I live close by to Le Cafe and go there on a very regular basis and also recommend it to a lot of people. While I have had a few less than great experiences, they are well out weighed by the really good ones. I have probably been to Le Cafe in excess of 100 times over the years and virtually every week over the last 18 months.
I really like their menu which is varied and covers every occasion. They are open every day of the year from early till midnight. (Try and find somewhere else in Christchurch that can make that claim.) Their food is the best value, non ethnic, food in Christchurch and is, more often than not, excellent and some of their desserts are outstanding!! Try their Lemon Delicious Pudding in the winter! YUM. The gurnard special they have on at the moment is so delicious, as is their roast free range chicken breast. Their wine list has some excellent wines and wine prices so reasonable.
If you eat at a place as often as I have at Le Cafe, you will have some meals which are below par but the vast majority of the meals I have had there are great food and outstanding value for money. While not in the league of some of the more expensive restaurants and they don’t pretend to be, I give them 5 stars for being very good at what they are; unpretentious, great value for money, delicious food.

We live in the area and took two overseas guests on Saturday 25th. We were told to sit down and a waiter would come. Well that never happened. So the overseas guest interrupted the queue to say that after 10 minutes no one had come to take the order and could we place an order which we did.
We waited another 15 minutes and the order had still not arrived. The overseas guest went to the counter requesting our money back, to be told the order is coming. Yes only the one serving of tea. The remaining 3 coffees were another 10 minutes and only of average quality and at this stage the tea drinker had finished.
Not only was the service very very poor, there were used cups and plates on three tables adjacent to our table and no one came to clear them down. There was also cutlery on the floor.
I will never return.

I Have to agree with grumpy customer below. I have tried le Cafe several times and never been pleased and i’m not too hard to please. The coffee is average and generally the service is lacklustre and unenthusiastic. Whenever we’re in town we now plumb for The Coffee House. Great coffee and smile all round. Sorry Le Cafe, we did try.

My husband and I have dined at the Le Cafe many times and here are the reasons why. It is a very warm and friendly atmosphere. Prices are good, good wines, especially enjoy the Main Divide Pinot Noir. Good variety on the menu and open till late. Try the Thai fish cakes as starters yum!

Sunday morning, busy hour, we get in and order two coffees, a flat bread, and a bagel.

We got our coffees promptly, however, waited about 15 mins before calling the waitress and asking for a muffin because we were getting quite hungry.

We waited another 5 mins for the muffin to be brought to us. When the waitress did, it was cold so we asked it to be heated.

While we were waiting, we looked behind, there were two tables: one with a group of 5 who all had coffees and some muffins. They were seated after we had ordered, yet they had already finished their muffins and were leaving.

The other table was a couple who were also seated after we had ordered, who were already having their meals including what looked like an eggs benedict.

The muffin didn’t arrive so we asked when we could get it. The waitress replied that it was still in the kitchen. At this point it was well over 10 mins since she had taken it to be heated.

We finally got the muffin but there was no apology for late service.

We were again waiting around for about 10 mins for the bread and bagel and again had to ask the staff where our food was.

We finally got our order, but again, no apology.

On top of the poor service, my partner saw red when found a short piece of hair in her coffee – what looked like male facial hair – and asked the staff to call her manager.

The american waitress called the indian guy to come over. The point of this long review is about his disgusting attitude. He was the guy who was operating the coffee machine.

I’m not sure if he was the manager because there was a christian name on the duty manager’s board (S McIntyre) at the time.

He came over and said that he was sorry, but then he stuck his finger in my partner’s face to show the hair (he had the hair on his index finger) and said that it could have come from anywhere and that the hair could have come from her. He also said that it was out of his control.

It was clear that he did not care, and he seemed irritated for bothering him while he was busy making coffees. When asked if he was going to stick to that attitude, he said, “I said I’m sorry, you don’t have to pay anything, you can just leave, now what more do you want?”

Clearly there was no point in getting into an argument with this guy, so we let him get back to his job. I feel sorry for him for being who he is. That is probably as far as he will get in his life.

The whole experience at the cafe was well below substandard. The servers seemed unprofessional, slow and disorganised. They had the palm gadget things but that only seemed to make things more inefficient as they were continually seen chatting away near where the gadgets are kept and fiddling with the gadgets. The staff were giggling at us when the indian guy was over at our table.

I’m not sure if our comments will be taken seriously, as the cafe will continue to make a profit just because of it’s great location and the tourists flooding in. I hope the owner does something about training the staff, if he wants to keep the locals as customers.

Best Fish & Chips in the world…truely….very busy so service can be a bit slow at times – but there prices are right and choices for mains excellent.
Great place to go for a quick meal before the Movies at the Art Centre