Finn's Bistro and Beer Garden — Restaurant in Waikato

Awful service. Don't usually bother leaving bad reviews but judging by other reviews here, I'm not the only one who experienced this.

Came in a group of 6 for lunch. Firstly, the waiter told us that we couldn't be in there for lunch without ID (we are 22 - 30 yrs old) and that this was a NZ law. I'm originally English but lived here a year and never experienced this. Two of our group were Kiwis and told the waiter they hadn't experienced that either, to which he looked a bit lost for words.

They forgot two of our meals but instead of apologizing, the waiter came up with a string of excuses blaming us. First he said they didn't come as we 'ordered separately' - of course we did, we were in a big group and you pay at the bar so we each paid for our own orders. Then he said that two of us hadn't paid when we ALL had and could show our bank statements to prove it. Then he told us 'it wasn't fine dining' to which my partner told him it's a basic expectation for your food to come when you order lunch. Then he said it was because our buzzer didn't ring because it didn't get service in that area of the pub - well why give us a buzzer then?

Anyway, we waited another 15-20mins after this. By this time the rest of the group has finished eating. I spoke to a waitress asking where our food was, and then the same guy came to our table again with more random excuses, ultimately telling us our order STILL hadn't been relayed to the chef. Food eventually came and it was fine but undercooked as they'd made it in a rush. He offered us free coffee but that hardly makes up for it.

I understand that these things happen, sometimes orders are forgotten. But just apologise and get the food out rather than blaming...

This is one of these unfortunate places where staff are working very hard to keep a sinking ship afloat. Book a table 3 nights prior, arrive, and told there will be a 40 minute wait... no explanation. The place is at a fraction of capacity but for some reason, there are huge delays in getting food out. The menu might be part of the problem, with dishes ranging from pizza, to gourmet pies, to thai dishes, to platters, to pork belly. There are just too many of them. Staff in the meantime are trying to keep people happy but are under a level of pressure where basics like bringing out water is overlooked, and once it is requested, bring out what must have been a 5 litre jug of it. There is also this bizarre system involving buzzers which given the number of patrons, just complicates service. And then the food... we ordered a $40 Mediterranean platter which was just an assortment of packaged meats and cheeses. It's described to feed 2-3 people but it just wasn't enough and it just wasn't that nice. There was this brown dip that came with it which was just unpleasant. The kids meal is an assortment of packaged foods with one small main which with the fish and chips, was just frozen fish and dry chips. We were served our food on time after protesting about the wait but people around us would have easily waited an hour. A very unpleasant experience despite galliant efforts by the waiting staff. Very nice...

I am writing to express my disappointment regarding an incident that occurred at Finn’s in Taupo last night, which left us with a very unpleasant experience and disrupted our trip. When we arrived, the security staff at the entrance checked our ID but appeared unsure about its authenticity. She then called the manager for assistance. Unfortunately, the manager’s behavior was extremely rude and unprofessional. He inspected the driver’s license, removed the official sticker from it, and claimed it was a fake license. If there was any doubt about the license, the matter could have been handled more professionally without tampering with the license itself. Instead, the situation escalated unnecessarily when both the manager and we called the police. When the police arrived, they checked the license and confirmed it was genuine.

This entire situation was both embarrassing and disappointing. The license was issued after passing the required tests through VTNZ and NZTA, which are official government authorities. Suggesting it was fake not only questioned our integrity but also disrupted our trip and caused us significant inconvenience.

We hope that your management team reviews this incident seriously so that future customers do not face such treatment. A professional and respectful approach would have prevented the unnecessary stress we...