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Reviews for Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant

by Ashleigh R.
15th February 2013

a group of us dined here. We were offered drinks straight away, however weren’t offered entrees (which we wanted) just mains. The fish was perfect, snitzel meal was devine and were huge meals. large roast meal was quite small and didnt have a lot on the plate at all, the meat was also dry. we were not offered drinks again, nor were we offered desert. When in there it is very crammed, it literally seems like you are dining with the table next to you. Atmosphere isnt the best. Rather then cramming so many people in you should cut your losses and provide a more comfortable atmosphere.
However If your looking for somewhere to go for an amazing meal this is the place. Good value for money too. i would return

by lmk
1st December 2012

Have eaten here both lunch and dinners. Perfect place for a family night out – Meals are filling, always consistent in the preparation and priced well. The staff are friendly and remember you!. Great roast and specials during the lunch period.

by Mike
15th November 2012

We regularly dine at Fat Harry’s. Very good choice of meals at reasonable prices. Wait staff are very friendly and offer good advice. Chefs always have smile on faces and seem to enjoy their work. Meals always of a consistent standard. Clean and pleasant surroundings.

by Rachel J.
26th August 2012

Thank you so much to the staff at Fat Harry’s! Had a great time with a tribe of kids in tow for a three year old’s birthday party. The staff were super accommodating & friendly. They got all the kids meals out quick smart so that they weren’t climbing the walls! Great value for money & kept the kids happy – the choices were great including healthy choices. They also loved the play room & was nice to have a “cordoned off area” to be able to keep them safe & secure.

I got the chicken & bacon salad – OMG, so yummy! Once again great value for money, huge portions so great for guys too. Staff were so helpful & attentive & the whole experience was great. Would definately come again & recommend to all. Thanks guys!

by Tania
27th July 2012

Went for dinner on Saturday night for a family celebration. My family and I come away raving about the the awesome value for money meals, with a great choice, most of us having the half doz bluff oysters & cod deal-yummo!! The playroom is great, with flat screen t.v and play stations etc-my son loved it! The place was packed- which says alot, the staff were great and looked after us well. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit and will definitely be back- don’t change anything its GREAT!!!

by Chris
9th June 2012

Went for dinner, won’t be going again. The table was too small for the number of people, and while I understand we were a late booking, they should have simply told us there were no tables available instead of shoving in a tiny table that couldn’t really even fit the plates on it. Also, when food is deep fried, that should be indicated on the menu, so that choices can be made about what to purchase. Ribs should be slow cooked in an oven, be sweet and sticky. These were crunchy and greasy, and had a barbecue sauce on them I’m pretty sure came out of a Watties bottle. As for portion size, you are feeding human beings, not a pack of hungry lions. They are ridiculous, as are your prices for what you offer. You need to update from Moderate to OMG, so friggin expensive you’ll faint! Never again, and certainly I will not recommend this place to anyone I know.

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 11/06/2012    Hide »

Sorry you didn’t enjoy your dining experience with us, I am not…    More »

Sorry you didn’t enjoy your dining experience with us, I am not sure if you are aware that we are a Family Bistro Restaurant not Fine Dining. I believe when our Maitre D’ asked you during your meal if everything was ok with your meal you did not seem to have any problems!
We also strive to keep our meal prices at a reasonable price, and looking at some of our competitors our prices are still less than there’s for similar sized meals.
We prepare all our meals from scratch (not out of a packet or per frozen) we feel our meals are good wholesome meals which have pleased many a happy diner.
Thank you for your suggestions on how to cook our ribs, but we do actually slow cook them in the oven and like all other restaurants reheat in the deep fryer.
Hopefully this answers some of your questions please feel free to contact us if you have any other queries.
Regards David & Janelle

by Ian P.
23rd April 2012

I went at lunchtime and was shown a menu. Only LATER after my meal did I happen to notice another menu tucked away somewhere offering pensioner specials. Yes, I think I look like an obvious ‘pensioner’! Oh well…… anyway, the food was great, and dining out on the deck, with a view of distant sea, was pleasant.

by Morgan K.
23rd February 2012

I love This Restaurant it is such a stress free experience going there, they have without a doubt the best menu for kids and they actually have a selection of kids meals with healthy options. The even do baby food. My children love the fresh tasting platter with cut up veges and salad with a delicious dip. My meal was also faultless and my husband got the deep fried ice cream and was very impressed. And I cannot rave more about the kids room talk about awesome It allows me to sit and relax in a restaurant rather than be constantly on edge. Well done Fat Harry’s for finally making a restaurant that caters to the entire family.

by Jackie
14th February 2012

Absolutely fabulous service and meal! LOVED the fact that the kids have a play area to keep them occupied while they wait for their meals Very friendly staff and fantastic atmosphere, will be coming back!

by Raechel H.
6th October 2011

I enjoy this restaurant and I am a regular customer. The steak is particularly good and the gravy is great tasting. The staff are more then willing to accomodate the changes I make to my meal each time I visit.

The price is great and the quality is good. The meals are large and there is often no room for dessert even though the desserts are great especially when they have the sticky date pudding on the specials menu.

I have only ever had one displeasing experience when they mucked up the changes to my meal. I told the waitress and another waitress when I went to pay however no apologies, discounts or offer to give me my drink for free was made. A little disappointing but I continue to go back.

Have had no problems since then.

by nadine s.
3rd June 2011

Got to love those stuffed mushrooms,(came to fat harrys because someone told me thats where they had moved too) have been there 2 x in a month great meal both times. last time was with large group 21 all meals arrived almost together. great job my meal was great and the chef accommodated a change to the standard item. will be back there again.

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 3/06/2011    Hide »

Great to here positive feedback, Iona (head chef) and here team…    More »

Great to here positive feedback, Iona (head chef) and here team are fantastic thanks again.
Regards David & Janelle

by Paulene
31st March 2011

Myself, daughter and grandson had a meal there Tues night and thoroughly enjoyed it. My grandson had the blue cod and chips from the children’s menu and it came out nicely presented and good to see some salad on the plate too. My daughter and I had the roast and it was lovely, cannot fault it. We had the small roast so we could eat dessert and found that size more than enough, loved the vegs they were great. The desserts were great too again cannot fault, you got your moneys worth my grandson had jelly and ice-cream and it came out so nicely presented

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 3/06/2011    Hide »

Pleased you enjoyed your meal we have been working hard on making…    More »

Pleased you enjoyed your meal we have been working hard on making sure everything is perfect since we took over in October last year.
Regards David & Janelle

by Peter P.
29th March 2011

I just had a great meal tonight, Seafood Chowder followed by a Mixed Grill. But I must say the Grill was HUGE, more than I could eat, my 16yro boy had a garlic Bread starter that came with garlic butter and sweet chilli and had the Mixed grill just like me for his main but only got half way through it before admitting defeat. Service was great, Food was great, Staff were great. I was surprised how busy it was for a Tuesday night, we will be back!!

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 3/06/2011    Hide »

Great to here you got value for money, look forward to seeing you…    More »

Great to here you got value for money, look forward to seeing you again.
Regards David & Janelle

by John R.
12th March 2011

I heard people rave about this establishment. Great views from the deck other than that it is unremarkable. food over priced. Limp half hearted wait staff compliment the limp salad. I wanted a roast but it was unavailable. However my dining companion wanted mashed potato with is meal and they facilitated that – so good on them for that.Fries were over cooked.

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 31/03/2011    Hide »

Sorry you had a bad experience in our restaurant, we are very…    More »

Sorry you had a bad experience in our restaurant, we are very surprised with your comment that the roast was unavailable, as from the 1st of Feb this year when Iona took over the kitchen we have never sold out of roasts. Hope your day got better.

by Xaria
6th March 2011

Went for a social club outing, 25 people.
Very easy to book, reasonable prices.
Our only complaints were they got confused over who had appetizers and didn’t give the main meal to the whole table at once. My partner and I didn’t have an appetizer, but the rest of the table was almost finished their meals by the time we received ours.
We waited for someone to take dessert orders, some people went to the counter to order theirs, I went up and asked for the dessert menu and for someone to take the order, but 10 minutes later had to go back to order.

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 31/03/2011    Hide »

Very sorry about your experience in our restaurant, when the new…    More »

Very sorry about your experience in our restaurant, when the new kitchen staff came on board on the 1st Feb we didn’t expect to double our meal numbers in the first week, hence the growing pains. We are now settling into a better routine with enough staff to rectify this problem.

by Lita L.
4th March 2011

I’ve been here once – only because I didn’t choose the restaurant destination and I don’t think I’ll return.

I had the steak and chips – The only good thing about it was that it was cooked the way I wanted it which was Medium Rare, so points for that. The only thing was – it wasn’t like a big hunk of steak that you’d expect from somewhere like the Speights Ale House. It was more like Schnitzel – very thin and rubbery like. I chose Mushroom Sauce as my dressing, and it was okay, I wouldn’t say it was the best. The chips were more like Fries which was disappointing.

I also had a desert which was the Cheesecake of the Day – White chocolate cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce. The Raspberry sauce definitely tasted store brought (probably from the countdown across the road) and I couldn’t taste any White Chocolate in the cheesecake.

V. Disappointing, and felt guilty as it was expensive and I wasn’t the one paying for my meal.

by Kate
28th November 2010

Hideous lunch meal there last month. Battered fish was so golden is positively radiated off the plate. Barely edible with the texture of rubber. Salad was pathetic and wilted. Should have complained but just wanted to get out of there!!! Will never go back.

Comment from Janelle m. of Fat Harry’s Family Restaurant 31/03/2011    Hide »

We now have a whole new kitchen team and a whole new experience in…    More »

We now have a whole new kitchen team and a whole new experience in dining. Hope you might consider trying us again as we are new owners as well.

by Jason K.
22nd July 2010

As a regular customer of the last 2 years Fat Harry’s my family have enjoyed most of the meals except for last night half hearted effort that arrived on my plate!

As it was my birthday – what a huge disappointment of the Chicken stuffed with Bacon, Brie Cheese (or the lack of it) and Red pepper skins with the most horrific disgusting Garlic sauce, made from a catering jar of processed crushed garlic I’m guessing coming almost straight from the jar with some water added to it to attempt to thin down the processed garlic.

Then smeared over my chicken breasts.

As I have worked in the chef industry for many years, I know that garlic taste from processed catering jars anywhere.

Not to mention the completely over cooked blacken roast potatoes with the side salad, which I wouldn’t even feed it to my dog as supper!

It was not worth the $29 price tag, and I refused to pay for this meal, after complaining to the kitchen staff of the very poor quality.

Word of mouth gets around Dunedin very quickly – so I won’t be going back there to fat harry’s for family dining again.

Their standard of food has been on a backward slider for some time.

From a very annoyed ex customer and family.

by Rach
18th August 2009

Had a very disapointing lunch yesterday. Three of us ordered the battered fish. Looked lovely when it arrived. When cutting into it it was very rubber like cold and under cooked. Heaps of water ran out of it. We asked the waitress to take it back and she came back and the chef said it was that type of fish. Rubbish we think. They did offer to re cook it or have something else but when you on a luch break you don’t have enough time. We ended up paying $15.50 each for chips and a tiny bit of salad. Not going here again!!!

by Ana
16th August 2009

The food is very average pub food with slightly above average prices. We were impressed with the many gluten-free items on the menu, including two items on the children’s menu.
The children’s play area was good with a variety of books, puzzles, and toys, as well as three playstations (although only one was working the night we went). The play area is a separate room with a glass wall so you can keep an eye on the kids without having to hear them.
The kids had a ball, but the adults were under-impressed.

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