Tahuna Reef Restaurant

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Address

Quayside
Town Basin
Whangarei
Region: Northland
Licence: Fully Licensed
Cuisine: Continental/European
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Contact

Phone: 09-438 6873

Open

9am till 5pm Mondays
9am till late Rest of Week

Overall DineOut Score based on 10 reviews

Total		5.1
Food		4.9
Dessert		5.7
Presentation		4.9
Service		3.6
Environment		6.8
Toilets		7.8
Child Friendly	Very

Review by: kevin Dean (2) on 15th June 2010

Total		4.1
Food		4
Dessert		4
Presentation		3
Service		1
Environment		8
Toilets		8

Tahuna reef could be a great place to dine. The setting is fantastic in the town basin beside the yachts, and on a warm summer night, dining on the outside upstairs balcony is al fresco at its best. The retaurant decor itself is also tastful and modern.
However, I will never go back there. I took my family for a celebration dinner there in February and was very disappointed. The service was amongst the worst I have experienced. The waitress was gormless, forgetful, and had no idea of how to look after people. After asking 3 times for water, and having to actively seek another waitress out to get us drinks, we realised we were in for a testing night. She could not remember who had ordered what. Asking for a slight alteration to my main seemed all too much.
The food was ok, but not good value for the money we paid. Several of our meals were presented like pub bistro meals, unimaginative and boring. My Daughter had fish and chips, which was exactly what she got - no garnishes, no salad, just battered fish and chips!
Don't bother going to Tahuna Reef - there are much better restaurants in town. This is a sad fact, as this place has a superb location and nice decor.

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Review by: Tango (6) on 15th January 2010

Total		3.1
Food		2
Dessert		3
Presentation		5
Service		1
Environment		6
Toilets		7

Unless you like sauces that come out of a can and service that includes abuse, steer clear of Tahuna Reef, in my opinion it’s Whangarei’s version of Fawlty Towers. Tahuna Reef is ideally located. It has a fantastic location by the water and beautiful views from the veranda however the food and service let it down. Initially the service was pleasant but it soon went downhill. Tahuna Reef is priced at the top end of the scale but the food and service doesn’t match. The Rocket salad was fine but you really can’t go wrong with rocket leaves, slices of slightly bruised pear and blue cheese. The main was extremely disappointing. The seafood platter was served on too small a dish and it was had to eat the seafood. In my opinion the scallops didn’t taste fresh, and tasted like they had been pre-frozen. The selection of dips was unimaginative and the 2 dips (hardly a selection) both tasted like they were out of a bottle. The French bread was over-toasted and difficult to eat. The seafood didn’t match what was on the menu and the squid and mussels were both overcooked. The waiting staff serve your food and disappear. Noone comes back to check on your meal. If you express any dissatisfaction they abuse you and say “you ate it”. if you point out that you only tasted everything they start getting very argumentative. They refuse to credit or replace dishes that are unsatisfactory and at best offer a 50% discount. Despite the fact that 2 of the wait staff are the children of the owner they can’t describe what is in the dishes (even though they later admit to having eaten them all). the owner abused us and told us to F*** off but not before insisting that we pay for the shoddy food service. The staff are unable to accept any criticism or feedback. If you don’t like food you’re accused of having bad taste or abused because you ate any of it. I dine out frequently and this is without a doubt the worst experience I’ve had at any eatery. It’s clear from other reviews and talking to other people in Whangarei that this sort of abuse is a frequent occurrence. Save your money, there are much better places to eat in Whangarei.

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Review by: Sue & Steve (4) on 12th December 2009

Total		9.9
Food		10
Dessert		10
Presentation		9
Service		10
Environment		10
Toilets		N/A

We are STUNNED to read the negetive reviews on Tahuna Reef - this would have to be one of the best experiences we've had eating out ..... and we do it regularly.
We had a bizaare large group of primary school teachers there near us the night we went, who arrived over a 2 hour period and apparently got upset they couldn't all have their meals served at the same time, without anyone waiting??? Am so over people who can't see the logistics of running a restaurant kitchen.
The 3 staff who served us (including the owner) were fantastic. We were pampered. The food was divine, the seafood platter was a bit skimpy, but everything else more than made up for my greed. The baked cheesecake & sorbet that we shared for dessert were, literally, mouth droppingly deluxe. The wine was brilliant ....... I could drivel on, but seriously, yes, everyone has different expectations but our service & food were AWESOME so I can only say, if you are reading these reviews trying to decide whether to go or not, GO AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MINDS. We are talking about making this trip bi-monthly, we enjoyed this restaurant THAT much.

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Review by: jamesk (1) on 26th July 2009

Total		3.1
Food		3
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		4
Service		1
Environment		6
Toilets		N/A

We went in as a group of 14 people on a 90th birthday and 1 main meal was missed. This was the start.
Although the waitress told us initially that the main was missed because there were 2 new chefs and they didn't communicate well.
Now after over 1 hour waiting for the last main to arrive we went to investigate and cancel this order and the waitress told us that we didn't order the main when we clearly did. This involved the extremely rude manager who had no problem in telling us that we were at fault for not receiving our missing main.
This caused a major argument with the whole table and the manager.
We were all ready to leave without paying as the manager was being so rude to us all but we didn't. After trying to give her some suggestions on how to deal with unhappy customers she threatened us that we would be removed, I would have left extremely fast if I didn't feel I should pay for my bill.
The others dining in the restaurant were all watching in amazement with what was unfolding.
To note that the restaurant was only 1/4 full if that on Saturday night between 7pm-9pm which tells a story of it's own.
Missing meal aside, We all will never again go to this restaurant again basically due to the rudeness of the manager of whom we were dealing with. The food was average and the decor was good but the service was the worst I have ever experienced in my life.

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Review by: designerfake (1) on 21st July 2009

Total		8.5
Food		8
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		9
Service		9
Environment		9
Toilets		9
Child Friendly	Very

We went for dinner on the spur of the moment, service was excellent - very polite, friendly and attentive. Food arrived quickly which was great as we had young children with us, and was presented beautifully, also most importantly it tasted fantastic. Large portions for reasonable prices. Had a lovely, relaxed atmosphere. Would definitely go back!

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Review by: Faye & Andrew (26) on 17th May 2009

Total		7.6
Food		8
Dessert		N/A
Presentation		7
Service		7
Environment		8
Toilets		N/A

We have read the reviews so far since the change from Gybe which we liked. So walked down for lunch. The waitress was very nice, I ordered Scallops with a bacon mushroom and chilli sauce, lovely and not too much of anything. Andrew had the steak sandwich which looked a bit like a dogs breakfast, steak was nothing much, I ate the yummy hot beetroot off his plate, overall a pleasant lunch. And didn't have to wait long for it.

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