Cornwall Park Bistro — Restaurant in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki

Do not come here for afternoon tea. Save your money or head to the Park Hyatt/Sofitel/Cordis. My husband took me and the kids here for Mothers Day afternoon tea and it was complete shambles. I've given it a 1 star purely based on the beautiful location

Outline of what was supposed of be a lovely family experience: My husband had to prebook with card on hold and pre order our afternoon tea menu. We got there just before 2:30, asked to move before the tea came as the table was so wobbly and it would have spilt on my young daughter, we got our tea once we moved and then it was 45 minutes in waiting and we had not received any food. Remember, this is just some canapes, sandwiches and cakes which I assume a fair few item would have been premade for this event.

By 1 hour, we FINALLY received it, the tea was cold but we had drunk enough of it over the hour so didn't want to have anymore. Tables that were seated after us had been served and even left at the same time we only received our afternoon tea.

When I found out how much afternoon tea costed here, I was shocked. The service and quality do no match the price tag. There were a few select items that were not pleasant and I noticed a few tables had left those same items. We had pre booked 2 adults and 2 children's and kids do not eat most of those savory items they included. Our other commitments during the day meant we rushed through the food, got the rest in a container. That was even a hassle. The French male staff member said he would get us a container and then just never bothered to bring one. Just didn't come back. We had to ask again,

When we went to pay, they tried to charge us 4 adults and we reiterated that 2 adults and 2 kids were booked (clearly given we had 2 small children with us). They made it sound like we scored by getting full portions for the kids even though they didn't like half the items

It was loud, unrelaxing, I don't even think there was light music playing and 2 sets of dishes were smashed on the floor by staff while we were there. Seems like chaos and we are the ones with 2 young kids.. they seems like a walk in the park compared to the bad management and chaos that was going on there.

Fair to say we will never be back and I'm glad I came to try it out before booking an event I am looking into. I would have looked so bad if my guests experienced...

My friends and I recently visited this restaurant with the intention of enjoying a relaxing afternoon coffee. Unfortunately, our experience was marred by a series of frustrating encounters with the staff, particularly a gentleman who appeared to be the manager.

Upon arriving at the restaurant around 2:15 pm, we noticed a vacant table set for six, even though there were only five of us. We approached the lady at the reception to inquire if we could use the table. She initially agreed but requested that we wait outside until the staff had a chance to clean and set it. We complied and patiently waited for approximately 15 minutes.

As we observed no activity around the table, we decided to confirm with the lady at the reception if it would be acceptable for us to sit at the table while waiting for it to be prepared. To our surprise, she gave us permission to do so. We were relieved and settled at the table to chat while anticipating our coffee.

However, our pleasant anticipation was quickly shattered when a gentleman, presumably the manager, approached us and informed us that we must wait outside as it would take some time for the staff to clean the table. This encounter turned unpleasant when he arrogantly insinuated that the lady at the reception had not given us permission to sit there, implying that we were being dishonest.

We were taken aback by his confrontational attitude and considered requesting to speak with the lady to verify our account, but we refrained from doing so to avoid any potential trouble for her. Ultimately, feeling disrespected and unwelcome, we chose to leave the restaurant.

We understand the importance of adhering to restaurant policies and respecting their processes, but the manager's handling of the situation left us with a bitter taste. There are more gracious ways to enforce the rules and communicate with customers. We felt unjustly accused and poorly treated.

Regrettably, our overall experience at this establishment was disappointing due to the lack of professionalism displayed by the manager. As a result, we have no intention of returning to this restaurant or spending our money there...

We held our 50th Wedding Anniversary Lunch, midday at the Bistro on Saturday 15th May 2021 with 20 people. When we arrived Aurelien invited us in and said we were being given the separate room at the front facing the Park. I thanked him as that was a lovely surprise! He did say we would need to vacate it by 2.30 which didn't seem unreasonable. Two and a half hours to eat.( When I booked ages ago I was NOT told of a time we would need to leave). A few of our guests got held up by crashes on the Motorway but all were there around 12.15. Our Waiter Giovanni was absolutely wonderful -he suggested we start with sharing plates as Mains for 20 people would take time to be cooked( and they certainly did-nearly 2 hours!!!) The sharing plates were wonderful and Giovanni was great with all the varieties of drinks we ordered and we kept him busy getting more. Aurelien kept popping in to say we needed to be gone by 2.30 and he got more and more insistent-in the end some people cancelled the desserts they had ordered and the next group of people came in and put up balloons etc for a Baby Shower while we were still trying to gather our things- Aurelian shouted at me and said I told you Two Thirty. When I said the meals had taken so long to arrive he blamed the waiter- I shouted back that it was not the waiters fault and he mumbled something about it being his. It was so unpleasant we were led to believe they wanted the room vacated at 2.30 to get it ready for a 3pm booking but the people coming in said they were booked for 2.30pm. The woman having the Baby Shower was so sympathetic but it was not her fault. We spent $1,326.00 and next time we will take our custom elsewhere as if the food had arrived promptly we would have been able to spend more, have dessert and left feeling happy. Giovanni saw us to the door and he was so apologetic- we assured him it wasn't his fault! My friends will all want to know what we thought of the Venue and I will...