservation, I told her our name, she couldn't find our name in the list. I then showed her my email confirmation I received, she still couldn't find our name, she then said we could go and sit on the tall stool seats and just pointed in that direction. I had my older mother and aunty with me who has bad knees, so those seats would have been no good for them. We asked if we could have a different table, she said those tables are fully booked and asked if I did make the reservation for Friday, so I was second guessing myself thinking I made the reservation on the wrong day, but no I did make the reservation for that Friday. The waitress then said our booking prob didnt go through because we made the booking late?? I made the booking in the morning and received the confirmation email in the morning. The manager then comes out and pretty much says the same thing, only to then realise when looking at the reservation list that someone wrote our name wrong, Jammie instead of Sammie. At this point my mum was ready to throw hands with the staff, so not the best start to the night. The waitress should have probably asked for other forms of ID e.g. last name, email address, mobile no. etc and that could have avoided all this confusion. Also, some of the steaks were not available, the only ones that were available were the steaks that were super expensive. My mum and aunty ordered a wagyu steak and the waiter had to go and see if they had it in stock. Also, the waitresses we had didn't know much about the food. The food was nice, but overall, experience ruined it and waiters/waitresses need more training, which is why I have given...

Four of us shared the Ultimate Platter for 4. Excellent selection of meats and sides. Great customer service. Enjoyed the Buffalo Nibbles (chili oil smothered chicken wings), Texas twinkies (bacon wrapped, oven roasted, cheese stuffed jalapeños), Mac Daddy (three cheese macaroni), and must say the garlic mashed potatoes and gravy was flavorful and excellent, and the milk buns are a must try (amazing). Though I enjoyed it, and would return, I think there is still room for improvement. The following comments are coming from a Texan that has been eating smokehouse BBQ for decades: Not many napkins for extremely messy finger food. (Where are the paper towels!? What about wet wipes?) BBQ isn't a gourmet food in the South - it's finger food like burgers and fries! Though the hot sauce selection was good, there was no BBQ sauce available at the table or for self-serve anywhere in the restaurant, nor was it served automatically to accompany the brisket that was served. I had to specially ask for it, and when it came, it was served in a tiny little dish. (Where are the generous portions of BBQ sauce! What is BBQ without the sauce!?) The sauce they served was on the sweeter side, and not the usual spicy/tang I'm used to with brisket. However, this probably caters more to the NZ European pallet, which tends to favor sweet over savory when it comes to sauces. The brisket was well-cooked, moist and soft, with a good rub and nicely smoked flavor, but it was a bit bland - mine needed some salt to really bring out the flavor, or A1 or Lea and Perrins to pick it up, or a savory BBQ sauce to dip it in (but none of these were provided at the table). I recommend extending greater generosity in the condiment, napkin, and sauce departments! Besides this, Moo Moo did really well....

First and last time ever going back here. Booked in for Mother’s Day lunch 8/5/22. We arrived on time for our booking at 2pm. We sat for about 10-12 minutes waiting to be served for drinks and we had to wave down the waiter to come take our order. The waiter was a young fella, we wanted to place our first order of sides when he then tells us to wait as the kitchen is still cooking orders for the guests who arrived before us, so we just ordered drinks. He comes back 5 mins later to take our order for sides only and tells us there is a bit of wait time so we told him it was fine (thinking it will take about 20mins to cook ) There were two families who arrived after we did and they received their orders first and on time, meanwhile we waited for about 45-50mins for just the sides to arrive and another 20mins for the mains ( I can assure you we were timing it ) One of the sides never arrived so we told the waiter to cancel it as my family and I were beyond annoyed at this point at how long it took for the sides to come out. The boards to share are so pricey yet the portions are not worth the amount you pay for …customer service is very poor , we had to ask the waiter twice for a jug of water and he responds “oh right the jugs of water ???? ….food was average, chicken was dry. One of the worst experiences ever for such a beautiful restaurant…we left that place today feeling so disappointed…your waiters spend more time looking at their phones and wandering around outside when clearly there were more guests seated inside and we had to waive them down a couple of times to the point where we had to walk up to them to get their attention…for the service we got today and the food quality it only...