Jungle 8 — Restaurant in Waitematā

My sisters and I have dined in Jungle8 a few times (often with friends). Our most recent visit was last night for the All-You-Can-Eat Sunday Buffet as we were celebrating our parents' wedding anniversary, and my mum's birthday! There was 6 of us in the group.

Atmosphere - The neon lights, decor, and seating booths were very cute and in theme. Other times we visited it was darker (for the ambiance), but we appreciated ample lighting during the buffet dinner. This was good as people had to walk around.

Booking Experience - We found it difficult to access the bottom of booking page via mobile phone. There was a part that you had to scroll down which just wouldn't show up for us on an iPhone and an Android. We were able to make a reservation easily via a laptop

Price - For the amount, the quality, and the variety of food included in the buffet, I would say this is an amazing value for money! We decided to get the seafood tower for 6 people. We asked if we had to pre-pay, and we were told at the time of our visit that we pay at the end of our booking.

Food - The quality and variety of the food included was phenomenal. The cold bar (seafood and salad) tasted crisp, fresh, and clean. Top conders were the Ceviche, Roast Beef, Chocolate fountain, and Bingsu station (this made us very excited!) For the seafood tower (6 pax), we received 9 pcs of sashimi, 4 pcs of grilled squid skewers, 4 pcs of 1/2 soft shell crab, 4 pcs of grilled tiger prawns, and 4 pcs of deep fried scallop (I think the menu said oysters so we were confused, but it makes sense to make substitutes depending on availability). This came with some speciality sauces that were chefs kiss. The taste and texture of the food in the tower were absolutely divine and well presented. However, the portions were not equally divisible by the number of people in the group which we thought was odd, so some of us had more of the tower than others. You can get a refill once for the Seafood tower though, so make sure you don't forget!

Service and Staff - For a Sunday night, they were very busy! Staff members did regularly visit our table to collect dirty plates and free up space for us, at times we had to call them as we were in the back of the restaurant and it would be quite difficult to see. They were generally very helpful, and one of the staff had a good sense of humour. A staff member was kind enough to let us know that our booked time was about to end which gave us time to think about last minute orders, or grabbing our last bit of food from the buffet. At the end of the night, when we were about to pay, I presented a minor detail to the cashier which I was quite curious about regarding portion sizes. Another staff member joined the conversation and assisted the staff on the counter in providing an answer to my inquiry. Both of the staff members patiently listened to what I had to say, offered an explanation, and graciously offered to remedy the situation. We were very thankful!

Overall, our experience with Jungle8 (combined with previous visits) has been quite good! We completely understand that weekends can get so busy and possibly even overwhelming, but the fact that the staff were patient with our inquiry, did not rush us, and even treated us with respect allowed us to leave feeling satisfied with the outcome and our over all experience. Please keep up...

Jungle 8 had lived up to its value for money meals and cocktails and trendy decor, and we were very excited to go. But we wont be back due to the most. Horrendous customer service experience delivered by one specific individual that evening. He has been one to show people into their seats and one to help settle our bill at the end. Firstly when we entered the venue we had an outside drink with us and as we were already hesitant to show up with it, had wanted to ask what our options were in handling it. He asked to put it away for us and upon hearing this my friend very innocently thought this is just an offer and asked if she was able to keep it on her. He let out a very big laughter and replied “That is just a polite way of saying this is A RESTAURANT.” Now he continued to laugh when we were obviously stunned and was then aware he was being condescending. Feeling completely bewildered we continued to wait to be escorted to our tables and exchanged discussions about what had just happened. Upon leaving the venue the guy ran our bills and asked how we would like to settle. As per usual, we asked if we could split evenly, not seeing anything could go wrong. The man implied that if we had read the ordering system correctly we would have seen that there is strictly no splitting of bills. His delivery was not in the least polite, informative. When I challenged him and asked where it said this as none of us were aware, he replied that its at the last step of the checkout on our qr code menue and that nobody reads properly these days. I was going hot with enbarrassment for him- at how unapologetically sarcastic and challenging his tone was when he talked to us that night on these two occasions. I have never written a negative review on google and frankly dont have the time or patience. But this is New Zealand and I would hate to point out the worst dining experience in my life on our home land. service can be corrected if theres a mistake. You can be unattentive, clumsy, lazy in the hospitality role and it is very human and easily forgiveble but NEVER be condescending and disrespectful to a guest for not knowing your rules well enough at a place new to them. I don’t believe he has the best interest of customers in mind and I really hope to see a change in the staff next...

DO NOT RECOMMEND FOR BIG GROUP

The food was ok, but overall, I was quite disappointed with our experience here.

We visited this restaurant for a farewell party, expecting to have a good time with our group. However, I wouldn't recommend this place for large gatherings.

When we arrived, we were informed that we couldn't sit at one big table or even two tables together. Instead, they seated us upstairs in a cramped and uncomfortable space. If they had informed us in advance that this was the only seating option available, we wouldn't have chosen this restaurant.

Being separated like this really detracted from the celebration, and it felt like we couldn't properly enjoy each other's company. The seating arrangement was inconvenient, and the atmosphere was far from pleasant.

Overall, it was not an enjoyable experience, and I wouldn't recommend this place for anyone planning a group event. There are likely better options out there that can better accommodate larger parties. You can see how small it is.

Food : 3/5 Service: 1/5

ANSWER YOUR REALLY.

Firstly, when I called your girl did not inform me that we would only be able to sit upstairs. If I know for sure I won’t book my girls in. ( please check your phone record )

PLEASE CHECK YOUR CAMERA. Everyone in our group arrived between 5:30 PM and 5:55 PM, not 45 minutes late as suggested.

After stay for 1hours and 15mins we were all present and decided to LEAVE your restaurant at 7:09pm to go somewhere else.

During our time there, your staff merely delivered our food and drinks and cleared the table without any interaction. No one asked if everything was okay, and we felt the staff were unfriendly, even when bringing our orders. We requested takeaway boxes because we did not feel comfortable staying any longer. ( From what I remember we don't ask you to show us how to use QR code because we know how it work)

I fail to understand how anyone could consider the seating arrangement and the service we received to be conducive to a pleasant experience. We did not feel comfortable or able to enjoy our time together. That is why we decided to take away the food and go...