Service non-existent. We drove from Hamilton for what we hoped would be a leisurely birthday lunch. In an almost deserted cafe we waited in vain for almost 15 minutes for a waitress to approach our table (water? wine? how are you today?). We then drove to Te Awamutu where a lovely restaurant was more than happy to accept our order and money. We won’t be going back to Persimmon
Tree Cafe – our friends probably won’t either.

Have only ever had coffee but its always great. Lovely cheerful staff

We often stop in here late afternoons in the weekend on our way through to New Plymouth.
Although we seem to be the last customers they make every effort to treat us well and serve delicious hot food from the menu.
We have been very pleased with our dining experience here and recommend it to all our friends.
Great service, delicious food and fantastic coffee.
Well worth the stop!

We live just down the road from this cafe, and although yes the service is a little more impersonal than maybe some other places, I actually rate the food highly. I have always enjoyed my meal, and last April we decided to try an evening meal. I had steak on a bed of wilted greens. I had to say I cannot remember dessert as the steak was SO memorable, to the point I still bore my friends about it! This was probably the single most delicious meal I have ever eaten bar none, and I urge you all to give this place a go- and order the steak, its to die for….

Dined there today, 24/11/10, had a BLAT and Steak sandwich. Found the food to be of an average standard. Not worth the drive from Hamilton at all so therefore we will not be revisiting

I too have been a regular here now for a couple of years so perhaps am qualified to respond to the last review. The service has always been rather ‘tired’ which I have put down to often being because we are one of the last customers of the day. Some staff are smilier and friendlier than others but none of them have ever bothered to introduce themselves or ask our names; surely a pre-requisite for encouraging loyalty?
I’d like to see a change in the food available from time to time to keep things interesting.

As usual the food was lovely when we had lunch yesterday (05/10/10), although the mushroom and rice risotto was a bit flavourless. However the poor service ruined our lunch. We waited for the usual long time for the wine to be served (if they brought this out earlier they would possibly sell a couple of glasses per diner). Then we waited for a long time for our dishes to be removed and the next course served. 4 stars for the food. 2 for service. This was after all a lunch not a leisurely dinner.

I am a regular at the Persimmon Tree cafe and have been going there since it opened. I am always impressed by their quality of food, level of service and general ambience of the cafe. The food and staff are what keep me going back. Andrew and Michelle are excellent hosts and work really hard at maintaining the high standards.
The food is varied, priced appropriately, always fresh and tasty.
The cafe is child friendly and the open grounds provide plenty of space for the kids to burn off those delicious desserts.
I can not understand why some previous comments are not so favourable: perhaps they are the jealous owners or friends of competing businesses.

We were very disappointed in this place. We’d heard that it was the best place to eat in Pirongia, so stopped in on a cold Saturday for a late lunch. The cakes looked really nice, so we ordered one BLAT to share between two (so we could save room for cake). We never got to dessert, as the lunch was so poor. The BLAT was tiny, with half a rasher of skinny overcooked bacon and way too much sauce. The chais we ordered tasted like instant coffee with cinnamon on top. The lunch was definitely not worth the price (listed as $24, but mysteriously became $25.60). We ended up going to Pirongia village cafe for dessert.

Highly recommend this cafe.. great food, friendly service and nice venue….

Great food… great friendly service… superb coffee and a lovely atmosphere… I’ll be back

What a fabulous lunch we had at Persimmon Tree Cafe. Fresh and delicious food which was also really interesting – no boring meals here. Then relaxing with really smooth coffee and yummy carrot cake. The kids liked the kids menu and then played on the big lawn leaving us to relax. We’ll certainly be back.

What a great place ,We came from Hamilton on a Sunday in March . Hungry ! The welcome was very good ,Service was excellent .
Food was good
And the coffee`s were excellent
Would recommend to all

Love the place. Always great service, great food and great coffee. Would recommend to all