Relishes Cafe — Restaurant in Otago

Every Friday for a year or more I have gone out to lunch with four other good friends and up to now we have enjoyed good service and good food in Wanaka cafes. On Friday July 24 we decided to give Relishes a try as none of us had been there for awhile and it had a good reputation. We were sadly disappointed particularly by the very poor service we received even though they were not busy at all. Where do I start ? A waitress brought us water and the bottle was quickly emptied but it was never replaced and we were never asked if we wanted a drink. Once we had our lunches delivered there was no check made as to how our meals were - and there were issues.

Two of us had ordered the mushroom dish but we couldn't find any evidence of a mushroom of any sort. We asked a waitress to check if they had been left off but she returned to say the mushrooms were finely chopped and that the menu was probably poorly worded. After we finished our meal there was a huge wait for someone to clear the table. No one enquired as to whether we wanted coffee (which we would have done). We sat there for ages waiting for someone to come and see if we wanted coffee and nobody ever came so we decided to leave and go somewhere else for coffee - which we did. As always we had lovely coffee and good service at Ritual !

When we went to pay we expressed our concerns at the poor service and for two of us - poor food. We all felt it was 'water off a duck's back' and she couldn't care less what we thought. As I said to her "we are locals and we won't be back - nor will we be recommending our friends to go to Relishes".

We are very pro Wanaka and overall we think our cafes and restaurants do a great job. If I had been a visitor to Wanaka I would have left with a very poor impression of relishes. Please do get you...

All these five stars dont mean a thing when you offered such HORRIBLE experience all throughout the moment a customer came in and left . For a cafe that is not even busy, just so so terrible service. Walked in with baby twins and a puppy and sat outside only to be bypassed by not one but three staffs who chatted all their way to the other tables and NOT even approached us once until I had to call out one staff. Hurried server looked very uneasy waiting for me to order, i asked for a boiled egg for the twins considering there are eggs on the menu then answered by “I dont think we do that” how bout answer me with “I’ll ask the chef” or “I’ll see what I can do”. Lost my appetite and didnt wanna order food for myself. Train your staffs to be hospitable and not just work for the sake of earning. Not even a smile from the staff who assisted me and she never came back after I ordered an ice mocha that was really sweet. When I was packing to leave thats when one staff asked me is there anything else I can do for you, yeah after doing nothing how about we settle the bill. Just honestly awful experience for someone who has her hands full. I hope you guys will not treat single parents with infants like this ever again, Im a nanny but to be treated like you were scared to accomodate me and not accommodated me at all is terrible. And thank you to that one staff who apologised for such experience I encountered, Im sure youre a...

I’ve never felt the need to review a restaurant until this one.

Relishes Cafe is exceptional across the board. Like if I was some form of Competition judge on a panel of Judges, I’d be getting all the other Judges to write 10.

I’m Celiac and,naturally, a hospo’s worst nightmare on good day. Cross-contamination is mitigated by seperate prep areas and cooking facilities ✅

Knowledgeable staff advised which options could be adjusted and very friendly with the Mrs and our two kids under 2.

Old mate owner could see we looked like hammered dog sh!t coming in the door so jacked up a high chair and sharp service on drinks near the heater for us.

When our food arrived it was next level exceptional in flavour and presentation.

While we were eating we were shown a Masterclass in patience and compassion as the waitress spent between 11-12.5 minutes explaining the origins, history and confirmation for a table of Vegan Backpackers and their carnivore father who picked them up. Every concern was reassured and eventually photo worthy. Maybe try a sneaky #vegan #wanaka search to see their food.

Price wise, a single income family of 4 like us could happily feed ourselves for well under $50 and be feeling amazing.

The decor was great and spacious, oh and by the way, they do F^cking Great COFFEE!

Thanks for an amazing...