Stellar Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Manawatū-Whanganui

Family and friends recently hired the function room for a birthday night of approx 60 friends and family. Arrived the night before to set up only to find balloons from a previous function left there for us to remove, floor hadn't been moped, was sticky and filthy, carpet hadn't been vacuumed so we had to set up the tables/chairs and work around this filth, some of the chairs dirty, rusted and ripped, had to ask bar staff out the front for a bucket of hot water and cloth to wipe down the grubby marks and dust everywhere, outside back area had used face masks (a serious health risk), empty cans and cigarette butts scattered on the ground/bushes. On the evening of our function wait staff and chef were very pleasant however there was was no clearing of plates and empty glassware during the evening so we had ZERO service and had to stack used plates, glasses ourselves on the buffet area and bar, there was one wait person attending to buffet but oddly there was no staff circulating the dining area throughout the entire night for a function for over 60 people! The food was lovely and well presented as were the friendly chef and the two service staff (bar and wait) The overall experience was unacceptable for such a long standing establishment and covid can't be used as an excuse as a wipe down, vacuum and mop from a previous function for a room that size would take less than 1 hour to complete and we shouldn't have to clean up a previous function's mess in the first instance! Lack of care for a quality experience, attentiveness, cleanliness and presentation left a lot to be desired, safe to say this is probably the worst function room I have ever experienced. Disappointing and will not recommend to others...

Dined here with a large group service was appalling by the manager none the less, plates plonked down in front of us had to request service for drinks when ordering mains and also we were left for at least 40minutes after in which time we had to prompt service again and even then you could not wait to get out of the room "anything else" with out even walking around each customer to take the order , for a table of eleven we could of been sold a entire table of deserts and drinks if the customer service was right, no ask of how our meals were , no eye contact made at payment walked away without even thanking or offering a receipt when I waited for one got it thrown across the counter before walking away to chat with a gentlemen and laugh at whatever was more important on his cell phone , when prompted with the question who was manager I was very surprised to know the same supplier of awful customer service was the manager, the moral of the story here ... If you don't like dealing with people why work in customer service. I hope this was just a bad day for you and not the way you normally treat...

We had a 21strong there. The service is second to none. We had a very fussy child. Any seasons and she can't eat. Most foods are still foreign to her. We haven't had her long and taking it slowly she still can't eat many foods. Chippies they had so I bought some to share among our children. The beautiful wahine looking after us thought it strange as the food was out. I explained. She came out with a large plates of chicken nuggets, hot chips and mini hotdogs. I tried to pay but they wouldn't have any of it. That food feed all of our younger moko and the really enjoyed it. The food we had was exquisite. We have had beautiful times at many varied restaurants. Stella is one place that will always be at the top.

The food just kept coming. For a Māori family of that size to be so full. Wow. Our hostess is such a beautiful person. The bar person got raves as well.

Nga mihi mo to...