Reviews for Cardrona Speight’s Ale House

by Doreen D.
13th October 2009

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What a night… my husbands surprise party Saturday, 10th October 2009 was better then I could ever have imagined.

Early in the planning stages I didn’t think it would be so hard to find a venue, I must of seen 8 different venues in Auckland and soon become very disappointed. I had a wish list, which I thought was reasonable…
• Roomy without been too big
• Smoking area isn’t too separated
• Equip to have a band
• Projector
• Atmosphere
• Good selection of nibbles
• No more then $500
After nearly compromising on my wish list, a friend had seen a link on the internet for the’ Cardrona’ in Mt Eden. I had been to the bar before but didn’t know they had a function room. After speaking on the phone with one of the staff ‘Joseph’ who described their venue, it sounded perfect and after dealing with so many rude, unhelpful and unprofessional people from other venues I decided without going in to look at the function room that I wanted to hire the room based on what I was told and how helpful Joseph was. It also helped that the venue was only $250 to hire. When dealing with the general manager ‘David’ it confirmed the service level at the bar was nothing less then remarkable. From day one David and his staff have been absolutely wonderful and on the night made me, the birthday boy and our guests feel nothing was a problem, very helpful and willing to please. I’d have to say I am just blown away with the service level and it’s really really nice to see that there are still businesses out there that pride themselves on a high grade service level and it seemed so effortless.

My friends have been praising me for a great night and each and everyone had said they loved the venue, loved the staff… I couldn’t agree more. Thank you so very much for been so wonderful and so so helpful. In all my years I’ve never had service worthy of posting a recommendation but I enjoyed my night so much I wouldn’t feel right not to let people know that you don’t need to settle for poor service or average atmosphere as there are venues out there that are more then capable to make your party an event to remember and the Cardrona definitely had a huge part in that.

Thank you so much ‘Cardrona’, you guys rock 

by Jess
16th May 2012

Firstly, let me say the beer selection here is great and the service good, it’s just a shame the meals aren’t up to scratch!

I ordered the gourmet burger (seasoned chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, brie and plum sauce) with fries expecting something fresh, grilled and delicious, but what came out was a small chicken breast seasoned like it should have been grilled but it was deep fried (and tasted it!), two pieces of stale bread, bacon so deep fried it was unbendable and a pile of tasteless chips. Not exactly gourmet!

My partner ordered the drunken steak which was cooked exactly to his liking and very tender, but smothered in so much sauce you couldn’t taste the meat (normally he is a sauce monger..) to their credit the sauce was very nice.

I couldn’t finish my meal despite still being hungry as it was so greasy, and even my partner couldn’t finish my chips due to the same reason which is saying something!

If you’re after big greasy pub meals then this will be your cup of tea, but for $22 odd a meal, I would have expected better quality food, Mad Dogs and Englishmen and the British Isle Inn do bistro pub dining really well, just a shame Cardrona wasn’t on par.

by Rachel
19th February 2012

A great dinner out here!

Great food, reasonable prices and friendly service. Even gave me a free shot as we were there for my 30th Birthday!

Only suggestion for improvement is that it would have been nice to get some side plates with our cobb loaf, a bit messy & awkward to eat it without them.

Would love to return, great atmosphere

by Karen R.
8th February 2012

The endearingly Dunedin decor made us feel at home, drinking Speights at the bar leaners.

We asked if they could make us a vegetarian version of the ‘Antipasto platter’… and were really blown away by the effort and quality that went into the platter.

The chef delivered it to us, and it was brimming with feta, sundried tomatoes, gherkins, olives, marinaded mushroom, Alehouse loaf plus dips, and the chef had gone to the trouble to make us some mini samosa and beautiful melt-in-your mouth falafel as well.

Fantastic service, beautiful food.

My only recommendation would be that we were slightly confused by the menus to begin with. There seemed to be a couple of different blackboard options behind the bar, as well as the printed menu. We figured it out though.

But our experience here was delightful.

by David W.
29th January 2012

My parents and some friends, were visiting from England and only in NZ for a short period of time before travelling on so we stopped by on Friday evening for a “taste of the south”. The pub had a small group of people enjoying the evening sun on the deck and inside several groups of people watching the cricket on the huge screen.

After starting a tab and getting a round of drinks – Speights of course, we all enjoyed walking around the pub and learning about all the history of the Speights and the real Cardrona.

The six of us sat down in the bar area and ordered our meals. We started with an antipasto platter for the table which was amazing – the perfect size for us all to enjoy a little bit of everything and the bread was lovely – even my mum who doesn’t like bread tried it and said how much she enjoyed it.

Our main meals came out a Single Shearers Shank, the Roast Chicken , 2 Pork Belly’s and 2 Pig hunters and after the recommendation our waiter a side of Veg and a Side salad for us all to share.

The meals were magnificent to say the least if we had some bread left we would have moped up the gravy off our plates.

We sat and finished off our drinks and enjoyed the atmosphere of the pub – discussing the south island, the cricket on the TV and having a bit of a laugh at the stag do that were in at the same time we realised that they lived up to what the menu said “Generous to a Fault” – FABULOUS – thank you Cardrona we will be back !

by David B.
19th December 2011

Just what you would expect and not much more. The food is OK and I enjoyed my crumbed schnitzel burger for lunch sitting outside in the sun. Time for a re-fit however as the place is getting a bit tired. Service was friendly.

If there is a park outside it is not a bad place to stop for a beer in the afternoon sun.

by Samantha B.
14th September 2011

My family and I had dinner here the other night to celebrate my brothers birthday.
I had previously dined at Cardrona last year and was not very impressed at all, but I have to say that this time we all had such a fantastic night. The food was amazing! I had the chicken parcels, they were so good and came with crispy potatoes. My whole family really enjoyed their meals as well and their evening.
We all left very happy with our experience although I have to say that the table service could have been faster. The staff seemed more interested in talking to each other than in looking after us. This was the only disappointing aspect of the evening.
I fully reccomend Cardrona as a great place to come for a nice meal.
I will definitely be back.

by philip
4th September 2011

POSITIVES:
-great atmosphere and decor.
- burgers and pie are good !

NEGATIVES:
- other mains apart from the burger and the pie are too small, not nearly enough to feed a southern man like myself !
- Prices are up there.
- the wait time for your meal is unacceptably slow. Guys, bite the bullet and hire an extra chef for Saturday nights. It will pay off in return customers.

OVERALL:
Great rugby-pub atmosphere, environment. I would return but only for the pie or burger meals. Also I would order as soon as I entered to avoid the extra long wait times.

by Danny G.
15th August 2011

Slow, slow, slow. Thats all I can say.

Good roast dinner, really tasty and hot food.

Desert took 35 minutes to come after I’d finished the mains.

The apple crumble was really very tasty, but the custard was chilled and there was only a small amount. By small amount I mean it was served in a sauce dish, one that you would put ketchup in and ‘dip’ your chips into.

Custard served with apple crumble should be lashings of HOT custard.

Will avoid this place.

Comment from Joseph O. of Cardrona Speight’s Ale House 22/08/2011    Hide »

Thank you for your feedback Danny. We are pleased that you enjoyed…    More »

Thank you for your feedback Danny. We are pleased that you enjoyed the meals. We have served the custard at room temperature for the past few years without fuss, however we intend to serve it hot from now on to avoid any further disappointments. I have looked at the camera footage and whilst it was a reasonably busy service I can see that your dining experience lasted one hour i.e. drinks, mains, and dessert. We are sad that this was too slow for you and I would like to apologise on behalf of my team.

by AW
17th April 2011

We have had 2 dinners here recently and have loved the food. The meals are huge too! Very friendly service. Would be happy to go back any time.

by Nicole
29th March 2011

A group of 4 of us had dinner here on Saturday night. We chose to sit round the corner from the bar area as opposed to in the dining area, so we could still see all the action. The waitress was friendly and initially very attentive, but after we’d finished our dinner, she forgot to come back and clear the table or offer any more drinks. It has a good selection of pub food in an informal setting, and it is what it is – if you’re expecting anything more upmarket, then this isn’t the place. Will likely be back.

by PMI
11th February 2011

Mixed bag – Had good and bad food here

Pluses:
– Friendly bar staff
– Coal Creek Ribs were tasty

Minuses:
– Shearers Shanks were the toughest we have ever had!
– Broken tables with nails protruding
– Maintenance is needed

Interesting:
– Beer tasting tray is a good way to try a range of beers
– Coal Creek Ribs were not on their menu last visit!
– How can a manager allow damaged furniture for people to use/see. It looks terrible!

Verdict:
– We will try again in 6-12 months

by Liz
24th January 2011

Very disappointed by the Cardrona. We went on Saturday night and both the food and service left a lot to be desired. There was no table service (which is odd for a restaurant, and if they’re not going to take your order they should specify counter service only instead of letting you sit there trying to get the staff’s attention).

I had the caesar salad which was the worst I’ve had in a long time – watery dressing (and too much of it) with soft croutons. My partner had the steak pie which was good but accompanied by undercooked fries and limp lettuce.
Definitely needs improvement.

by John H.
1st June 2010

I’m a regular lunch visitor and they have the – GREATEST PEPPER STEAK PIE – in the world – the flavour is to die for.
They used to rotate the Pie menu but these are SOOOO good they have now made it a permanent feature.
The crew are fantastic – friendly and welcoming. Nice job guys keep up the great work!
Cheers

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