hamilton gardens cafe

18 minutes in line to order. that’s okay it’s probably good. ordered 2 cooked meals and 5 items from the case plus a flat white, hot chocolate, milkshake and oj. (4 people) included was a cheese scone. there were 2 on display and the cashier physically checked all of the previous orders ‘to make sure one was available’. it was.
oj was not fresh but came in bottle from fridge.
went to table.
coffee (very good) arrived immediately. asked server for glass for oj.
7 minutes...cashier arrives to inform that the scones had sold out and requesting another choice. when this offer was declined cashier quite rudely agreed to give a refund. (when the refund arrived it was slapped on thetableand there was no recompense for the extra butter that had been charged)
after 8 minutes the first hot meal arrived. asked again for glass. told to go and get one from the water cooler. hmmm.
1 more minute the next hot meal arrived.
4 minutes later, the milkshake and the got chocolate.
hot food almost eaten and we went up to ask where the salmon tart, the brownie and the other case food was. and there it was lined up on the bench behind the counter. told
... it will be out immediately.
joke.
poor male server swings past with a huge smile to ask if we were enjoying our meals?
he certainly did not expect a resounding no!!!
poor guy runs away and after another 5 minutes the food that could have been served first finally arrives. brought out by the unsmiling cashier who clearly regarded the debacle as our fault.
no suggestion of an apology or any sign of gracious behaviour.
the next time i come to hamilton gardens i will buy my food at couplands bakery in te rapa and eat from a brown paper bag.
a hugely pretentious and expensive disappointment.

amazing brunch out with my hubby! the lemon polenta cake was my favourite! my hubby loves his blat so much that i didn’t even have enough time to get a photo of it. he also enjoyed his savoury scone. my only thought is with the banana choc chip muffin was good but wasn’t sweet enough for my taste sadly. the staff were very helpful in cleaning tables quickly and it was good they informed us when they ran out of tables. we only had to wait three mins to get atableand then the ambience was lovely. looking forward to coming back.

popped in for a quick coffee before looking around the gardens - the drink itself was nice enough, but the service was incredibly unfriendly!!  

my lactose-free friend asked for almond milk but was told there was only soy available - something she's pretty used to, but this information is usually given with a smile and an apology, not a flat "no" with an equally flat expression.
i had a couple of queries about the drinks menu, all of which were responded to tersely.  when i ordered a regular size latte (as was advertised on their board, which i pointed out) i was told that actually no, there was only one size available.

the worst came when our drinks arrived and my friend asked for a side of hot water with her tea - this was followed by an audible sigh, and our waitress walked off - we could only assume to get the hot water as opposed to just walking off completely.  to her credit, she did bring back the water a few minutes later, which was plonked on thetablein front of us without a word.

the food would have to be pretty spectacular to prompt me to return again, as opposed to just bringing my own picnic to enjoy in the gardens...

we went for a walk in the beautiful hamilton gardens. which i must say are very well maintained and the reason for me giving the cafe a rating of 2.0. the surroundings of the cafe are exceptional. unfortunately, that is about the nicest things i can say of the cafe. admittedly we didn't eat anything, as we reached at 1450 hours and the kitchen was closed. the selection in the cold cabinet looked average. the coffee and the tea we ordered was passable. but what really did not impress me was the staff. they weren't rude but just indifferent. like when the waitress served the coffee, she reached over my baby and tried to give it to me. hmmmm she could have walked around the table! same when thetablebehind was being served she just tried to squeeze through not once but three times. no excuse me or sorry. and i am not talking about the same waitress! maybe i am being pedantic but i won't be recommending it to anyone!

edited 31/5: probably worth revising, as it seems we were really unlucky that first time. been there a few more times subsequently, and the food and service was much improved.

gorgeous surroundings, but the food and service was rather lacklustre. it’s a pity, really, because you would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful place for a cafe setting in hamilton city – the gardens themselves are lovely and well worth a visit in and of themselves. to start with, the dishes were cleared from tables very, very slowly. everyone just ended up having to clear their own tables and dump the dishes onto a neighbouring emptytablebefore seating themselves. to be fair, though, the staff were probably struggling as they appeared to be pretty short-handed, so i would probably fault the establishment for this, not the waiters themselves.

had lunch here today, at frist glance there's a good selection of savory options, i chose the chicken roulard which arrived at thetablequickly, served with salad and a beetroot relish. it wasn't warmed through enough but was tasty. i was served a small coffee when i requested a larged, which i queried and was told "no she put it through as a small" no suggestion of changing it.. oh well it was a good coffee anyway. overall lunch was pleasant, service was lacking a little but wonderful surroundings.

this is a very busy cafe' situated in a beautiful spot in hamilton city. i don't think the cafe did itself any favours by furnishing the outdoors area with cheap looking furniture. that made the dining area appear more shabby than it is. ourtablerocked on an uneven surface.
the food bar selection is great. i ordered my meal from the menu and was presented with a tasty eggs benedict on a hash brown. for the price that i paid ($20) i expected to get at least a salad on the side or is that asking too much. it was warm and so was the coffee. cold water is offered free of charge.
the service was friendly and efficient.

went to the garden terrace restaurant on a saturday, for the first and last time, for my mother’s birthday lunch.

the wine list was limited with approx 7 wines in total. we ordered the pinot gris after a while was told it was not in stock, we then ordered the sauvignon blanc and once again after a while was told that was not in stock either – this left 3 white wines to choose from, we asked if either of the chardonnays were unoaked - the waitress had no idea meanwhile a beer was ordered and none of that was in stock either! the restaurant should have let us know before we ordered what wines / beers were available or printed up to date drinks menu or gone and bought the wine we ordered so as not to let the customer down.

when i spoke to the manager – she was very rude and said it was my fault for not pre-ordering the wine (the wine list is not advertised anywhere and it is not up to the customer to know what is / is not in stock). not getting any of the wine/beer that thetablewanted upset my mum and spoiled her birthday lunch and as the manager was not prepared to do anything i asked if she could apologise to my mum for the upset on her birthday. the manager said she would apologise but did not – we left not at all happy with the experience.

the food was very average at best – nothing special but edible. not what is advertised: “experience the culinary delights of a mouth-watering seasonal menu in our fully licensed restaurant.”