Ploughmans Restaurant — Restaurant in North Island

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE. Disappointing Experience - Avoid This Place!

We visited this restaurant last night during our one-night stay in Taupo, and unfortunately, it was a major letdown. To start, we ordered drinks with our waitress when we first arrived, which never arrived. So we asked for some water instead, that didn’t show up either.

When the food finally arrived, it was extremely disappointing. I had the fish burger, and the bun was SO burnt and black on one side it was hard whilst soggy on the other. The scallop salad was equally underwhelming(overcooked and overbattered)—definitely not worth the price. It felt like we were just wasting our money.

The worst part came when we mentioned the missing drinks to our waitress as we were leaving. Instead of an apology or any sense of care, we were met with giggles and a nonchalant, “Oh sorry, I didn’t even realise.” To say we were shocked by this response would be an understatement.

This was by far one of the worst dining experiences we've had. The food was overpriced for its quality, and the service was subpar at best. We wish we had gone elsewhere, and I strongly suggest you do the same. There are many other great spots in Taupo where you’ll actually get value for your money.

Would...

Decided to go here for dinner while staying in Taupo for the weekend. This decision was made due to the fact Ploughmans is out of the busy town centre and they are dog friendly. Plenty of parking and pleasantly greeted on arrival. That is about where the good stuff stops. The drink selection was slim for a English pub with a lack of beers on tap and the food failed to impress.

Freezer to plate cooking of food that was bland and unappealing. The Seafood Hotpot was the biggest disappointment with a lack of seafood, masses of mashed potato and 2 hardboiled eggs in it! I cannot say I have ever considered chicken eggs to be seafood. Then to be abused for posting a two star review really goes a long way to having another one of those stars removed. Best advice I can offer is the owner and the cook here. You need to open your eyes to the fact you are working for the customer and should be working to appease us not dissapoint and insult us.

Looking over the other reviews here I am not alone in these thoughts and our experience here was not a one off. Lift your game Ploughmans we consumer's have plenty of choice when it comes to places to eat and your not giving us many...

We arrived at 4pm for a drink greeted by lovely staff so we decided to stay for dinner! Ordering at 6pm we got the last 2 beef schnitzels (or so we thought)…40 mins later I asked the waitress to check on our food. 10 mins later she comes over to say unfortunately our order didn’t go through but what else would we like and she’ll prioritise it (ok that’s fine these things happen) gives us a menu but never returns. 10 mins later I get up and ask another waitress and make our order and am told no I can’t have the lamb shank that’s sold out (2 items before 7pm - weird) fine I say 2 burgers but make it quick as it’s been an hour. I’m told that no they can’t prioritise our order and it would be a 40 min wait as the restaurant is now full. Poor management with no manger in sight leading a team of young waiters. $56 dollars cash for the 2 meals were thrown on our table - no apology and we walked out laughing with a table next to us who had also asked for a refund after the poor quality and mix up of their meals too. We ended up getting a kebab as everything else in Taupo was now full for dinner. What’s an...