Reviews for Valentines Licensed Buffet Restaurant

by Mosalene
7th May 2012

Recently had my birthday there, bday cake was good size and yummy as! ive been there a few times in the past and this was the first time my italian partner visited Valentines.

He said that the Pizza was good quality, and he speaks about the pastry part in his words “well made” and that says alot.

My sisters enjoyed the vege lasanga, dad loved the steak , mum enjoyed the bbq pork ribs and the kids loved the deep fried chips and fish plus the bottomless flashing glass.

The staff was very friendly and catered to our needs.

I would recomend to go at 5pm dinner as obviously the food is more fresh and you get the first sitting.

Overall I was very happy with the food and service.

Thanks Valentines, next time just myself and my partner will come to dine

by Suzanne
20th April 2012

We recently went to Valentines for my daughters birthday and we had a lovely time. The food was nice and the kids love getting their own. Thank you for the great friendly service and the neat birthday photo!!!

I would love to see more for the littler kids though. Maybe a few mini white clubs with just cheese or just ham on them. Something simple. Maybe when taking a booking, Valentine staff could ask if there will be any young children and then cater a bit for them. Garlic bread is also another thing that younger kids usually love.

by tony
12th April 2012

we have dined at valentines for lunch & dinner over a number of times last year & early this year for the food was fantastic the service good, unfortunately we came in for dinner, bad mistake the food & quality was just not there very ordinary the price was ok , my friends found the floor staff worked well but nothing from the food staff we will never be back

by Raelene D.
11th April 2012

This visit was for a childs birthday. The kids loved being able to get their own and enjoyed the refillable drinks. For adults the food selection was not great – butter chicken should have actual chicken in it. Not good value food wise. In saying that the staff were lovely and the balloon is always appreciated by the birthday child. Next time I would probably take the kids at lunchtime as the prices for adults are much better for that time.

by Marlene T.
3rd April 2012

I recently celebrated my birthday at “Valentines Restaurant” in Palmerston North.
The food was delicious with many dishes to select from. The staff were awesome and very attentive and our table looked lovely with the birthday balloon and sparkly sprinkles.
Good on you Valentines! I would recommend your restaurant to anyone wanting to celebrate in style.

by Sandra P.
31st March 2012

Had a wonderful birthday lunch. Really great for the kids – their faces lit up at all the choices. And must admit was not a fan earlier but well done – definately improved +++
Must applaud the waiting staff – polite and cheerful, real asset.

Will definately be back

by Dianne B.
29th March 2012

Enjoyed a lovely birthday Dinner on Monday 26/3/12. Food very fresh, very friendly and helpful staff. Really enjoyed the freshly cooked steak and fish. Hadn’t been to Valentines for quite some time so particularly enjoyed the great range of seafood. And what a lovely personal touch to be offering a photo as we left.

by allison c.
27th March 2012

a wonderful restaurant to take your family or group. especially enjoyed the extra touches at our birthday celebration, (balloon with the name on, decoration sprinkles on the table) they made our girl feel extra special. the food was great and the staff were wonderful. love the offer of the photo of the birthday girl.

by Esther D.
19th March 2012

We have been to this Valentines on a number of occasions. This time for a birthday celebration. The table was beautifully presented. Staff were attentive and friendly. The hot food choice was ok but not a huge variety if not seafood lover. Salads were beautiful. Dessert was fantastic although the kids were hugely disappointed that the ice cream machine was broken Overall a pleasant dinning experience at a great price.

by rauwena b.
19th March 2012

I found my visit rather disappointing as I have experienced much more on other visits. The afternoon staff were ok, the chef seemed disinterested when asking for some meat to be sliced and some garlic bread. They ended up giving us bread that did not have all of the garlic butter melted, and the bread did not seem fresh. Being late in the afternoon the hot food was rather dry from being in the warmers for too long, however the salads were great, and the pudding was rather refreshing. I found there was too much chillies on some of the food which for me as a cancer patient did not go down well at all. On the whole the food was okay and I will ensure my next visit is at night as I have found that this is the better time to go.

by Fiona
11th March 2012

Extremely disappointed by this restaurant, it has gone down hill considerably, needs more staff, more people keeping dishes filled up, cleaning tables, especially for those who go for a late lunch.

by Gordon M.
5th March 2012

What a wonderful evening we had. 22 people gathered for our Dads 90th birthday. 6 kids under 10 loved every minute especially the flashing glasses and being able to make their own ice cream treats. The best part was the level of service. Top notch…friendly and helpful and always looking to make our experience memorable. The family photo taken by a very friendly manager at the counter was completely unexpected and will be treasured for years. We went early and the food was plentiful, fresh and heaps of variety. I was a little sceptical at first when this venue was suggested…but we’ll be back. Thank you Valentines!!

by Paula R.
5th March 2012

We went to Valentines Restaurant for my daughters 7th birthday, There was 10 of us dining, 5 kids and 5 adults. We rang and booked and I was glad i did as it was a busy night and great to have our table ready. A nice touch was a balloon waiting for my daughter with Happy Birthday Holly on it.
It is great for the kids as they can go and start eating straight away. Food was great and something for everyone, My husband loved that he could cook his own steak and i love the sea food. The birthday girl loved the jelly. We will be going back.

by Nancy W.
26th February 2012

I really enjoy dinning at Palmerston North Valentines. My whanau and I enjoy celebrating our birthdays with extended whanau and friends and are provided with great care from staff!

I’ve recently been for my birthday. The table looked awesome. The staff were helpful and did a great job taking care of our wants and needs.

Most of all, you get good food and service at a great price.

by James P.
5th February 2012

Not flash, I really feel for the people who are taken here for a special event, not even very good value. However still seems to be enjoyed by many. If you like the 1980′s American buffet format give it a go. The one redeeming thing about this place was the staff, they appear to have competent management and floor staff, who really try to look after you, pity about the kitchen.

by carolynn
26th January 2012

Had my birthday tea and what a lovely little surprise with glitter down the centre of my table and a delicious free birthday drink of my choice. Always a good selection. Have been many times before and will be back for many more visits

by dayna w.
18th January 2012

We do love valentines for birthdays the kids love it too the lady who took care of us Tania ? was wonder full and made our visit very enjoyable thanks

by Nadine E.
15th January 2012

Excellent service and great presentation of tables, food was fresh and tasted delicious….always eat far too much! Loved the photo op and balloon for our birthday boy (5) was a nice touch, he loved it and they managed to conicidently get his fave colour, which he thought was awesome! Definately recommend to any group, big or small!

by donna
15th January 2012

it was my daughters 14th birthday and it was amazing!!!! The staff treated her so well and really made it special for her….I loved the photo and the lady that took my booking (sory dont remember her name ) was the best maitrde i have ever come across…..she made the night in my opinion…thank you very much

by caroline
8th January 2012

good family restaurant as the kids can try things they would not normally have and we can eat our favourites.

by michael
7th January 2012

Great place to take all the family to suit many types tastes and great puddings as well service was tops as well, there was no complants from all the family
Great place for birthdays etc

Thanks Valentines and special thanks to the manager very good with the children eg: Balloons etc.

by Rebecca
5th January 2012

My partner and I went to Valentines for our anniversary because it is an excellent restaurant.
It offers a wide range of food that appeals to everyone.
You know all the food is fresh as you can see the chefs cooking.
The service from the staff at Valentines is fantastic.
I would highly recommend Valentines Restaurant to everyone, especially for a birthday or anniversary they definitely make the event more special.
10/10 for everything.

by Debbie W.
15th December 2011

3 Adults and 5 Children booked in for my daughters 4th Birthday party, we absolutely enjoyed ourselves and staff definitely earned 2 thumbs up, Quick efficient service and catered to our needs. They have a wide variety of foods that caters to everybodys taste buds. The kids had so much fun making their own deserts!! Thank you Valentines!!

by Craig f.
13th December 2011

We made a booking for 13 people for lunch to celebrate a 70th birthday last Sunday despite having to change the number attending a few times there was never a problem when talking to the staff. The food was wonderful with a great selection of everything on offer. All of those who attended had an experience to remember thanks to the wonderful staff.

Craig F

by Anne T.
24th November 2011

I enjoyed having my birthday at valentines with my whanau. I like all the food they have there and so does all my Whanau. I would dine there again. My grandson particularly likes all foods and the traffic light coloured drink, and when that makes him happy…it makes me happy.

by Sarah H.
24th November 2011

We have had dinner for a 65th birthday at PN valentines last night. Everything was perfect. We really enjoyed our food, stay and hospitality of the staff there.
Just one thing which all of my 4 clients stated would be good if we were provided with small birthday cake, so we could sung happy birthday to Lyle.

Sarah Hussain
Idea services
PN

by Kay G.
21st November 2011

I dined here last Wednesday as a guest for a Birthday Party. I particularly enjoyed the fish and dessert selections and the way they were presented. A most enjoyable eating experience. I will return. K.G.

by Judy G.
21st November 2011

A party of eight of us came Wednesday 16 Nov 2011 to celebrate my sister’s birthday. All eight of us easily found food to our liking, and the desserts were great.
The two cashiers were really friendly, the free photo was an awesome and unexpected idea.
All in all, a great night was had by all.

by Mel P.
21st November 2011

My whanau of 8 dined here Saturday night at the 7:30pm sitting, the service was great with cheerful helpful waitresses, however, the food and presentation was less than desirable – dry pizza, tasteless pasta, lack of hot vege selection, hot food counter looked unimaginative, untidy and more like a selection from the mall in town! We have been coming here regularly for the last 5 years and have noticed the deterioration of the menu & presentation we will be coming back as it is ideal for kids but I do hope they improve on things as it is a really neat concept for whanau dining!

by Sheryll S.
17th November 2011

We ate at Valentines Palmerston North last Saturday night. We hadn’t booked but Tania was a great host and sat us in the lounge area for a short time until a table was available. We are from Rotorua and were celebrating the birthday of our son who lives in Levin. Other family members joined us also including 3 children. All staff were great and helped to make it a good night. Food was excellent, especially the Roast Beef! We will definitely be dining here again. Thanks to Tania and the rest of the team at Valentines.

by Ian H.
14th November 2011

Enjoyed a family meal. Grandchildren loved it. Good food at a fair price. Best of all was the friendly service from everyone. Very impressed with the person in charge for the night.

by Ossie H.
24th October 2011

Recently for a 77th birthday a group of 13 of us attended lunch. The service we received was outstanding in a highly professional and friendly manner. The food was delicious and a nice selection of mains and desert. The offer of having a photo taken was a pleasant surprise. We will definitely go back

by Anna S.
18th October 2011

My husband, myself and our two daughters went to Valentines again last night for my ‘free’ birthday tea! (We always go on mine and my husband’s birthdays). We are fans because we all get to eat what we like, as much as we like at a reasonable price and enjoy a fun, child friendly dinner together! Our girls enjoy the spaceman lollies and making their own ice creams. They liked the pizza, chips and hot ham. We enjoyed the steak and garlic butter and fresh fried and crumbed fish, etc! We will be back!

by Stevie S.
18th October 2011

We had a big group of 26 we all enjoyed ourselves it was nice and relaxed the kids had a blast! Everything was nice could do with more meat selection and more seafood. But everything that we had when we dined was nice. Thanks for the photo was such a good idea.

by Craig E.
17th October 2011

i had a great time there i like that they take Photos on special occasions the food was great only thing i would love to see is a more selection of hot meets but apart from that the food was nice and the service was lovely thanks Valentines P/North for a good time

by Paula K.
16th October 2011

Our family of 6 adults dined here recently – Thursday night so not many patrons. Receptionist very friendly and efficient. She intervened when she saw we were kept waiting too long by the waitress. Waiting service was adequate, as was the food. We have dined at Valentines on numerous occassions over many years around NZ but the std has deteriorated from very good/excellent to adequate. The range has also depleted. The photo was a nice idea and ws great to receive by e-mail.

by j m.
12th October 2011

We have been coming to Valentines for the last 5 or 6 years, and each time find as always excellent food, warm friendly and relaxed atmosphere,and most of all, the best staff of any restaurant we have ever been in.
Value for money unbeatable.
John

by Vicky
9th October 2011

After hearing a few horror stories and after a couple of bad visits a few years beforehand my partner and I decided to give Valentines another go. It was my birthday and there was only two of us so understood I wasn’t eating free BUT I received a free drink instead which was an unexpected bonus. Service was GREAT,we were shown to our table, got an explanation on how we go about getting our food, asked if we wanted drinks (which arrived promptly) and left to it. Our plates were cleared no more than 2minutes after finishing and was an overall pleasant experience. After tucking in to our wide range of foods, we were both pleasently surprised. Will definitely be returning with more family next time, so they can enjoy the experience as well. Thanks Valentines

by loreeta m.
28th September 2011

good service and good food at alow price very happy as they made my dad feel looked after on his birthday all the family in joyed it and even got a photo taken of us all together aw some

by Cat
25th September 2011

Great meal, lovely relaxing atmosphere and the staff are lovely. Would be good to see another roast meat at lunchtime!

by Allen B.
22nd September 2011

Had a family birthday lunch at Valentines in Palmerston north on Saturday 18th September. Great family atmosphere, nice fresh food and a good selection, although another choice of red meat would have been appreciated, eg, steak or roast beef, rather than just the casserole and hocks. The dessert bar was great. Overall a great meal and a good time had by all.

by Kim
10th September 2011

Hadn’t been to Valentines for years, but we had a really fantastic time last night. There was so much food and it was excellent! The kids loved their flashing glasses and bottomless drink. When finished eating, they were able to play in a private room on the computer games so that they didn’t disturb anyone, and they even won a teddy bear & lollies. We were sent a free photo, and my meal was free due to it being my birthday. The staff were friendly and not intrusive. We all came back on a high. Honestly Valentines made my day! I would recommend it to anyone.

by lovelight
6th September 2011

me and my family have dined here numerous times especially birthdays. i have noticed that u have improved the seafood chowder as its more creamier instead of watery! good for you. the oysters are always scarce. this is disappointing as your staff always say oysters are on the dinner menu. i have watched the chef re fill the oyster bowel and i actually counted 10, um this is a restaurant seated for 150? hello! those would be my only 2 hang ups as the staff are always lovely…with a bill of $180 for my fams i come back cos my children love the desserts!!! Sorry Valentines improve the quality of your food cos if u dont then we off to STEAKOUT cuz

by tee
14th June 2011

I almost didnt want to write this but I hope this may help the staff and particularly the cooks at the PN valentines. Me and my (large) family have been dinning at the PN valentines since it opened. I have to say we have always had awesome service and awesome food. The guy there (manager) is always nice and remembers us by name, as with the staff there. However we went last Wednesday night just me, my husband and 10 month old son and I have to say the food was really bad. One hot meat ham and it was dry and nasty. Fish (mussels and shrimps) were really old tasting so we didnt finish it. If Im honest the only thing I enjoyed was the soup however the wee bread rolls were hard like they had been there a while. Just really disappointing. Unfortunately the manager this time was a little less cheery and made a point of saying ‘your child is free (with a nice smile) however we ask that he doesnt make a mess if he does have something to eat’. Im like what, there was no reason for him to even mention this (we hadnt even entered yet) and this was the first time my son would be actually eating with us as last time there he was still on the bottle and prior to that breast feed (which I done in private) so yeah was a little confused at that comment. Just a shame have told my family and we will no longer be dinning there. PS we use to come all the way from Levin and all our b’days, anniversarys or just a night out were at Valentines. Real shame.

by Nicole R.
14th December 2010

The staff were great but the food is very disappointing, all very tasteless, won’t be back.

by shona b.
22nd September 2010

we had the buffet dinner. It was very dissapointing. The roast beef was like rubber and couldnt cut it. the salads were old wilted and stale. the potato salad was hard and stale. The gravy had a thick film over the top as it had been there a long time. shrimps were of a poor grade and still frozen. the butter chicken was revolting in flavour and the steak was on the grill dried out and shriveled up. The food looked old tasted old and not fresh. will not go back as better value for money at other palmy restaurants

by Joy S.
1st January 2010

Our family often dine at Valentines through the year and this is the third year we have dined there for Christmas dinner. Even though we were booked for the final sitting of the day the range of food selections was great and the food itself was both appetising and tasty.
The atmosphere was very welcoming and we all enjoyed both the food and the overall experience.
Our thanks to the entire Valentines team for a wonderful – (hassle and dishes free) – Christmas dinner.
See you again next Christmas!

by bruce
28th December 2009

an absolutely outstanding meal we had at valentines palmerston north we arrived at 12.30pm the staff were great the service excellent & the menu outstanding wonderful hot vegetarian choices & fantastic salads, seafoods, we dine at valentines around the country & palmerston north is far superior cheers

by lulublu
10th September 2009

Ive been there twice now, in june it was brillant! staff were great, food was tops, really excellent. then we went again on fathers day.. a huge let down! we are big eaters, and i only had 1 plate fill, bland, tastless and boring, deserts was good.. but thts not hard. actual food was crap. although the staff were excellent, couldnt fault them at all very friendly, a shame the food was crap

by Brian
9th September 2009

Ok so it is not Haute Cuisene but still good for the price.I had a $14.95 luncheon which seemed ok to me.Not the usual large selection but I was told this is because it is a luncheon special and that the “works” came out for dinner.I didnt find the food bad at all and the quality much as expected for pre cooked food kept hot.Loved in particular the spicy meatballs and the ham nice too.Waiting staff were friendly and helpful.Went out after feeling well fed and I would go back again.Good value.
BTW this is the first time I have been for thee years yet the Duty Manager recognised me.

by jemma and kim
18th May 2009

very poor food dry and boring ataff lazy shruged shoulders and like they not even want to be there !
payed full adult price and its a total waste of money !!!
Will NEVER dine there again we now go to breakers or chinna town

by K.T
31st March 2009

Over the years the standard of food serve here have dropped! Everything is now dry, not seasoned very well, the buns taste very old, the chips were over cooked, I didn’t even bother to have pudding.

My family usually always come here for birthdays but we will not be anymore!

by ron
22nd October 2008

Hideous food, just bland and tasteless. But if you just want to stuff your face at an O.K price this is the place to do it.

by kel&lee
19th October 2008

took wife and kids to there 7.30pm sitting . waste of time .. very poor food . washed out & tasteless.. they never bothered to refill even with most things empty. staff were more interested in cleaning up early and going home ( 1 staff said this out very loud ) rang and complained. Got the big brush off and told the staff are very bizzy at that time of the night.like really cear when im looking to enjoy a night out . but they did give me a free round of drinks the next time im there … NOT THAT WE WILL EVA GO BACK!!!!!!!!!

by Sandi
5th August 2008

I was so dissapointed with valentines last nite, we went there as a group for my husbands birthday, 7.30pm. The food was dry and everything looked second hand, no seafood left and nothing was topped up. Perhaps at that time of the night you should offer a cheaper dinner if you are not going to replenish the dishes.
The only dish that was of descent taste was the seafood chowder, pity it cost $29.95 a plate.
AND we wont be returning again, neither will the couple from wellington. !!

Write Review