Just my partner and I eating in on a quiet Sunday afternoon earlier in the year. Asked the waiter for the specials – he looked blank and then walked off without a word! Came back a few minutes later with the specials but would have been nice if he had told us he was just going to check…. Ordered garlic bread and told the waiter we would like it as an entree. Ordered mains at the same time, spaghetti and meatballs and the fish of the day. Waited forty minutes for the garlic bread, only for it to come out with the mains. Forty minutes is too long to wait when it’s quiet and the garlic bread was meant to be an entree. When we pointed this out to the wait staff, they assured us the garlic bread would be free as compensation for the mix up and the wait. The food was divine to be fair, but portion sizes were very very small and the food is very expensive for how much you get. Main complaint is when we went to pay, they tried to charge us for the garlic bread. Refused to pay it as we would have sent it back when it came out with the mains. Only reason we kept it was because it was apparently free. Didn’t have to pay for it in the end, but was an annoyance having to argue with them about it. Clearly communication between management and the wait staff is not so good. Would not come back again.

Went there with a group of friends on a busy long weekend lunch hour. The food was delicious and well presented. The waiting staff were patient and extremely polite and did a fantastic job in providing a gr8 service. The portion sizes were generous and overall totally worth the money.
Will go back again, highly recommended!

Dined here on a busy Saturday evenining. 4 ladies and we all loved our meals …… the service we had was great and the decor we enjoyed very much. We did book …. so no hassles with waiting etc. The meals/entrees were a great size and reasonably priced and loads of choice on the menu with advanced flavours. Nice evening had all round. D As in a previous comment my girlfiend had the Tuscan Chicken and she loved it!!!!!

We have been here a couple of times since the business changed hands from when we knew it as Tapiano. We wanted to see if things had improved from our earlier visits this year. The waiting staff service has improved further. The meals are ok, the setting great.

However, we have a similar concern as per Ellie A’s ‘review’ on this site regarding the way the owner or owner(s) i.e. Management, do not acknowledge, deal with, & apologise when a customer has made a genuine complaint.

The impact of management not dealing with customer complaints at all means that no one will ever want to venture near the place again. (That now includes us). It’s just down right nasty not doing anything to rectify a customer’s complaint. See Ellie A’s review below if you want an example.

Sorry to have to post this here, but to put things diplomatically to the
owner/owner(s) who manage the restaurant, professional development in all aspects of customer service including dealing with customer complaints, would be helpful. The waiting staff are fine. This suggestion is for Management to undergo further training in these areas.

Looking at the MMK facebook page, we noticed a lot of positive comments on their wall. But on closer inspection it looks like the comments are coming from friends/associates of theirs (because the same profile names keep popping up all the time).

But, leadership in making things look impressive for the restaurant has to come from the top as well, rather than relying on the facebook wall scribings of a few close friends/associates.

(A good start for Management is to deal with customer complaints no matter how big or how small they are).

We know we are not the only ex-customers who have drawn the short straw where MMK’s lack of action is concerned. The lax approach can be pretty frustrating if not hurtful to some. Matakana Village really does need more competition in the area to give this lot a good shake up.

It wouldn’t surprise us if we saw a sudden stream of ‘reviews’ being posted to this site saying how well MMK deals with complaints, etc. But ex-customers know otherwise.

I have been to Matakana Market Kitchen 3 times during the last 12 months.My last visit was a week ago. I have enjoyed dinning there each time l have been. The staff are very helpful and friendly, the food has always been great and the decor is pleasant. I would highly recommend paying MMC a visit if you are ever in the area.

I went and had a good experience. The staff was very friendly and helpful in helping us pick out our food and drinks, telling us which were the most popular dishes, etc.
The feel of the place is very warm and welcoming and beautifully set out and makes for a relaxing time.
The drinks were well made and I had the ice cream which was very tasty.
I would recommend to go there if you’re looking for a place where you can have a great time with friends or family (could take kids).

We had a terrible experience here on NYE. Booked a table well in advance as we had heard good things about this restaurant. We turned up on NYE – and the restaurant was shut. We had had no warning of this, and by the time we found out on NYE it was too late to book anywhere else. Eventually we found out that they had decided not to open on NYE, and ‘the booking system had broken’ so the staff had no record of who had a booking for that night. Frankly this suggests to me that they had not tried very hard to contact us to tell us they were not opening, and definitely hadn’t done it far enough in advance for us to make other plans. They ruined our NYE plans, and since they had bookings for the evening they should have stayed open and honoured them.

Despite this we went a few days later for a meal. They offered us no apology or compensation for what had happened on NYE. The staff were unfriendly, the service was extremely slow – by the time the food came we were on the point of walking out. And was the food worth the wait? – definitely not.

The comment below basically sums it up. Its mean as! I had a wicked Mocha and the Market Grill with scrambled eggs. So yum, big and filling!! It was hard to choose what to have cos the menu us massive but I had to go for the big breaky. I loved it so much and cant wait to go back and try some of the amazing specials they have on the blackboard.
GO HERE!

I must say, I LOVE THIS PLACE!! I go here reguarly and cant get enough of their amazing food, beautiful coffee and gorgeous homemade baking!
Went for dinner with my partner about a week ago and I had the Tuscan Chicken which is served on ratatouille and it was the nicest meal I have had out – ever (and I go out a lot!!) and my partner had Lamb Rack which I must admit I tried and LOVED. Went in for breakfast the next day and had Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs while my partner had the Market Grill with perfectly poached eggs and lovely wild boar sausages.
The only thing I would say is that it gets very busy (packed out in fact) so I would say to book because then you dont have to wait for a table!
I went here before when it was Tapiano and it lacked ambience and the food was dissapointing for the price. It has changed now, looks gorgeous and I would not hesitate to reccomend it to anybody who wants a nice feed!
Overall, 5 stars and cant wait to go back!

Sea food chowder fantastic.
Food has been hit & miss with each visit, as are the staff.
Has been busy on last two visits, both week days, on last visit made to feel inconvenienced by not having a booking – yet the owners philosophy is stop in and eat, if we don’t have a table your welcome at the bar…

Been here 3 times now. But they are lucky we gave them a 2nd chance after the first dismal episode. Definitely not a place to go for a “quick” bite before a movie. Let’s just say, they take their time in serving you. We even let them know we were in a hurry once, and we left after they gave us the menu because they never came and took our order. We get the feeling that if you are not ordering food, then you are not wanted here.

Cant agree more with the last diner we just called for a cruzy sunday lunch and ended up having one of the best lunches i have ever had .
great staff great specials and please dont take the scallops off they were devine keep up the good work.

WOW!!!
About time we had someone who does exceptional coffee and exceptional food!!!
We eat out a lot and have I must admit high standards (Chef by trade), and this place is just awesome…plus staff are just lovely…
Of all the eateries in Warkworth/Matakana region,,,you guys are tops and I will be telling everybody…
P.S. Please don’t take the Snapper “special” with yoghurt and cumin sauce off the menu, it was devine