we had a special birthday lunch at Solijans lately, 13 people all together. the food was ok but we were very disappointed in the way they organised our plates, cups and forks…. at first, some plates were not cleaned properly still some leftover from previous food, a raisin was sticking to the back of one plate, the cup was still dirty and i could see the tea stain, very light brown inside. when the birthday cake was ready, we found some forks were missing and had to ask some more etc. this kept happening too often. while looking at the sign on the table saying ‘this restaurant made into the top 20 in the world by a canadian magazine’, we were experiencing this kind of low level service. there were so many staff working but they did not seem to notice those things or did not behave like they were sorry. they looked busy themselves standing all together and chatted around the counter without knowing what to do next. maybe they need to organise their work stations as well as getting a better dish washing machine. this experience was no the way we expected from this restaurant/cafe we love to visit.

It’s been a long time since our last visit to this nice winery cafe and finally we went there again last June, still great foods, in particular i ordered roasted pork belly, crispy on the outside (skin) yet juicy on the inside.

We encountered rudeness in terms of our being ignored when we had decided to place an order. The more I sat back and looked at the waitresses who were engaged in a conversation with each other rather than serving, the farther they moved away. We got up with disgust and left the restaurant vowing never to return.
This was, we reasoned, because we took about 10 minutes to decide on what we wanted…a reasonable time I should think to decide?
This was meant to be a special occasion and we had been looking forward to the experience but I shall never consider this place again.

Our work Social club had a very enjoyable time at Soljans. The venue was well set out and the food was excellent. The staff were very helpful and nothing was a problem. The food was very nice and enough to go back for more. The salads were extra tasty . The desserts very different but still very nice.
We would go back there again in the future.

Came to your restaurant on Sun 20th March for my parents 40th wedding anniversary and must say we were a bit disappointed. We were asked if we wanted the kids food first and we said no, however the kids food arrived about 20 mins before the adults, so by the time our’s arrived they had finished theirs and were ready to go. One of the kids ordered the sandwich platter with a slice of cheese which had obviously been put under the heat lamps and the cheese had melted and had to be returned. The food took an hour from when we ordered to arrive which was a long time and when it did arrive we weren’t that impressed with the food quality either. Obviously most people make a booking so you should know that your going to be busy and plan for that.

After attending an enjoyable and declicious lunch at Soljan’s in November 2010 for a friend’s hen party – As a bridesmaid for another friend’s wedding, I organised a hen’s party lunch at Soljans on the 12th Feb 2011 for 13 people. Although they had a wedding on that day they were happy to accommodate us – although, the service was surprisingly slow considering we were limited in the time we could stay because of the wedding.
The food was fantastic – the majority of guests at our table ordered the salmon and potato hash cake and none were disappointed. Others ordered the open steak sandwich and chicken salad – all were enjoyed.
I am looking forward to coming to the restaurant again – next time with my husband!

We had the misfortune to have lunch recently at Soljans

The service was abysmal and the delivery of the food was exceptionally slow. Despite frequent reminders, our set lunches consisting of salad and an over dry, day old cake for dessert took over 2 hours to be delivered.

Considering that there were 7 chefs in the kitchen and 8 wait staff on duty this was ridiculous.

There are many better options available in the area and Soljans should be your last choice

Four of us had lunch at Soljans.
The food was excellent, we had lamb, chicken, squid and pork based dishes, they had very good flavour and the portions were a medium size (not too small, but not too large either).
We had a bottle of pinot gris for our wine which was very good. The place was fairly busy but our food did not take long at all to be served. I also found the service very good.

Took a large group. Needs improvement (particularly around organised service). Service was attempted, but not good – I had to keep going up to the bar (of which there were plenty of staff hanging around)to order more wine and clearing the empty bottles off our table. The main was really good, the dessert was pre-made, dried out and stuffed on a plate with yellowing on the top cream. I ordered a double shot latte, but still it tasted like flavoured hot milk. The toilets need a really good spring clean they were pretty dank and dusty. Come on guys, its not hard to get it right you just need to relook at focussing on each table of customers and you will get heaps more business. It’s really that simple.

Fairly abysmal. Service was mixed – polite at best but frequently grudging. Food both expensive (for what it was) and contemptuously poor. Dining room very out of date and not at all clean. Try the vastly superior beesonline just up the road instead.

We are a young family and don’t often manage to get out for a meal so it was with great disappointment that when we did go out for a special weekend brunch the whole experience turned out to be very stressful. Once seated we explained that we were going to order immediately for our 2 year old so he could eat while we had our drinks and breads and then we would have our mains. It took over to 20 mins to have our ordered to be taken after one of us calling the waitress over and then we watched horror as tables that arrived after us were served long before us. By the time our food arrived our 2 year old had had a meltdown, had to eat a bag of chips from my handbag and then started to fall asleep so didn’t eat any of the food we had ordered.

We choose Soljans as we had read it had a nice kids area outside and children were welcome however from our experience it’s far from child friendly!

Our group of 39 women all voted this restaurant and service as excellent. We were served graciously and with respect shown to our elderly group. We will return and encourage other groups to do so also. Thanks especially to Tony and Kylie.

I had a lovely lunch at this restaurant a few weekends ago. The food was delicious and the setting was relaxing.

I visited with my wife and daughter. We had a really good lunch, very well presented and served by efficient waitress. The restaurant has a vibrant feeling and we were made very welcome. The restuarant was busy and we were in a bit of a rush so appreciated the fast and friendly service.

Went there for lunch, had to ask 3 times for water for the table. Waitress came to take our orders and they hadnt given us menus yet! Waited 1 1/2 hours for food it still hadnt come – we ended up walking out as it took way too long and the service was bad!

My partner and & arrived for brunch before 11am. There was only one other couple seated who were finishing their meal. The service was welcoming and friendly, however other customers were seated later and their meals arrived before ours. Upon enquiry we were advised our order had been lost and would be coming soon. It arrived an hour after we were seated and although there were plenty of apologies, no attempt was made to offer free coffee or discount for our inconvenience.
The meal was delicious but had to be hurredly eaten as we had an appointment in the city.
Customer service needs attention, but the food was great. Hope we have better luck next time.

We visited here as part of a day out with friends to Kumeu Wine Country. The place looked lovely from the outside, but that’s the only positive thing I can say… They asked us if we’d booked (we hadn’t) and the SIX of us were shown to a table for FIVE. They gave us one wine list between us – we had to ask for a menu – and we had to pull over an extra chair as no attempt was made by the staff to provide the extra setting. We ordered some coffees whilst we figured out what we wanted to eat, but they took so long to come (more than 15 mins) and were served with such a bad grace that we didn’t bother to order any food. We noticed that other walk-ins were treated with the same contempt, especially people who dared to bring children with them – they were seated on the far edge of the outside dining area. Disgraceful.

Fantastic food, fantastic wine, fantastic friendly service, lovely environment! I will definitely be going back here. Highly recommend to all.