Victoria's Cafe Kitchen Bar — Restaurant in North Island

When visiting Taupo, we checked out recommended places to eat that cater for gluten free. This cafe was recommended. I don’t actually have a good word to say about it after visiting there. A number of their menu items say ‘gluten free option’ but upon discussing this with the staff in fact it’s not at all gluten free it would be a completely different dish. My gluten free son wanted to order the big breakfast (which had GFO next to it) but to make it gluten free it would mean only bacon and bread.. Now I can understand some cafes won’t/don’t want to cater for people who can’t eat gluten but then they shouldn’t advertise that they have options available, especially when they don’t resemble anything like the actual dish they are advertising. If we had known they they don’t cater for gluten free we simply wouldn’t have visited. Your staff were really quite patronising and rude which was the nail in the coffin. Trying to dine out with a gluten free child can be tricky so I always try and do as much research before we go. Please revise your menu and don’t advertise as being able to cater for gluten free. The final thing was they overcharged me for a dish I never ordered which is fine and mistakes happen but instead of an apology I was made to queue in a long line to then have this rectified and finally, upon paying I had to be faced with a young, eye-rolling girl who couldn’t understand when I pointed out we had a dish on our bill that we didn’t order or receive. Again, no apology once for any of this. In fact I felt like the staff treated us like it was an honour to be dining there. Of course any eating establishment can have bad days and make mistakes but an apology is the smallest gesture which can make a world of difference. So for anyone gluten free this absolutely isn’t the place to go and if you are wanting kind, friendly service then give it...

The food was good, but the lady that took our order was rude. I am not from New Zealand and when people speak fast I sometimes have a hard time understanding what they say. I politely asked her to repeat that in a friendly way, when she told me that they were out of wedges and I could only have fries (which was no problem at all) and she proceeded to talk to me as if I was a 3 year old in the most condescending voice. Then she proceeded to be very short with my wife while she was ordering. During our meal I could hear her being rude to another customer because they were given the wrong number (by her) to place on the table so obviously the wrong food showed up, when in reality it should have been the customer upset. Maybe she was having a bad day, who knows but it was horrible customer service and i would not go back specifically so I dont have to ever...

My son wanted to leave a review after our breakfast at Victoria's today, here's Ollie's say: "The waffle eggs bene definitely filled me up, I really hope it stays in the menu. Eating here makes me feel warm and cozy" 🥰

We live in Tauranga and love to visit Victoria's when in town, I especially look foward to the Perfect Pancakes, which use to be served with berries and a delicious lemon curd, it is by far my favorite meal at any Cafe ever.. I was disappointed to see the pancakes have changed to be served with caramel now, and after giving them a try, I have to say, the old pancake meal was 100% superior to the new one 😅 personal opinion of course, but I can't be the only one who misses the old version 😭

Overall, food is always of a high standard, lovely atmosphere, and will continue to be our go to for a Sunday Breaky when we...