The Fox, A London Pub — Restaurant in Waitematā

Poor Management, Poor Communication, Lousy Food. Go Elsewhere.

We visited Fox Sunday night.

Management: We went there to watch a sporting event. We checked with the staff and they confirmed that they would (continue to) show it. After showing 1.5 hrs. of the 3.5 hr. event on a set of TVs, they suddenly started to change several of them to the start of the pre-show coverage of another event, without at least warning us in advance. It caused a lot of confusion at several other tables, in addition to ours. The waiting staff was just as surprised and bewildered, though they did try to help after we all complained. Management seemed clueless and uncaring about the stress and confusion that they were causing for their customers and staff. Several tables had to move (including us). Management repeated this three times before the end of the competition, so we left immediately after it ended, before the end of the coverage (an hour later)! If you want to comfortably watch a sporting event to its end, without interruptions, without having to move, without having to (hopefully) find somewhere else to sit, look elsewhere.

Food: They advertised an all day special. When we asked for it at 17:00, they laughed and told us that were already out (bait and switch or just poor management?). We ordered a pizza instead, thinking we'd share it and order something else later, so our food would be fresher and warm. What we got (for $22) was worse than a $5 Dominos's pizza. It was worse than some $3 frozen pizzas I recall. So we decided to cut our losses and not order any more food. Do your taste buds (and wallet) a favor and eat elsewhere.

Serve Staff: As good as most we've seen in NZ/AU. However, even before the place filled up, the staff at Fox looked stressed and sad. They are betrayed by the weak Fox management. It must be stressful to work for such poor management. I bet that they have a high staff turnover because of it. The manager's name posted on the wall at the time of our visit looked Eastern European/Russian.

Great...

We came as a couple looking to enjoy an evening in a sports bar following the America's Cup. We found The Fox practically empty which seemed strange for a Viaduct restaurant on a Saturday evening but the menu appeared tempting so we took a leap of faith.

We ordered two tasty-sounding Philly Steak Sandwiches which promised "grilled steak, capsicum, caramelized onion, salsa gravy, and melted cheese". Delectable!

They arrived surprisingly quickly and what we saw was ... disappointing? Horrifying? You decide.

The capsicum was simply not present, the salsa gravy was little more than thickened tomato sauce, the melted cheese was half a slice of processed chesedale swiss slapped brazenly against the "ciabatta". And the caramelized onion? Between the two of us we managed to find one inch-long shred!

The shreds of steak were the only redeeming feature of the entire sandwich, all 50 grams of it!

Tasteless, inconsistent, and arguably outright false advertising. Avoid at all costs!

The atmosphere, despite lacking patronage, seemed welcoming and the facilities are all there for your typical sports bar. If you're looking for a meal however... let's just say there's plenty of other restaurants along the Viaduct more deserving of your patronage.

In all my years I've never once had an urge to write a review beyond simply rating the good ones. Congrats Fox, you wasted my money and even inspired me to waste my time on this fun little...

This review is in 2 parts

1st the food is great. The waitress we had was friendly. And we all agreed that it is well priced too. Took quite a while sitting and waiting before I ended up asking to be served but I think they were a little bit busy. So not too bad.

However. Failure to follow most of the covid-19 regulations is a real concern.It needs to be addressed immediately.

No one at the door to check vaccine pass. In fact no one checked at all. No one asked to see our vaccine pass all night. No customers were checked for vaccine pass at any stage.

No QR code at the entrance and not easily found.

No bar staffs are wearing mask.

1 waitstaff took off the mask while talking to the patrons at a extremely close distance

No distancing between tables. They are all very close together.

The bottom line is doesn’t matter if you like the rules or not. They are a requirement by law for you to operate under the current system. If you want to operate your business you need to follow the rules. Just like every other law in the country. You don’t get to pick and choose which one that suits you.

This review is based on both the restaurant experience and the failure to follow current covid-19 regulations. Will update rating again in the near future.

To end this review. The pub is great. Love the food, love the atmosphere. I really hope they follow up on covid regulations. Love change my rating and love to...