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Reviews for Flavour Bistro

by Maree
29th May 2013

Dined here on Monday evening and were quite impressed by the massive menu and by our fish chip and salad meal we had.

However, we were more impressed with the delightful service! We had a lovely waitress who made us feel very welcome and brought our meals and drinks out promptly and with a smile. Staff like this are a real asset to the hospitality business. Keep up the good work.

by Doug L.
24th March 2013

An excellent dining experience – we will definitely be back.

My wife and I dined there Sat night, 7 pm. The bistro was quite busy, and we had a small, intimate table for two, by the window. Very nice ambiance and atmosphere of the busy street outside.

Service was quick and very pleasant. From the menu we chose garlic bread for starters, I had a Thai Red curry linguine chicken cutlet, my wife ordered Lamb Koftas with Greek salad.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the wine list included two excellent Sav Blancs – Villa Maria Private Bin and Oyster Bay. Well done. Most other places have the cheap & nasty White wines. We had the Oyster Bay.

The food was served quickly and the garlic bread was a lighter loaf, delicious and lightly crunchy with a drizzle of light mayonnaise.

The mains were also delivered promptly, with, again, a pleasant smile.

My meal was just delicious. Chicken beautifully cooked and crunchy coating: red Thai curry flavour spot on. My wife also loved her lamb koftas.

We had a chat to one of the waitresses about her learning to speak Thai to the chefs. Very pleasant and personal service/excellent food/lovely welcoming environment made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening out. We will certainly be back.

by Reuben C.
16th March 2013

First impression on my partner’s and I’s breakfast foray was amazing. Great service from the lady behind the counter explaining to us that the menu on the wall was now no longer current and we could order from the professionally made menu folder. All was good in the world. We ordered a mocha each and a creamy mushroom on toast. The service was great, the place was almost empty (maybe a sign of things to come….) so it led to a very relaxed dining experience. The woman who served us at the counter brought out our drinks while we where waiting for our heavenly breakfast. She was amazing, great service with a smile, and the Mocha was served with a Whittakers chocolate-YUM!!…….while enjoying our mornings decadence we waited for the food and it arrived in a timely manner. Timely because it was obvious that they spent absolutely no time in preparing it. The reason for the wait was because we had ordered bacon with our creamy mushroom breakfast. The food was absolutely terrible. The creamy mushroom was a pale yellow mush, obviously heated up in the microwave, the toast was to the side and was just a couple of pieces of tip-top like sandwich slice (not the sourdough gorgeousness we where expecting). The meal was a terrible/disgusting slop and we will not be returning. The service was amazing but really all we wanted was a good quality feed, and at $35 for the pair of us we expected more.

by Margo B.
3rd October 2012

Wouldn’t dine here again.

Service is appalling – took ages to even come and get drinks orders, when they brought the mains didn’t ask if we wanted more drinks, didn’t ask if everything was OK with the meal, we left before they cleared plates. Needless to say we didn’t stay for dessert!

Meals were average.

by Stephanie
22nd July 2012

Worst dining experience ever!! Served by three staff, my order was wrong twice and when I asked to get it re made the first staff member rolled her eyes at me and made me feel terrible. When it was wrong the second time, I didn’t even complain because the two people I was eating with had already finished, totally ruined the dining experience and I will not be back. P.S. They also managed to muck up one other person at our table order, but thankfully they got one part right as he is allergic to dairy products…..maybe you need to write down the orders next time…..sort it out guys!!!

by Luv 2.
14th May 2012

One positive aspect – the food was great! Unfortunately the service let this place down. Apart from being served by 3 different waitressing staff, they had limited knowledge of the menu and ingredients. One staff attempted to guess what ingredients were in a particular dish before I asked her to find out. Another didnt know if a dish had dairy products in it. After asking if there were any specials, we discovered there was infact soup which wasnt written on the menu (once we had ordered). Three items on the menu were not available, but we werent told until the waitress returned to inform us. I would have thought being a potentially busy night for Mothers Day they would have ensured all stock was available. To top if off – if we wanted to choose another flavour of gelato (as the menu option wasnt available) we had to walk over to the shop ourselves and find out! In the end we all declined ordering desserts. A nice touch provided a free muffin for Mothers Day to the Mums which was delicious, shame this wasnt also provided as an option when we were considering desserts.
Overall, very disappointed but the tasty food saved the day and will give it one more chance with the hope service has improved.

by cafechic
31st March 2012

Walked in with my son to get a quick takeaway lunch. Was greeted by a nice friendly girl who went to serve me but lady at the the other till said she would serve me. I then received No welcome from her and she went to charge me for the choc bar in my hand. I then asked for 2 ham n egg sandwiches and 2 slices, she hurried to do this, saw them coming on a plate and said sorry they are to takeaway, she then rolled her eyes, forcefully put them in bags and very rudely said $19.50. Not only did I feel like an inconvenience, the value for money is terrible! And both my slices were dry corner pieces!! Will never go there again, a shame as the venue was beautiful. Consider some customer service training for your staff!

by Aaron S.
20th October 2011

My wife and I have become regulars here. We thoroughly enjoy the food, and the coffee is always a treat to our taste buds. I have found the staff to be friendly and professional. I recommend these guys highly.

by Kate
23rd June 2011

Ive always loved Flavour Bistro but hadnt eaten here in a long time. I recently ordered lunch and a latte.I would rate the bacon penne pesto pasta a 1/10 it was extreemly bland and for $10 I would have expected better. It needed a ton of salt and pepper and it had heaps of oil at the bottom of the bowl. I was so starving that I ate the lot but it was very dissapointing. The coffee was only warm and my table had no sugars, salt or pepper. I had to get my own from another table. The waitress was quite rude and very abrupt in manner.

by Nicole R.
14th December 2010

Often come here for brunch, the Eggs Benedict is probably the nicest one in Palmerston North and the staff are super friendly.

by Sher
16th October 2009

Coffee is never hot enough. The place has a lovely feel, and beautiful atmosphere. Food is good. I once got something specially made for me on Christmas Day which was a lovely treat. Chefs do a great job, but the waitresses, and girls behind the till are very disappointing. Mostly unfriendly, but they usually make you feel as though you are a burden. Great pity, because the place is lovely otherwise.

by Danielle W.
31st August 2009

Been here a couple of times for breakfast recently. Flavours has a $10 breakfast menu with various options. From this menu, you get your meal plus a hot or cold drink for only $10 – which is great value. Our meals have always come out in good time (there is never more than one other table there when we dine in at 8.30am anyway). The meals are generous for $10. I always get bacon (2 rashers) with scrambled eggs and toast (2 pieces) plus a hot chocolate. A really cheap, well made, filling start to the day! The only grumble I have is the service. The girls could be a bit more welcoming and ask us how our meals are going, etc. We sometimes feel like a bit of an inconvenience to them. We will keep going back though for the $10 breakfasts.

by Danielle
12th May 2009

I decided on this restaurant for my graduation celebration following the ceremony due to the fact that a couple of years ago we had a pleasant experience there.

We booked several weeks in advance to insure the seating we needed for 8 people.
On arrival we were asked to wait briefly and were then shown to a by far substandard table that was about half the size required for comfortable seating let alone eating. After complaining that this was unacceptable especially seeing the main restaurant was empty and we had book so far in advance we were reseated at a larger table.

To sum up the rest of the experience the service was sub par and unprofessional with a waiter leaning over someone to reach across the table to place glasses. We were not served by one waiter but 4 and only then to get orders and this was in a very impatient manner that made us feel rushed. The food was good but not good enough to cover the largely unprofessional service (or lack of it). These people were not rushed the place was only half full.

I would not suggest this to place to anyone who wants a nice evening.

by Lizzy
12th August 2008

Nice place to dine, relaxed atmosphere. Safe menu with thai twist. Reasonable prices and prompt and friendly service.Wine list left room for improvement, but excellent cold beverage selection for a restaurant. Overall pleasurable experience.

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