The Boat - Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Wellington

Unfortunately, today my family and I experienced the worst customer service and attitude from the Boat Cafe. We came along expecting a nice lunch and was met with disappointment and upset. To start with the customer service is not great, we sat at a dirty table as were all the tables around us. We went to the counter and ordered our food – having to go through the order 3x to ensure they clearly understood what we wanted (was not complicated at all…) despite this, we still got a wrong order arrive. Another thing, whilst it is not a biggie, we had to go and get the basic items like forks, knives and serviettes ourselves – these were not given or offered when the food was given to us which I would have thought was common sense.

The food was average at best and in all honesty felt like a waste of money especially after our experience today. What was meant to be a nice family lunch turned into being yelled at by who we assume is the business owner. My mother asked the man at the counter very politely if he was the owner. His response was “I am too busy to talk to you “. My mother asked again politely if he was the business owner, his response was short, sharp, and rude. I stepped in to say we wanted to give some feedback, to which he came back yelling at me that I was “nasty” and he didn’t want to hear it and that we shouldn’t come back. We had not even given any feedback when this was said. I made a point that our family of 5 had just spent a bit of money there at lunch and all we wanted to do was give some feedback. The man then yelled at me to get out and that I was an awful person – I honestly have not met anyone who is so incredibly rude and unpleasant, especially in that type of industry.

Whilst we understand the place was not as nice as it once was (it is really was run down and a bit grotty to be honest but we could see past this), what we could not understand was the poor, unprofessional and negative attitude of whom we can only assume is the very angry business owner, but also the lack of care” given by the staff. Its hygiene 101 to clean a table when someone sits down, its not hard to take an order and get it right and it is absolutely not ok to yell at your customers and tell them to get out and not come back. Telling me I was a nasty person was completely inappropriate and out of line. We did not deserve that kind of treatment.

It is such a pity as it use to be such a great place to go many years ago but it really has gone downhill and I can honestly say I will never go back there. If the business owner hates the place as much as he showed his customers today, he should move on. There are other businesses who actually want or need customers and we did not deserve to have our Sunday family lunch ruined because of someone who was so awful (this happened in front of our young children). If you want to waste your money and be yelled out, then sure check this place out. But for those who are sensible and want to get decent customer service and decent food for their money, do not touch this place unless the business owner moves on and they get staff who care more about their customers. If there was an option to give 0 stars – I would! Really...

Our family recently visited The Boat Café and Bar to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. We traveled all the way from Napier to make her day special, as she is currently studying here. Unfortunately, this café completely ruined our day and turned what was supposed to be a joyful breakfast into a disappointment.

The menu mentioned that their food is cooked in 100% beef fat, but also stated that customers can request for their meals to be cooked in canola oil instead. We specifically requested our food to be cooked in canola oil, but it clearly wasn’t. This was very disappointing and showed a lack of transparency and care for customer preferences. Don’t trust them when they say they can accommodate.

Moreover, the food did not seem fresh at all. Morning food should be the highlight of the day, especially when you are on holiday and trying to enjoy a relaxing breakfast. Sadly, the quality here was far from acceptable.

I would not recommend The Boat Café and Bar to anyone who wants to enjoy their day. If you don’t want your day spoiled, I suggest you look elsewhere for a good breakfast experience.

• Response to Owner's Reply** Dear ANTHONY

I’m writing to respond to your reply to my original review, which unfortunately contains multiple false claims that need to be addressed.

First, no refund was ever offered during my visit. The server only said, “I will inform the kitchen,” and that was the end of it. There was no apology, no action taken to resolve the issue at the time, and certainly no mention of a refund — so your claim that we declined one is completely untrue.

Second, regarding my dietary request: I specifically asked for no beef fat to be used in our meal, and this was not respected. It has nothing to do with eating bacon or feeding it to my dog — the request was clear, and the restaurant failed to follow it. Whether or not the plates were finished does not change the fact that you ignored a dietary instruction that should have been taken seriously.

Finally, your response comes across as dismissive and even a bit mocking, especially with the unnecessary comments about my dog. I did not make any religious claims about my pet — I simply asked for a meal to be prepared without beef fat. Your attempt to shift blame or make light of the situation is disappointing.

I hope you take this as an opportunity to reflect on how customer concerns are handled, especially when they involve dietary needs. It’s never about whether someone eats bacon — it’s about respecting specific requests, regardless of the...

There are plenty of excellent cafés in Wellington - this isn't one of them.

Boat Cafe has a fantastic harbour location on Oriental Parade, idyllic views, and novelty charm - and it fails to live up to each one of them.

We visited on Waitangi Day and there were few people in attendance. We ordered a Mexican Breakfast, Bacon & Eggs, a fruit bowl, and two flat whites - and sat down at a table.

First thing to note is that the container the cutlery was stored in on the table was filthy - it clearly hadn't been cleaned in a while. There were also cobwebs inside the window bays right next to the table. Cleaning, it would appear, is not a high priority here.

The coffee arrived and unfortunately were incredibly bitter - the café serves L'affare brand, but it was clearly burnt.

We then waited for food - it took forty minutes to arrive. Considering the Mexican Breakfast is hash browns, fried eggs, and beans and salsa there's no way this should have taken forty minutes - and given the restaurant was half empty, it defies belief it would take so long. We asked for the bacon in the bacon and eggs dish to be served extra crispy, it arrived soggy.

The table behind us also experienced issues with their orders. After paying, they were informed some of their food options weren't available, and drinks they ordered were served incorrectly or weren't available.

The fruit salad didn't arrive - we asked the waiter twice if it was coming, and he assured us he'd get it. It never showed up.

After our meal we asked to speak to the owner of the restaurant to point out the issues we'd experienced and how they could be remedied - it's fair to say he wasn't interested in the feedback.

We were told that the boat was too difficult to keep clean because it's old, and a boat. He told us his priority was serving guests quickly to make money and keep them happy - which didn't quite match up with the experience we'd received and certainly didn't indicate a preference for quality. There were excuses and defences for every issue we raised, rather than an owner listening to our feedback.

The food, when it arrived was passable (aside from the bacon not being crispy), but not incredible. And we received a refund for the fruit salad we didn't receive.

I wouldn't recommend you visit the Boat Cafe. The owner clearly isn't cut out for the service industry, he clearly doesn't care about customer experience or basic cleanliness. If the other cafes along Oriental Parade are busy, you're better off waiting for a table or heading to another part of town instead of...