A memorable experience with great food and excellent service.
Based on positive reviews about seafood on this site, I chose the mussel pot, with Blue cheese and spinach sauce. YUM! Exceptionally good mussels – sweet and soft, with beautiful flavours. And there was a delicious mustard aioli for the fries too.

Our waitress was excellent – she was patient, fun and knowledgable – recommending beer matches with our meals.

I loved the natural light in the area where our tabel sat, right beside the tall doors leading to the outdoor seating.

My one complaint was that they’d removed the Waterzooi (white stew) from the menu, even though it’s still on their website menu.

But they made up for it with a superb sticky date pudding.

Definitely going back.

Service not good at all. The first time here for brunch and the place was quiet and staff were not attentive . I have heard bad reviews but was there for their mussel . No where close to other places that serve customers promptly n politely . The coffee was OK, took forever for our food to come . Food was Average.

Waiters are very slow, yet the place was not busy at all! No-one checked on us throughout the meal if all was ok!
My medium steak was very well-done, luke warm and very very tough!! Ordered 2 steaks however we could only get one as the steaks were apparently sold out! this was 2pm on a Sunday. Chips were much to be desired with burnt edges and dry crispy bits! The salad that came with the calamari was not fresh – the lettuce were soft and brown in some parts. Perhaps it came off someone else’s plate?
Very dissapointing, mentioned all these facts to the waiter when they eventually came to collect our plates, yet on paying the manager did not even ask we enjoyed our meal!
the knives and forks seem grubby and their waiters should be polishing cutlery beofre placing watermarked cutlery in front of you. the water glasses also seem grubby but thats obviously just from being through the dishwasher one too many times. these could do with an upgrade! We had a window seat and the window sill was dusty and the corners of the seats had dust/paint filings which seemed like they may have had equipment installed but no-one bothered to wipe up the dirt.
All in all an awful meal and overall does not seem as clean as it does on their website photo’s!
Recently ate at the wellignton branch and the service was splendid for a full house cafe/bar and was very clean and waiters gave brilliant, attentive service.
Definately give this a miss – for the price you pay it is so not worth it!

Went for their Mussel Mania Monday Half price mussels as advertised. Was surprised to be told that to qualify for it, we must buy drinks of any kind. So had to order coffee.
The service was slow and attendants unattentive. Had to signal a few times to get attention as ribs were undercooked. They were nice enough to replace with cooked ribs but that took time and ribs no longer as good as they used to be. Almost seemed as if the sauce was poured on it instead of ribs being marinated for a while and cooked. The pot of mussels which was lobster bisque & brandy was nothing to shout about but the mixed grill platter was nice. Probably think twice about going there again soon

great atomsphere and decor. The staff were excellent and professional.
Food and beer is very good, but be prepared to pay for it. This place is very expensive.

Would I go back – only if someone else was paying !

Horrible! Bad service, waited over an hour for our mains – mains were lukewarm, chicken overcooked, ribs burnt and chips burnt. Waitress didn’t place order correctly and mains weren’t correct. They didn’t want to hear about our feedback or offer anything for the bad experience. Disgusted with the price, and won’t be going back. Overall, an extremely bad experience. The place should be shut down. I’m annoyed that I have to give it one star – it doesn’t even deserve that

Very bad and disappointing night. We were ignored by the staff as we walked in, they did not want to deal with us. Then waited more than 10 minutes to order drinks and food, and waited close to an hour for a luke-warm tart entree and a chicken main, which was overcooked, tiny, and did not come with the roasted vegetables it said on the menu. Too overpriced for what we got. Would’ve had an amazing meal at the always awesome Turkish Cafe two doors down for that price, and the staff would have even smiled at us… Bad, bad, bad! And they weren’t even interested in improving when we complained about the timing…. Never go there if you want a good night!

Good beer average food. Worthwhile stopping if you fancy a $200 hangover, but skip lunch.

They have the most amazing desserts! I am a complete chocolate fend so the chocolate mousse is perfect! As far as I am aware, ownership has changed since 2008. It is now much better.

We go to Mussel Mania Monday every week and the mussels and bread and fries are always totally delicious. The staff are always friendly and the atmosphere is great. Highly recommended! Also much nicer than the Occidental (the sister cafe in the city).

Always let down by this restaurant, the service is always below average, mostly new staff each time we go here. We often have to return food as they have forgotten something or have not cooked it properly. All times except yesterday 25 April 08 the beer has been under filled.
I feel this is such a shame because the location and outdoor seating and building are so great. The rest of the chain are always fantastic all round. I don’t recommend going here instead drive a little further to Mission Bay or Mt Eden, trust me it will be worth it.