gustav's

it was my sister's 40th birthday and we went with a group of 13 ladies for lunch. our wines all arrived at different times and it took ages for our meals to arrive. i had ravioli and although it was nice, the portion was very small - more an entrée size. the waitress had no idea who ordered what and had to ask everytimethat she brought something out. the food all came at different times and some people had finished by thetimeothers got theirs. the worst part and the bit that upsets me the most is that my sister's friend had someone make a birthday cake and gustovs charged us $2.50 ea person to have a piece of the cake that we supplied. so the person that had the cake made had to pay for that and for 13 of us to have a piece. this i feel is shameful as we all ordered wine and food and embarrassed my sister on her special day. none of us will return.

i like this place a lot, disappointed the tapa menu is gone (was great lasttimei ventured over this side of town). woolston platter nice, but needed spreads and more bread for $30 but nice all the same. service very good can't fault nice people. i will be back.

went for dinner last night and was very disappointed. originally booked wine bar but our guests wanted to try the kitchen - were told very bluntly that we couldn't eat off the kitchen menu in the wine bar so we asked to move. ordered duck, steak and pork belly - they'd run out of lamb. steak and duck were ok but nothing to get excited about. pork belly was ok but crackling was cold. our side dishes were forgotten and after waiting ages we had to go and ask the waitress. so they arrived as we were finishing our mains. yorkshire puddings were cold, hard and inedible, potato lyonnaise was greasy and unappealing. we complained about the food and after sometimewere offered a free dessert - we hadn't enjoyed the main so why would order a dessert?? 2 waitresses - neither were attentive or particularly helpful - one was obviously over-stretched and really didn't look like she was enjoying her job. no sign of chef or manager to attend to our complaint. poor food, poor customer service. will definitely not eat there again.

went here for a late lunch today after hearing some nice things. told to sit at the table for two by the door which was "pointed" out to us. we went and seated ourselves and like the little girl on the world vision ad - we waited ... after approx 15 mins could've been more we tired of waiting on a waiter or even the maitre d to acknowledge our presence we walked out, past the afore mentioned maitre d and another staff member who had been standing having a lovely old chat behind the bar. they didn't even acknowledge we were there or that we were walking out for obvious reasons.
wouldn't waste mytimegoing back there.
however we did lunch at the brewery next door as we often do and the service there was as always fantastic along with the atmosphere and food. when we discussed our dilemma we were advised they had been busy due to the public holiday. yes the brewery was still humming but gustav's was not!
#dissappointed #notrated #dontgothere hannah falconer

seated reasonably quickly then sat for 5 mins before being asked if we wanted the menu !!! no offer of a drink until we flagged down the waitress. waitress was not educated in what the menu item actually was so we ordered badly .luckily a more mature waiter was able to halt the order and so we were saved.the meal took 85 mins to come. we were then offered water !!! hot drinks we were advised came from"down the walk way and no settimeas to when we would get them
the meal itself was ok but we wolfed it down as by then we were hungry so not a pleasant experience.
won't be returning

my wife and i plus another couple visited gustavs kitchen between christmas 2013 and new year for dinner. i was reluctant given some of the reviews i had read regarding this establishment.
all i can say is that all four of us were extremely impressed with both the service and the food. i consider myself to be a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to preparation and cooking of steak. the slow cooked aged steak i had that night was without a doubt the best i have ever experienced in my life, my wife and friends felt the same about their meals.
the service was exemplary. our waitress, anne marie, could not have been more attentive, friendly, or helpful. following our meal we moved through to the bar area and enjoyed our evening further with a couple of cocktails, ports and coffee, still experiencing the professional friendly service that we enjoyed in the restaurant.
i suggest to those who taketimeto read the reviews on this site prior to deciding whether or not to dine at gustav's, that you visit and experience the service and food for yourself. our party will most certainly be returning to gustav's and we will be telling our friends of our experience and recommending that they also visit.

as a much talked about new venue in christchurch we were pretty excited to be going for lunch, mid december.
arrived and waited around the end of the bar as there was a till there and seemed to also be the area where the staff were congregating.
there was 4 of us and after being passed several times by staff we wondered what we were to do as nobody acknowledged us.
there were 2 waitresses behind the bar in deep discussion and eventually we caught the eye of one of them.
she held up a finger to indicate hang on. which we did.
eventually they split with one going one way and the other sailed right past us without a word.
there were some random menus on the counter so we thought, what the hey, grabbed them and took a seat!
after viewing the menu we felt the choices looked good so then waited for table service. this took 12 minutes before we had the company of a waitress and this was because one rob went to the bar to get service.
eventually we were served our drinks but then it was another long wait - 17 minutes before our orders were taken.
after about 20 minutes a waitress came back to say they had run out of 2 of the dishes we had chosen.
by now we were wondering if we were in some kind of comedy or something!
during this time, no water was poured, or offered, and our drinks were not refreshed.
amateur hour in abundance.
we saw some waitresses working very hard and also some spending plenty oftimebehind the bar ignoring customers!!
our meals arrived after about a 50 minute wait and by thistimewe had finished our drinks but not asked if we wanted more.
decided not to have dessert as just too painful to go through all that again.
gustavs is a nice place but is strongly let down by the staff, their lack of expertise, training and attention to customer detail.
it looked to us as if they were understaffed and as previous reviewers have stated, they need a leader/front of house manager.
overall they could have made a lot more money out of us with a little more attention to the customer and our needs.

not a pleasant experience

on a wet friday lunchtimewe took friends from london (uk) to show them the wonderful and exciting tannery shopping centre and decided to have lunch at gustav’s kitchen and wine bar. we had to wait as it was very busy and were finally seated but we were abandoned without menus or even an enquiry if we required drinks. we gave up waiting and went to the bar to order drinks but were told we could not order at the bar and would have to wait until someone served us! eventually a waitress arrived to take our food order and realised that we had not been given menus so left to get some. we stopped her and asked if we could place our drinks order with her as we knew what we required. drinks arrived and she advised the lunch menu had been sold out and gave us the bar food snack menus (she could only find 4 menus - for party of 6!!).
food arrived but minus one meal and with no explanation why all 6 snacks were not served together. another waitress came and said they had sold out of the choice of the missing meal so that guest made a 2nd request. sometime later a 3rd waiter came out and advised that that choice had now also sold out! having made his 3rd choice it finally arrived but the rest of us had almost finished our food. the snacks were tasty however my choice of pork gordita was warm pork served on a cold stainless steel platter!
after we finished our ‘bar snacks’ we decided to leave as although the table behind us was offered the deserts menu we were not offered this service and neither were we offered coffee or even refills of our drinks.
such a nice environment but so disappointing to have such a bad experience and embarrassing for overseas visitors.

had good expectations, even though word about town seems to be divided over gustav's: many people very positive, but many less so, with this mainly relating to service. our booking was for 8-30pm - as the restaurant was busy earlier in the evening. arriving at the agreed time, our table was not immediately available for us, so we were directed to the bar. sure - that's fine too. no one came to tell us if our table was ready, so we eventually moved through to it anyway. we settled in, enjoyed our wine (huge range of wines available) and ordered - but by thetimeour mains came out an hour or so later, there was a feeling at this later stage of the evening, that the restaurant overall had started to run out of steam - service was pretty average, and several items on the menu were no longer available. food was ok - though my choice of kai moana as a main was not wise, as the contents of the hotpot were pretty minimal - would have made a good entre. for some reason, the dessert options are not listed in the menu or written down anywhere else - so it requires the wait-staff to continually repeat the options as they moved around our group of diners, and for the diners to have a good memory. then there was a pretty lengthy wait for the said desserts to actually turn up - meanwhile other staff are by now making obvious 'cleaning up for the night' noises around us...not very hospitable, from a restaurant whose decor and prices are positioning themselves as a 'high end' dining experience. wouldn't be rushing to go back....

perhaps the food is nice - we never got a chance to find out. we were seated with a menu, the waitress came to introduce herself and pour the water - a good start, but instead of the customary "are you ready to order?" (which we were) we got "i'll let you look at the menu a bit longer" and she went away. and never came back. after a longtimesomeone else came and apologised for the wait as the waitress was busy - 3 tables had arrived close together. then a further very long wait. then we caught her eye and finally she arrived to take the order. and then... yes one of the dishes we wanted was not available and no-one had bothered to take it off the menu or warn us before we ordered. at this point we walked out to seek food elsewhere. no point offering a nice handwritten menu if the customers can't get served!
pat mcintosh.

i had lunch at this establishment today.
in short i have worked in a few restaurants in my day and i feel this one came in well under par today.
i ordered a steak turned up after 35 minute wait on table only warm. cooked to order but steak was presented on small plate on top of a pile of french fries.
had to ask for a bigger plate.
in mytimeat table i had a drink order turn up which was not mine and one food order the same.
much work to do here but very nice setting.

visited gustav's kitchen for the firsttimetoday for lunch, with family. very friendly greeting by staff. loved the decor and lighting. table setting was very good with an uncluttered feel. all meals were simply delicious. loved the very extensive wine list. wait staff were very friendly and our service was excellent. a must for our next visit to christchurch.

crapola maximus. lousy abrupt staff, a very long wait for our meals, had to ask for both water and a drink which also took a longtimeto arrive, very average food including bland arancini.a most disappointing experience especially as we enjoy the brewery and were looking forward to gustavs.

came for lunch on monday with my mother.

we were both immediately impressed with the decor and ambiance of gustav's. the wooden tables, copper beer taps and slightly art deco style bar back mirror are lovely and although a large venue the feeling is relatively intimate.

we especially liked the fact that the chairs have arms on them. a small detail i know but important to comfort levels.

the wine list by the glass is extensive and it is so refreshing to go somewhere that offers a selection of different varietals and not just the standard chardonnay, sav blanc and pinot gris! the waiter we had was knowledgeable about the list and suggested a few different options for my second glass, also happy to offer tastes.

the food was prompt and delicious. we shared a variety of tapas. the baked mushrooms with goats cheese has convinced me that i am actually a fan of mushrooms when done as well as that.
the pork tacos were tasty, the slow cocked pork tender and succulent and the corn tortillas had a good rich flavor. the only small note was that perhaps less filling would make them slightly easier and more delicate to eat.
the chicken karaage was juicy and flavorsome and the fries were some of the best i have had in a long time. crisp, salty and moorish.

service was very helpful and friendly.

all in all a great lunchtimeexperience and a venue i recommend and shall be back to soon.