Queenstown Bistro @ UTC Mall — Restaurant in San Diego

I recently returned from a fantastic holiday in New Zealand and fell in love with several things, their Sauvignon Blanc and their hand pies topping the list. So, when I returned, I HAD to look for a restaurant that could serve me some delicious NZ cuisine. Queenstown Bistro in Westfield Mall has been a staple there for at least 6 years now but somehow I'd never put Queenstown and NZ cuisine together!

We got reservations for a Sunday night. They made sure to confirm our reservation with us. Once seated, we ordered the Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Noir from the Villa Maria Vineyards in NZ (I had wanted to visit but we ran out of time in NZ). Both wines were delicious. I don't think I can drink any other kinds of Sauvignon Blanc any more!

For food, we ordered the meat pie appetizer (2 meat pies) and the lamb skewers. The meat pie was delicious but a little unidirectional, meaning that it was good meat, but I would've liked a hint of mint, BBQ, some veggies, cheese or something more. Since I may not find those delicious hand pies from Arrowtown, NZ here, these pies were definitely worth trying out (and I will eat them again). The lamb skewers were my friend's favorite. From her first bite, she could not stop raving about how tasty they were. I think they could've had more spice, but honestly, I feel that about any skewer because I like an explosion of flavor with the small bites. The pita bread and hummus that came with them were mouthwatering. I have been rationing myself on the hummus because I don't want to finish it and every day since our visit, it seems to taste better!

To end the meal, we ordered another entree - the chicken pot pie. Ok, that was an explosion! Chef's kiss, 100%. The pie dough was flaky, layered and perfect. The chicken pot pie itself was simply bursting with comforting, creamy, warm flavors. This is an open pie so please don't expect more crust. This was the star of the evening for me.

Next time I come here, the meat pie, the chicken pot pie and a glass of crispy Sauvignon Blanc is what my order will look like!!

P.s. it is primarily patio seating with heaters. The tables are fairly close so when busy, it could get overwhelming. Parking at the mall is either uncovered or in...

Horrible ownership.

We stopped by asked if we could order off the kids menu. I had two teenage girls that just don’t eat the full meal. The person who told us we COULD but we wouldn’t be happy with the portion was clearly trying to talk us out of ordering, but again said we COULD. I got the feeling they didn’t want us to order from the kids menu, so we decided to just not eat there. I was disappointed because it was such a cute place. We ended up going back and trying it. The front server who greeted us was very sweet and kind. We sat down and saw her immediately be pulled aside by the same person who tried to talk us out of ordering off the kids menu. She then came back and said very kindly, “sorry my OWNER said he won’t allow you to order off the kids menu.” I said, “he told us earlier we could.” She was very kind.

We sadly decided to leave due to the treatment. It really shows the owner only cares about charging the most amount he could. I understand they have a choice to enforce their own rules but when you said we could and then decided we couldn’t, shows he doesn’t care about customers at all.

I don’t know in this economy someone trying to give you business seems like you would welcome that. Instead he clearly only cares about making as much off people...

Today’s visit to Queenstown Bistro was absolutely atrocious! The visit started with me having to ask if I could be seated or do I seat myself as staff just passed me by as if they were too good to say hello. After seating myself we waited about 15-20 before someone came to say hello and I could understand the long wait if it was busy but it wasn’t. We then ordered two drinks and a burger, the drinks came out wrong then the burger was was delivered after an employee noticed no one checked on us for a while at this point I just didn’t have expectations anymore but I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of interest of giving me a napkin or utensils with my meal but cool I can go ask for it myself, at this point I just wanted the check but that was another long wait even though nothing was going on. The waitress came over and tried to run the credit card machine but had some sort of issue and handed me the machine like she just didn’t care and turned her head. I honestly thought I was on the show punked, at this point I just wanted out… I honestly couldn’t believe how this restaurant was this bad and how all the staff acted like they were to good to ask if we needed more water or simple things like utensils...