Valentines North Shore — Restaurant in Kaipātiki

Have not been to Valentines in Wairau Junction in over 15 years because of a previous bad experience of food poisoning. My only reason for revisiting is that we were invited to a birthday celebration. Upon walking in I was in awe of the changes and the new Bain Marie's that looked so shiny and new and kept the food nicely covered , seperated and warm. From what I could see the kitchen staff were very much on top of keeping the Bain Marie's filled with food. The atmosphere from the other tables were great it felt relaxed and family orientated. Prior to turning up I had already resolved that I would be paying the $62 to attend the celebration but with no intention to eat there, however after a while I decided to maybe give it a try and have something to eat. I picked up the first plate and rubbed my hand over it and felt hard stuff on the plate, I scraped it with my finger and it dislodged. I put that plate down went to another stack of plates and picked up another one and did the same thing ... all I can describe it as ( is if you leave mash on a plate for long periods and it dries out then when you attempt to wash it without soaking or scrubbing the hard bits it will remain and because mash is light coloured you cannot see it on the white plates). This was enough for me to resolve that I will never ever attempt to eat at Valentines ever again. Yes I am fussy when it comes to eating off a plate that has remnants of the last person's food that is definitely not for me. The feedback i got from the friends and family at our table in regards to the food for taste, flavours and quality is that it was mediocre. The staff as well all look so sullen and tired with not a smile in sight and no one stops by the tables to see if everything is okay or to top up water bottles to top it off they were removing the paper cups ( bottomless) from the tables without asking first. My advice to Valentines Managers Providing Clean plates and happy staff are an easy fix so I urge you to do what needs doing and at least show your current customers that you value them enough to provide them with clean plates , don't assume that if no one complains that's it's okay to have them eat out of...

I was with my family of 32 adults and kids in total for my mother’s 68th Birthday. My family were asked to put down a $300 deposit in advance for numbers of 28 people at first, when we arrived we were informed that if 28 people didn’t not attend we were oblige to pay for the total numbers of booking- even though a $300 deposit was made in advance. Anyway overall, the customer service did not feel comfortable. Hospitality was unwelcoming from the Manager and another staff member, who Approached one of our children directly about a matter of the child at the desert fondu machine first without coming to an adult first. I happened to walk up behind and sorted the situation but I felt that it looked like a bully tactic as no words were clarified on what the staff was trying to confront my child about. However no hard feeling were felt towards that situation, but after the Manager trying to order one our children-10yr old boy to put the paid glasses back as we were leaving, that we paid for which once you buy the cocoa cola glass, you own it right? This was obviously over something which we were not confronted about, so we were wondering why were we receiving this treatment, but towards our children who were feeling attacked. After that there was another staff member, threatening me and my families children, telling us to watch out for the security cameras cause we were being watched. This was extremely inappropriate due to, not being spoken too if there was an issue with our children first by approaching an adult to complain appropriately first. After spending over $1000 for dinner on the 5th November 2020, I am not happy nor impressed by the bullying and stereotyping that my family had experienced. I would like to see a follow up of this complaint and taken seriously! We left without making disturbance, but I am mortified about these staff that are in a position to power to use in what ever way the choose, not even worth one star, but there were not options for a rating of 0 starts...

The food here is poor and such a disappointing experience. The seafood which should have been the highlight for me was disappointing: The oysters were not fresh, the seafood and shellfish were overcooked.The shrimp cocktail sauce had a terrible aftetaste, the seafood salad tasteless and the raw fish was disappointing. The cheese board was an option of a dry brie, a hunk of cheddar & a crumbly blue cheese. The meat dishes were over cooked and were either over powered by spices or bland. The selection of meat to be custom cooked to taste was a good idea, the rub used on the meat was not, as it overpowered the meat and was the same rub on all the different types of meat on offer. Why?! The Ham and other roasted meat was so dry! The mac & cheese was rancid, the german potato salad was so disappointing as were the other vegetable dishes. The veges in garlic butter overcooked and veges in the creamy white sauce was bland. The desserts were so tiny, the ambrosia was a dry whip concoction of marshmallow and dry spice that left a bad taste in the mouth and the chia seeds in the chia mango pudding needed more soaking. The best dish in the whole menu was the Pumpkin & Coconut Gratin & the crab legs, if only they had tools to break the legs with! The pavlova & brandy snaps were ok & the relish on the cheeseboard was also ok. It wasn't very busy when we were there on aTuesday night, but there was a shortage of spoons and several stations had run out of cutlery. All in all the food was so disappointing given that we paid $64 an adult to eat re-warmed leftovers! For Valentines to stay in business, I would suggest they overhaul their menu, hire an actual chef with a palate, because there are so many better...