Beach House Cafe — Restaurant in Kaikōura

Stopped in here for breakfast after getting takeaway coffees and thinking the food looked good. Decided on eggs Benedict, one with salmon and one with bacon. The salmon was a tiny portion, not worth the $1 more than the bacon one. The bacon one which I’d asked to have crispy bacon had more jellied fat than meat and I quickly took it inside to politely ask if I could please have the fat crisped up, as I’d asked for. The kitchen did this and it was brought out to me very crispy...but missing half the potato hash, half the hollendaise sauce and all of the spinach (I hadn’t even touched the plate so obviously the kitchen had just left these items off the new plate).

I pointed this out to the lovely lady behind the counter who was a bit shocked and apologised, by this time my partner had finished his breakfast and I’d spent the whole time waiting for mine which was now missing half the food. The lady behind the counter offered to refund me and give us a free coffee each, I thanked her but said a refund for the food was all I would need as the coffee was lovely and we didn’t have an issue with it. Just before she refunded me the miserable owner / manager walked over and rudely stated “we don’t do refunds”. Right...so what do you do in this instance then? She said there was nothing wrong with the plate and I told her that it was missing half the food. She claimed that I was a liar and must have ate it as the kitchen only plated up what was there. Honestly at this point I just laughed at how ridiculous this situation was and asked if half the meal was wearing a Harry Potter-esque invisibility cloak as I was 100% certain I hadn’t scoffed half the meal down between walking the plate from my table and the counter. She again stated the kitchen didn’t miss half the food and I told her I would like a refund as at this point I just wanted to get out of there. She just smirked at me and stood there - in the end they obliged but I honestly can’t believe the cheek of some people. I thanked the lovely lady behind the counter and left. If you want to support a business with a manager / owner that actually cares, can make eye contact and doesn’t come across as wanting to fill you in if you complain then I would recommend going elsewhere...Kaikoura has many better...

Our last day in Beautiful Kaikoura and unfortunately we are leaving on a Very Disappointing Note. My wife Ordered One fried egg (not soft)on toast with a side of avocado, one orange juice and one small coffee. I ordered two poached eggs on toast with a side of avocado one orange juice and a small coffee. Grand Total $63.00. I asked the lady taking the order who had trouble understanding me are you sure that is correct amount you are charging me. She just gave me a blank look. I didn’t want to start the day off on a bad note or upset so I paid in cash. The Orange juice and coffee came at the same time after asking the lady taking our order could we have the orange juice first and the coffee later. Then the meal came out. Two slices of Ciabatta Bread (Not Toasted) a tiny spread of Avocado and one Soft Fried Egg. Mine was the same with two soft eggs. When I complained and asked why it was so Expensive. The waitress said we will redo it and check your bill. No one gave us any Explanation. A very Expensive and Total...

Ordered 2 Nachos (nothing else), and was rather surprised at the $48 price tag. But, assumed they must be outstanding so rolled with it. Unfortunately they were far from outstanding. The nacho chips were stale, a few whole whole ones on the top and a pile of broken ones and crushed bits underneath. I estimate there were about 20 red beans in the nacho mixture, a LOT of sweet chilli sauce straight out of the bottle poured all over it, a little bit of guacamole (may have been frozen?) a little bit of cheese, and a big blob of sour-cream, perhaps to disguise the lack of everything else. Pretty average taste, very poor quantities, and overall WAY over-priced. We usually call in to the Beach house as we pass through Kaikoura. This time, we went somewhere different on the way back from ChCh. Spent $16 on 2 delicious chicken rolls which was MUCH better value. $24 for one Nachos like this was WAY overpriced and disappointing. Will drive past in future,...