Harbourside — Restaurant in North Island

This restaurant used to be a cherished spot for me, a place I deliberately sought out whenever visiting Tauranga or even Rotorua in the past. I long for the days when the staff provided excellent service and the food was delicious. Sadly, the recent experiences have been subpar, with excessively long waiting times for mediocre food.

During a recent visit with my family, we waited for about 15 minutes after being seated without anyone coming by to offer water or take our orders. Trying to get the attention of a staff member was futile as they were busy serving other tables. Despite gesturing and signaling multiple times for assistance, our requests were acknowledged with a nod, yet we continued to wait. After finally receiving water 10 minutes later (25 minutes after entering the restaurant), we decided to place both our drink and meal orders together due to the extensive wait. However, we were informed that only drink orders were currently being taken, and meal orders would be taken after serving the adjacent table. This experience was entirely unfamiliar to me, and I wasn’t sure if this was the restaurant's new policy. Reluctantly agreeing, we waited patiently after receiving our drinks, but no one returned to take our meal order. Observing the neighboring table, who had already begun their meals (even though we hadn't witnessed them placing their order), we requested once more to place our order. Only then did a staff member come to take it.

After placing our order, we waited an additional hour to receive our food. Not only was the food not up to the standards I remembered, but the wait time was beyond imaginable. The restaurant wasn’t short of customers, yet we couldn’t comprehend why our wait time was so extensive, especially for placing an order. Other customers who arrived later were served and finished their meals before us. This left me feeling disheartened, as this was once a beloved spot for me.

The recent experiences during my trip to Tauranga have been disappointing, and this restaurant was the final straw. It appears that there has been a significant change in the quality of service. I sincerely believe the staff need more thorough training in taking orders promptly and reducing waiting times. Sadly, I won’t be returning to this restaurant, which was...

The first time I came here it was totally amazing. I really wanted to come here again. Today I came with high expectations, but these sadly were not fulfilled. We were seated at a balcony table, but the curtain was down and there was bird poo right by my husband's head. We asked (nicely) if the curtain could be opened and a lady came back telling us no but she would shift us. Great! But unfortunately the attitude wasn't. The way the menus were grabbed, the body language and overall attitude was not pleasant. The waitress was lovely. The other lady came and asked us if we wanted to order drinks, 30 seconds after the waitress had. Our answer was the same, not yet. She did not look pleased and took the drinks order away. My husband and I chatted about what we wanted to drink then asked her when she came back, what beers they had. After rolling of eyes and drink menus forcefully placed on our table, our order was taken. I must say I was surprised it to be offered a glass. So just drank from the bottle. Our entire was nice. For main my husband ordered the fish of 4ge day, John Dory. It was YUM. The sauce, texture, flavour was beautiful. I ordered the spaghetti with scallops and white fish and seafood bisque. Sooo disappointing. The scallops were overcooked, and there was a tomato sauce that my husband summed as it tasted like "spaghetti in a can". We were not asked how we were enjoying our meal. After plates being cleared, my husband's while I was still eating, menus for dessert were just placed on the corner of the table. If we had been asked we would have said no thank you as we had decided to leave. The first time we came was so very different, there was nothing we could fault in food or service....

Sorry I have to disagree with reviews here. I researched for some time about where to have my birthday dinner and months prior booked it in. The arrival was probably the best part as she had our booking. Nice table setting and very busy for a Monday night. Entrees were nice. A little overpriced but hey, we were in a nice place so you expect that. Then it went downhill. Asked the waiter if he had the order right and did he need to write it down. No he had it. Waited forever for our mains and when thr steak arrived it was overcooked but we were so hungry we were not sending it back. We couldn’t even tell them how our meal was as no one came to check. They forgot one of our sides (so clearly the waiter needs a pen and paper). Again forever to clear plates and ask if we wanted dessert. At this point I didn’t want to give them any more money but my partner said let’s see if they come over and ask how our main was when they bring the menus. No chance. The menus were almost thrown in front of us. We got up and went to pay the bill. I think the female owner was at the bar with her feet up having a drink. No acknowledgement and we stood waiting to pay for easily 5 minutes.felt like no one cared about our dining experience. We weren’t a table of 10, nor did we buy lots of alcohol as we don’t drink, but we do have disposable income for a nice night out and we have plenty of friends in this category too. We dined at a small Asian restaurant 4 nights later, it cost 1/2 the amount, food and service was incredible and felt valued. That’s all you need to do Harbourside. I won’t be back next...