Monteith's Rangiora — Restaurant in South Island

Late lunch Sunday. Greeted from the only staff on the bar, serving and clearing tables, but she was ok about it(she told me). She was very nice. Ordered 2 cokes. Quick service. Ordered Garlic Parmesan bread. Quick service Alot of the cheese never quite made it on to the bread(was dry) and with the mention of basil(2 leaves)really needed not bother mentioning it and 2 half hearted slices of red radish Ordered 2 mains The blackboard fish special. It was fine. 7 wedges under the fish. They were soft. It was served in a large round pasta bowl? Wombok salad with so many pomegranate seeds, it wasn't funny and the rest of the salad/coleslaw was tasteless and no sign of a dressing to speak of? And get this you have the option of Deep fried "pork belly bites or Cajun spiced pan fried chicken breast" The Wife opted for "deep fried pork belly bites(tendr tasty little morsels with crispy crackle on top🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣, which were actually "battered" pieces of 3rd grade pork deep fried like you'd use in "sweet n sour pork" when the staff member came up and asked how our meals were, we query this and she said oh sorry about this, do you want the chicken because we don't have any unbattered pork? So its not even fresh pork(frozen im guessing) Too bad if my wife was Gluten free. We were comp'd a $1.50 coke(they are probably $6 on the drinks menu)for OUR trouble. No owness on monteiths Rangiora. We still paid $82 and got to write this review. Thanks for ruining my Wifes special day out. You had one chance to impress as we have never eaten there before and one chance to remedy this situation and you didn't on either. And the public want to know why some of these places don't survive this economy. There's a big reason right there. Everyone does not pay premium dollar for frozen battered pork in a bag from Trents possibly, that wasnt even on the menu? (I have a Trents account too) I wish I had've taken a few photos...

A delightful evening out with a friend. We ordered the cheesy garlic Naan to start - never thought Naan could get any better, but this was class. The stuffed chicken stonegrill is a force to be reckoned with, the venison was equally as filling. The Lemon/Coconut steamed pudding afterwards was a guilty pleasure and was as good as any I could make myself.

Service a solid 5 stars - staff were attentive and friendly.

Atmosphere 4 stars - lively and well lit without being intense. Seating comfortable and decor was on brand.

While the food was very good and tasty, I gave food 3 stars - only for the fact I had a foreign object in my main, for which the staff showed genuine concern and graciously comp'd the dessert. Unfortunately the steamed pudding had a bit of broccoli cooked into it also which was a bit of a surprise. Kitchen quality controls may need...

We’ve been going here for the last 9 years since moving to Rangiora, it’s always been our favorite go to with friends and family. I’m sorry but guys you need to up your game. Our meals last night were not great, my pork belly was tasteless and the potatoes tasted like they’d been microwaved, not fresh and the apples sour and bitter tasting. The service has gone down too and being eyeballed towards the end of the evening by the manager was incredibly off putting. I assume this was because they wanted to close up… why not just say something to your customers if that’s the case. Wasn’t asked if we enjoyed our meals just given the bill to pay. The rest of our group had mixed reviews about their meals too including one who sent his back for a replacement. Be great to see an improvement in the service and the food next time we’re...