New Zealand Herald

Reviews for theBay restaurant & Hebron Road Corner Winebar

by Julia M.
17th May 2012

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

I have been going to this lovely restaurant for over a year now on a regular basis.

The food is always delicious and well presented. I have had a wide variety of meals, my favourite being the seafood platter, which is just awesome! One of the best platters I’ve had.

The childrens menus is great and my kids love it. The puzzle page to keep them happy is great.

The lovely manager lady (sorry I don’t know her name), has a lovely positive happy manner and always make us feel really welcome.

The atmosphere is friendly, inviting and cosy. Especially in winter, with the warm gas fire on.

Will always be one of my favourites.

by Maria D.
10th May 2013

New favourite! Lovely staff, we had no reservation, not a problem, we had a wine in the bar first. Perfect , could not fault it, my fillet steak was cooked perfectly. My boyfriend had the hamburger, which was also much enjoyed. Love the quotes written on the bathroom walls! Highly recommended, I hope to go back soon

by Frances A.
2nd May 2013

Thankyou for a lovely evening. My guests all enjoyed the beautiful food and were impressed with the service, couldn’t find fault with anything. So lovely to bring overseas family to a local and have the quality of food and service we received…well done we will be back

Comment from Alex M. of theBay restaurant & Hebron Road Corner Winebar 7/05/2013    Hide »

thanks Frances, your family was delightful    More »

thanks Frances, your family was delightful

by Liam M.
29th August 2012

Absolutely fantastic restaurant.

The food was amazing, I had the eye Mignon. It was perfectly cook, the topping was amazing.
Staff are splendid, so friendly.
Got a chance to meet the kitchen staff, all of them are so happy and always talking.

Planning to go back soon for another meal.

by Aimee T.
24th August 2012

omnomnomnom! such yummy food.

by Annabelle F.
11th July 2012

My parents have gone to this restaurant for over 10 years and now I am too, it has a lovely relaxed warm feeling about it, they don’t rush you from starters, to mains then desserts and out the door in a hour, which means you actually really do get to enjoy your meal, unlike so many restaurants that want to get out asap to seat the next table, I highly recommend the steak it is perfectly cooked, once you have there steak you will make it your local. This restaurant is always on the top of my list of recommendations.

by Bonnie W.
31st May 2012

Had my mothers 65th birthday here in April. It was fantastic. We were a group of 22 and the meals all came out promptly. The restaurant was really nicely decorated and the staff were superb. All the meals were great, perfectly cooked steak. Will definately be back.

by Karin L.
20th May 2012

We came here for Mother’s Day, they had a special menu where you could choose from 3 entrees, 3 or 4 mains and desserts.
I ordered the battered mushrooms, which were really good, I shared the Camembert in filo pastry with bacon, apricot sauce and cashews, which were really good too.
My sister had the prawn cocktail, which was really just OK, nothing to rave about, probably could have made it better at home.
Most of our table ordered the sirloin roast which had a stuffing of some sort and vegetables.
The reason for the three star’s is because of my pie of the day which was steak and kidney. I was really unimpressed with this, I am sure a 10 year old can make better, I feel bad saying it but it was honestly the worst pie I have had. The flavours were not there, I ended up drowning it in salt and pepper just to give it some kind of flavour, but I ended up forcing myself to eat half of it.
I did try the sirloin which was delicious, and the fish ‘n chips which someone at our table ordered also looked good.
The pie was a real shame as I really enjoyed the mushroom entree and the Camembert entree.
I think that The Bay should remove the pie from their menu as well as the shrimp cocktail.
Other than those 2 dishes, I still think their food is good.

Comment from Alex M. of theBay restaurant & Hebron Road Corner Winebar 21/05/2012    Hide »

Hi Karin thanks for your comments and feedback, I am pleased…    More »

Hi Karin
thanks for your comments and feedback,
I am pleased your dining companions were happy with their meals – (the filo camembert IS delicious, with an interesting balance of flavours – both salty and sweet, and the battered mushrooms just fly out the door!).
I am sorry you were disappointed in your sisters entree and your main.
I would love to take both of those dishes off the menu, but we have customers who only ever order both these dishes and I have been told I am not allowed to (they like something with light flavors, so we do try and keep the seasoning down, letting the customer choose how much they would like to add).
Should you choose to return, or even when you visit another restaurant, if you could let us know at the time, that you are not happy, it would be appreciated – we can fix things much easier on the spot.
thanks again for taking the time to place feedback (and taking your mother out on mothers day!- very brave as it is one of the busiest days of the year!

by Kelly S.
19th March 2012

Having read the good reviews I was expecting an excellent meal. I ordered the seafood platter for $42, however I was extremely disappointed to find my platter consisted of 2 small scallops, 2 small prawns, 3 battered mussels, a pile of tiny shrimp drowned in thousand island dressing & a huge pile of potato wedges.

My partners lamb shank (1 shank & mash for $33) was over cooked. We advised our waitress that we were not satisfied with our meals but after waiting a further 20 minutes no one had come to speak to us.

We found the service to be slow & very unprofessional, especially for the prices charged the food & service should be several grades higher. Even as we paid & left no one from the restaurant offered to discuss the issues we had raised which we found to be very unprofessional.

Very disappointed & definitely not recommended.

UPDATE Apr 23 2012:
Full credit to The Bay for contacting me about the bad experience we had below. They immediately apologised & offered to make the situation right. We returned to have a marvellous meal, the Snapper with Sweet Chilli Cream Sauce was delicious & the lime cheesecake was divine! Thank you!

Fantastic meal & excellent to see the restaurant immediately offering to make situation right.

Comment from Alex M. of theBay restaurant & Hebron Road Corner Winebar 26/03/2012    Hide »

20th March 12 we are always concerned when a customer is not…    More »

20th March 12
we are always concerned when a customer is not happy, please note, the above issues, raised by Kelly, are being addressed personally

by KAR
9th August 2011

I first came to this restaurant as it was listed in entertainment book.We loved the cozy environment. My partner and I tried the seafood platter and it was a real treat! I especially like the tempura mussel stuffed with smoked salmon yum!!

by Pat D.
12th April 2011

We went here on a Sunday night as a goodbye meal to our overseas visitor, and we were very glad we chose thebay.
The atmosphere was great, easy on the eye gentle background music, nicely spaced tables so we had privacy. The waitress was attentive without being overbearing and the food was terrific, entre’ was good and helped us to start our wine, the steak was fantastic- just perfect, meals the right size leaving the desserts which we all loved and I even had a delicious Lemon Merangue Martini- superb!
Our guest was definately impressed and so were we, we will definately go again.

by Verity S.
2nd February 2011

The atmosphere and music – great! The wine – lovely (good selection)! The service – very friendly and accommodating!
The food…….WOW!! Awesome!!
The best steak I’ve had in a restaurant in NZ so far in the two years I’ve lived here. It was cooked exactly the way I asked for it. The seafood platter was huge! (Father in law and husband tucked into that!) and the Creme Brulee…? Well that was absolutely scrummy! I’ve reviewed quite a few restaurants on here and I always think I’m fair, therefore I’d highly recommend theBay. I’ll definitely be going again, can’t believe I didn’t go before now. A lovely little pearl in the Bays!

by Yzette V.
16th August 2010

The best in the neighbourhood! My husband and I go there at least once a week! Friendly atmosphere and excellent food and services.

by Lisa Horan
29th September 2009

I have been to The Bay twice now. I really enjoy the food that they offer and it is cooked incredibly well. The dessert was simple, yet delicious. The only criticism is the time it takes to be served and have the plates cleared. Half an hour for a drink, an hour for the main and then a further 20 minutes to have the plate cleared, 15 minutes later we were offered the dessert menu. If not for the slow service they would have definitely received a higher rating as I enjoyed the ambience.

by tracey
11th October 2008

excellent food ,generous portions , cant fault it apart from the fact the drinks service was a tad on the low side , will be back

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