After visiting OE cafe twice before, I can say that I was excited to visit it again this morning for a nice brunch with my family. Unfortunately, the excitement stopped there. After ordering our food all at the same time, the first meal came out well before the others. It was a cooked meal, and typically you would expect the cabinet food to come out first. After the first cooked meal came out, we had to wait 30 minutes for the rest of our food to come out. Once we had received all our cooked food, we had noticed that the cabinet food still had not been received, neither had our coffees, and because the first meal came out so fast, one member of our party was left sitting and waiting for the rest of us to receive and finish our meals.

After we had all received our food, we soon realised that our eggs benedict that three of us had all ordered, came without the spinach we paid extra for, had no potato rosti’s (which was displayed on the menu) and all our eggs were cold and hard when it was specifically requested that they came out runny. On top of that, the cabinet food we ordered was requested to come out with no salad, and came out with lots of salad which was covered in dressing that ended up spoiling the rest of the food on the plate.

The service was mediocre from a place which prides themselves on top quality food and service. The food came out at different times, which wasn’t impressive and the food itself was not up to standard and far too overpriced for what it was.

I was very disappointed with what I experienced today at OE, and I know other members of my party felt the same way.

Am hesitant about returning.

We have been to OE twice in the last month, once for dinner and once for lunch. Both experiences were sub-par, especially lunch today. On the occasion we went for dinner, we weren’t told to expect delays despite there being a large function int he square for which OE was providing 100 beverages, slowing the kitchen considerably. We were offered free drinks or dessert for the wait, and the food was very good, but perhaps not worth the hour we had to wait for it.

Today’s lunch, however, was dismal. We ordered two Caesar salads and a vegan big breakfast (with some restrictions – no pumpkin or mushrooms) after the first vegan option was not available due to being sold out. We waited over 40 minutes for our meals, which were definitely not worth the wait. The Caesar salads arrived with breaded chicken and a single poached egg on top, a single cherry tomato buried inside mounds of cos lettuce. Neither party could finish the dish. The vegan breakfast came out with no potato rosti and two huge mushrooms, and the server’s explanation was, “I thought you said no pumpkin or potato.” No offer to bring out rosti separately or to re-make the meal, just an offer of a side plate to scapre the mushrooms off onto. The breakfast was underseasoned, and came with a tomato relish that had obviously been watered down. Everything had been fried, including the spinach and asparagus, and was bitter and limp as a result. Also ordered a coffee, which took until we had nearly finished the food to come out. The server plunked it down on the corner of the table (rather precariously) and completely ignored all the empty bottles and glasses that we had finished with from our drinks from the fridge.

Waitstaff never asked how our meals were or how our experience was and never offered us anything to compensate for the wait or for the error (and there was no excuse for the wait this time, as there were very few diners whenMore we arrived.) If the staff can’t remember an order, they need to be given pen and paper to write them down.

Also, for a restaurant that prides itself upon providing a huge menu for people who are vegan, gluten free etc. there are actually very few options on the menu. No vegan options on the main dinner menu (something had to be cooked up by the chef when we went, but when it came out it was amazing.) On the lunch/brunch menu, only two options – one of which was sold out. If you are going to advertise online, in print and on your outside chalkboard that you have a range of vegan/GF/vegetarian options etc, you need more than TWO.

The atmosphere inside is nice and light, not to everyone’s taste, but plenty of interesting art to look at. The courtyard needs an overhaul, as it is currently nothing but a collection of cheap tables in a ramshackle concrete space. It’s tacked on as an afterthought, and no real effort has gone into making it a nice place to sit and eat. We wanted to eat outdoors today, but retreated inside as there were no umbrellas up on such a sunny day, and the tables weren’t clean.

Over all impressions are of somewhere that has definite ideas of what it wants to be, but fails to live up to them. Waitstaff need an education on basic rules of service, chef needs better time management skills, courtyard needs spruced up and a consistently high standard needs to be brought into play. We’ve had some good food here, but after today I don’t think we’ll be going back. We don’t have two hours to spend on lunch, let alone the money to spend on food that we didn’t enjoy in a place that didn’t seem to care if we had a good experience or not.

We had a group of 11 booked in for breakfast. Everyone was very impressed with what we each ordered. It would be great to see more half size options available though as the eggs royale in particular was massive! Also, it didn’t need the addition of the potato rossi. Overall, a wonderful meal

Very disappointed with my Hot Chocolate this morning
It wasn’t made fresh and was ‘luke’ warm. Not impressed.

I go to the OE often there food is delicious, I love the pasta of the day and the curly fries. the stuff are lovely and make a good coffee. I will most definitely be going in for a pasta on pay day cant wait

THANKS OE

I have been to OE for lunch several times, in the last five months. The staff are friendly and attentive with out being overly intrusive. The food is delicious, Sasha makes the best steak sandwich I have ever eaten. the selection of counter food is amazing and I am particularly fond of the muffins. My daughter in law is vegetarian and diabetic ,the choices available for her are exciting and tasty. The setting is bright and airy, and food is served in a reasonable time. All in all , for me a great place to eat

Went there last week for lunch and was very disappointed. Ordered the pasta for nearly $20 and it was like the raviolli was brought straight off the supermarket shelf that was topped off with Pasta Sauce, straight from the Jar.
Very bland and overrated cafe. Will not be going back here again.
Another restaurant with lots of glowing reviews from 1st time posters.
Sooner this closes down and reverts to an art gallery the better.

Excellent coffee, Sherres does a wonderful coffee. The staff are friendly and willing to please. The food is fantastic, the cafe is very clean and inviting. It’s my favourite place to eat. Had a steak for dinner, it melted in my mouth, the sauces and on a kumera mash was just orgasmic. Well done OE Cafe I hope you continue for many more years to come

I went for dinner as part of a deal voucher offer and left wishing that I’d bought more of those vouchers! The service was excellent, the atmosphere cosy and the food, stunning. I ordered the beef fillet and was blown away by the quality (and I’ve tried pretty much every noteworthy restaurant in P.N). Cannot recommend OE highly enough!

A very enjoyable meal and environment for me and my family to sit and have a belly filling meal. The prices were a little high for my liking but once my kiwi big breakfast turned up i could understand why. It was massive!!!!! you could of paid a little less at another cafe but you will never have received the good like feast that lay before me. Well done O.E Cafe i will be recommending you to all my friends and work colleges.

The first time I went to OE Cafe I noticed that every seat was fill and there was a line of people at the register, this gave me the sense of amazement that a cafe that is tucked away like it is was extremely busy. I was happy to wait but due to time constraints I had to leave. The next time i went back i was greeted by smiles galore from the staff, you don’t see many smiles in other cafes in town, so this is gave a fun and friendly environment to eat in. Having a cafe situated inside an art gallery is a fantastic idea as I could view the artwork while I waited the short amount of time for my meal. The meal was most excellent and the size of the meal was massive for the small amount i paid for this was great for my wallet At one point i saw one of the chefs pop around from hidy hole to speak with one of the front of house staff. . . HE HAD A RED MOHAWK!!!! seeing this I thought to myself, it’s good that this cafe lets the staff keep there individuality and also flowed well with the art gallery idea. All in all, fantastic space and atmosphere and will definitely be bringing my friends there for a meal and to prove to them that chef did have a red mo hawk.

Delicious food, nice coffee, great service, awesome art work, a good set up not sitting to close to the table next to me was nice. I most definitely will be going back to try more food off the menu because it all sounds delicious and I bet it is because the lamb I had was amazing.

Good job chefs I rate you 10/10

We went there for Breakfast on Saturday. We will not be returning. The meals were expensive for what they were. One order of French Toast minus the bacon – still charged $14.90 and came out with two 10cm long pieces of french stick cut on an angle and approx 2cm thick and a banana. Two orders of eggs and tomatoes which each came out with one piece of (I assume gluten free) toast bread which was thick and gluggy and not nice to eat. But despite this one piece of toast and two eggs? The Croque Monsieur was dipped in egg and fried and coated with cheese on the top and was disgusting. We will not be going back. Try Joe’s Garage, Cafe Cuba or Barristas instead.

Coffee was ok and food was very nice, but the price was over the top for what we received if it had been 30% cheaper we would have been satisfied, surrounds were a little open for my liking not very warm in winter, although well lit as you would expect in an art gallery. Will return for dinner and may revise my review accordingly depending on our experience then. Overall worth a visit, nice quite place off the beaten track.

We had previously had several very ‘good’ dining experiences at OE cafe- one of those being Mothers Day when the cafe was really busy with other fellow family dinners enjoying family time with theirs mums.So on this basis suggested a dinner group that I am part of should also enjoy the experience of dining there .We made the booking and dined earlier this month. I was really disappointed this time and somewhat embarrassed that I had painted such a great picture of the Cafe to my friends , when this night the service was poor, most of the meals were serviced cold – with no offer of a reheat,drinks orders did not come until requested twice and the cup of tea ordered did not come at all.
The management did offer some compensation to the dinners who had received cold meals – a free dessert the offer of which was appreciated but will not encourage any of these diners to go back anytime soon Such a shame.

We had a dinner out with 10 people. The menu is fantastic and the service outstanding. Polite and cheerful table service is a rarity these days and the OE cafe staff are first class. It was such a great evening of fine dining and great company that I have booked for another group this week.

Not a bad wee cafe,, havent been there for dinner yet , but have enjoyed a very good breakfast and a couple of solid lunches,, nice quite spot to take a break in the day, prices are fair for what you get and the staff seem nice enough

OE Café is set in the surrounds of the towns public art gallery of Square Edge. Square Edge is an institution to connect the art community to general public. This is the fundamental principal of this rate payer funded location. I once felt welcome here and found I could appreciate art without the elitism art appreciation is renowned for. I went to an art exhibition of 3D art works, there were a few publicans in attendance. Out of nowhere, the manager of OE café, a distinguished Frenchmen came over and told the artist he didn’t appreciate the clientele he was bringing into the space as it was making the place look cheap. First off, the space is paid for by the everyday people of Palmerston North, OE café has no place pushing forward their elitist agenda. Another incident is when I came to see an artist Rob Thorne perform, as he tried to bring in a small speaker to play some native maori instruments through, the same OE manager told him he wasn’t allowed to as it wasn’t ‘that sort of space’. This is disgusting; OE café has restricted access to the arts for everyday people so they can feel their elitist pompous egos feel important is a PUBLIC art gallery. Zero stars, a burden to the town. I suggest OE café relocate to a private art gallery.

Lovely ,light open space with interesting artwork around walls. Plenty of interesting reading material to browse whilst waiting. Staff v pleasant & friendly. Steak cooked to perfection,meals nicely presented & not too long a wait. Maybe wine menu could do with a few more varietals ( no Reisling ) & choice. Reccommended

Came in for lunch with a friend and ordered the french toast. One of the best french toasts I have had
Place seemed a little disorganised as our table was approached twice with meals for other tables, but staff were friendly and meal was delicious!

Went there for the first time last week just for a drink – but wished we were eating there instead – especially after glancing at the meals coming out to fellow diners. Fabulous atmosphere, everything spotless. Tables sets out beautifully with enough space between them to still have a private conversation if necessary. Big rack of magazines – hubby delighted to find a copy of “Mad”…. Cabinet food looked exquisitely tempting and looking through the menu made us make an instant decision it would be our next place to dine. Although I am not Gluten Intolerant I was impressed with the range offered (might have to twist my GF friend to meet for lunch soon).

Awesome new place in the Square Edge Building. food is amazing and a huge range of gluten free foods also. Menu is different from most others we’ve seen, quality quality quality we are now regulars