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Reviews for Buster Crabb

by Sarah
22nd January 2010

This business is a MenuMania SponsorOne of the Business' Favourite Reviews

Once again we have just enjoyed another lovely meal, although this time the weather allowed us to dine outdoors. The salmon fillet was devine as was the pork belly starter. My husband had the squid and the ribeye steak which was cooked to perfection. The staff were ever so helpful and very friendly, even offered us a free ride home but we decided to walk as we had well and truly overeaten. Keep up the excellent work Buster Crabb, definetly our favourite restaurant !!

by Steph M.
29th April 2013

Busters is an awesome restaurant with amazing food – the squid is delicious and the chicken burger is gourmet and tasty. They have a varying price range; salads, pastas and burgers cost on average $25 where as the steaks cost up to $40. Some entrees are large enough for mains, and I recommend the Indulgence if you are sharing a dessert- its huge.

by kaydubya
20th March 2013

I returned to Buster Crabb for an evening meal, having dined there once before, about three years ago. At first I was disappointed to find a new menu had eliminated the paella dish I had enjoyed so much last time, but I needn’t have worried. I chose a grilled chicken salad with a side of manuka-roasted vegetables and the flavours were to die for, the meal size generous and the value excellent at less than $30 for the entire meal. Except for the discovery of a small piece of plastic in my final mouthful, I would undoubtedly have awarded five stars. The very pleasant waitress was apologetic but as I said to her, at least it wasn’t a fingernail! The superb flavours were such that I shall forgive them and return.

by Melodie T.
18th February 2013

Interesting decor and menu presentation. Lovely attentive staff and tasty food. Only went for lunch but will definitely be back for dinner and dessert!

by Gina
26th December 2012

I dined at Buster Crabb while I was visiting my family in Invercargill during the winter. I thoroughly enjoyed my main (pork belly), dessert (cheesecake), and wine. It was absolutely delicious. The service was prompt and friendly. The decor was stylish, with dark woods and comfy leather chairs. The slightly dark lighting suited the wild Southland weather on the night!

I’ve been disappointed far too many times dining out in Wellington paying high prices for tiny portions of food, often having to pay extra for sides (and I’m a slim woman in my 20s, not a hulking male). Buster Crabb was excellent compared to many of the places I’ve tried in Wellington, and no extra sides were required!

by Felicity D.
30th July 2012

Had a night out at Buster Crabbs with my husbnd and 16 of our friends on Saturday night,We had aroom to ourselves which was fantasticso we didnt worry about disturbing the other diners,My husbaand and the guys had a few Hoffbrau beersand us girls had some AMAZING cocktails,the service couldnt have been better,even though we were out of the eye of staff ,we never went without drinks or service.My chickensald was exactly what I felt likeand hit the spot.My husbands steak was aged and cooked to perfection. Itwas warm and inviting and we had a great time,when we finished up,we got a ride home in the courtesy coach. We will be getting together to do this again very soon,Buster Crabbs was the perfect location!

by Merryll
24th February 2012

Buster Crabb’s for lunch with our elderly parents today – What an awesome setting it is! The main was awesome,the dessert was out of this world and the wine superb! I read all the reviews the day before and the only thing on the negative side was the music was a ‘tad’ too loud for conversation. Ambience was great and waiting staff were excellent – so Buster – we’ll be back!

by andrew
7th May 2011

Noone there to greet us again
Wine – was good however we mentioned there was no pinot gris on the wine list. So we bought a bottle of sav, only to be disappointed to notice afterwards they had a bottle of pinot gris on the special board that the bar staff could not be bothered letting us know about.
Entree – mussels were superb would recommend (should have got it as a main though)
Mains – Steak – sent it back was overcooked and instead of being on mash it was on mash and chunks of potato
Lamb – cooked perfectly but lacking flavour and mash full of lumps also.

Went else where for dessert as dissappointed enough.

by Becky
14th April 2011

At the start of April I had a birthday get together at Buster Crabb. I had a party of 20. When I booked in I was advised that 20 people was adequate to have one of the front dining rooms to ourselves. We met in the bar area for drinks then were shown to our room. Some ordered entrees along with mains. Our meals came in orderly fashion, no wait at all. MEALS ABSOLUTELY DEVINE!! Dessert to follow for some with a sweet tooth. We finished up with drinks in the bar area and other friends joined up with us.
To top it off we were given a courtesy drop off at the end of the evening.
Well done Buster Crabb staff. Will recomend to everyone.

by Linda
6th March 2011

Excellent service. Waitresses were cheerful, friendly and helpful.Food was excellent. Only criticism was the piped music was a little loud, intruding on conversation. However, this was much improved when live singer was performing.

by Grant
24th February 2011

Moved here recently and was looking for a restaurant, my wife wanted to try this one, but I had a look at this site, at the reviews and was a little unsure. As my wife decided, we went to Buster Crabs and I for one am happy we did. I had squid, then steak for main, I could not fault either of these dishes,my wife assures me that she enjoyed her meal as well and ended up sharing her desert,just to nice not to have some
As for some of those other coments,I found the staff friendly and ambience great. Being of average height the chairs and tables are just right, I guess you must be a rather short person.
Will certainly be back, you made a Birthday quiet special

by jay
24th February 2011

wow had the most o-for-awsome dinner at buster crab.Glad i found this site to xpress.Unlike some, i didnt wear sunglasses, so didnt find it dark at all, the service was great and not overpowering.The meal was delicious as i adore seafood.Next time we went it was for a lite lunch … went for the cheese platter, so big we couldnt even look at anything else on the menu.Just a lovely place to relax in the roomy, friendly atmosphere

by annette g.
25th January 2011

Geez does the owner read the reviews and then act ??? this is my 3rd visit It will be the last and I mean that !!!
In a nutshell
Too dark
Cutlery placed on the outside edge NOT on diners left always as should be (picky I know but irritating )
Too dark
Tables too high
Too dark
Chairs to low
Too dark
TOO DARK
tables and chairs need sorted
TOO DARK
tables and chairs need sorted
TOO DARK tables and chairs need sorted
This visit blue cod batter burnt way to far beyond decent though fish was good
Just love their prawn entree
Oh and must say before I forget
Chairs too low tables too high and its tooo dark Like as in too dark !!!!!
And to cap it all off Watties brand or similar tomato sauce Served with the blue cod How naff id that !!!

by Yonnamalone
3rd January 2011

I have dined at Buster’s on several occasions now. None of the visits have been great. The restaurant is just far too dark and is a strain on your eyes, some of the tables for two are two big and the chairs are too low, the service is very average and the portion sizes are too big and too expensive. Doubt I will go back again.

by Liam
30th November 2010

Awesome!!!!!!!!!

I mean like I went there with my parent’s and uncle’s.
the water was nice
the waiters were a bit long like 10 mintues for you to take your order
20 minutes to get your food
so bring something you can play with. ipod.psp.phone. etc.
really nice i mean i ordered the chicken brest with fries. salad.
the chicken brest’s were superb
fries were nice awesome w/ tomato sauce!
salad was ok.. sauce was a bit.. :p bad

BUT THE DESSERT
was so nice!
hot fudge sunday with starwberrys/ ice cream. choc ice cream. cream.

btw the hot fudge sunday was never hot

4/5

by annette g.
20th November 2010

A return visit to Buster Crabb was a distinct improvement on the first visit But still a few things to tweak though ..The two 2 people tables at the entrance way to the main dining area need to be removed as they are dark and too “busy” for relaxed dining with staff and diners going by.
The tables and chairs still dont match up height wise.
Cutlery needs to be on LEFT not the right !!! OK its only 31/2 star dining but attention to detail is important.
Lighting is still a little dull.
Portion size is still too large for an enjoyable experience.
Otherswise Much much better!!

by annette g.
4th November 2010

Given that the ILT controls a large percentage of dining facilities in the city Buster Crabb can only be better I BUT its just 3 star dining nothing fancy BUT It could improve with little effort
A staff member to meet and great arrivals would be pleasant instead of standing there like a great pillock waiting to be seated
Dont have those 2 tables on the walkway through. people brushing past is not pleasant dining
Teach staff that side plates ALWAYS go on the left,

Either lower the tables or raise the chair heights Husband dosnt enjoy eating his tie. A request for a better chair wasnt well received comment made was everyone says they are too low.
For Gods sake pay the power bill and have some light
Dont serve such wopping great entrees That ruins having a main.
Vegetables seriously lacking Far too many un asked for chips too
When the bill is asked for deliver it dont keep the customer waiting until in exasperation he goes to the bar.
Am returning on Saturday night Have made some requests re seating so we shall see what we shall see.

by courtney
1st July 2010

i am sorry to say that this was probably one of the worst meals i have had , it was a sloppy soggy mess, i got the scallops and they were mushy and soggy , the home made fries were uncooked and still very hard , and the salad was so vinegary i cudnt eat that either , i left the table with my plate still full and so did my two friends who were with me that got different meals, at least wen you go to a restaurant you can eat the salad and chips but not at buster crabb .i tasted my friends pasta and the chicken was dry and tasteless watery sauce , horrible plavoured pasta and an all round horrible meal , the lighting was also a strain on my eyes

by Andrew B.
30th May 2010

Went to celebrate a special event. the meals were great but the lighting was too low for us and i was unable to check the bill when i went to the bar to pay.Serious lack of vegetables.

We had finished up paying $30 for another table’s drinks. Check your bill!

2nd visit – have just been again. Dry chicken and took 30 mins to get our orders taken then 55min for the meals (8 in our group) to arrive. Sorry but it’s a lovely restaurant but understaffed with semi trained wait staff. Disappointing

by lloyd
26th May 2010

I bought my girlfriend here for valentine’s day, after hearing so many good comments. for lack of a better word, my experience was crap. we waited around 10 minutes before our drink order was taken, then a good 15 before our bread was brought over. when our meal arrived it looked great but my chicken was so dry and my mans pork was as tough as boots. we ended up eating a mouthful of our meals each before we decided we should go else where. the only good thing about the night was the lovely blond lady that didn’t make us pay over all – not somewhere i would waste my money again.

by KK
25th May 2010

Busta Crabb was mint! great service, AMAZING food and the place was lovely and warm. The Antipasto platter at Bustas is by far the best in town!! If you havent tried this place yet…you are missing out!!

by Errol S.
22nd April 2010

Hi,
as visitors to Invercargill in March 2010 for only a short time, we were advised to go to Buster Crabb for dinner. Couldn’t book a table till 9-00pm, which was great for us, as we had travelled from Wanaka that day and were still busy exploring Invercargill. ( Burt Monro’s at E.Hayes and sons is great )
On arrival,I admit, that we had to wait 10 minutes, as all the staff were extremely busy. The place was packed.
After that, all plain sailing. Not a complaint with either the food or servive.
From the squid entrees to the large steaks and desserts, all served to perfection.

When we left the restaurant we knew we had been fed properly.
5 Stars to the staff, that enquired how the meal was , and if we needed more drinks. It’s called service.
To those that have bagged the place, go back and see the improvements made by management, maybe your comments helped them to improve to what it is to-day.
Errol and Beryl , Brisbane Australia.
PS wish we had service like this in Brisbane.

by S.Wishart
22nd January 2010

On Sunday 17 Jan 2010 we had a wonderful meal (seated outside) at Buster Crabb’s. Service by the young Irishman was superb as was the 3 courses we had. (The breads and dips were lovely with plenty of both bread and spreads). The mains were tasty and the berry crumble was devine. Well done keep it up.

by Lauren B.
16th November 2009

We went to Buster Crabb recently for a birthday celebration. There were 13 in our party. The food was great although seriously lacking in vegetables. The following are some things we disliked:
1. Nobody greeted us or guests as they arrived so we were all left to figure out where we were seated
2.Lighting far too dim couldn’t read menu hardly
3. Service appalling! My daughter had to get the dessert menus herself for our table as no waitress was to be seen!
4. No wine waiter/ress came back for further drinks orders (sad for them because there were 13 people all needing refills throughout the night)
5. 2 guests had enough of waiting and left without dessert or coffees
6. We even had to wait to pay as nobody came to the check out desk to bill us!
We all agreed we wouldn’t go again.

Comment from Allan A. of Buster Crabb 11/04/2010    Hide »

apologies Lauren B. No excuse for this kind of service. Your…    More »

apologies Lauren B. No excuse for this kind of service. Your letter was used for training purposes. We are always trying harder and in your case it needs to be a lot harder. I hope you’ll give us another try and please let me know personally how it goes if you do. My number is 0274 336 408…Allan

by Rebecca
21st October 2009

Great friendly professional staff. Always superb meals and very accommodating to what I want. Fantastic atmosphere. Love the place so much go there at least once a week and it always exceeds my expectations!!

by Amy
24th September 2009

Meal was good but lighting was horrible, very murky and dull, table height was too high but all round staff where friendly and meal was good

by pete
1st September 2009

When i went to buster crabb the service was friendly & very helpfull, awsome experience. The squid entre amazing!!

by Wendy
27th August 2009

had an evening meal at Buster Crabbs for the third time. My first experience was good, but my most recent meal was absolutely brilliant. Really enjoyed my lamb steak with salad and compliments to the very friendly staff that took great care of our group. Everyone of our group had good comments and I’m sure we’ll all be back real soon.

by hgold
23rd August 2009

OK…I first ate at Busters about 3 months ago. I had the Grilled Chicken Salad and I throughly enjoyed it, it was absolutely superb and I have been looking forward to going back again, based mostly on the food. However my friend and I found the height of the table & chairs were out of sync eg the table being too high and we both felt uncomfortable eating. I ate at Busters again today for the second time, ordered the same Chicken Salad and was disappointed…the chicken was slightly under-cooked and I considered whether I should even eat it, it had too many tomatoes mixed in with the salad on the very bottom of the plate which made the croutons soggy rather than crisp, better if they had been sprinkled over the top of the salad, the fries came in this weird wooden ‘tray-stand’ with tomato sauce and garlic butter on either side, which is fine but the paper holder kind of cheapened it, better to serve them in a hot ceramic bowl as they cooled down very quickly. I have dined out often at Ziffs over the years and I find their menu more elaborate than BC’s. And last but not least I have found it very annoying both times when the waitress holds up this huge pepper mill over your food and keeps going until you have to tell her to stop. There were salt/pepper shakers on the table that should be satisfactory enough for diners to limit their own intake, or add a small pepper mill to each table. An once again we found the table/chair ratio wrong, but the waitress was happy for us to change to the bench seats. All in all the service was good and accomodating and attentive, you have done a fantastic job of re-creating a wonderful venue and maintaining the character of Buster Carbs and best wishes for the future.

by andrew
12th August 2009

we called in for lunch. the food was outstanding service was good very cool place and it is great to see old buildings restored. we would go back any day.

by sonya
22nd July 2009

well first of all how come they always seem to be booked out when you ring but when you do manage to get in the place is half empty?
secondly i see the mussel entree has changed to 1kg of mussels rather than 24 in a bowl, is that maybe because we complained there was only 17 in our basket?? suppose changing it helps you as nobody’s likely to carry a scale around are they??
Drinks ladies extremely slack at coming round, but on a brighter note when you do get your food an hour after you order it!it is quite enjoyable

by Dan
5th June 2009

Went for a meal with 4 friends. When we made our initial booking a few days prior we were told they couldn’t seat us, but when we tried a day later all of a sudden they could take us. Anyway, the meals were all very nice, reasonably priced ($25-$35 mains), good sizing so some of us had room for desert. The service was good if not outstanding. Had a wee issue with lighting in the fact that it was REALLY murky (some would say ambient I guess). Overall we would all go back again and I’d recommend to others

by emma a
18th May 2009

We have dined here four times since it first opened, each time it gets better, the decor and food is simply superb. The waitress’s are always smiling and always so pleasant. We will definetly be returning. Well done !!

by What?
12th May 2009

I ventured in without a booking tonight (May 2009) (fortunately I was early, as even on a wintry Tuesday night it was busy). Service was quick and friendly, staff attentive without being constantly in your face, and the meal well priced. Seafood chowder was average to good, but the fillet steak was one of the best I have eaten anywhere. Very good wine selection, too. I’d happily go back.

Update – Dec 2011. I’m surprised at the wildly varying reports on Buster Crabb. I ate here again last night, and, as always, it didn’t fail. Very nice food, great service and good prices.
I guess the only disconcerting thing if you’ve not been there before, is that you enter the front door and have to walk all the way to the back for reception

by Maureen
4th May 2009

I was with a group on Saturday 2/5/09 and was very disappointed with the meal. The sirloin steak was supposed to have green seasonal veges but there were very few. The steak burger was lovely but lacked chips. The waitress’s did not come often enough to take the drinks order and some of the peoples meals were cold. Disappointed after being to Ziffs.Probably would not go again.

by Ange A.
13th April 2009

We ate at Busters for the first time on Good Friday and were most impressed with the decor, service and menu. Four of us shared 2 dozen mussels cooked in tomato & chorizo with dipping bread for starters which was just divine. Mains were delicious, my steak was cooked just as I ordered. Everyone else in our group very happy with their meals. My 8yr old nephew was dining with us and he and his parents were thrilled with the kids menu. Unfortunately no room for dessert so will have to revisit.

by lauren a.
5th April 2009

Disappointed diner
We went to Buster Crabb the week after it opened one week night.We didn’t have a booking but the place was nowhere near half full. We were met by a girl who told us they had not long been open and they “did not want too many diners”! OMG! She then went away to ask the chef if he/she could do meals for 2 people and came back to tell us no.We left very disillusioned with Buster Crabb and were unbeknown to them going to book a large function there later this year. That won’t be happening now. I telephoned the owner who to this day has never rung us back.Good service??? who knows, front of house certainly wasn’t.

by manager
3rd April 2009

thank you for your comments. We appreciate both good and bad. believe me we are working on our menu, service (or lack of) continually. We want to get everything up to full speed, offering excellent service and meals in a nice atmosphere. We will always endeavour to do our best. It’s totally unacceptable to us to treat customers anything other than extremely well and when this doesn’t happen we do need to know. We’ll never stop trying to improve.
Our full menu’s will be available in about 3 weeks. We’ll be doing breakfast, lunch and dinner until midnight.

thanks for your feed back.
we really do appreciate it.

by leisurelydiner
1st April 2009

I have heard mixed reviews about this place so we thought we would try it out for ourselves. When we booked, they were booked out for the original day we wanted but the staff were very helpful in finding us another time suitable. The decor was amazing and the service was very friendly. Our waitress was a wee bit shy but only too helpful. We were celebrating so decided to indulge in a bottle of lovely central otago pinot and thoroughly enjoyed a three course meal including yummy bluff oysters. After a wonderful meal, we left feeling amazed. Some people have bad reports of this place but ours are very found memories. We will definelty be back.

by Gaye
23rd March 2009

Had a lovely Birthday meal at Buster Crabb. The service was great and the meal outstanding. Now making plans for another birthday meal for a 95 yr old to celebrate there.

by Debbie
19th March 2009

My husband and I booked well ahead for our 25th Wedding Anniversary on 3 March. Reaching 25 years of “married bliss” was a reason for us to enjoy something special and memorable. Special it was not but definitely memorable for the lack of professionalism of the staff and the cramped seating arrangements. We were given the wrong wine and the oyster meal was missing the roast potatoes. Our “wobbly” table was squeezed into a corner so we had to blank walls to look at.
My mother went to the restaurant 2 days before our booking and left a card and paid for a $80 voucher to be given to us on completion of our meal. Needless to say we never received either the card or the voucher that evening and had to go and collect them the next day. We cashed in the voucher as in the absence of an apology we disappointment with the service we decided not to return. If you are going to train staff then they need to be supervised. Nobody seemed to be incharge from what we observed.

by Miriam
13th March 2009

Messed up booking for 3 people and ended up in bar area.
Did not get the wine order right.
Lost dessert order so had to be ordered again.
Food was reasonable-thet really need more experienced staff.

by Ann
17th February 2009

We dined there on my birthday I was quite impressed with the food and decor.The staff have been well trained and think of everything.I do however feel that they need nice uniforms.

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