MELBA Hillsborough — Restaurant in Puketāpapa

Okay, let me tell you about our Valentine's Day dinner at MELBA Hillsborough – it was absolutely fantastic! From the moment we walked in, the ambiance was spot on; plenty of space, which is always a plus, and just a really nice vibe.

The food? Seriously top-notch. We started with the Arancini balls, Ceveiche, and fried chicken, and wow, everything was so yummy and fresh. The portions were really generous too, which we appreciated! We washed it all down with their Ginsboroug and Rosie Hills cocktails – perfect start to the evening.

For our mains, I went with the Grilled hallumi salad and my partner got the Hills chicken waffle. I have to say, that Grilled hallumi salad was amazing! Perfectly grilled, and the whole salad was just delicious.

We were so full, we almost skipped dessert, but we couldn't resist! We missed out on the special coffee desserts, but went with the Banana filo on recommendation, and it didn't disappoint. It was so yummy – light, tasty, and the perfect way to end the meal.

But the real highlight? We were lucky enough to be hosted and served by the owner, Kamal, himself! Such a lovely person, and his customer service was truly 100/100. He made us feel so welcome and special.

Honestly, we're already planning our next visit to try their breakfast and lunch options. This place is a gem! Highly, highly recommended! You won't be...

We had branch today and went to sit down at a table with four seats for the two of us. While I understand that if it’s incredibly busy, being asked to move is never an issue but the waitress asked us to move to the table next to us with 2x seats (bare in mind there were tons of tables free and not crazy busy at this time, at least 4/5+ tables of 2x seaters). Once we’d move another girl sat down and then possibly her mother sat down maybe 5-10m later, which we wanted to give them a bit more time to see if there were more people, there was not (when we finished). They did not get moved or even questioned but we did.

I advised the manager to check the cameras to confirm. I looked around as we left and yes it was busy then. I noticed another couple who had been sitting on four person table as well during the time but possibly because there weren’t other seats available - believe me I understand. Normally I wouldn’t complain but I just couldn’t help but feel like we were treated unfairly. I couldn’t enjoy my meal as much as I’d like and just had this inner upset feeling from that moment onwards. The manager did say she’ll talk to the waitress though.

Other than that, the...

It has been a couple of weeks since we visited MELBA Hillsborough and I apologise for taking so long to write this review as I had told the staff that day that I was going to write one because I was so impressed with our experience. My mother is wheel chair bound and it does make social occasions quite a challenge because we have discovered that a number of venues deem parking as their only obligation. However Melba has truly set the bar high because they have proper disabled facilities from the parking, the access in to and around the inside of the cafe, and the bathroom facilities too. On top of that their food and service is genuinely amazing, and we truly felt welcome too. I must also mention that mum is usually quite limited with what she can eat and how much, so when her food arrived I knew she was going to enjoy it and thought I was going to get her left overs, instead she managed to polish off the whole plate, which goes to show how good the food is lol. Commendations to your staff and the owners because you have created the winning formula for a 5 star experience.

Ngā mihi nui...