Bellini Bar — Restaurant in Waitematā

Despite complaining to the most senior staff member on the day, not incurring any charge for our visit and leaving halfway through the experience, I've provided the below as a written complaint, and still await a detailed response to my complaint.

This review is posted on the basis that future guests can make an informed decision, and has been posted in multiple review forums.

Flavour combinations The serving of seafood and cured pig fat, the unfortunate addition of over sweetened banana mash to a luxuriant chocolate marquis, and serving savoury cheese scones with whipped sweet cream and the oddest jam attempt I've encountered (not butter) resulted in a high tea much lower in standard than the ‘refined’ experience your menu promises.

And then there was bread, bread and more bread...so much so we looked up the definition of a 'tartine'. Whilst the literal translation means ‘a slice of bread’, it failed to inject any variety into your high tea offer. It rather suggests that your chef had little in his culinary armoury to provide an imaginative alternative.

The only thing we enjoyed was the tea itself, and that only required boiling water.

Cooking From grainy meringue, obviously burnt scones so impenetrable I feared for your dinnerware, and tomato cores in your concasse - all of this left us wondering did your chef go to cooking school at all? And where exactly did that homemade jam recipe come from? The taste and texture of which wasn't fit to be bottled and sold at Pak n Save. In fact, I'm sure their homebrand version would have been more edible.

If, as quoted in your high tea menu, ‘injecting life and a whole lotta fun’ into your high tea menu translates to these ‘twists’ then you have evidently consulted the wrong people when considering a menu change. See 4 below for more interesting combinations.

Portion size High tea should be an elegant experience with bite-sized delicate morsels of deliciousness, which again your menu promises, not doorsteps of baguette and pies filled with fibrous spinach which could have stood alone as a light lunch it was so large. Having 13 bites is to your credit, and more than enough, provided they are just that, bite-sized.

Alternative options for allergy Having stated an allergy, I was offended to be served what looked like the night before's leftover carrots and courgettes inelegantly positioned onto thick doorsteps of bread, with a token squirt of pesto or a sprinkle of micro-greens in the vain attempt to make it appear palatable. According to one of your waiting staff the avocado and goats cheese option also contained seafood, however no reference to that was mentioned in your menu, but another alternative was served up in the form of what appeared as leftover mushrooms from that morning's breakfast - hideously unimaginative options and sheer laziness on the part of the chef, the majority of which was sent back to the kitchen.

Service Firstly, as your domain is the service industry, I would highly recommend that you answer your phone, or at least ensure the successful functioning of the answer service you claim to have, so a customer may leave the message they have been asked to in response to your own request.

Secondly, I would urge you to recommend your staff stop their chattering and come out from behind the bar to meet their guests on arrival. Shouting over the bar at me asking if I had a reservation was more reminiscent of service I’d expect from a local market.

Lastly, staff should be attentive throughout service. No need to disturb your customers with constant check ins, but again less chattering and more attention paid so that when they do try to catch your attention, they are not left waiting for 10mins. Customers should not have to be asking for fresh cutlery and crockery between the sweet and savoury aspects; in point, both our table and our neighbours had to do this.

Such a shame, the new menu is a complete failure and I urge you to reconsider it, if not revert...

I got high tea during their Christmas season, so the menu had some holiday touches with the food. I’ll give a review of each dish below for any foodies. Atmosphere and service was good, very attentive and a good view. I also received some Manuka honey as an additional gift.

Food review

French earl grey tea: Very fragrant, light, and smooth with such a nice aroma. I highly recommend.

Cured kingfish in puri: It was alright, not a lot of flavor but I could taste the coconut. Puri was not crisp but slightly chewy and the kingfish had a mild flavor.

Prawn toast: One of the best savoury dishes, both buttery and savoury with a delicious touch of sour with the lime pearls that wasn’t too overwhelming.

Parmesan shortbread: A little dry, the ricotta did not balance the dryness of the toast enough but the pickled onions cut through the grease well.

Wagyu sausage roll: Not a hit, the roll was dry and oily. The black garlic purée was nice but I did not like the flavor of the roll as a whole, I tasted a sour undercurrent that was not a good fit.

Hoisin smoked chicken sandwich: Nothing spectacular, I could not taste much hoisin flavor and there’s was a little too much sesame that it got everywhere as you ate.

Christmas ham brioche roll: I was not that wowed, the roll was mediocre and no flavors stood out. The bread reminded me of something I could get at any Asian bakery.

Scone: The scone itself was good but the whipped honey butter was too heavy with the dense scone, would have preferred clotted cream or more whip so that it was lighter.

Christmas tree: The wafer was too sweet and made the whole dessert overly sweet since the mousse itself was already on the sweet side.

Orange almond cupcake: it was alright, not dry and a refreshing fruit flavor. Too much cream though the bee was cute.

Mango mousse: Beautiful presentation, mousse was light and I liked the sesame wafer.

Cheesecake: My favourite as I liked the shape and the jelly was an interesting addition to the cheesecake.

Ice cream bon bon: very fun with the smoke,

Champagne: they offer a non-alcoholic version, which I opted for. Very...

Disappointing experience. I DO NOT RECOMMEND

Booking: 12:45pm Saturday - table for 4.

PACKAGE(S): 3 x Bubbly 1 x Refined

Firstly the waiter who was looking for our “booking” initially said we hadn’t booked, yet we booked a month in advance and got a call Wednesday (07/04/2021) before hand to confirm; until he found the name that was obviously spelt wrong by them hence the confusion. So rude!

We were eventually seated and taken through the High Tea options and asked to choose the package we’d like. Waitress noted down what we chose and left with our coffee orders to start us off. Coffee’s came promptly. However we were sat for 2 hrs waiting on the rest of our “experience” it was until we flagged a waitress down and asked about what was happening that she said she’d follow up. It was then we had to choose again and make drink orders waited another 1/2 hour before everything reached our table. Tables that were seated after us were served before us and believe me when I say you could not miss us. We looked different from everyone else in there. The servers were obviously avoiding us. With Bellini being attached to Hilton we had high expectations. Sadly we were disappointed.

OVERVIEW: Again I DO NOT RECOMMEND! Service was shocking. Food was average definitely not worth the wait or the amount we paid You’d think with that wait time they were sourcing the ingredients from scratch And that it would taste amazing yet nothing was was memorable. If you’re looking for a great view that’s all this space is good for.

To management you seriously need to review staff/supervisor on shift because through out our session they were at at the bar chatting/socialising while we were waiting.

Thank you Burger Fuel for...