Fat Dog Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in North Island

My partner, son and I were looking forward to our Saturday lunch at fat dog. We were very disappointed however. We walked in and the noise level inside the restaurant was appalling. Couldn't hear yourselves talking. The acoustics were terrible, sound bouncing off the wooden ceiling and giving you a headache. The cutlery (which was dirty by the way) was so loud being tipped into containers for people to help themselves to. A blender was constantly mulching something very loudly. Once we had decided what we wanted (the menus were dirty and dog-eared), ordering took awhile because we couldn't hear the assistant very well across the counter because of the ambient noise. This noise was not because of customers. We decided to brave the cold and eat our food outside which was more peaceful. The coffee was horrible. Watery and flavourless. My son (11) ordered the nachos with beef??? . The corn chips were so small you couldn't pick the mince and beans up with them. Seemed like they were from the bottom of the bag. Everything seemed dumped onto the plate. Cheese was a melted lump underneath everything. Deconstructed maybe 🤔 He had to eat it with a knife and fork and struggled to eat half the meal. My partner ordered a Caesar salad with chicken. It's not hard to stuff up a salad but this one was gross. Chicken was cooked fine but the salad was just ehhhh, with very little dressing and no feeling...An afterthought. My meal was ok but we all had to pick through the cutlery container to find unsoiled forks or knives. We left very upset and not feeling very good after a very average meal out. It also cost over $80 which is terrible. The fat dog seems to be a far cry from what it used to be. Will...

the customer service-the staff that have been there a long time are very lovely they are always lovely and inviting and good at thier jobs. in the past i have had good experiences and given 5 stars i however i needed to change it. We as locals loved to stop in at fat dog cafe my fav was the steak sandwich it was so delicious. I have to say the quality i felt has declined, i could tell from the 1st bite the meat tasted odd a little sour like old meat i didnt want to create a fuss as they were very busy. I thought maybe it was just me but no way my tummy was very upset for the next 24hours. I dont like eating on the wooden slab either with the paper, i couldent tell if the board had been cleaned in between or if the paper had just been switched because the boards were all bone dry and when wood is cleaned it retains moisture so i dunno about that. Anyway we went to sit at a table and it was so sticky it was yuckie so we moved and the same for the next table our arms were sticking to the tables. Also where we were positioned was a little uncomfortable being so close to the line and people brushing past me or butts in my face. It was very busy and there were big groups hence why we didnt have much of a selection for tables so i get that they cant help that i do like the spacing between the tables though and thier layout is quite good i think it was maybe just the 1 table that felt uncomfortable. However rating our last meals they just wernt that great this time round. Will try again and if it was a 1 off will be happy to return to my previous 5 star rating but for now i call it how our...

Sadly they have changed ownership since we were last in. Staff not as friendly, asked for a print out docket so I could see what we ordered and the price as the cabinet food wasnt priced. Asked for docket and she gave me the eftpos receipt and then I asked for the Gst one and she said she couldnt it's no available. Now that's a bit of a lie, isnt it! Owner stared as us while we took some napkins to go with our TAKEAWAY order. He didn't look too impressed with the 4 napkins. I'm dribble when eat and I need 4 napkins! The carrot cake is no longer the same, these guys buy it in or make it very cheaply. None of that full loaded kind you used to get here. The atmosphere in there was cold and heartless. Not returning anytime soon. It's all about the money and no longer the food. Sad. Adding to this review, sometimes it's not always a comfortable experience to talk to staff and management if you come across as though you are in the right and we wrong. So, the next time you want to respond to a bad review, have a think about all us 1 stars and hire a few mystery shoppers and see where you need to improve.

The last owners were amazing, I wonder where they have gone. They knew how to run a...