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Reviews for Roma:the Grand Fire

by Jocelyn
3rd August 2012

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I signed up to MenuMania just so I could place this review. Simply fantastic! My only complaint is that I do not know the name of our host and waitress so that I can thank them personally in this review. We dined there tonight for my 30th birthday, took my 2 boys with us (3 and 4 years old). Our host was so kind and quickly organised a nice simple dinner of chicken chips and chips for the kids so they didn’t have to wait too long for dinner. He then took the kids to the cellar for a lolly hunt and they came back with handfuls of lollies! (2 very happy little boys). Our waitress also brought out books, paper and crayons to keep the kids entertained. On top of that the food was fantastic, all cooked so well and absolutely delicious. We really enjoyed the buffet style of dining and the excitement of not knowing what was coming next! Will definitely be returning.

by Alex D.
10th March 2013

Went out to dinner at Roma last night and had a great time! The service was very friendly and attentive – noticing that one of us wasn’t happy with the dressing on the salad and quickly bringing out another one sans dressing. Throughout the evening all the staff were exceptional at providing service.

The food on offer was all very tasty, with a a large variety of different meats and flavours being showcased – the spicy prawns were definitely our favourite. The flat rate for dinner is good value for money in terms of all the different flavours and amount of food offered. The dinner experience is well suited to more carnivorous diners though, not a problem for me!

I will definitely be recommending it to my friends and family!

Comment from Anne B. of Roma:the Grand Fire 11/03/2013    Hide »

Alex, thankyou for taking the time to pass on your favorable…    More »

Alex, thankyou for taking the time to pass on your favorable comments, they are very much appreciated by all of us here at Roma.
We are in the process of adjusting the ‘carnivorous’ nature of the meal. These changes will be occurring withing the next 2 weeks.
Many thanks Anne– Owner

by Karen F.
12th February 2013

Went to Roma for lunch recently to take a friend for a birthday treat and we had a great time sitting in the sun outside drinking lovely wine. The service was polite and food delivery very prompt, and prices were great. However, the meal I ordered (red Thai curry with bread) tasted like watery, over sauced, tandoori chicken -minus the bread. I could barely eat the meal as it was so unappealing in flavour. My friend whose birthday it was fared better, with an open chicken sandwich, but her bacon was half raw and her chips came minus the advertised aoli. We were not asked how our meals were at any time unfortunately. Could have been a really nice meal as the setting and staff were good. A bit disappointing – hope the restaurant lifts its game in future.

Comment from Anne B. of Roma:the Grand Fire 13/02/2013    Hide »

Good morning, Karen, I am Anne the owner of Roma. I am sorry we…    More »

Good morning, Karen, I am Anne the owner of Roma.
I am sorry we did not provide the service to you, and did not recognise your disappointment.
I have addressed this with the staff this morning.
The Thai Curry, has had amazing feedback, I am sorry it wasn’t to your liking, it does not come with bread.
The Chicken Salad, has Aoli, on the sandwich, not with the fries. But in saying this, had we ‘meal checked’ you, we could have easily brought out some bread and Aoli.
Thank you for the feedback, it help improve our service.
Regards
Anne

by Kate M.
20th January 2013

Ate at Roma last night. Had The Grand Fire which actually was appalling food. I would not ever eat there again. First up were breads which were a single thin slice of fried French bread per person with a very oily garlicky sauce. Next were the Tapas which were dried out, over fried meat balls, bland stuffed mushrooms and another slice of fried bread. Next came the vegetables – over cooked broccoli and carrots with a bowl of fried potatoes. After a lengthy wait came the meats, one by one, with long waits in between – carved off the skewer at the table. If you were unlucky enough to get the outside pieces, they were inedible, simply pure hard charcoal. The meats were all overdone and the pork belly disgustingly dripping with fat. Once all the meats had come and gone, there appeared some gravy. The fish was then offered from a plate brought round by a waitress with a hugely annoying sickly sing songy voice. We were then offered calamari and shrimp but a very mean selection (small plate for a table of 8.) The idea is you can eat all you want but this was not encouraged. We were told we had gone through the menu and begrudgingly they came back with another slice of lamb and one chicken piece for the table. It took three hours to endure this terrible food, terrible service and they charged 35.00 a head for the pleasure.

Comment from Anne B. of Roma:the Grand Fire 13/02/2013    Hide »

Good morning Kate, It is disappointing to read your review. I do…    More »

Good morning Kate, It is disappointing to read your review.
I do however need to correct several statements made.
The only dish on our menu, that is deep fried, is the Calamari.
We are not ‘ All you can Eat”— no where do we advertise as such.
I have reviewed the video footage of the evening in question, as your statement were so distressing.
Many of your statements are inaccurate and exaggerated.
Your timeframes, and food items delivered are inaccurate.
I have had discussions with the staff. At no stage, did you or your group express disatisfaction. Both staff members were surprised and dismayed.
Our staff also ask when the account is being paid, ‘if you enjoyed your evening’, again, there was no indication of your disappointment.
This is another opportunity for you to communicate your displeasure with us. To give us the opportunity to ‘put things right’. You chose not to do this.
The Head Chef, is also the owner of the business, he was in the kitchen that evening. He does not send out substandard food. We are passionate about our business, and it distresses us that you chose to be faceless in this situation, and use the ‘power of the pen’.
It is also disappointing that you chose to make personal comments regarding a staff member, she is now a member of the NZ Police Force.
She always offered amazing service, and is a valued member of our team, your comments were personal and offensive.
There are times when we are unable to meet expectations, and for this we apologise.
If you wish to contact me, I am available at the restaurant, I would appreciate having a discussion with you.
Kind Regards
Anne

by Teresa F.
11th December 2012

Love it here, great food, great atmosphere, great service. Have been a few times now and will go more often…..

Thanks Roma for the great food

Comment from Anne B. of Roma:the Grand Fire 12/12/2012    Hide »

Thank you Terehia, we very much appreciate you taking the time to…    More »

Thank you Terehia, we very much appreciate you taking the time to express your satisfaction.
I will pass this onto the staff, as they appreciate the compliments, as much as we. Thank you

by John
16th August 2012

This place is excellent for lunch. $15 for a nice quick lunch will have you going back. Really friendly owner as well.

by Fiona M.
15th August 2012

Having said that after our first visit to this version of Roma that we would not be back, we went back…….Anne very kindly sent us 4 meal vouchers to use. We, along with another couple went to Roma last Saturday night. The food was certainly better than the previous visit but what really was the stand out feature of the evening was the service – excellent. The front of house manager is lovely & very professional & the young waitress from Pahiatua is an absolute star, given the right training she will be a ‘hospo’ star. Thanks for a nice Anne.

by Mandy
1st March 2012

After dining at Roma Recently I decided I should write this review! It was Outstanding!!! The staff was so friendly and helpful, John and Laura did really well, and The food was great, I love the idea of the meat is served, There was heaps of variety Lamb, Pork, Chicken, Beef and the Best Squid I have ever tasted!!! The antipasto that you get to start off with was delightful!! had lots of breads and dips and a whole lot goodies!!

I highly recommend Roma to anyone and have told all my friends about this restaurant

by Chelsey
11th January 2012

Went to Roma Restaurant for dinner for my 21st birthday. Absolutely loved it, food was great, delicious garlic bread. Was given a bottle of lindauer fraise from the waitress to celebrate. Lovely waitress, very attentative and was always checking that we were alright. We also bought our own bottle of wine and the waitress immediately bought over a wine cooler for us. Lovely restaurant, will definitely go back again.

by Maarten B.
19th December 2011

good food, large portions

friendly staff

nice atmosphere

they will see us again!

thanks

by Petita
15th September 2011

Good food, tick; good service, tick; lovely ambiance, tick. Will definitely come again!

by lovelight
6th September 2011

my friend suggested we eat here as she was on a budget. lovely surroundings, excellent service, delicious food! we had the lunch special which u get a main meal, and a glass of wine for $15. I looooove this place and i have been back 3 times over a period of a month. see u soon my friend! lol

by Siobhan F.
5th September 2011

service was excellent and the food was good

by What?
3rd August 2011

I ate at Roma tonight based on the reviews here, and have to say that I was a little disappointed.
Eye Fillet steak was a little bland, and not a great piece of meat. The chef did a good job with it, but silk purses come not from sows ears. Veges were over-salted. The meal was reasonably priced, though, and quite filling.
The atmosphere was OK, but that’s all I could say about it.
And WHY, OH WHY do so many restaurants insist on serving hot food on cold plates? Come on guys, a minute in the microwave to warm the plate makes a massive difference.

by jo
17th February 2011

We visited Roma on 15 January having been given a complimentary voucher by the owner Anne Bragg.
We started with the Bread Selection, Garlic Pita and one dozen oysters for the three of us. Delicious!
Our main courses were the Beef Fillet medium rare, Fish of the day and the Venison, perfect with the Ohau Gravels Sauvignon Blanc.
To follow we shared the Panna Cotta and the Apple crumble, yum.
The presentation was superb and the wait staff were charming and attentive. Would thoroughly recommend Roma to everyone.
Thank you Anne.

by Nicole R.
14th December 2010

Had a very nice dinner here with good service. The Ostrich was very nice

by L
21st October 2010

Had dinner at Roma for the first time, nice romantic atmosphere. The service was great, the waitress’s were always attentive and smiling. The food was good as well, however thought it was quite pricey for Pasta, I’ve had pasta just as good as this in town for half the price. The wait was also a little long considering there were less than 10 people dining.

by Joanne H.
4th October 2010

I recently dined at Roma with a friend and was very impressed. Our waitress was very attentive and polite. We ordered bread and dips to start, which was the perfect amount for two and very tasty. For my main I had steak on bacon and brie mash with bearnaise sauce and topped with an onion bahji. It was divine. My friend had pork belly, which he was very happy with. We shared cheesecake for dessert. A great evening, nice atmosphere and not too expensive. I’ll definitely be going back.

by JOHN
7th January 2010

just had a lovely rissotto for lunch and the waitress with the nice smile provided excellent service.I’ll be back soon

by Paula B.
13th October 2009

After returning to Roma (thank you for the invite to come back to try Roma again), I have to say the food has come along in leaps and bounds! This time the service was great, and the food…WOW. I got the pork belly risotto and it was the BEST I have EVER had. I have had a craving for it every day since we went! My husband tried the Ostrich and thought it was really good as well. To the owner of Roma, next time the pork belly risotto is on the menu please let me know as we would love to bring some friends along to try it! A++

by Lis
4th February 2009

What a gem of a restaurant.
Found it quite by chance, and we are hooked.
Waitress was busy, but very attentive, and wonderful.
Food was excellent, obviously a very happy crew that work there, can be viewed through the open servery.
A great atmosphere, fantastic staff, and food superb.
We will be back.

by Kelly Bennett
22nd January 2009

The restaurant was below average. The waitresses were more intent on chatting to each other than looking after us. I ordered the seafood polenta and rocket. No rocket and the polenta was deep fried! The scallops still had roe on and the prawns were shrivelled shrimps! No lime as promised and a cream sauce in its place. The pasta dishes that my friends had seemed nice but the desert again disappointed. The ambiance was lacking to say the least! With the kitchen letting their wait staff know that food was ready with a bell that made it feel more like a corner dairy than a “fine dining” restaurant! In one word disappointing!

by Emma
9th October 2008

Awesome food, friendly service. All round just a fantastic evening. Highly recommended.

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