Topiary Café — Restaurant in South Island

Nice setting, but terrible service. We ate here today, on a standard warm Saturday, so it was quite busy, but as busy as it is every weekend. 45 minutes after ordering, the food still hadn't shown up. We went to the counter to check what was happening. We were told it was because two large tables had come in before us, with no apology for the delay or for failure to give a warning that food would take some time. We got the impression that we were seen as the problem. Exactly an hour after ordering our food arrived. I had a venison burger, the bun was burnt and the pattie was incredibly dry, another in our group had poached eggs which were well overdone. Kiwis in particular are bad at giving honest feed back because we don't like to make a fuss. This cafe relies on that, with most of its customers being local elderly people who are even more unlikely to complain/make a fuss. This means the cafe has no incentive to improve. If you are happy to sit outside in the sun and are not in rush, you may still enjoy the experience, otherwise i strongly discourage you from coming here.

To be fair, the corn fritters were very good and drinks did come...

An excellent little cafe. The food, service, and drinks are great, as well as the service, but the really great thing about this café is the view/location- right in the middle of Wal's Plant land. It's perfect for after a round of mini-golf and looks over an almost impossibly blue little pond and very well-kept gardens, including a mini-golf course. It's also very sheltered- even if the weather is not great in Dunedin you can count that it will be quite mild at Wal's.

Yes, it is a little out of the way but completely worth it. Would highly recommend as a great...

Topiary Cafe fabulously catered for our family lunch of 30 celebrating our mum/grandma/and great grandma's 85th birthday! The facility was brilliant for our range of ages. The children had such fun outside. Topiary allowed us to bring our own cake for a small fee, and were very considerate in the serving of it. The menu suited everyone and was delicious! The staff were busy but attentive, well done! The only thing that would have been nice was if the 85 year old guest of honour was not served last. However, she did not complain!...