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Reviews for The Old Vicarage Cafe Restaurant & Bar

by Natalie P.
4th March 2013

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

Have dined here often – Lunch usually as a gift for a friend’s Birthday. Last week was no exception – 2 birthday celebrations – evening meal. One reason we come here is we can always depend on ‘getting what we ask for’. We always request the table and location which will suit our needs and can always rely on the food being of top quality and the service excellent. It is nice not to be rushed from entree to mains which in some restaurants gives you the impression they want your table before you are actually ready to leave. I would recommend The Old Vicarage Restaurant as a ‘guaranteed’ place for any occasion.

by Pauline &.
11th May 2013

From the moment we telephoned to book for a very special family dinner, as most Cantabrians know, family celebrations are very important, since 2011. The staff talked us through what we needed, a private room (The Front Room) as older members of our party had hearing difficulties and this option was appreciated. The menu which was very varied. The staff went out of their way to accommodate our wishes and decorated the room for us, with items taken there the day before. On the evening, the staff were exemplary , our group of family and close friends could not not fault the fare, the room and as importantly the Staff. They were first class. We would recommend The Old Vicarage and Cafe to anyone planning a special family dinner.

by Stevie J.
26th April 2013

Took the boys from work here had a couple of beer and some lunch. Food was great as were the beers on tap.
Had a steak sandwich the rest of the guys had a breakfast, wrap of some sort and a fritters.
We will come back good outdoor area with heaters round the side

by Julz
3rd April 2013

Girls day out, 3 of us. How disappointing it was.
The music was loud and not the right choice for that environment.
I had fish and chips, huge plate full of chips, 2 pieces of fish which was mainly batter and certainly did not taste like fresh fish. The salad was limp and tasted “Fridgy”
Another friend had Quinoa Salad and it was slimy and the dressing tasted of just vinegar.
Other friend had the Onion Barjies and said they were the worst she had tasted.
The waitress came And asked if we were enjoying our meal and I said “I’m not at all”. There was no mention of letting the chef know.
Would not go back ever, such a shame as the setting itself is so lovely. It’s not that hard to produce fresh and tasty fare these days.

by Sarah L.
28th March 2013

My partner and I had our 5 year wedding anniversary at The Old Vicarage on Friday night. I had the chicken and my partner had the steak which he told me was cooked perfectly. This was my first visit and I am a fan.
The service was casual but very efficient.
Well done we will be back

by Jackie N.
14th January 2013

Dined as part of a group of 10. Food was nice, well cooked and flavoursome however your service is letting you down!
We ordered, received drinks then once our meals arrived felt somewhat neglected despite being right by the counter. A second drink wasnt offered until after finishing mains, when our glasses were empty before mains arrived.
Dessert arrived except for one which the waitress seemed to have forgotten about. It arrived 5 minutes later.

Comment from Campbell P. of The Old Vicarage Cafe Restaurant & Bar 15/01/2013    Hide »

Dear Jackie, Thank you for your review and please accept my…    More »

Dear Jackie,

Thank you for your review and please accept my apologies for a sub par level of service that left you feeling neglected during your recent visit, it should not have been like this.

We do understand the importance and value of providing a high standard of service and I agree, we let ourselves down with your experience. Rest assured your feedback will be used to remind staff of the continued focus we need to have on service and highlight the damage that not adhering to our standards or processes can cause.

On a more positive note, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed your meals and we look forward to doing better in being of service to you in the future.

by Kristeen T.
6th March 2012

We had very good experiences here in the past, and have even been for work lunches when everybody was happy, but this time was an utter disappointment.

We decided to treat ourselves to a rare lunch outing.
Arrived without having booked ahead and got a table outside right away, which was nice, but then the wait started: we had to wait for the waitress to bring the menus, then had to wait for someone to come take our orders (only happened after alerting one of the regularly passing by wait persons, who don’t seem to be very onto it and showed neither interest nor initiative), then we had to wait a long long time for our food to arrive. It came eventually, after we had gone in to ask about it.

I didn’t check the time but the entire meal experience took well over 1 hour, too long in my view, esp. at lunch time. My dining partner commented that they did it on purpose to give people time to catch up and chat…

We decided not to have coffees or desserts (although they looked very good on the menu) simply because we ran out of time. Would have rather chatted some more over pudding

Food was average to ok, nothing to write home about and certainly not worth the price.

Definitely won’t be back in a while.

by Bridgitte D.
18th February 2012

Today my husband, mother and family member went to have lunch, booked in advance as previously friends had been turned away just for coffee???

Our booking was for 1pm we turned up 10mins early, this wasn’t a problem as we were seated strait away.
Garlic bread was ordered for entree. This came with drinks after 15 mins or so.

Meals were another story and hour and ten mins we had to wait, Connor our waiter approached us after 40mins to say our meal wouldn’t be long, but took another half hour!! The number of times staff walked past us without a word was frustrating, I had to ask in the end.
Waitress came back and said not long, then three of the meals appeared then mine took a little longer, 1 x Steak Sammie for the hubby, 2 x Salmon fishcakes for Mother and other and I waited for the Chicken Club Sandwich, when this was finally bought out to me the waitress made a comment, but I was so hungry I couldn’t be bothered listening.
I did make a comment that the food had better be worth the wait for over an hour.

Others seemed happy with meal apart from the salads that looked like they had just been chucked on the plates and was from yesterday and the overcooked chips, were dry. The bread for the Club sandwich was hard and dry.
Frustrating part was other guests that were arriving quiet a time after us and were getting meals before us with a number of staff walking past our table and looking at us.

We were never asked if we would like dessert or coffee, but were then bought the bill like they were ready for us to move on.
At the bar when we went in to pay Connor apologised and said the kitchen lost the meal docket.
He could have told us this earlier and maybe offered a free drink or something.
This was my first time here and after hearing all about it, don’t see what all the talk is about, nice setting, menu sounds nice but disappointed with the taste, presentation and let down in service.

Staff seemed very young who just seemed to be walking around all the time, no leadership in front of house, who was the maitred d?

Don’t know if I’ll be back, won’t be in a hurry anyway. Maybe they were too busy to cope but lots of empty seats and turning people away????
Thank you Connor, this is no reflection of your service.

by Apollo
16th February 2012

This place is alright, I wouldn’t hurry back unless I couldn’t get in anywhere else.

BUT as a bar I think it is excellent! Inviting, relaxing and not like an old man’s pub. Gorgeous setting, lovely gardens. Actually I would go back for a wine on a summers day.

Service was friendly but a bit all over the place, both times I went recently there were not enough front of house staff on. They really did their best in a tough situation and were friendly and kept their cool (just not there much). If they had more staff on they would make more sales by checking up on drinks, desserts, starters etc.

Food is average on the whole. Brought in hollandaise, cold hashbrown, greasy nasi goreng. Under seasoned. Could have been worse, could have been better.

by heather n.
26th November 2011

26/11/11
Today we decided to lunch again at the vicarage.
We live locally and in the past I have to say that the food here has always been a bit of a disappointment, so much so that we were reluctant to come back.
Well this time we noticed some changes the ambiance was superb and the wait staff attentive.
The improvements made where great.
However the food was again a real let down, it was such a shame!
My husband & I decided to have a main each which cost in the $20-$30 range and a medium priced Sav Blanc $ $20-$30
I ordered the Chili & Lime prawns with salad & my Husband had Blue Cod & chips with salad.
The prawns were tasty enough but the salad looked like it had been made yesterday and refrigerated, it was over dressed and wilted and the avocado was browning and very cold to taste. It also had corn chips broken and sprinkled over the top of the salad… (What were they thinking?)
My Husbands meal was very tasty the Cod was delicious but again the side salad was taken from the same bin in the fridge as mine!
We did mention our concerns to the waitress when she returned to ask us how our meals were.
She said that she would pass our comments on to the chef.
Please let it be known that we are uncomfortable with complaining but we also expect value for $ spent.
In total we spent approx. $80.00 on lunch and when you consider we spent the same last week at Edessa there is just no comparison. How hard is it to make a fresh salad?
Please, please get your act together regarding your chef…have some pride in what you present to you customers.
I have the the sad feeling that it’s all about the profit with the Vicarage, and not about the food & food presentation, do you want to be a bistro or a restaurant?
You have such potential but your food is letting you down, the menu is fine but quite frankly I could produce your menu to a better standard from my home.
Regards Heather Nielsen.

by Karen M.
13th September 2011

We have eaten at this restaurant on a number of occasions, but today will cast doubt over whether I will return. Waiting staff were great. We started with the garlic bread which was nice, my partner had the pasta which he said was tasty. I have had this dish before and it was lovely but decided to try something different. I had the Falafel Burger, the falafel was extremely dry and so crumbly I could hardly keep it on my fork, it was served with aioli, lettuce, tomato on a caibbata bun, there was a side salad with no dressing and a pile of seasoned wedges the seasoning looked and tasted like chicken stock. The burger may have been improved with some chutney or relish

by Annie
22nd August 2011

Eight people really disappointed with our meal – chicken was dry; duck was dry; steaks tough and inedible; veges obviously reheated in microwave. Eton Mess wasn’t an eton mess and brulee was runny. Service was poor and clumsy. Never again. About 8 yrs ago it was good – but no longer.

by Karyn P.
3rd August 2011

I have been to the Old Vicarage at least 8 times,and each time it has been getting worse, the last time was today with my husband and I for lunch, and the time before that there were 8 of us for dinner. We were all disappointed with our meal at dinner and our lunch today. Martin had the seafood chowder which did not look great. We have been to other restaurants where the chowders have been visibly appealing, eg the mussels etc are in their shells. This looked like very runny mashed potatoes. It tasted of fish, but not appetising to look at. It didn’t come with any bread etc. I had the goats cheese won-tons, with chilli sauce. The won-tons were over cooked, ( too brown), but tasty because of the chilli sauce. For our main meal Martin had the chicken and mushroom filo pasty, with salad. I didn’t taste it but he said it was OK, he had tasted better. I had the the Chicken open sandwich with chutney, cheese, bacon, tomato and barbeque sauce, on fochia bread, with fries and salad. The open sandwich was dry, with a tiny bit of chutney, the cheese hadn’t melted and the bread was very chewy. Didn’t see any barbeque sauce. There were hardly any fries and the salad was just green leaves, no other vegetables were in the salad to add colour or flavour. I didn’t taste any dressing either. We get the entertainment book and we noted they weren’t in it. The waitress said that the restaurant was so popular that they didn’t need to put themselves in it this year. Come on Christchurch this restaurant can do much better, the atmosphere is good, but they need to do better with their food. It is my local and I have given them a lot of chances, I will not be going back.

by sarah
27th April 2010

service was excellent, food delicious and fantastic wine. we had the lamb and beef for mains and garlic bread to start – all were perfectly cooked and delicious. we will be back

by Dorothy
8th September 2009

Don’t go to this restaurant unless you have a lot of free time. We have eaten there twice and found the long waiting time unjustifiable.

by Tom
31st July 2009

The excellent food was let down by cold atmosphere,place needs to be warmed in advance. A lot of your diners will be elderly and need a warm environ.I also suggest the music level is set to the customers requirements not what the staff want.Music should be background not dominating.

by Todd Johnson
13th July 2009

Held a group dinner for 20 people. Good staff meant the service was excellent.A great selection of dishes cooked to perfection and good wine selection made this an occasion that will be remembered for years to come.
We know you will enjoy this as much as us.

by Jo Phillips
19th January 2009

Myself and 4 other friends had lunch at the Vicarage on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. The service was the best we have had anywhere for a very long time. The meal was lovely and the dessert divine. We will definitely be back.

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