Little Savanna — Restaurant in Palmerston North

Little Savanna is a must visit restaurant. You will need to book as most sittings are very busy. For my wife's birthday we booked for lunch. The lady on the phone was polite and made a point of getting my name correct. We arrived slightly early but were promptly seated and attended to. The service was first rate and the young man made us feel welcome and didn't harry us to order. He took drinks orders and gave us some time to view the menu. We all ordered mains and waited for them to arrive. We were lucky the place wasn't packed and our mains arrived in a reasonable amount of time. I ordered the Espetada, 250g of kewered Sirloin steak served suspended above your plate. I had no idea how to go about removing the meat but the service staff offered the appropriate procedure. Cooked on the pink side ( this was the recommended choice) and it was delicious. The really good thing about this birthday treat is my wife expressed a desire to return to try other delicacies on the menu. If you have room to squeeze in a dessert do so. My son and I managed and I'm not sure how, to pack in the Belgian waffles. Light and fluffy with a topping of cream and ice cream with a miniature jug of maple syrup. My wife attempted the Brulee. Friendly staff, great leather aprons. African themed. More than happy to recommend this restaurant and will be back again. There is plenty of parking close at hand. Make sure you book. Just encase you haven't been following along, we dined again last Sunday evening. The service was fantastic as usual, always enthusiastic bubbly young people. Our host said the seasonal Ostrich was back on the menu. Two of us indulged and it was wonderful. Was a little sceptical about the chefs medium rare recommendation but the meat was succulent. Once again not disappointed. Had another beautiful meal with my wife and niece. Took the bold move to try the meat platter and it could quite happily feed four. It I'd a mix of steak, short ribs, chicken wings and the most succulent long ribs. We chose our sides, potatoes, a salad and winter vegetables. We all agreed it was the best meal we'd ever experienced. How we managed to fit in desert is a mystery but we did. The girls sampled a margaritas and wine while I had the house beer. As usual the service was exceptional. We...

I haven't done a review for a while, but done a 300-Km return trip for this one and catch up with friends. Place was packed (humming) when we arrived a little early, fortunately we had booked earlier. On arrival we were warmly greeted at the door and promptly shown to our table. As the night went on you soon realise the staff are amazing and genuine and add to the positive mood of the place. There was a good selection on the menu for most taste, with the steaks being the favourite at our table. I ordered the Sirloin medium rare and it came out perfectly with some good charring (flavour packed), I selected the blue cheese compound butter on top and yes this was a steak to remember. Everyone else at the table thoroughly enjoyed their meals and we were commenting amongst the table the food was amazing and on the mark. Food came out promptly from the kitchen, no one left waiting. There are children's menu's (options) on request. There was a good selection of drinks to suite (Beer, Wine, Cocktails and Juice), it is my understanding that tea and coffee were also available when we asked staff. Entrance is wheelchair friendly and although it was packed a wheelchair could come in and be seated at table. There is an area off to the side for smokers with high tables for drinks and to eat, note wheelchair accessible from the inside due to step on the outside. Parking is on the street generally (plenty on Broadway Road and Princess Street) so even if it was raining it's only a small walk with some cover, if you are lucky there may be some carparks off to the side of building. Facilities / Amenities were kept clean, tidy (towels, hand driers and lotion) Place excepts cash or card payment. Price wise you pay for what you get, and what you get is great food, great service. Starters around $10, mains $40 - $50 (Steak) and dessert $17 I would loved to have tried the pork belly but I was restricted this visit so maybe next time. All said and done, I honestly am grateful that I drove 300-Km for a meal here with good friends the food and service here are without question I encourage people to visit and support this restaurant because I hope it is around for many years to come. I will definitely make another trip up and eat here again in the near future it...

If only a restaurant was judged on its food... We went to Little Savanna for our 10th wedding anniversary after going on numerous occasions in the past. However this was our most disappointing outing there by far. It's about service. It started with the seating, stuck in the middle of large tables of 4 and 8. The two of us elbows apart from our neighbours, waiters constantly banging into my chair. The new expansion has obviously meant a degradation of service to the restaurants detriment. The young queen bee waiter making the other staff duck and weave around her, new staff she should be training on customer service not on how to dodge her ego (she needs to be reminded a restaurant is built on its reputation not hers). It's disappointing as we have been numerous times because of the quality. Would I go again...not so sure anymore and I don't mind spending $200+ a head. No where in this do I make note of the person's appearance as your response tries to allude to. Again, its about service. Maybe our definition of service is a lot higher than yours and maybe we are also more observant. The young guy who waited on us after queen bee's drop off at the table did try his best, without any support. As for table positioning and groups, maybe there are a lot of extroverts out there that like sitting in the middle of all the traffic and having their chairs knocked all the time, maybe you should sell that as an upgrade. As for us, we have been to your establishment before, on a number of occasions but like all things change is sometimes...