Tapestry Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Waitematā

EPIC BUFFET FAILURE: I understand they were at the end of a Sunday rush when we turned up at 10am but yikes! I don't often leave reviews and I certainly don't like leaving bad ones, but the service went from terrible to laughably poor.

After a patient 15 minute wait we were finally seated. Our first trip through the buffet I noticed a piece of long plastic in my mushrooms so I discreetly tried to tell an employee. This guy literally stuck his bare fingers in my food, pulled it out, examined at it, shrugged, gave me a "hm", and turned around and proceed to carry on working. I looked around in shock and then set my plate aside because I wasn't about to eat anything on my plate after that. He didn't even go to check the rest of the mushrooms lead alone remove the dish which was clearly affected.

Sadly enough, there was nothing left in the buffet other than some hash browns so I had to resort to eating that. There were no bowls for the cereals, no extra cutlery, and I found myself scavenging for more food.

I was told by my friend I could order something so I asked for an omelette. I took my number and after a little while someone rocked up with pancakes, chucked it on the table, took my number, and left before I could even say anything. (In fairness, I thought my friend ordered it and they just accidentally took my #) About 10 minutes later they came over and asked if I ordered an omelette. We realised that none of us ordered the pancakes, so the waiter took the pancakes and gave the to the kid next to us... They didn't take it back to make fresh ones, they just took it from our table after it had been sitting there and then put it straight in front of the poor kid.

All and all it went from a bad experience to worse. A complete waste of money. I left hungry. I will...

Our first lunch visit using First Table. This restaurant is located inside the Pullman Hotel. The waiter was dressed in a nice suit, and the service was friendly, with a luxurious atmosphere.

We ordered the beef carpaccio, soup of the day, steak with fries, snapper fillet, and a cup of flat white.

The beef carpaccio was excellent. Simple, yet each ingredient (arugula, Parmigiano Reggiano, and grass-fed beef) worked perfectly together. It was a great appetizer.

The soup of the day was also nice.

However, we were disappointed with the main dishes. We ordered the steak medium rare, but it was served medium or close to well done. The portion was quite small, and the jus was a bit too bitter.

The snapper fillet still had scales. I don’t mind if there’s just one or two — it happens — but mine had quite a few scales left, and they almost cut my mouth. Properly cleaning fish skin should be basic preparation, even before cooking. That said, the lychee glaze was amazing, and the fish itself was beautifully cooked. I just really wish the skin had been cleaned properly so I could fully enjoy the dish.

We were also surprised by the drink menu. The menu only listed alcoholic drinks, so we asked for a flat white and still water. The flat white was lovely — a beautifully made, tasty cup. However, we didn’t expect the still water to cost $10. The waiter had simply asked, “Would you like still or sparkling water?” so we chose still. Later we realized that the still water was a bottle of premium New Zealand natural water, and it cost $10. We were shocked that water wasn’t complimentary. Expensive more than flatwhite....

My husband and myself had a wonderful dining experience at Tapestry. Our dishes were definitely a work of art to the eye and to the palate. Firstly my husband ordered from the raw bar, he had the tuna poke and myself ordered the soft shell crab which honestly came out looking like a work of art. If only I could put up my photos of our special night. Our first two dishes really did taste divine and I enjoyed my soft shell crab and the special sauces that came with it. My husbands starter was also accompanied by delicious sauces. Our waitressess came over and checked on refilling our water glasses without being in our way. They really paid attention to detail with their table service, and also pouring our wine and taking care of us. The waitress was also experienced enough to let us know some of the most popular dishes. Yumi's table service really added to our overall experience which is why Ive given it 5 stars all the way. Now onto the main courses, I so enjoyed the Pan fried Market fish of the day which was Kingfish and we also had the grilled Akaroa Salmon and we ordered some lovely sides to go with our mains these being grilled brocollini .and roasted portabello and caramelized onion. We so enjoyed our beautiful meal and the delicious flavours of the beautifully cooked food. We also enjoyed the warm inviting atmosphere of Tapestry so much so that we plan to go back. What a beautiful evening the perfect end to our weekend off work. We both felt totally indulged and were grateful for such a wonderful evening out. Our compliments to the wonderful chef also, how could I forget....