The Experience:
My wife and I went to Moreton’s last night (Wednesday evening) for her birthday. It was a special night for us and our first time at Moreton’s. I was a little hesitant as there is always a nervousness when trying a new place.

We were greeted by a friendly staff member who showed us to our table. While he poured our water for us, he took the chance to explain a special they had Lake Chalice wines. He was very well informed and gave the perfect amount of detail without over selling it to us and not sounding pretentious at all.

We were left for a few minutes to have a look at our menus and drinks before being checked on again. Our table was located at the far end of the establishment, with a nice view of the comings and goings of the other guests. Everything felt very nice and relaxed and the other customers all seemed to be having a great time. It was very easy to settle into what we were sure was going to be a great night.

We ordered the Morton Platter and a bottle of Shiraz (sacrilege I know to the wine purists).

At $95.00 for the platter it sounds a little steep to the uninitiated first timer, but I have to say – spend the money! After ordering, we were informed that one of the components was unavailable, but they would like to replace it with scallops and prawns if we would be happy with them – which of course we were.

This interchange was a perfect example of great customer focused service – there was a problem, it was explained clearly and a more than adequate solution was offered immediately. We were given an opportunity to let them know if this wasn’t OK, and the night rolled on. I only comment so much on this, as from a customers perspective, we were given a real sense that the night was about us, there wasn’t any tense interchange where the customer was ground down on what could be offered, and left feeling annoyed, in fact we wouldn’t mention it at all as it had so little impact on our night, except so as to highlight what a positive impact it was.

‘The Morton’ itself was delivered on a Victorian Tea style stand with a tongue in cheek grandiose style. I made a quip to my wife that I felt something had come between us, and it with the prefect humor it was quickly dismantled and spread between us over the table. The contents described in the menu were New Zealand mussels, A trio of fish; smoked, battered, pan fried, kokonda, crispy paprika squid, pork rillette, Kransky sausages, meatballs, broccoli cheese bites, chicken nibbles, potato chunks, mixed salad served w dipping sauces. We had the kokonda replaced with prawns and scallops.

The food was fantastic – a nice blend of everything, and large portions of each of the components. To be fair – for 2 of us it was way more than enough.

I was worried initially that there was going to be an excess of breads with little else, in reality there were 4 toasted pieces of ciabatta and it was definitely not ‘padding’.

We were asked several times if everything was OK (which it was!) and the waiter matched our level of expectations with his responses. Attentive but not interrupting would be the best form to describe. We were relaxed by now and told them how terrible it all was, the responses were nice levels of banter without ever interrupting too long.

When I asked what one of the dishes was, he explained clearly how it was made. I am hard of hearing and as a result he was quick to crouch down and explain carefully so I could hear what it was. He also pointed out a personal preference for how to enjoy the pork rillette (with a side of mustard), and when I expressed an interest the mustard was provided quickly for me to explore this culinary delight. I must say it was every bit as good as he promised.

Never once did we feel pressured to eat in a hurry, or have more drinks. No one seemed to feel the ‘up-sell’ commonly found in some restaurants.

All in all the night was brilliant. We were made to feel welcome, and relaxed. The noisiness of the place was one that can only be described as one of people having a great night. It was not one of people having to shout over intrusive music, or a noisy open kitchen.

We finished as much of our platter as we could and the rest was quietly packaged up for us to take away.

After lazily finishing the bottle of wine and chatting away for a while, we were convinced to extend ourselves to trying a dessert or 2 despite not having finished our meal.

These were the prefect end to the night, leaving us feeling more than a little full, and that the money spent was well worth it.

When it came time to settle the bill a little gesture and Dave brought it over, and then returned with a mobile eftpos unit to complete the transaction. This was a fabulous touch as it prevented that often annoying moment when you have to leave the others at the table to go and pay a bill.

As we were paying our waiter Dave took the chance to introduce himself as we had chatted to him throughout the night. As it turns out – he is actually the owner Although I had guessed this earlier, it was nice to know that the rules of business do still hold true. A companies culture is always driven from the top down … in this case a great owner who is willing to go the extra distance and takes that little bit of extra time to do that little extra for total strangers has great staff which do the same.

Tips & Suggestions:
I would recommend Moreton’s if you are looking for a nice place to go for some great food. It is not pretentious, and it is nicely relaxed.

Don’t expect silver service or even the traditional restaurant layout … there is not separation between the bar and restaurant areas aside from a change in tables – although it doesn’t feel like you are sitting in the bar.

If you are looking for Group bookings – there was a private area behind us which had a group in their with the curtains closed. The sounded like they were having a great time!

Join the Moreton’s club on their website – great benefits – and head along on a Wednesday for double points (something we didn’t know until after we paid the bill!)

Summary:
In summary of a rather long review – we loved our night. The food was great, the service way up there. We will certainly be back, and are already planning which of our friends will be the first to join us at the fantastic Moreton’s.

We went to Moreton’s for lunch on a Sunday with a group of 10! They were extremely busy. We had an awesome time, drinks came quickly, menu was great and all food was excellent, especially the seafood platter, loved the duck and the fish (Kingfish) was enjoyed by all. The service was exceptional all afternoon. We would highly recommend. Thanks to Moreton’s and their great staff!

Went went to try out Moretons due to the city being packed for the lanterm festival. It was my birthday so we wanyed to out out for dinner and drinks. First noticeable downfall was the service….there wasnt any!w
We had already waited 35mins and still no acknowledgement so i went and got some menus. then decided on what we were having went back in to order and the woman saying take a seat il send someone to take your order 15 mins later someone came…no personality just an order taker. Drinks ordered 15mins later finally came. ordered a round of tequilla shots given to us with no lemon or salt….the respone oh i fotgot…its tequilla shots! U dont need to be a.top notch barman to remember this. Upon my complaints written after we came home was basically told this was standard service…

Expensive and unfriendly. €27 for a glass of wine and a cider. unfortunately they appear to have the monopoly in st. helliers. somebody should open a decent bar there to challenge this dreadful establishment.

First and foremost….if you want to work in hospitality you have to be a professional otherwise you better to change profession.
As i am reading the reviews about this place i discover that i am not alone in my thoughts.
The place is well located in one of the most beautiful spots in St.helliers where the sun shines and bless the crystal ocean outside, the great smell of the ocean makes you feel on holiday….
Inside it’s a modern pub polished up with modern looking furniture (i think i saw them at one of the trade auctions some time ago), the back room displays what should have looked like a sort of library or wine meditation room with few tables, empty bottles on the shelves are dusty and tacky without that “important look” as they are all wines you can buy from a middle shelf at any supermarket, the cabinets glass are dirty and stained of water ( i hope ) marks.
Menu’ is boring just like any other pub and took us some time to decide what we wanted.Once ordered our drinks and meal the Ciabatta bread came before the drinks which is not a good look however the bread was clearly heated up in a microwave as it was soggy and soft…don’t you know that ciabatta bread is crunchy on the outside and not soft like white bread? do you have an oven you can put it in for 1 minute to crisp it up? )dips tasted only of cheeck peas and surely they were not made on site.
Fish and Chips was heavily buttered and still dripping oil ,so we had only the fish ( which no one told us what it was ) and left the old buttered crust on the plait.Pork belly…..looked great when it arrived, as soon as i started to sample it i noted it was quiet pink but first piece was ok as i do like it pink, however the second cut revealed blood running through as it was not cooked.The old mash lentils and cabbage with apple chutney was disgusting, not seasoned at all, the only feel in my mouth was only sweetness from the chutney ,just a “wanna be dish” cooked by someone which does not have idea on how to cook it and put it together.
Sent it back , the manager came without objections as it was clear that the dish was not matching any ones expectations and offer something different or another PORK BELLY!!!Didn’t get charge for the Pork and it was the only positive of the day aside the beachfront which is always great.I suggest to the owners to sell it if they don’t know how to run a restaurant or hire professionals,best if they have overseas experience….Please take this harsh observations like suggestions and remember that customers are your first consultants.
cheers

Food is total crap, I will translate the menu for you
Tea smoked salmon topped with poached free range eggs (2), hollandaise and cress =

Translates to Canned Salmon and masses of bland mashed potato on top of mangy , yellowing mesculan salad leaves not cress UGH totally disgusting for a breakfast. Not keen on lettuce with breakfast!

On the positive service from the waiter was good and location nice. Very noisy though

Where there on a Monday night not busy very poor service they seem to forget the tables outside. We had a chicken dish and Fillet Steak it was very average for what you are actually paying. The only good thing about this restaurant is the location! Not recommended!

St Helier’s is blessed with amazing scenery .. but useless restaurants.

Moreton’s uphold’s this tradition.. Have been there several times. Once for coffee in the [quiet] middle of the day and it took 10 mins to be served and another 10 for the coffee which isn’t great.

Second time, I went with a group of friends for a pre-booked dinner. Took them 30mins to seat us at the empty tables and another 45 to take the order. The food is standard, without imagination either the on menu or on the plate – actually is worse on the plate.

And their tiramisu is awful – just cream and biscuits without even a hint of either alcohol or coffee.

Being local, thought we would try Moretons for dinner. Great, the place was nearly empty on the monday night. We sat down and waited 10 minutes. Had to ask to see a menu. Then waited another 15 minutes before I asked for our order to be taken. Meanwhile we got drinks from the bar as it was quicker. Food was nice. But 2 hours for an entree and a main course????? Only 4 other tables ordered food and a couple of leaners with only drinkers, so they weren’t busy. They obviously don’t want to encourage diners. Not acceptable.

We have absolutely nothing bad to say about this place. It is a bar/restaurant but the restaurant is at the rear so noise not really a problem. Excellent service from the get-go, we asked if the seafood platter was enough for two and were told it was – and she was not wrong! Smoked salmon, BBQ prawns & scallops, battered fish, mussels in tomato and basil, prawn cocktail, salt and pepper squid – all perfectly cooked for $45. Also came with fresh baked mini-loaves, chilli sauce and aioli. The restaurant is in a great setting on Tamaki Drive at St Heliers opposite the water. This venue is highly recommended!

Became our local watering hole and occasional meal as when it started great service and super people. Has now become very expensive for drinks,the wine is truly exorbitant and sadly need to find another local.

great place, real good atmosphere. had lunch on Sunday it was real busy and we got told it would be a 45 minute wait which was OK as we were not in a hurry which you shouldn’t be if you have gone out to enjoy a meal. the staff were very helpful in coming to us while we were waiting for our food asking if everything was all rite which it was and when our food arrived it made the experience even better we ordered a seafood platter everything on it was cooked to perfection we didn’t want the oysters on it and the chef replaced them with prawn twisters which when i go back will be what i get off there bar menu all in all it was a place i would go back to in a heart beat cant wait to eat there again.

I felt very intimidated at your bar with the bikies there i find them very scary to look at the way they dress there brooding natures the noisy motorbikes and the tattoos all add up to a uneasy feeling and as we know these people are totally unpredictable sooner or later they will erupt giving your establishment a name it will never live down good luck

Great coffee but poor service has to ask 3 times for some water, waited 10 mins to get a menu so decided not to bother ordering food as we wished to eat quite soon. Menu overpriced, also even though we asked staff to close the door as was cold blowing in other staff kept pinning it bck as it made it easier for them to serve people seated outside, and would be very easy to trip down the unmarked step heading to the toilet.

We had lunch on the weekend, And all i can say is, love the food and love the service. best place in the bays. I am going to go back and try the dinner menu asap. keep up the good work.
thanks for a grate meal