Wairau River Cellar Door & Number 11 Restaurant — Restaurant in South Island

We stopped here for lunch on a Sunday at noon. We put in our order (chicken burger and cheese soufflé) and our waitress told us it would be 20-25 minutes for the soufflé but we could do a complimentary wine tasting to pass the time. We did a tasting, and about five minutes into it two big tour groups showed up and ousted us from the tasting. The wines are ok, decent Pinot Gris and sauv Blanc, not very good Pinot noir or Chardonnay. We sat down to wait for our lunch and wait and wait and wait... finally, 70 minutes after we ordered our food showed up. All of the tour groups that showed up 10-15 mins after us received their food first. In the mean time, the one glass on wine I ordered with lunch was consumed after 40 minutes of waiting. FINALLY, the food came out! And it was good! But then I found an eyelash in my salad on the side of the soufflé. When I brought it to their attention, the management offered to comp the ONE GLASS OF WINE. I told them I would like to speak with the manager (the waiters were very nice, and it was not their fault, but I really wanted to talk directly to the manager). The manager declined to speak with me since he was “slammed” in the kitchen. After asking “you seriously expect me to pay for my food that had hair in it?” They comped the meal. What a mess. The food is good, but not worth the time, drama and poor service. The management does not care about the individuals, but they do cater to the groups. I’d skip this one if you are a small group like us. Head across the street to nautilus or Geisen which are a 2 minute walk from here. Much...

Original We were excited for the new restaurant and thought we’d bring our Christmas visitors In to check it out. The food was great. The service has gaps and one person on the team needs coaching on how to interact with guests. The reason I gave them three stars was the final conversation when paying was an exercise in frustration. They don’t post that they have a surcharge (I had to ask) and the staff is down right rude when you inquire about whether there is a surcharge and what percentage is charged. What has been a pleasant experience up into that point was skewed by this very negative interaction with the woman behind the counter. I’m not sure why she was offended that I asked if there was a surcharge and how much the surcharge was, but her response to the situation was unwarranted. The food and atmosphere are only as good as the service experience.

Update A local friend and I gave Number 11 another try and colour me impressed. They’ve added a sticker notifying and informing guests there is a surcharge including the percentage. We selected the set menu. The plates were phenomenal and the service was top tier. We had the focaccia, Burrata with chilli herbed oil, cheeseburger nuggets (divine), rosemary fries, lamb Henry, cos with green goddess, the reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Riesling. Each was beautifully plated and delicious. I’m not big on Panna cotta but it was nice nevertheless. This experience may...

Tl;Dr - good white wine, great staff and a chicken burger to die for!

This place has a great atmosphere, sits quite a few people and their staff (winery and restaurant included) whilst being absolutely lovely, are a family owned business. This is such a nice touch and rightly so, are very proud of it. We bought their summer Reisling as we are suckers for sweet wine but also loved the gewurztraminer as this also has a very sweet underlying taste whilst still being closer to more of a white wine body. 8/10 on taste and I actually don't like white wines.

Now let me tell you about their food: the WR chicken burger was recommended to us as 'a burger to die for' by the lovely couple over at wine tours by bike just round the corner and it didn't disappoint! It was smooth, crispy succulent and was paired with great toppings. Try it you won't be disappointed. Their chips were also superb and crunchy with a soft inside. We tried the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and were very pleased. It was moist, not too crumbly and best off all, not too sweet which usually can make brownies harder to finish. Great job...