Starfish Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in South Island

Let me re-word my previous review to explain better: We were incredibly disappointed with our experience. From the moment we arrived, we were not greeted or offered water. We were seated at a used table that hadn’t been cleaned, and when we went to order—fairly early in the day—we were told several key items like burgers and fish were already unavailable.

Two of our meals arrived a full 30 minutes before the others, and at no point did anyone check on us. When we inquired about ordering a salad, we were met with unnecessary rudeness. One of the meals wasn’t even touched because the chips were cold and the salad was well below an acceptable standard.

Overall, the service was unwelcoming, the food was inconsistent, and the experience left us both dissatisfied and frustrated. We will not be returning.

———————————————— Hi Starfish Team,

Thank you for your response — though I must say it feels dismissive and somewhat irresponsible. When customers spend $70 on two meals and two drinks, it’s not unreasonable to expect basic standards of service and some recognition when those standards aren't met. Instead of acknowledging the multiple concerns raised, your reply downplays them and implies we the customers at fault.

Firstly, to suggest that the meals arriving 30 minutes apart was due to staggered ordering is misleading. We ordered less than 10 minutes apart, and as a group of four dining together (which the staff were informed of), it's basic restaurant practice that meals should be timed to arrive together. No one wants to eat while the others wait — or worse, eat a cold meal.

Secondly, to say we said everything was “fine” to the manager is frustrating. This is because we had not yet received any food so we did not mean the food was fine because we did not have it. This highlights how little effort was made to check in with us during the meal.

The claim that staff were cheerful and helpful when we requested a salad contradicts our experience. We were made to feel like an inconvenience, and there was no effort to be accommodating in a way that felt welcoming. We were told you don’t sell salad even though you serve salad with a lot of different dishes. This is especially disappointing as it is a very simple request that requires no cooking.

Finally, selling out of key menu items so early in the day is not just a sign of "fresh food and strong demand" — it also signals a lack of preparation. That’s not something to be proud of when it affects customer experience so significantly.

There was no apologies for the lack of greetings, no cleaning of the table we sat at, meal check, no water or glasses offered to us, and we were also not given new cutlery.

I am not writing this to attack, but to be honest - after all that is what reviews are for. After reading multiple bad reviews from the last few months I see that there is only defence and not apologies for any mistakes. A simple acknowledgment that things didn’t go well would have gone a long way. Instead, your response has only added to the disappointment.

I really don’t mean to sound disrespectful but with past experience working at a restaurant I was confused by the staff having pride in how our table was ‘handled’. It could have just been a chance to improve in a...

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