Tutaki Cafe — Restaurant in North Island

For our Christmas lunch, my sister booked us into to Tutaki Cafe in the Lower Hutt Events Centre. We attended the first seating at 11 and it was lovely being warmly greeted and entering the beautifully decorated premises fit for Christmas cheer. We were welcomed with glasses of bubbles before being seated.

The walk through of the buffet stations to take photos was highly impressive since the presentation of the food was exceptional.

I tried a section of individually served salads including blue cheese and walnut green salad, quinoa toasted vegetable and orange salad and a pine nut beetroot honey mustard salad. The salads were divine and with a few notable selections from the bread station including the lavosh and Christmas apricot loaf, it was a lovely opener to lunch.

For mains, I gravitated toward the Champagne ham and turkey stations with vanilla apples, honey glazed kumara, heirloom carrots, raddishes and purple cauliflower with various glazes and sauces along with stuffing. The carvery was delicious.

From the other buffet mains, I enjoyed the potato gnocchi with blue vein cheese and sundried tomatoes, roasted root vegetables and sumac salmon, which was a tad overcooked. The gnocchi was delicious.

The dessert tables were extraordinary and simply a visual symphony to cast your eyes upon. From the many options, I settled for a mini pavlova with cream dusted with freeze dried raspberry and fresh fruit, a amaretti trifle with berry and mango mousse and a lemon macaron. I ordered a soy latte to accompany my dessert and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Overall, our Christmas lunching experience was fabulous, so relaxing, an impressive range of food, fantastic service and a warm festive ambiance whereby the various tables of couples through to families all seemed to enjoy lunch too. Highly...

Recently, my partner and I decided to take his Mum out for lunch at Tukaki - based on their ratings and good reviews we had high expectations.

Upon arrival, the atmosphere did not feel welcoming. We decided to stay anyway because the menu looked great and we wanted to give it a chance.

A few of the staff were approachable and friendly, however there was one waitress in particular who was incredibly unprofessional.

Now I don't know about anyone else, but to laugh in the face of a customer for no reason at all just seems inappropriate and childish. Not sure what was so amusing about me ordering steak and chips with a side of mushrooms!

Our food was good. Steak was not cooked to our preference but very tasty overall. After eating our meal, my partner ordered dessert and a scone for his mum - he approached the same waitress at the counter and you can visibly tell she was annoyed.

I have a hearing impairment and could not hear when she asked if we wanted the scone toasted - she laughed when my partner had to repeat himself to me. Now at this point I was offended.

Seriously! Why are you working in customer service if you don't know basic mannerisms?

She ruined the experience for me and my family. Therefore, I would not recommend Tutaki...

My daughter and I have just enjoyed an early breakfast treat, she had the eggs benny with bacon, while I indulged in the chicken/bacon waffles, while a hot chocolate and an americano coffee were our drinks of choice. The meals were absolutely the best, the waffles were crispy and soft while the chicken was juicy and very tender. Bacon perfection and the berry compote was the right balance of sweet and tart. The eggs were soft but not too runny, accompanied with a generous portion of bacon. While my daughter wasn't used to hollandaise sauce, she did enjoy it! Staff were friendly and quick to clean tables as well as bring fresh drinks as requested. Sitting in the sun and enjoying the warmth was great way to start a bit of a cooler day in the Hutt. Fab place, very family friendly and welcoming. Prices reflect quality and size of the meal and were not overly expensive. We will be back and will be sampling our way through the great...