Star and Garter Restaurant — Restaurant in South Island

Waited 45 minutes for very average food that they said took 8 minutes to cook.. I'm in my third trimester and it would have been nice to have been offered something to nibble on at least (did get this after about 30 min). Apparently it was a longer wait that evening because they were hosting extra people in the next room. No one warned us about that.. When we finally got our food, we were accompanied by 20 people lining up to pay right next to our table.. We were on a one-day-without-kids trip and my friend haven't spent a night away from her children in 5 years. The evening was a big deal to us, we wanted to have a nice time. When we were about to pay, I complained about not being warned about the long wait and suggested a discount. The woman (probably the owner) made everything 100 % worse by the way she handled our feedback. Come on lady, you are in the service industry! It doesn't help that you don't think 45 minutes is a long wait, that you have worked in the industry for 25 years and that the table next to us had to wait 1 1/2 hours "and they didn't complain". They were probably just Kiwis who didn't speak up. We didn't have a nice experience and you should have just said sorry. Luckily we had a great time a Fleur's the next day, where we got our lunch within 10 minutes and paid about the same amount. At least the ending to our trip was good. Thank you Fleur's Place for...

In the Victoria Festival in Oamaru in 19/11/2022, we booked a restaurant seat at 11 noon on Saturday. After we asked by phone, the boss told us that their business hours will start at 11 o'clock. We will only book at 11 o'clock in order to see the parade. If you feel inconvenient, you can refuse to make a reservation. When we arrived at the restaurant on time, we heard a curse from the staff:Fuck！ They don't seem to welcome us。

When the meal arrived, we asked why there was no sauce for the steak. The boss actually answered us that we didn't ask for sauce. Is this a service that should be there? Or is it because we are mostly Asian?

My mother-in-law has pictures of her wedding on the wall of her dining room, and the wedding reception was there, this is a restaurant we often take family and friends to eat, but we won't be going again! ㄧA very disappointing restaurant！

I also run a restaurant and I'm definitely not going to...

We read other reviews about the amazing seafood chowder and after having basically a seafood chowder holiday around the South Island, we wondered how this would measure up for an early 10am brunch. Definitely first equal with one we had at Simes Cafe in Kaikōura (which was a completely different recipe and taste). Absolutely loaded with seafood, and so thick the fabulous garlic toast stands upright in it (too - order extra 😊) but without an overpowering saltiness or floury taste that we experienced with some. Served in a deep bowl, it stayed hot right to the end and will fill us up for the day. The staff were great - proactive and super friendly. With a very cold day outside it was awesome sitting in the seats at the front in the sun enjoying this nourishing hot food. Great coffee and hot chocolate too. Highly recommend...