Reviews for Valentines Buffet Restaurant

by Irek A.
23rd May 2012

So totally agree with all the previous reviews. Bad place guys…. This place should be closed down already. The food is disgusting, not worth the money you pay. Worst of all the bloody car park, we dined there two weeks ago (May 2012) and four of our family vehicles got broken into, took valuable stuff. Even got our kids car seat and boost seats – bloody lowlife punks!!! And, and the Police didn’t want to know about it, cause it’s not serious lol that the Police for you… karma will get you.

by Sannie
15th February 2012

I would just like to say that Valentines in manukau is indeed a nice and enjoyable place to dine at. Went there with my family a couple of months back to celebrate my mothers birthday. We were treated wonderfully from the hostess who made my family feel very much welcome and the food was just absolutely stunning. My family and I were very impressed with the service, the quality of the food and even the total outline of the restaurant. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anybody. Keep it up Valentines. You are doing a fabulous job. My family and I will be back in the near future………….

by katrina
24th December 2011

I agree with most comments on here. For a treat to my 16 yr old daughter , I sent her there for her birthday.
The waitress was rude, the whole time she served us she rolled her eyes. Really where do you get the staff from.
She didn’t refill the water jug, she never let us know when we could get up and get the food. We stood up and down, too embarrassed to move. It was then she just walked over and goes ‘oh yeah, you can go now’.
I swear if it wasn’t for the fact my girl gave me that ‘don’t !!mum..look’ I would have up and slapped the arrogant little wench.
Not only did she treat us like crap, she ruined the whole experience. I will never return or recommend anyone goes to Manukau Valentines again.
I don’t even want to give you a start either. You or Happy days must have the same staff.

by kilkim
29th November 2011

The best Valentines in New Zealand. My wife and I go to the restaurant regularly, always enjoy the spacious layout and the friendly staff, the chowder and beef curry. Last night we tasted a new dish- black pepper beef, it was beautiful!! i would like to recommend it to everyone.

by Bill
26th November 2011

Awful place, poor service, old decor, dirty and judging by the way food looks, it seems recycled. Service is poor, this chain store is tarnishing the Valentines brand, will not be coming back again, almost felt embarrassed – and we were the guests!

Comment from Ellen Y. of Valentines Buffet Restaurant 29/11/2011    Hide »

Hey Bill, Thank you very much for your feedback. I do apologize…    More »

Hey Bill,

Thank you very much for your feedback. I do apologize for the bad experience you have had with us. Would you mind specifying the date you dining in to help me sort out th problems please?
Regards
Ellen
General Manager

by Jen
24th November 2011

We went here for my husband’s grandmother’s birthday for dinner last Friday.
The service was amazing, we were served by someone called Ellen, who friendly and polite.
There was also another waiter, but I forgot his name. He was very efficient in clearing our plates and also spoke in a soft tone.

Food was the average buffet food..but its the service I received that made the night.

To be honest, from the reviews I read, I wasn’t really looking forward to dining there at all, but I’m glad I went.

by Angela P.
31st August 2011

First of all i congratulate the chef and his staff for the hard work they put into the restaurant. I will always keep good times i have had there with me. I have worked in some of the grottiest kitchens of some of nz’s top restauraunts, and have worked as a Chef De parte at the Hilton. Its not easy running any restaurant these days, and I would imagine more so in a very diversed cultural region like Manukau, you cant please everyone. Where prices for food these days is so expensive please dont take it out on the restaurant, its not their fault. But I say good luck guys and keep up with the hard work, your ok.

by niao
24th August 2011

HOT FOOD: Most of the hot food are either deep fried, swimming in fat or just look fatty.
COLD FOOD: Very bland, including the pasta & seafood, its as if they just take it from the packet to the buffet. Oysters are bland. The Sushi is disgusting!
Does the Chef purposely not add RICE VINEGAR?!
Or does the Chef not know how to correctly make sushi?!
DESERTS: Good selection – Love the Brandy snaps.
SERVICE: Fast, but not very friendly. My advice stop hiring kids and hire people who actually have experience.
LAYOUT: Disgusting. Tables so close together even with the dividers it doesn’t help that you’re still close enough to hear every ones conversations. A bit of consideration towards customers privacy would be great.
PRICE: Not worth it !! I would rather stuff my belly with food that tastes good then stuff my belly just to get my moneys worth.
OVERALL: QUALITY IN FOOD, SERVICE & LAYOUT IS MUCH BETTER THAN QUANTITY, DON’T YOU THINK?
Any fast food chain would sum up to this Restaurant.

UPDATE IN RESPONSE TO THE OWNER:
1. In written form it sounds delicious but seeing/eating it is totally different.
2. I came here 4 months ago and THERE WAS DEFINITELY SUSHI ON THE BUFFET just like there HAS been the last 7 years I’ve been going.I have eaten it myself. I can’t see “guests” putting their own sushi on the buffet over a 7 year time frame.
3. You took a few seats away yet it’s still squashy…
4. Have ALWAYS gone here for dinner. I pay full adult price. AND YES WE GOT OYSTERS.
Sorry about the price mistake, please update your prices to $17.9/$28.9 !!

Comment from Ellen Y. of Valentines Buffet Restaurant 29/08/2011    Hide »

Hi Niao, This is Ellen, the owner of Valentines Manukau. Thank…    More »

Hi Niao,

This is Ellen, the owner of Valentines Manukau. Thank you very much for sharing your feedback. Customers’ feedbacks are always important and valuable to us.

Could I please ask what day did you dine at Valentines Manukau with your family? Was it for lunch or dinner? I got confused by your points. Could you please tell me where your points come from?

1. there is no SUSHI on our buffet.

2. Our prices are $17.9/$28.9 per adult for lunch/dinner during the week, and $21.9/$31.9 per adult for lunch/dinner on weekends. There is no $25 of charge at any time

3. Oysters are not on the buffet if you paid $25 as you said

4. Here are our basic dishes on the hot buffet–there would be some change between lunch and dinner, weekday and weekend, but not too many. Roast Ham, Roast Beef or curry beef, roast chicken or batter chicken, lamb in juice, sweet & sour pork or Pork Vindaloo, chicken drumsticks or wings; cauliflowers withh Carrots in white source, roasted pumpkin, boiled peas, white rice, fried rice with mixed vege/egg, pasta, mussels in coconut cream, of course we do have deep fries, which are chips, squid chips, halved potatos and battered fish or fish nuggets. I couldn’t see much fatty or much things swimming in the frier.

5. Our layout had been standard for more than 10 years. There were 250 seats as our license allowed. But we took off a whole row of tables and lost 22 seats in early this year to give our customers more space and show our respect and consideration to customer’s privacy and comfort. Now a wheelchair can almost easily access any table at this restaurant.

Thank you very much again. Hope i could have a chance to talk to you on the phone or in person.

Warm regards
Ellen
General Manager

by Amelia
4th July 2011

Will never ever dine at Valentines again, they have the most rudest staff members.
We dined at the restaurant with my grandfather who is 82 years old, and needs a walking frame to support himself when he walks. Obviously it would make sense for someone else whose more able body to get up and serve his food which my aunty did, this is when the store manager came out, and told her, she wasn’t allowed to do this, and that its company policy everyone serves themselves, and basically that my granddad needs to get up and make his own food… on what planet is this ok? Obviously this idiot they have as a manager doesn’t have eyes, to see that he can’t stand in line to serve himself. (we were there for a wedding reception, so there were alot of people..ie there was a line) Not only that, but the manager also threaten to charge us for any food that we didn’t finish that was left on our plates. They suck! Really charging us for left over’s at a bloody buffet restaurant…CLASSY!! it was unfortunate that the wedding reception was held there as its such a classless restaurant I will be recommending our family members use the Greyhound restaurants for future fuctions. By the way, the food wasnt even worth what we paid! We could have got a better deal from the local takeaway! Never Again! 1 star is being too kind!

Comment from Ellen Y. of Valentines Buffet Restaurant 7/07/2011    Hide »

Hi Amelia, Thank you very much for your feedback. I do…    More »

Hi Amelia,

Thank you very much for your feedback. I do apologize for the bad experience you have had at our restaurant. The duty manager should have communicated carefully with you guys about your granddad’s special needs before saying YES or NO.
I have told all receptionists and managers they need to make sure customer’s all special needs recorded when they take booking. Hope this could prevent the similar things happen again.
By the way, your group paid to me on that day, I didn’t charge anything except the meals.

Thanks again for your time.
Ellen
General manager

by murphy
27th May 2011

Went to there for dinner for a friend’s birthday party on 20 May. Felt it was not that bad as comments saying here, actually i think it was the best i have had in Valentines in years. The foods were fresh and yummy, the staff were friendly and polite, even the kitchen staff were very friendly and helpful.

The only thing it’s not good was they needed to keep kids away from the desserts.

by Sammy N.
15th May 2011

I totally agree with all the comments above. I went there with my husband for his birthday and it was the most disgusting, smelly, dirty restaurant I have been to in Auckland. The food was really bad, it had no taste and it looks like it has been sitting there for hours. To top it off, I ordered 2 x platters of oysters. When we got it, it had blood on every single one of them. I nearly vomit and ordered the waiter to take it away. She told me that she will be back but she never did. When my daughter went to check why was she taking long to take the oyster away, the waiter ask my daughter to return the oyster to her…wtf!! I will never go back there and I do not recommend this place to anyone. Unless you want to get killed by food poisoning let alone bacteria etc…

by jae
1st May 2011

Went there lastnight for my nephews 1st birthday, i dont know if its the same chef but the food was quite taste less, buffet setup was weird there was more empty space on the food counter then there was food. And although i ate my moneys worth i have to say my nephews cake from the cheesecake factory was the best….. May have to think hard on the next visit. Oh & lastly the chick at the counter tried to rip my kuzn off . WTF

by marilynn m.
24th December 2010

Dont waste your time visiting this place. i have written to them before and its still the same.

I hope the restaurant gets to see these reviews.Does MenuMania send these to them? I hope so.

Close the place down.

by elaluj
2nd August 2010

Stairs going up is very dangerous on a wet day however no mats of any sort were laid down. We were greeted by a very grumpy asian lady who changed her tune once i mentioned a table for 20. Tables and seats are crammed in which shows that they care more about the money than the customers. Food is disgusting. Vegies are all mushed and disguised with cheese sauce. They only serve roast ham no other meat. Dessert has been downgraded with only pavlova as the high light. no cheesecake and no imagination. $10 for a measly carafe of drink!I couldn’t believe we spent so much money there for that quality of food. As the floors were dirty etc was too scared to visit the toliets there. The only upside is the waiter who was very helpful but even this couldn’t change our minds about the place. We ended up grabbing kfc straight after as the family were still hungry! even 1 star is being very generous. we will never go back there. overpriced for poor quality.

by mafi
8th July 2010

Have worked in this place before which was before all these negative yet fair and agreeable reviews an I have to agree with the customers and all the comments about the entrance when walking in – that smell, sticky floors etc, I thought I was the only one. The food can definitely improved but I guess you have to blame the chef, The head chef was on to it but not that “other” one (yea u know who u are). I would also like to add that the waiter/tresses aren’t qualified, there hired straight out of high school just like mac donalds and wendys so there goes the problem with that. Although there are a lot of downsides to this restaurant there is an upside – one day it will close down – with an exception if it improves (highly doubtful). So I’ll give it a big fat ‘F’.

by Teresa v.
11th February 2010

I found Valentines in Pakuranga, the atmosphere very friendly, the mains and desserts, were good, the only problem I had was with the seafood, soooooooooooo bland, espeacially the oysters and shrimps, If you could get this right, you guys will be tops, this has not put me off coming there though, because you make up for it in your other food. I just avoid the seafood for now, I hope one day I can sing your praise’s about the seafood lol

by Aleah
1st February 2010

Would be my First and Last time at Valentines in Manukau. This place was digusting, as soon as we got into the foyer, you could feel your shoes stick to the floor as if a drink had been spilt and was never mopped. The waiter showed us to our table to find it still had bits of food on the table. You’d expect the fork & Knife to be professionally wrapped in a napkin, but it looked like it was just thrown onto the table. Plates had not been washed and bits of food from the previous person was stuck on it. Would not recommend this Restaurant to my friends and family. Totally not worth our money spent.

by Monika W.
30th November 2009

This is one of the worst restaurants in South Auckland. As soon as you walk into the foyer there is a bad smell, like stale vomit and urine. The stairs leading to the restaurant at the top are sticky and look as though they haven’t been cleaned for years. The staff were casually dressed and had their clothes hanging out. All of the surfaces were sticky and there was that strange smell again when we walked into the restaurant. They charge $30.95 and overcharged my family, compared to Pakuranga which only charges $24.95 and their restaurant is cleaner. The Manukau branch also has a B Grade, you would expect a restaurant like that to have the highest grade you could get. i will never recommend or eat at that restaurant again. Not even if you paid me to.

by Vai
13th February 2009

I dont think this place even rates for a star let alone half a star! Food was discusting, stale and looked like they just reheated dinner from last night, the salt and pepper shakers that we by chance opened and had stale gross pepper stuck to the sides and inside the cap, looked like it had been accumulating since they were filled. The waitresses had attitude problems when we asked if they could check on our drinks we ordered 30mins before they rolled their eyes and mumbled yeah….waited another 30mins till they actually came with drinks, bloody restaurant wasent even half full and they had the audacity to say it was busy, sent them back with their drinks – didnt want to pay for that rubbish service. WILL NEVER EVER SET FOOT IN THIS RESTAURANT AGAIN!

by P Kennedy
10th January 2009

This restaurant either needs restructuring starting at the top. Bad service and poor moral poor food. Unless things change for the better I and others will give this place a wide birth. If this is not possible then the place should close its doors and stop ripping customers off.

by nater
29th November 2008

i dined there on a date last month and couldnt believe how poor the whole experience was. we were given a table that was in a very busy area with people walking about on all sides of us, when we asked to move to a quieter area by the window where nobody was sitting the waitress rudly said that we could not moved because those tables were “probably ” booked, however the rest of the night nobody sat there.we ordered our drinks, which didnt come after ten minutes, so i had to go and ask at the bar, and saw that our drinks were just sitting there on a tray. while eating 2 waitresses nearby were loading dishes onto a trolley and were talking about sex and laughing loudly, highly un-professional. the food was also a dissapointment, looked very old, and when i asked if more garlic bread would come out the chef said that they wouldnt be putting any out more since it was an hour to closing time! WTF!

by Dee Dee
27th February 2008

My family and I had dined at valentines restaurant for a birthday celebration which we found the experience to be quite unpleasant and the level and lack of customer service from your restaurant staff to be very unsatisfactory and appalling.

We were waiting on dinner plates for 20 minutes; Minimal of plates, dessert bowls and cutlery; Tables were stacked with plates including our table that had not been cleared by staff for the duration of our time there.

The dinner plates were then received still wet, no apology given for having to wait on dinner plates. The attitude of the staff was not conveyed as being friendly, empathetic or helpful towards my family and I.

Towards or closer to the end of our evening, there were three members of staff conversing in social chat in another part of your restaurant, this was in full view of customers, totally unacceptable.

This was the worst experience I have ever had with a well known restaurant and would not recommend this to family, colleagues or friends.

by Narnz
9th November 2007

Cost $28.95 per adult + $4.95 + the age of our kids (Fri evening). First thing we noticed on walking into the restaurant was an unpleasant smell. Huge variety of food – qualilty mostly poor. Seafood chowder was gluggy. Mushroom soup tasted of strong stock. Disposed both. Cauli in white sauce was blobby. Garlic bread ran out & wasn’t replaced. Seafood mornay in shells was gluggy. The freshly carved meat was good, though someone to slice it fell short. Salads were fair. Seafood was bland and watery. Had to put our used plates on a clean table next to us, as they were not cleared. Waitresses were friendly. 5 years was our last time here, and we revisited, wondering if it had changed. In our opinion its gotten worse. The kids liked the desert, but some of it looked rather old, some of it unlabelled, very boring desert menu actually. Overall it certainly was not worth the dollars spent. You can get a beautifully freshly cooked meal for less than that at Broncos or Genghys down the road. Valentines should either up their quality or reduce their price to reflect it. I would rather pay extra for qualilty food. Hey, will try in another 5 years.

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