Like Annette I am surprised at the earlier reviews… maybe some teething problems? I am a regular at Mudducks and love their food, coffee and atmosphere. I have found the service friendly and haven’t been disappointed with the experience.

Wow we eat at this Restaurant several times a week and are really suprised to read the 2 former reviews
We cant rave enough about this cafe.
Food and Coffee fantastic, staff helpful and friendly, atmosphere great (how privileged we are to sit and look out over a beautiful river) this gets AAA+ rating from us

I had just experienced the worst dining encounter in my 30 years of living in New Zealand.

We walked into the cafe when it first opened so the place was not busy at all. We waited at least 30 mins for our food (w were on the road and travelling and didn’t have 30 mins to sit waiting).

My coffee was cold so I sent it back. Instead of making me a new one, they put my cappuccino in the microwave!

When our food FINALLY arrived, my waffles were cold. When I pointed this out I was told that they were cold because I had asked for the topping to be put on the side, not on the food! They then took my waffles away and again, threw them in the microwave and brought them back to me. They were also soggy as I had put the maple syrup on them before I sent them back.

When I enquired as to whether the waffles were home made (they looked like the frozen ones you buy at the supermarket) – guess what – they were! They had charged me $16 for supermarket waffles!

After we sat down, the waiter needed to serve someone sitting on an outside table and opened the door, which he left open – on a cold day when we sitting near the door. I closed the door and the next time the waiter had to go outside, he again left it open. If he had asked us if it was ok or even told us he needed to leave it open and we might prefer a warmer table at the back, we would have been happy to move.

To add insult to injury over this terrible dining experience, the manager refunded my $16 but didn’t give me back my money for for the cold, microwaved cappuccino.

Stay away from this place, they do not deserve your custom.

We recently holidayed in Wanganui and decided a trip on the Waimarie would be great. To fill in time we decided to lunch at the Mud Duck… over 90minutes later we STILL had not received our food and asked for our money back so we could make it on the riverboat sailing. This was after numerous trips to the counter to check on how far away our food was and being promised it would be out straight away! The cafe was not that busy- getting a table was easy- you just had to clear all the dirty dishes yourself! I really regret checking this cafe out as it messed up a good day out.