cobb & co. rotorua

hubby and i were visiting rotorua and came across this classic bar and grill (seeing as we are from auckland we hadn't seen one in quite sometime) so we just walked in and even though they were fully booked the most polite hostess assured us a table within 30mins so we were kindly asked to wait in the bar area. not too long later we were called to a table and served straight away but another very polite waitress. she took our order promptly and within a few minutes we were already served our starter. we had the buffalo wings (not so big but still yummy) and soon after our mains came to the table. both hubby and i had the rump steak. cooked to perfection and the mushroom sauce was so delicious. we looked over at our neighbors dishes and they hadorderedthe ribs which looked amazing and huge! (must try next time. we really enjoyed our meals and they were super filling. would totally recommend this iconic restaurant. if i had to point out any flaws it would only be the presentation of our steak meals however all the other dishes we saw looked pretty good to us. thumbs up cobb & co. rotorua. your service was exceptional.

i've never been to cobb & co in its heyday in the 90's so i was super excited to go. i went to cobb & co in july last year and came back raving it so dragged the bf back to cobb & co over the easter weekend. the experience over the easter was pretty disappointing compared to my first time and the bf, who's also never been to a cobb & co, came out with an underwhelmed "is that it?".

the restaurant seemed very understaffed for a busy holiday weekend with only one waitress, who's often nowhere to be found. weordereda roast, ribs, a chicken blt burger and a cobb loaf. the roast was mediocre, about the same quality as you'd get from a retirement home. the ribs were pretty good, but then again it seems like rotorua is a town that really knows how to do ribs. the cobb loaf took forever to arrive and what should have been a starter ended up as a dessert. not gonna lie, the cobb loaf was probably the only thing that keeps me coming back.

we weren't told of a public holiday surcharge of 15% until we paid (seriously, who does that these days?!), then there's a surcharge on credit card payments! surcharge on surcharge should be made illegal.

i haveorderedthe roast meal twice and both times the vegetables have been hard as a rock. the pork tastes like its been frozen. the broccoli and cauliflower wouldn't even cut with my knife. i onlyorderedthe roast because the deli roast was closed. extremely over priced bland food. how hard is it to cook vegetables properly? omg! 🤦‍♀️

had a lovley meal at this restaurant i recommend the apricot chicken, very filling , my partnerorderedthe lamb rump steak which was lovely we both had salad in our meals and we didnt enjoy the salad dressing. the only disappointing thing was how very little the portion size of the hot chips was, for the price you pay for. the chips were served in this tiny basket dont be fooled by the image i have included to this review as this is a close up shot. the service was ok.

i am a little disappointed at the outcome of the meals i ordered, iorderedthe roast meal, it came cold and mostly chewy fat. the staff were nice but took a very long time when we were ready to be served and when we were ready to pay. i believe that for over $100 worth of food the meals were horrible. not to happy on my side.

we are actually looking for a different kind of lunch in rotorua, we normally go to good old fast food places. weorderedthe fettuccini with chicken and bacon, southern smoked ribs with fries. the fettuccini was really cheesy and tasty while the ribs are great with their homemade sauce. although the ribs has a bit less meat but still “sweet as”. we alsoorderedchocolate sundae which is alot for one and potato wedges which is too much after finishing the ribs.

came here from auckland and i had never been!
food - the ribs were ok not the best i have tasted and a bit overpriced compared to how tasty it was.

iorderedthe apricot chicken with baked potato (with sour cream) and salad and a side of mushroom sauce
pro’s - would definitely come back here only for the mushroom sauce it was the best thing iorderedand the salad was dressed well also which was nice.
cons - i didn’t like the baked potato i think mash would go better with the dish.
chicken was ok but probably not order it again.

ambience -
this place is definitely family friendly there is a game space the kids can play in until the meals arrived and the waitresses were always smiling and really friendly to the kids which is so nice. the desserts were ok i loved the chocolate cake.

my review is based on the service, whether it was family friendly and how quick the food arrived (under 30mins and it was a full house!) if anything was wrong with the above i would of given a 3

we decided to grab something to eat for lunch early on a monday afternoon on our way up the coast. the warmly lit, homely atmosphere reflected in both the type of food and the interactions with the wonderful service staff.

the menu consisted of a number of roast, steak seafood and pasta meals - what you would expect at any other family restaurant. iorderedthe fettuccine and decided to try the sniztchel. the fettuccine was delicious. creamy with a slight tomato tang and delicate cheese slices melted ontop. the beef schizchel was less impressive. although well cooked, the mix of bacon, beef slices, the choice of cheese was a strange combination.

portions i'd tasted of my friends' meals ranged from excellent to pretty good. none of the meals were bad, although a few meals were just ok.

the service staff were friendly, warm and very accommodating. this place is perfect to take the family out to dinner, while still maintaing a home-cooked, family atmosphere. we came for a meal, we'd come again for the service.

2nd time at this place and i must say i was extremely disappointed and disgusted with the food and service. we had made reservations and got there on time and had to wait 40 minutes for them to get our table ready which means they hadn't even reserved our table. we finally got seated. the waiter came an additional 15 mins later weorderedthe buffalo wings. nothing special with taste and took 45 mins to come out. the waiter then came back to check on our food and weorderedmains. we then waited nearly 1 and a half hours for our food !!!!! the whole time our waiter never brought us water or asked if we would like anything else to drink. my partner finally went to the bar andorderedsome water and a drink which came out 20 mins later just as our mains came out after our long wait. i got the prawn and parmesan steak medium with mash. it came out luke warm. the steak was absolutely murdered and was overdone and dry, prawns over cooked and it came with chips not mash. yuck! my partnerorderedthe ribs medium size and half of them were burnt and didn't fall off the bone like it should, his mash was yuck and luke warm. i am disgusted that we paid 86$ for shit service and food. will never be back. the last time we were here we couldn't wait to come back but now we will
never be back. we got our drinks paid for from them for the long wait to be seated but this does not make up for our money spent and time wasted at this place. i know they were busy but if you are going to charge that much jesus! work it out. offer discounts when customers aren't happy. check on them every once and a while and learn some customer service! total disappointment!!!!

a childhood classic full of nostalgia! the staff were friendly and service was quick. there were plenty of options on the menu (including old favourites!). iorderedthe hoover hogg which was nice but unfortunately the crackle wasn't crispy at all. the absolute highlight of my meal was the sticky date pudding - hands down the best i've ever had in my life. big call i know, but so so good!