Crab Shack — Restaurant in North Island

It's Saturday on Queens Wharf and the Crab Shack captured my attention !!! Craving chowder and more we walked into a Full House 🤔. Hostess / Mgr Izzie solved our dilemma of not having made reservations quickly by getting menus in our hands after an inspired & most gracious greeting ! She had spotted a two table soon to be vacant and had staff ready on the double to clean & clear. In the mean time we stood barside and were impressed w/ the many seafood offerings , salmon, seafood chowder , sides like cheesy garlic cobb loaf and Corn tortilla platter w/ creme fraiche , authentic guacamole, beetroot puree dip, eyc. Our table opened / windows galore facing the waterfront where Dockside is located and enter Natalie ! Her 1st day as a Crab Shack server and dbl shifting to boot. Kind, competent & confident our order arrived via three different staff members !!! Great motion in every step, this place was hopping 🦘 😊. First the 🍤 Seafood chowder serving in deep + broad tins that held the heat -so delicious 😋, next cheesy / garlic / cobb loaf with garlic aroma , wow, melt in your mouth good plus use the bread to sop up the remaining chowder ✅. Our oil fried full round corn tortillas ( 7 or 8, maybe 9 ) was a perfect portion match for the guacamole, creme fraiche corn dip and the beetroot puree. The rounds were cracked by our server with his mortar & pestle into bite size chips 🪵. Great appetizer !! The briskett was tempting, throw a dart and let CS serve you anything on the menu where your 🎯 dart lands, you can't go wrong 😊. They rightfully claim their spot on the Wharf , they do everything right, food flavor, freshness / their overall quality would be tough to beat anywhere. The staff is the Star factor 🏆!! The ambience with crab catch light fixtures and focal point bar plus the adjacent fine dining room have you covered from casual to wedding parties to convention sized groups . Finally, it all starts with Izzie. She could have easily dismissed us,or looked quizzical why someone would enter on a Saturday night w/ out reservations. She invited us , offered us , repositioned us inside for a short wait - Remarkable person, great hospitality training, great establishment at Wellington harbors waterfront . We want to...

Location is nice and atmosphere (especially inside) also nice. The outside patios are comfy, especially to soak up coastal weather. Food & drinks were good (at least what we got). Biggest issue was the service. We were supposed to have a server, but when no one came to us, the manager took our orders. Apparently, after this, we were supposed to get a server, but it never happened. As a nice gesture, the manager comped a few appetizers we ordered and apologized. She assured we get someone to serve us. No one else came and we never got our entree. When we asked another staff member (who was serving others near us outside) if she could check on our order, she was indifferent and said she would but didn't. The deal breaker was she continued to serve others outside and never came to address our simple question. We were done at that point. We asked for the manager to cancel the rest of our order and payout (since that's the only person who served us). We were told the manager was not available. We paid our bill then called the restaurant and easily got in touch with the manager. Anyway, this place has a lot of good ratings, so maybe we got a bad shift. Deep down, undertone for service felt bad because of our appearance, but obviously, this is subjective. Other than the manager, the rest of the staff was subpar. Funny because they were attentive to everyone else around us. Won't recommend this place, such a bummer, because it...

Excellent Service @ Crab Shack. . Nearly missed out because I didn't have a reservation or a local New Zealand phone number, and the place was fully booked. . After travelling for 12+ hours just to dine here, and be stopped at the door, was incredibly frustrating. Thankfully, staff were willing to accommodate me; I nearly cried for joy. . A big thank you and my deepest appreciation to the staff of Crab Shack Wellington!. . The Shack-Spiced Calamari (NZD $17) appetizer features large fresh calamari squid rings, coated in a light all-purpose flour batter, seasoned with salt and pepper. . Has a bouncy chewy texture and mild savoury salty peppery spice flavour, yum. . The Shellfish By The Scoop, Mixed (NZD $19 for 500g) feature a bucket generously packed with a medley of different shellfish, in your choice of stew. . The Green-Lipped Mussel, juicy and bouncy with mild natural sweet savoury flavour. The Moon Shell Clam, firm and chewy with intense meaty savoury salty flavour. The Diamond Shell Clam, juicy and bouncy with bold salty nutty sweet flavour. . The shellfish, including mussels and clams, were served in my choice of stew; a white wine, garlic, red chili, and cream blend. . The stew was thick and robust, with bright milky floral boozy herbal sweet savoury salty spice flavour, infusing the mussels and clams with good flavour, yet you still taste the natural flavours of the shellfish. Very yummy...