Rātā Café — Restaurant in North Island

Beautiful setting, but terribly disorganised and poorly run. Waited over 30 mins for cabinet food and soup (both of which are pre made). The staff said they fulfil orders in order regardless of whether they are cabinet food or kitchen - suggest that the staff on the counter can also heat up cabinet food at the same time so that makes it faster for people who come just for cabinet food, so we don’t have to wait ridiculous amounts of time. Also when I was making my order I was shown a sign and told that there is no barista today and so they’re not taking coffee orders. When waiting for our food I noticed that coffee was being delivered to other tables and there was a barista behind the counter - but she would put up the sign every now and then!! I suppose it’s because of too many orders and can’t handle the amount but you shouldn’t lie to your customers and select who you will serve coffees to!

Also, there were 3 pies in the cabinet and I noticed that the chicken pie in the cabinet had the option of $14 with fries ($11 without). I asked if we could get the steak pie but with fries, and ended up being charged $16 (it’s the same price $11 without fries)!! Because they did it as a steak pie + a side of fries. Why are they different priced when it’s basically the same thing! Feel very ripped off.

They also got our order wrong. I also asked if the soup was dairy free and they said yes. But then they go and put a swirl of sour cream on top!! Also I asked for no salt on the chips as it’s for the baby but they...

Beautiful summers day at zealandia. Shame about the cafe, chefs in the kitchen but no hot food. Rude and disinterested service what a horrible start to our trip. AVOID this place. Staff were hanging around without masks flaunting the law. Absolutely disgraceful. When I told the young man he had just been scratching his head without a mask and then handling my coffee. He scoffed at us and swore under his breath. I said this was unacceptable and that I would contact management to which he said problem is i don't care. No refund offered either, essentially we were abused and ripped off Thankfully we took photos of the maskless staff Which we will be contacting the council with and we hope your hit with the full penalty. This cafe is a disgrace to the hospitality industry. And should not be allowed to run . Disregard for the health and safety of us all and staff who should never be working in customer service. We will be trying to dissuade everyone we know from...

Lovely warm atmosphere in a glass room with views, although very busy at lunchtime. Life under covid has made service here difficult. We had to sit at a table (which was well spaced for social distancing) and have the menu explained even though we then wanted to go up to the counter to choose food from the cabinet. I observed a worker with a spray bottle wiping down the tables as people left. The staff were friendly and have perfected the expressive eye twinkle above their masks. I was surprised that a café in a family expedition place had gourmet type food at quite high prices but maybe it's a Wellington thing. I chose a box from the chiller that read raspberry & chocolate organic milk but it turned out to be a chocolate iceblock with a jelly tip which had begun to drip by the time it was my turn to order food. The restroom sign is tiny and high up so we completely missed it and went down two flights of stairs to...