While being excited about taking my girls out to a nice cafe in Ponsonby we came across this cafe for Brunch on New Years Day. The place was buzzing and busy we ordered our food pretty quickly and then grabbed some water glasses. Two of them were dirty and also noticed as our table became neglected and lost within the rush. We sat and watched as the female staff member ate ginger off the cabinet cake and followed un-regulated hand-to-food-tong standard. While the coffee was average and my smoothie was warm.

Every table had a water jug but when we grabbed one it was quickly taken from ours and given to another table from the staff.bAfter 30 minutes people who came before us had received there food and while the woman tried to reason and say that i had chosen the chicken which takes longer to cook……40 minutes later we received our meals. The portion of chicken i had received could have easily been cooked in under 15 minutes.

The people i was with ordered corn fritters which when received were basically batter browned on each side, they were clearly uncooked and looked like it had been slapped on the plate by a 5 year old. I pointed this out to the waitress who said it obviously looked edible and instead of returning the whole plate to the kitchen grabbed a sample off the plate using my companions knife and fork. She returned saying, “i just took it to the chef and they ate it, it’s obviously edible”. It was obvious at this point this woman lacked basic hospitality skill as it went from bad to worse. She treated me like an imbecile as if i didn’t know what a fritter was.

The woman then left and arrived back 3 minutes later to our table out of the blue asking why i was speaking on behalf of my friends anyway then continued to accuse me of being drunk,asked what was wrong with me. I asked her to apologise for her personal attacks as she continued to demeaningly talk to me as if i wasn’t allowed to complain. We decided to leave after this and when i said i refuse to pay for a meal i’m not going to eat and then she threatened to call the police and we were offered no compensation for this one hour nothing like “Bliss” experience.

After reading these other reviews i am nothing but surprised as we too felt disrespected like we invaluable customers. Especially highlighted by a personal attack and questioning my ability to tell me if a flippin fritter was cooked or not. What a horrible nightmare that we will never forget.

Me and my friends all work in hospitality and it was clear the staff didn’t know the number one most important rule : THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!! If you can’t handle it busy, then don’t open. Standards should never drop but I’m pretty sure this place doesn’t have them in the first place!!!

We went there a few weeks ago as we were in the area and had been there sometime ago and had great food and good service.

It appears a lot had changed in the time, we walked in and the woman behind the counter waited to finish her conversation before turning around to ask if she could help, we were there for lunch and were directed to take a seat where ever we pleased. The place was quiet with maybe four tables with diners. We ordered two diet cokes and our mains, about ten minutes later the waiter came with one glass and one can of diet coke (I’m all for businesses trying to cut costs, but if you are not going to buy your product direct from the supplier at the very least pour the drink out of the customers view so we don’t have to see “not for individual sale” printed around the top of the can), we pointed out that we had ordered two diet cokes, we were told “oh we didn’t have anymore in the fridge, I will check out the back”, we waited around 25 minutes more and watched as tables that were seated well after us had their meals delivered when ours finally arrived we mentioned that we were still waiting on the other diet coke, we were told “oh we are out of stock”, there was no willingness to apologise or even to offer an alternative. The meals were simple chicken burgers and chips, very bland and not worth the long wait.

We proceeded to the counter to pay and it appeared cleaning the coffee machine was of more interest to the woman behind the counter than taking our money. When she finally acknowledged us, we had to tell her we were going to pay, she took the card and as she was entering the amount to pay began talking to another staff member. As the “Processing Now” message appeared on the terminal she called out to the staff member “Can you finish off these people for me” at which point the sale finished and we were handed the receipt, there was not so much as a thank you let alone a “how was everything”. We left wondering what had happened to what was a very good cafe and a quick tweet revealed our experience was not an isolated incident, within minutes five responds revealed that others too had received appalling service and at best average food. I did consider telling them how bad their service was but I can see from the other reviews that have made no effort to redeem themselves. I don’t know what it was, we weren’t even “voucher” customers.

A very nice quiet cafe. Recently has had a spruce up and is looking good. Very friendly service. Have had the salt and pepper squid that was superb (the thing for a summer lunch) and also the corn fritters that were just perfect!! its becoming my regular hang out.

What a fantastic local cafe. Because the service was so friendly and chalming I decided to go out of my comfort zone: I ordered the corned beef hash. This dish is simply delicious, a must try. After having such a delicious coffee, I talked to the barista, who it turns out is from Bach coffee, just getting to know his customers face to face! Bliss is now my local, a really friendly and tasty dining experience

I just looked at my other fav cafes and the other reviews. Bliss has 14 reviews, while cafes open for far longer have 4-5? Some of those comments seem OTT!!

breakfast food was ok but the choice really limited.we came in on a discount Internet voucher and it was obvious from the owner / manageress? that we were 2nd class customers and she made it known. not worth a 2nd visit – sad really, so close by

wouldn’t come back to this place, bad service is what it all came down to, getting our order wrong yup i can take that, i orderd 2 coronas and they advised 15mins later there were no cold coronas left, so i said bring me what ever is cold, very anoyed at this point as 25mins have passed, and all we ordered was a bacon fritata and 2 beers, 40mins gone and we finally have our meal, come on does it really take this long as it wasn’t busy that day, and to top it all off we got charged twice for surg charge,on ly 2$ but every $ counts.

We have often visited this cafe and have noticed a few owners over the years. But we might stay away now.

On our last visit, although the staff were friendly and cheerful enough, the chicken salad was fairly limp and drowned in dressing. Corn beef hash was OK, but two big negatives…

Firstly, why do cafes (usually Italian) seem to want to play Dean Martin music all the time? Almost as if they have no imagination.

Secondly, after taking our finished plates, no-one came back and asked us if we wanted a coffee, even though there were not many customers at the time…so we paid and went down the road to Allpress. To be fair the manager offered her apologies and discounted our bill.

Bacon was delicious, coffee came out hot (which is sometimes a mission to find) and the service was very warm & friendly. It was quite a refreshing experience as sometimes “Ponsonby cafe service” can be a bit stand offish.
Will be back for sure!

nice and cosy place but very disappointed from the hot beverage (my friends / coffee, myself / Hot chocolate) and the staff members. plus my friends cup was quit dirty

very good place for a coffee or beer,wine..there are a range of choice with friendly staff..i recognize them one by one..they are awesome!!!!

I come here for lunch all the time with the team from work and we always find something interesting on the menu or specials board.

Easy parking at this end of the road so it’s one of my favorite spots for grabbing a takeaway coffee or one of their awesome cakes in the afternoon.

Good crew as well who know their regulars.

Cosy cafe, with friendly and helpful staff. You can choose between the nice selection of snacks or the main menu. A word of advice: Always check the specials – Squid and Scallop Salad – YUM.
I like the smoothies (banana and cinnamon) my eldest daughter likes the citrus one.

great cafe., staff are happy and friendly, love being recognised and greeted by name. Food has been always good, and if you’re lucky and there are any left, the afghans are the best in town. Clean and well maintained.

Coffee was incredibly weak. Breakfast salad was dull, with old avocado, tomato that had been in the fridge, and blatantly came out of a supermarket bag of mixed leaves.
Bacon and eggs didn’t fare much better, the toast tasted of freezer.
Can’t say I’ll be back. Should have known better, the menu is on an expensive printed board that can’t be changed for seasonality.

Pretty mediocre experience. Had a long wait for food to arrive which was then cold. Eggs were very undercooked for eggs benedict and coffee was lukewarm. Staff did not appear to be having a good day. Probably wouldn’t bother going there again.

Always at the top of my list for a sensational plate of vegetarian eggs benedict. However, all the meals are good value and non-greasy, coffees consistently great, good location and friendly efficient staff.

Great little place. Go here most weeks with my friend for lunch. The staff are friendly and the food is always really good.

Great local place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Very friendly staff and good food.