Bellbird Eatery — Restaurant in North Island

We visited here first in 2017 when it opened....here is that review: You have to wait at the entrance now and be seated. unlike a cafe now. we were told they had no tables free so we should go to the gallery and come back later. not a good introduction. they could have invited us in, given us a glass of water and the menu and allowed us to wait inside. so they blew the hospitality aspect of running a cafe/ restaurant. I wanted to go somewhere else but my wife was hungry so we came back within 2 minutes just as about 8 people were leaving...proving they could have welcomed us and seated us quickly instead of sending us away. Then we were seated and given a menu and told to get our own water...no service offered. Then we had to go and ask the waitress who was talking to her work friend at the counter and ignoring our efforts for 5 minutes to get her attention. We had to leave our table and go tell her we needed her...she never bothered to check on us again. The meals came and the coffee was very good...the food was ok. But no bill came when we were finished. we went up and waited 3 or 4 minutes while two people tried to work out someone elses bill...they did not even look up and smile and say be with you soon...just left us waiting while they talked. and when they did finish the person did not know what table we were at so we told them..and then she told us what she thought we had....which was not our bill. I left at this stage and my wife is much more polite stayed and paid for us. These guys are very amateur. Not a well run place. We used to love the cafe at the Dowse but boy its gone off now. It was like they were all trainees. BUT the coffee was excellent.

Another visit on saturday June 20th 2019. Excellent food, we both enjoyed our mains which were reasonably priced and were of really good quality. Well done. But service is still very patchy.. Very lovely young people milling around. No water offered. No cutlery on table, and then bought to us...but with no napkins, I had to go to another table and get them. Still very dreamy under trained wait staff, who are very nice but sort of not...

My 1st experience and I was very disappointed as I had heard a lot about the place. It was my friends birthday and he wanted 2 take me out for a nice treat. We walked in near 2.30pm it was quite busy. A Male staff member was on the outside of the counter he ask if he cud help, my friend asked if they did high teas to which he replied "what?" So my friend said it's like a morning or aft tea and the employee said so r u here for lunch or afternoon tea. He then told us 2 take a seat and he would b over 2get our order after 10mins he hadnt come ova so we went back 2the counter short story only things in cabinet was assortment of slices a vegetarian sandwich thing, quiche slice, so I asked dont u have paninis or toasted sammies etc he mumbled and all I got was we are sold out but we can do a cheese and ham toasted sammie but that's all. We ordered 2 lge lattes, 1 toasted Sam, and 1 raspberry slice cake . It cost close to $24 the coffees were cold the toastie was nice but very small and the slice was nice but small. The female staff was very pleasant however the Male staff with the beard needs 2 learn a better manner when dealing...

My wife and I went to the Bellbird Eatery to meet a friend for coffee. As most of the side tables were taken by families, all that remained were tables set-up for two customers per table. At the end of the cafe there were two vacant tables, and as there were three of us, we did what any normal customers would do and put two tables together, but before we could place a third chair round the table, the waitress informed that the manager said that we were not allowed to put two tables together. I am 79 years old and I was forced to site at the next table on my own while my wife and her friend sat together at the other table for coffee. Other customers around us were noticeably shocked by the managers order to the waitress, and I have never ever been so humiliated by this action. To add injury to insult, after about an half an hour the waitress stuck a RESERVED sticker on my wife’s table, giving them 15 minutes to vacate the table, even though we were planing to stay for lunch. I would not recommend this...