Teed Street Larder — Restaurant in Waitematā

First time back here since Covid - couldn't wait to order their delicious pancakes which were weekly weekend brunch in pre-Covid times. Unfortunately no longer on the menu. Staff were very nice though and offered to make them special (much appreciated). Ordered one plain and one with fruit as offered and a side of bacon. Bacon did not come as a side but on top of pancakes. We could live with that except bacon was on both. Explained we had ordered only one side of bacon and I was a vegetarian so they would have to go back. The plate came back in under a minute and looked very familiar. I looked the waitress in the eye and said, you haven't just taken the bacon off have you? She said convincingly "no, we had extras" I took her at her word and tucked in. One pancake tasted strongly of bacon. These were definitely either the same pancakes or the same plate. Moved that one aside and ate the other one. Thought about how they were not on the menu and decided that no extras had been made and that waitress was just trying to move things along. Hubby ate other pancake. Pancakes were delicious (if teeny tiny) but my two pancakes and syrup were not $30 worth. When we paid I grabbed a couple of things from the cabinet (still hungry) and told the lady at the till that while I was most appreciative of the off-menu pancakes, I was pretty sure the waitress had lied to me which really wasn't on in the circumstances. She apologised and gave me one of the cabinet items for free (much appreciated) and said she'd talk to the kitchen/wait staff. The two stars are for the chap (manager?) who offered off-menu, the counter staff who were very gracious in receiving my feedback and the pancakes, which were delicious. The difference between the two and the five is the waitress who lied to a vegetarian. Just over a year of no pork or red meat of any kind capsized by a (lazy?) waitress. Will not go back. A shame as we have loved everything about this place...

Chicken in my vegetarian meal!!

Unfortunately having to leave a mixed review.

Have been here previously and enjoyed myself (enough to come back!). I had a vegetarian panini style sandwich from the cabinet, and an ice chocolate. Both were lovely ….. until I was 3/4 the way through my sandwich and discovered a large chunk of chicken. As a vegetarian was very disappointed and it really took the shine off of my meal. Picked out the chicken and closely examined what was left of my food before eating the last couple chicken-free bites. Hate to imagine what I may have unwittingly consumed prior to my scrutiny of the last few bites.

Took my plate (with the piece of chicken on it, photograph attached) to the waitstaff who were immensely apologetic. However beyond some “we are very sorry” and taking my plate to show the chef nothing was done to rectify or apologise.

I am reticent to leave a negative comment, especially when the rest of my visit was so pleasant. Lovely atmosphere, helpful staff, and wonderful selection of food.

Just wasn’t so thrilled with the chicken in my vegetarian meal, or the handling of the situation once I raised it. Not sure if I will return after this experience - a real pity since I liked this cafe...

I went to Teed Street Larder with my family on Saturday 22 February 2025.

I appreciate that we are difficult customers, as my sister has coeliac disease, and I have an egg allergy. Teed Street Larder had a good gluten free offering. However, the staff had difficulty assisting me with my egg allergy.

I informed them of my egg allergy, and asked if I could have one of their dishes on the menu. The staff member replied by telling me to choose something else, and brought another staff member over to confirm this. Neither staff member gave me any alternative options. We were given some time to decide. I then suggested another dish. The staff member initially confirmed that the dish was egg free, but later returned to tell me that it was not egg free, and that it would need to be modified.

Please train your staff in the contents of each dish, so that they can confidently tell customers whether the dish does or does not meet their dietary requirement, and can confidently offer alternatives...