First time going to this restaurant, excellent service, the waitress was very friendly and helpful! Our meals were gorgeous, had soup of the day, chowder and salmon. The meals came out quickly and were very good. we had coffee afterwards – also really good coffee! reasonably priced – would recommend for sure!

Have never experienced such horrendous customer service.
We received menus then had to wait 15 minutes to order drinks. We then waited a further 30 minutes for our drinks to arrive. We decided to promptly order when the drinks came as we thought we could be in for a wait with our meals. CORRECT. After over an hour two of the six meals appeared. 10 minutes later the next two and then five minutes later and last two came out. No apologises and acknowledgement from any of the staff. A gluten free salad was ordered and came out with mushroom arancini balls – not gluten free, thank goodness we checked. By the third attempt the chef finally achieved the salad that had been ordered. Unfortunately by this stage everyone else had completed their meal and to add insult to injury the person whose birthday we were celebrating ate their lunch by themself. Can understand some chefs find it difficult catering to dietary needs but do not state on your menu you can make items vegetarian or gluten free if it’s out of your capability. In a very threatening tone the chef proceeded to tell us how he and the staff had had a busy month. I can understand from working in hospitality myself how busy it can be, so maybe it’s time for a career change. If you can’t handle the heat get out of the kitchen. When trying to discuss this with the duty manager Hannah she could not hold eye contact, refused to listen to our concerns, would not refund the salad and then walked away and told another staff member she “can’t handle it”. This would not have become such an issue if she had just acknowledged the mistakes that had been made. It would appear that the staffs immaturity and lack of customer service skills are a real issue and could put other potential customers at risk.
You have been warned – enter at your own peril!

Went there tonight. Height of the busy season. We booked but probably not necessary. Ordered pâté entree which came within 15 minutes and was really nice but could have done with more toast. I had the venison which was the best I have ever had. Perfectly cooked with nice smoky flavours and nice salad etc. my wife had salmon fillet which was also really nice and a good size. We didn’t have dessert so we were out after just an hour. Including 2 glasses of wine came to $98 which we were happy with. Little bit pricey but that’s what you get at holiday locations. Couldn’t fault the service. Would definitely recommend and we would go there again.

Service average – no-one came to check if meal was OK – our fish was not cooked properly – we told the young man clearing other tables – he took my fish out to the kitchen they brought it back to me after it looked like it had been poked about and told me it was OK to eat!! Told me as I had eaten most of my food that I would not get a refund (I had not asked for a refund) and I was told I should have told them before I ate it – hello ! I left it on the plate.
Would not recommend this restaurant – will not go back there.

The chef’s special happened to be a duck dish on the day we went. Unfortunately only my wife ordered it so I was limited to a taste but wow, magical, she was talking about it for days afterwards. My steak was good and the kids meal kept the daughter happy. Nice wine and everybody went home happy.

The food was good apart from 2 of our party’s eggs benedict’s had hard eggs. Surly staff member at the booking station snapped at us on arrival. Fortunately the young waitress was lovely. Our meals took forever to arrive and we had no water or glasses or cutlery in the meantime. Once we’d eaten our coffees were still no where to be seen so as the rest of our party left we went in search of them. The barista refused to even acknowledge us when we tried to ask her about them then interrupted me each time I tried to ask about them. We went to The Stables for breakfast the next morning and had a great experience. We’re never going to Bully Hayes again.

Wonderful restaurant with great atmosphere, service and food.

Bully Hayes is open year round, 7 days for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has an extensive beverage list. They offer a number of dining areas from the street frontage over looking the picturesque Akaroa Harbour to a sheltered courtyard with children’s play area. There is also a children’s menu. From my experience Bully Hayes is friendly, reasonably priced and the food is consistently good. Great atmosphere for family dining.