Caribe Latin Kitchen — Restaurant in South Island

I visited this place with my family of three, excited to finally enjoy some authentic Mexican cuisine. Unfortunately, the entire experience was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING and far from what I expected.

We placed our order at 7:11pm with a staff member at counter (short fair girl with curly hair and a scarf headband). While we were deciding what to order (which took less than a minute), she was already MAKING FACES, which I initially brushed off as a misunderstanding.

Despite it not being very busy, we waited over 40 minutes while orders placed after ours by customers and delivery drivers received their food ahead of us(in a bag). When I politely asked how much longer our order would take, she responded RUDELY and AVOIDED giving a clear answer. After asking again, she reluctantly said “10 minutes,” but even after another 15 minutes, there was no update. I had to ask again and she IGNORED and went away and I had to approach a chef to finally get an answer.

When the order was finally ready (only 4 dishes), instead of handing it properly, she expected me to carry it all in my hands. When I requested a bag (twice because she ignored me the first time), she visibly showed ANNOYANCE and tossed a bag onto the counter for me to pack myself. After insisting again, she finally packed it but with a TERRIBLE ATTITUDE.

To make things worse, when we got home, TWO OF THE FOUR DISHES WERE WRONG, and the instructions for the other two were completely IGNORED.

What made this experience even worse was the staff member’s BLATANTLY RUDE and DISCRIMINATORY BEHAVIOUR toward us as immigrants (being an immigrant herself). It was clear from her attitude and treatment that we were NOT given the same level of service as other customers.

This place delivers: Customer Service: 0/5 Food Service: 1/5

If you’re looking for good Mexican cuisine and respectful service, AVOID THIS PLACE. There are far better outlets where you won’t face such poor treatment and...

Expect neither good service nor the right food!

Rude Frenchwoman ignored us as we stood at the counter waiting to order while she shouted at the kitchen staff from right in front of us. I asked if the arepa had "avocado". "Yes, I told you it has salads" was the curt response. Kitchen staff gave us the wrong food (which we were unable to eat due to dietary requirements that we had specifically confirmed when ordering). Drove home, got our toddler to sleep then opened the takeaway order which we had to throw away. When we went back to ask for a refund the next morning (showing a photo of our food and receipt of the order), we instead spent 10 minutes being told by the same Frenchwoman how it was our fault and that we should feel bad that we had caused the restaurant to have to throw away our correct order (even though we double checked our order number with kitchen staff when collecting food - apparently we should have also known that, to quote her, "he [the kitchen hand who incorrectly called out our order] is Spanish and does not speak English". For 10 minutes she blamed us and made up multiple reasons why she couldn't provide a refund. She blamed her staff. She never admitted fault let alone apologised. We didn't expect a grovelling apology, nor was one needed but she needs to learn basic customer service skills. After 10 minutes she spoke with her manager. She then finally, grudgingly gave us a refund. It all felt petty. We could have all saved a lot of time and energy if she had just said - without needing to admit fault - oh i see, there must have been a mix up, here's a refund or credit. Instead we were subjected to 10 minutes of criticism, denial and blame and had a horrible experience. Will never go to or recommend this...

The arape shell was tasty and novel, and the hot sauce was unique and delightful. However I have some bones to pick with Caribe... Caribe team, I'm sorry! I'm glad you offer a plant-based menu, but it just wasn't great for me. I was so excited to find a plant-based mexican menu randomly like this and I allowed my expectations to rise. My wife and I split a burrito, arape, and taco. Please: wrap your burritos more carefully - mine had paper inside the burrito because it had been wrapped carelessly, and so much of the juices had escaped into the wrap that it was sopping wet and couldn't be re-rolled without the paper. Ate it with a fork, wet and soggy. improve your beans to vege ratio - I questioned whether I was eating a mexican meal at all because there were so few beans compared to the vege consider removing brocolli from your vege; I know this will vary person to person but I just feel like broc doesn't belong on a mexican meal, especially when it's basically just steamed. I could tell you tried to grill it, but not nearly enough. flavour your vege mix more. It tasted almost completely unseasoned on...