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Reviews for Nectar Cafe & Restaurant

by Vanessa G.
14th April 2013

Yummy breakfast yesterday at Nectar Cafe with house smoked salmon and free range eggs. Delicious coffee too!
Another visit very soon is a must, to try something else off the healthy creative menu.

by Jana
22nd January 2013

Wow! So glad to have found this little treasure in Whangarei. Had Saturday breakfast here and was most impressed with the quality of the food, the flavours and generous portion sizes. Had the mushrooms on toast which was cooked perfectly while the others on the table had berry – coconut porridge and corn fritters. The porridge was delicious with generous quantities of macadamia nuts. Overall it was a great experience and will surely go back to Nectar cafe again.

by Joanne K.
18th November 2012

Ending up at Nectar Cafe & Restaurant for Lunch on Saturday.

As we got there around 1.30pm, a few of the menu items were unavailable due to being sold out in the lunch rush.

I am currently doing a Sugar, Diary, Gluten and Wheat Free regime. When i mentioned this to our waitress she checked with the kitchen about what they could do and i have a delicious falafels and salad.

There was a stand of Gluten Free products – of which i ended up purchasing a few and the owner was extremely helpful and so interesting to speak to as he and his family are Gluten and Dairy Free.

Highly recommend Nectar Cafe and will definitely be back there as soon as i can

by Alice C.
22nd September 2012

As an out of towner, and a coeliac, I needed to find somewhere in Whangarei to eat that I knew would safely be gluten free. Nectar had an amazing range of delicious looking gluten free food, but more importantly – the owner was so helpful and understanding and was willing to create anything for me and take extra care in the kitchen to ensure I wouldn’t be ‘glutened’. I was served up an incredibly tasty chicken, bacon and potato salad with lots of yummy colourful veges. I also bought a gluten and dairy free morning glory muffin away with me for afternoon tea, which was sensational! I’m heading up to Whangarei again soon and I can’t wait to go back to Nectar and eat. Amazing, so tasty and healthy and such fantastic service!! Thank you!!

by Victoria
13th August 2012

Nectar is by far the best coffee shop I have been to in Whangarei. The food is of good quality and well presented. You also have generous portions which leaves a customer going away satisfied. A good ambiance and nice and clean. If any criticism I would say it would be nice if you were open longer. It would be a nice spot to go to after work for coffee and cake! Keep up the good work!

by Karen S.
3rd September 2011

This place is by far the best place to eat in Whangarei for brunch. I have been there 3 times now, and although we had one ‘bad day’, the staff reduced our bill considerably and gave us a voucher for free coffee on our next visit. The chef also came out to apologize in person. They are a great team of staff and I would walk a thousand miles for their potato cakes. From the sounds of other reviews I am going to have to go for dinner as well. My mouth is now watering for a brownie! We love you Nectar – keep up the great work and I’ll see you soon for an order of potato cakes

by Russell
27th August 2011

Enjoyed our brunch here. My big breakfast was tasty and the mushrooms were some of the best i’ve tasted. Eggs Benedict were reported as being excellent.

Also had a highchair and change table which is helpful!

Great view from the back tables over the park. Excellent service and friendly.

by Sue C.
5th August 2011

We ate breakfast here on a Saturday while having a long weekend in Whangarei. We eat breakfast out every Sat and Sun in Auckland and enjoy trying different cafes, so when we heard Nectar was Northland cafe of the year we were expecting something special.
The menu was interesting and our eggs, bacon and kransky was so delicious we tracked down the butcher who supplied the bacon and kransky and took home a supply for the freezer! The large bowl of porridge was very good and something few cafes offer. Coffee was good but would have been better if it was hot instead of lukewarm.
As mentioned by other reviewers, we had issues with the length of time it took to get our coffee and meals. They were short staffed and one waitress for a full dining room was just not acceptable. Other diners arriving after us were told that the kitchen was behind with orders and there would be a 20 minute wait, which was actually over 30. Credit to whoever decided that those diners could have coffees free of charge while they waited. A pity we waited 20 mins and weren’t offered anything.
Overall, a very good meal, but you may have to wait a while, drinking warm coffee.

by Mike G.
31st January 2011

Simply my favourite watering/nourishing hole. Fair trade coffee and it is always the right temperature, strength, and swiftly served. Great friendly staff, and the best carrot cake in town (sensibly downsized from the first year of operation!), moist, served with optional yoghurt. All menu items are delectable, menu meal or displayed snack. In summer I go alfresco, watching the world go by – in winter I choose a window, musing on the world outside and admiring nearby Parihaka’s splendour.

by Tango
29th January 2010

Very much café style food. Have been before for brunch and it was good. Not impressed with it for dinner. We went to Nectar on a Saturday night and were promptly greeted by a woman who asked us to sit while she got a table ready. At the table we were delivered water and had our drinks order taken. A couple of us had trouble deciding on the mains (mainly because we’d been too busy talking and hadn’t picked up menus). We should probably have asked the waitress to come back as it was a bit of a rushed decision. Although she was polite she just stood there and waited for us to order rather than asking us if we needed more time.
The 4 of us got different dishes from the menu. All the options are fairly light café style food. lots of salads and the mains come with new potatoes and a small salad. My fish of the day (salmon) was slightly undercooked. There should be some partly cooked fish but some of it was raw in the middle. Potatoes and salad were okay. Someone else at the table ordered the chicken and didn’t rate it highly. The others ordered steak and a light dish. They both liked their food a lot. The waitress didn’t return while we were eating to ask us how our meals were.

2 of us ordered the chocolate brownies for dessert and they were excellent. perfect texture and a nice accompaniment with the mint ice cream. It was only 3 small pieces so it’s not a dessert you could share but it was one of the best brownies I’ve had. Yummy!

Comment from Nigel S. of Nectar Cafe & Restaurant 2/02/2010    Hide »

Thanks for taking the time to write this review, comments and…    More »

Thanks for taking the time to write this review, comments and training passed on to the relevant people, Brunch is definitely a strong menu for us, we are still finding our way with the evening dining

I was dissapointed to hear that no meal checks were done as it is drilled into our staff and would have fixed the salmon issue

by Jeannette
23rd January 2010

Having just dined on the 5th of January at Nectar Cafe, I was disappointed with the poor service, not enough staff on.
I tried to order two meals, but was told the Chef had run out of cream?

The owner turned up, and asked me what he could do to differentiate from lunch to diner,

Good Servce, white table clothes, candles would be nice, training staff on how to serve out, food, wine and top shelf, properly.

The music needs to be in the back-ground.

Owner needs to have a meal at Kermadec in Auckland, then he will see what he needs to change?

Overall the food was very good, when we finally got it.

I have worked in the restaurant industry for many years, and have dined at some of the top restaurants in Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane etc.

I like the owner/operator, but if he wants to hold on to his recent cafe award, will need to improve in all areas..

Jeannette

Comment from Nigel S. of Nectar Cafe & Restaurant 2/02/2010    Hide »

Thankyou for your feedback, we are constantly trying to work on…    More »

Thankyou for your feedback, we are constantly trying to work on and improve all areas of our business and especially our evening dining which has always provided a unique staffing and training challenge

Our aim is to provide a relaxed, affordable and casual style of dining.

I would take this opportunity to ask anyone reading this to please book your tables in advance we often have 2 or 3 tables booked with up to 10-15 tables walk in with no booking, hence getting caught short staffed

by Peter G.
10th January 2010

Went in mid-November last year to try out breakfast in this award-winning cafe in mid-November. Lovely modern setting, lots of morning sunlight and pleasant views over a park. Unfortunately, there were issues with the service. Having given our order to the pleasant waitress we were approached some time later to re-check our order. This we did although we thought it strange given that we were the only people in the restaurant. We had an interminable wait for our meals and had to ask several times to check how they were coming along. Unfortunately, when the meals did come my meal was not the one I had ordered and wasn’t one that I really could get by on. The correct meal was eventually provided although my wife had to watch each other eat our respective meal which took away any gloss about us having a special breakfast to start off my wife’s birthday on a really positive note. Instead from start to finish our breakfast took one and a half hours. The food was fine, tasty and well-presented. The person who appeared to be in charge significantly reduced the bill and we got an apology from the waitress. Judging by other comments on the website our experience may just have been “a bad day at the office”. We will probably give this cafe another try, but the eating out experience is not just about the quality of the food.

Comment from Nigel S. of Nectar Cafe & Restaurant 10/01/2010    Hide »

Thanks for your review Peter, it is disappointing to learn about…    More »

Thanks for your review Peter, it is disappointing to learn about this poor experience (especially on her birthday!) and all our staff know that this is an unacceptable level of service. Would you be able to privately provide me with more details so that we can provide additional training to the staff member in question?

regards Nigel (nigel@nectarcafe.co.nz)

by Arlie G.
28th November 2009

The dining experience here was the bomb.The wait staff greeted with a smile(goes along way);were informative,courteous & respectful;The Blue Nose Main(Fish of the Day) & Chocolate Brownie with Mint Ice Cream,were to die for.Fish was cooked to perfection .Best Choc.Brownie I’ve tasted (moist) & not overpowering in size .Entertainment by The Go Luckys, just topped the experience,awesome.Keep it up Nectar, would recommend to our family/friends without hesitation.

by Nelson
6th October 2009

I had the pleasure of dining at Nectar recently with my husband. From the time we arrived, the staff were attentive and welcoming. Food was served in a timely, appropriately paced fashion. All food was delicious especially the dessert where we had a devine chocolate fudge brownie and a creme brulee. Would definitely recommend if you are looking for a thoroughly enjoyable dining experience.

by desiree
30th September 2009

Went for a work lunch and it was great, had the best fritters i have had in ages. really nice wine also. The wait was fine not long at all. was really surprised to see how fast it all came out. carrot cake was sooo good as well. had a really enjoyable time.Keep it up!!

by dawn ferguson
30th June 2009

went online and looked at menu, unfortunely the menu had changed when we got there, I had goat cheese salad, great salad although the carots where a tad tough, my partner had a smoked chicken dish on ciabatta bread which was delicious, the coffee was just right and the service was excellent, made us feel very welcome, we will be back.
dawn

Comment from Nigel S. of Nectar Cafe & Restaurant 10/07/2009    Hide »

Thanks for your feedback, menus are now updated sorry about that    More »

Thanks for your feedback, menus are now updated sorry about that

by Selkirk
23rd May 2009

Had a very enjoyable family lunch at Nectar. Cosy atmosphere, great coffee and meals. Best service we’ve had in Whangarei in a long time. Look forward to trying the new dinner menu in the near future (without the kids next time!).

by Annalise
10th May 2009

Service far too slow, coffee nice once I got it but who has 25mins to wait for a coffee when they are not busy at all!!! Bagel was O.K but again sooooo slow! This has been the case every time.

Comment from Nigel S. of Nectar Cafe & Restaurant 28/05/2009    Hide »

thank you for taking the time to post this, however could you…    More »

thank you for taking the time to post this, however could you please assist me with a little more information on whether this was a bagel from the menu or cabinet and what time of day (via email nigel@nectarcafe.co.nz)? We have had some staff issues recently and obviously this is not the norm for us and I would like to remedy this issue, I would be very grateful for any help with this matter.

by karen
25th February 2009

A big group of friends went here. The service was fantastic, fast, friendly and no messed up orders. The food was to die for, really delicious. It all tasted full of flavour and made with love. NICE

by Mark
10th July 2008

Really good find. Coffee was great, food was fresh and tastey, and the staff were friendly and really made us welcome!

by Marcia
21st February 2008

A great find, terrific coffee, the food has always been very tasty , with ample choices , well priced and very well presented and served . The staff are friendly and efficient . Looking forward to my next visit

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