Bambina — Restaurant in Waitematā

We are from NYC and staying in the Ponsonby area for 3 weeks and have found some nice places to eat. We came to Bambina on a Sunday morning and the tables were full for my party of 4, but we were the first ones to be waiting and a waitress quickly told me that tables were freeing up. 10 minutes later, a party of 5 who was waiting after us decided to split their group up into 3 and 2 to sit first. As they were sitting down, a couple more seats opened up at the large table so they decided to move their entire party of 5 into the space where my family of 4 was waiting to be seated. Upon seeing this, NONE of the staff did anything about it, NO ONE said anything to that family or ask them to move, NO ONE offered to help us, a simple apologetic look and a fake reassurance that there were more tables coming soon. We were clearly waiting for a table (even other customers were appalled for us) and the people waiting after us sat down without a care. Even if the other family didn't care for us, the worst part was that the staff let them do it and didn't say a single word to them. In fact, a waitress quickly went over to them to take their order, ignoring the fact that we had been waiting already. That being said, we didn't know where else to go at that point so we still waited for the next table. What a mistake on my part. After finally sitting down, we ordered our food within the first 3 minutes and then had to wait almost 45 minutes for our food to arrive. They either messed up or forgot about our order, as many other parties had already been served and left in the time that we sat down and ordered, all before our food came out. There was no respectful decency on the part of the staff to tell us what was going on with our food, no one to let us know if the food would be out shortly, or why there was a delay. Even if there's going to be a wait for the food, at least tell us - don't make us wait 45 minutes to be served our food. We had two young toddlers with us who are generally well-behaved and they were near breakdown by the time the food was finally served. I want to like this place and the food is half decent, but the way they treat their guests is appalling. We've traveled the world, had food in many different countries, and this was one of the POOREST experiences we've ever had. One last thing - I NEVER write reviews for any restaurants, good or bad, but I just cannot shake off the terrible...

I can only review the service as because I didn’t receive any I didn’t partake in food or drinks. I called in this morn thinking I’d give them another try as our experience a few months ago wasn’t great. Just me, sat down and was basically ignored for a 5-10 mins no eye contact or a nod. (Guy beside me was asked enthusiastically if he’d like a refill).I went in search of a menu to show I was here for breakfast owner/manager handed me one, cleaned the dirty table I was at and I took the opportunity to order coffee. 10mins later still no coffee so I decided enough was enough and moved to pop my coat on and leave. Manager looked at me I just let him know I was leaving and received no apologies or explanation. Please note it was not busy at all. I have a lot of friends in hospitality and I know how tough it is hence why we try and eat out as much as possible. Obviously Bambina owners don’t feel the need to encourage customers. A very uncomfortable dining experience I won’t...

*Updated 12/5/24: Actually today's experience was very good, keep up the good work!

*Updated 28/5/23: Again, had to send the bread back as the eggs on the toast makes it soggy, and was short 1x rasher of bacon. Sigh

*Updated 11/11/22: Tried Bambina again and surprise surprise, noisy AF and eggs on the toast = soggy toast.

Poached eggs were cold. The coffee was good. However, my friend's salmon was inedible. It was meant to be with noodles, but only had a tablespoon of it. The "broth" was just lime juice. To say the balance was off suggests there was balance to begin with, but this was just sour. The addition of salt was not enough to augment it. Suggesting that the issue was not with the food, but with her palate, is clearly indicative of complacency. An apology from the waitress was better received, but we are struggling to find any...