El Matador — Restaurant in North Island

DO NOT EAT HERE! This was my first time back after about a year and a half and I warn you, go somewhere else. This was the worst restaurant experience I have ever had, let alone from a steak house.

We waited ages for a server to first approach us to ask what we wanted to drink (I had to flag someone down).

We paid $19.50 for a tapas that was supposed to be "house made bread" and for $19.50 we expected a decent sized starter, with actually good bread.

We proceeded to get 5 tiny pieces of bread that were honestly mediocre at best. Stale grocery store quality.

When our mains came, (we ordered the scotch steak medium), we received no dipping sauce for our potatoes and so we asked, as you would at any restaurant, for some aioli.

Mind you, no one told us there was any kind of upcharge for this (if we would have known, we would not have ordered it).

We proceed to ask for ketchup, for them to say they don't have it (also nuts) but they recommended a different sauce that would be a $3.00 upcharge, to which we said, sure we will give it a shot.

Disgusting sauce by the way.

Once we finished to go pay, they asked how the meal was and I told them honestly, steak was okay, bread really not fairly priced and not good, and the sauce that we paid extra for wasn't good.

I review the bill and see we were charged $6 for aioli. Again we were never told that this was extra (like we were for the other sauce we ordered) and I politely informed him that no one ever told us it was extra, and had we known we would not have ordered it.

I simply expected him to remove it from the bill and we would go on with our day.

When I tell you that the manager (Fabian or Fabio I didn't fully catch his name), proceeded to argue with me for a solid 10 minutes, causing a scene in the whole restaurant, over $6, I kid you not.

This isn't about the $6, but the fact that the server did not inform us of the upcharge like they did for the other sauce (which you would think would be commonplace), and that I find unacceptable.

At the end of it, he finally (after a heated back and forth) agreed to remove the $6 but said "I better never see your face here again" to which I laughed and said "you think I am coming back?"

Bottom line, do not eat at this restaurant, they do not deserve your business.

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My mouth waters every time I think about this absolute gem of a place. I almost don't want to encourage people to go in case I can't get a seat next time! There were 6 of us who walked in off the street (you can't book, you've just got to take your chances when the door opens at 5) The staff were very friendly and accommodating. 2 of our group were still on their way but they had no issue with that. The vibe is just very cool.....great music that wasn't blaring, a kind of happy chaos of food being served, drink orders taken and tables cleared. We loved the open kitchen with all it's tantalizing smells. We started with the Prawns sauteed w/chipotle garlic & cream, Mussels w/herb butter, chorizo, cherry tomato and white wine and the Pork belly w/drunken prunes, apple & fennel. OMG!! I've had good food before but THIS was out of this world amazing! Absolute food heaven 😍. My hubby is incredibly fussy. He will not hesitate to say if the food is not up to his lofty standards. NOT ONE PEEP OUT OF HIM......except for the crossed eyes and beautific smile of an impending food coma. I highly recommend asking for a bowl of the sauce that the prawns are cooked in because that sucker goes with EVERYTHING! We dipped all manner of things into it and enjoyed it immensely. They need to bottle it. Next up was the 900g T bone steak which was succulent and cooked to perfection ( hubby & his mate shared this because it looked like it came off a dinosaur) the provolone cheese w/grilled bread, Chicken pinchos, the fish of the day (gurnard) and the most generous serve of Paella I have ever seen. The Patatas Frita's (fried potatoes) we're the best I've EVER had hands down and no matter how full you are, you won't be able to stop dipping them in that damn prawn sauce! Unfortunately we couldn't fit in dessert but from the ecstatic noises coming from other guests, we regretted not getting them to take away. 😭. We live in TARANAKI but would absolutely make the 3+ hour trip...

Kia Ora Was really disappointed when we tried to dine in here. As soon as we entered the waiter asked us "what are you here for?". Firstly, I think it's pretty obvious what we're there for. We replied by saying table for 2 please. He said really abruptly that they didn't have any tables, which we understood. We asked what the rough wait time was and he replied very abruptly saying "when people finish eating,so you need to be patient!" and then continued to say we needed to be patient but what really tipped it over the edge for me was when he asked my partner in a patronizing way "can you do that?" Might I add my partner was being very polite, as she really likes the food here and was looking forward to it. Again, completely understanding that this happens in restaurants from time to time, we were lead to the back to sit down at the bar. He showed us to the seats and said to sit down and actually gave us options to choose from and as soon as we chose which combination of seats, he came back and said for us to move over for others. I would also like to say that he was talking that way to a woman. When he stared to talk down on my partner that's when I jumped in and asked him to remove us from the list and we walked out. No man should ever speak to a woman in that kind of way, especially in front of her partner. Poor service! Actually, horrendous service! We then left through the middle of the restaurant, completely embarrassed. He then shouted out in front of the whole restaurant "why are you upset" and everyone looked and stared at us. I tried to send this through email to work through this privately, but the reply was even worse. I'll be posting that soon too. If you value service when you go out for dinner,...