Portlander — Restaurant in North Island

Booked my mum's birthday dinner here for a party of 8. Previous experience was really good, however this was before they had shut down and renovated. I had high hopes for the dinner, ambience was good and staff was relatively attentive initially.

However, some improvement points to note: I asked specifically for our mains and steaks to be served "to share", but seems that this was not relayed and the steaks and mains were plated individually. After having sharing plates for our entree's which were served "to share", they took our plates and cutlery away but the staff did not replace the cutlery (We had to ask). We also had to ask for more plates as again, we wanted to share our food. I also had to ask for them to take the unused wine glasses away to make more space on our table. These are all small things, but add up and brings the experience down.

They were inconsistent with filling up our water, and a general lack of finesse from the staff really. Food was OK, however as we know for "steakhouses" it is as much for the service as it is for the food. We basically ordered the whole menu, all was exceedingly OK to "decent". The pictures used on the website are not reflective of what they have on the menu, nor is it reflective of their capacity to serve the food in the way that they advertise (see earlier comment about serving "to share).

We're not really into desserts as a family, so we only ordered two desserts to share (one cake slice modified for mum's birthday). However, as they again took our cutlery away without replacing them, I then had to ask again for more cutlery after they've taken our dinner plates and cutlery away. Surely have a look first at what your diners are going to use to eat the dessert you just served...

Honestly, had I not experienced what it was like to dine here before or if I had never dined at other places around Wellington that offer similar food at similar prices, I would think "Hmm..average". But I have done these things, and this is why I'm disappointed. As the person that vouched for Portlander, I am sorry mum.

I didn't even want to write this review. My logic being that, they have just recently re-opened, and maybe they are still working up to speed. Fully understandable if so. But it's been 3 months now, so I don't know if that can still be a reason...

I even got up to take a picture of our party for my mum, and 4 servers just stood there, not offering a hand at all whatsoever, despite the restaurant being relatively quiet (even KAZAGURUMA and their tiny staff numbers have offered to take group pictures in the past, feels bare minimum to do something like that really for a place where servers have to wear black shoes)

Last bit - I went up and paid and somehow felt that I was inconveniencing the person that took our bill. Sorry that you had to be at the till instead of hanging out w the bros and that the restaurant wasn't dead even though it's raining hard and it's a Sunday night. Sorry for coming here. We'll...

Unfortunately does not live up to its good reviews around town. I am truly confused after dining here, the service did not match the menu prices and extensive wine list. The food is great but is let down by the front of house. The cocktail and coffee excluded these were amazing.

One of our servers told us it was his first night which I absolutely didn't mind and was happy with his service as a whole, but disappointed with the lack of training he was getting on his first night.

At this price point I would expect to receive bread plates to use as we ordered the Ciabatta honey garlic bread as an entree, but no. I do recommend this dish it was fantastic. We did enjoy our steaks and I was thankful that one of our various servers told us about the Farm the meat is sourced from locally. This should be part of all introductions the server shares as you're seated. I ordered a wine to go with my steak but it sat forgotten on the bar until I asked again for it.

Unfortunately the side dish spilled over my leg and table which I understand accidents can happen but I was disappointed that our table and floor weren't wiped fully after.

The next frustration came with dessert as we had ordered one to share between two but the dish arrived without share plates or spoons, so we had to ask for cutlery to eat it. Again it's not the level of service you expect from a restaurant at this price point.

We asked for the bill to which we were told that you need to pay at the counter or I can bring you the receipt but you'll still need to pay at the counter. But when I paid at the counter with a credit card it was on a mobile EFT terminal... So why can't the terminal come to the table like other high end restaurants.

I asked the person who was managing the floor if all the staff were relatively new, which would have explained my experience. But no they weren't mostly new. I then asked if it's busier on a week night but again no and he said "I'm not sure how to answer that". As he didn't seem interested in why I was asking I kept my...

Visited Portlander today for birthday dinner. Upon arrival everything looked good, clean and all the customers chatting happily amongst themselves.

We were seated in the far corner facing the road which was good.

Sadly this place didn’t live up to the hype or amazing look or name it has around town. We sat for 10 minutes before ordering with Jono. However that was the last time within 50 minutes we would see Jono again. Not him or any other staff would approach us to tell us our food would take 50 minutes to arrive. We ordered a side of fries, which I think should’ve been served if it would take this long. After this long quiet wait. We had a lot of food that looked amazing. I ordered the steak, clam linguini and seafood dish of the day which was salmon. Now the sirloin itself was a great fresh cut, however was very close to cold when served that the juices of the steak were already drying up within which left a lil dry to chew so I didn’t feel as if it was worth $45. Salmon was great, the clam linguini however was a good 4.5/10. Partner loved her burger and the pork belly and also the mash potatoes was a vibe! So the fries I mentioned? Yup we received them 2 minutes before our desserts was served to us. Being left in that corner felt as if we were forgotten there like there was no music, no other workers to ask if we were fine. We chowed on what we could eat, and waited 20 minutes for someone to either come clean up or give us the desserts menu. I though it was busy as to why we hadn’t seen anyone but when I got sick of waiting, i walked over to request a desserts menu to find out there was hardly anyone in the restaurant, so why did it take long for food, and also lack of service? Overall if we had been told about the wait or received our sides during the wait it would have made our experience a lot better. But the staff and chefs we could see had big and welcoming smiles so I know tonight, was just one of...