Esther Restaurant — Restaurant in Waitematā

My wife and I went to this restaurant on Christmas for their Christmas day dinner. When we made the reservation a month in advance, we clearly indicated that my wife is vegan (this is due to many food allergies such as lactose intolerance and allergies to egg/fish/etc) and we asked them to let us know if they couldn't accommodate as we wanted to have a nice experience for our Christmas dinner and there were other restaurants we could have reserved.

When we arrived, we informed our waitress again of the allergies to ensure there were no issues. However, as the food came out, it was obvious this was not taken seriously at all. Of the 4 or 5 dishes given to us in the first round, she could only eat their cucumber dish. The waitress told us she would at least get us hummus so she could enjoy the bread. This didn't come out for at least another half an hour. When another waitress delivered the second round, there was literally nothing she could eat. This waitress asked if everything was ok and we asked if any of it was vegan and she said no. Apparently they did not actually put in the allergy despite having a month of notice and us mentioning it when we arrived.

What followed was a series of "take away" actions instead of substitutions. Keep in mind, we pre paid $400 for this meal so it's pretty reasonable to expect substitutions and not to get less food. I didn't get every item that was supposed to get served and while she received a few dishes, she also did not get the full number of dishes we were supposed to get.

Because they messed up, we were stuck there for almost 4 hours. We were the very last table and they were mopping next to us as we were trying to eat our very expensive meal.

To top everything off, the waitress admitted she didn't put in the allergy which meant that the first dish they told us she could eat had dairy. Subsequently, my wife was sick the entire night.

We tried to go to the restaurant to get a resolution, but they acted impatient and tried to get us out of the restaurant as quick as possible. They offered us a few drink coupons which doesn't remotely compensate us for receiving less food than what we paid for and for making my wife sick all night. This is unacceptable and disappointing customer and we've been treated better at fast food...

I sent this direct and via a feedback email on Tuesday, but have heard nothing from them.

So decided to share here.

My partner and I dined at Esther on Saturday night to celebrate her birthday, I had booked back in November after reading reviews in social media and news sites across the internet.

We had a couple of cocktails at the rooftop bar, which was heaving as I believe there was a bachelor party being held within the hotel, the cocktails were fabulous, a great start to the evening.

Esther’s surroundings are fabulous, love seeing the staff at work, the rustic design and enjoying the smell of food being created, and the staff were lovely, mostly attentive, knowledgeable and very helpful. We were seated at table 15.

The Baked Saganaki was delicious, and Cloudy Bay Claims very yummy (loved the plethora of jalapeno slices) my partners Snapper was very good, very tasty fish and the baby vegetables divine. I had the Mafaidine Rabbit, I loved the pasta, the rabbit was tasty.

HOWEVER, I was dismayed to find a rabbit bone, approximately 3cm long, that luckily I did not swallow, I put it too one side and finished the dish, it was lovely. When our dishes were cleared, I mentioned to the waiter, who said little, but I did see her momentarily show it to another staff member… then the fire alarm went off.

We had dessert and coffee, the Duck Egg Catalan was a treat, then I paid and we left, no one came to say anything about the mishap around the rabbit bone.

In the morning when I had a look at the bill, which was reasonable, I noticed that we had been charged for sparkling water, which was incorrect as I know we had tap water, my partner asked for tap water, as I don’t usually drink water at dinner (the Man O War Syrah was enough for me!) It is only $20, but still a disappointing error.

Overall, many great and lovely elements in the experience, but because of the lack of care over the bone, and the overcharge, it may be awhile...

We tried Esther during restaurant month in August and were really impressed, so this is just my review of the new Esther courtyard menu.

We were quite excited to try out Esther courtyard, but were left quite disappointed. We had seen online that the pizzettas were $10 this weekend.

When we arrived at the courtyard there was a sign that said to order at the bar. I went inside and asked for menus and was told they would bring some out to us, there was however a long wait - to the point where my husband also went inside to follow up. It’s not as if the courtyard was busy, there was another couple and a small family present so 7-8 people at most.

The pizzas are very elevated and delicious, but the menu overall is very overpriced. We ordered a hazy beer each which was $18..and there didn’t seem to be a drink priced cheaper than $15. When my husband went to pay the pizzas were not reduced to $10 deal we saw online. My husband had to contest the bill and was just met with a complacent “oh yeah that’s right” kind of attitude. We ended up paying around $70 for two beers and three smallish pizzas. If you were to order this on any other day this would have been $120 which would have let you feeling quite ripped off.

There’s plenty of happy hour options in the CBD, even on a Sunday. Somm wine bar in particular has $8 happy hour drinks (every day) and 2 for 1 pizzas on a Sunday. I think for us to want to come back to Esther courtyard the drinks prices or pizza prices would need to be slashed to make it worth your while!

Sitting outside was also quite boring, the courtyard could’ve done with some soft background music. Instead we sat there in silence only hearing the traffic from Fanshawe Street. Hope the courtyard improves and some adjustments are made to the...