Review The Front Room Coastal Eatery - Waikanae

Lovely food, lovely staff. Waffles could have done with slightly more (berry and syrup) topping. Lots of options on the menu that appealed so we'll definitely be back!

The salt and pepper calamari was phenomenal. So tender and cooked beautifully, and the combination of the sweetness and sourness of the pineapple and other dressings were amazing. Honestly one of the nicest meals I’ve had in a while, and very reasonably priced with a generous portion. Thanks for a great experience.

Good coffee ☕️ and local food. Have eaten here a few times and the food and location is excellent. The staff are very helpful and forward thinking. As in previous visits the latte and cheese scone was great 👍

Really good coffee! Pleasant staff. Counter food was very limited - approx 5 choices but only one spinach and olive scroll left at 10.30. New owners are trying hard. My little group are missing the delicious salmon bagles from the previous regime however.

Lovely restaurant, can eat inside or out. Great food, excellent service. We were there Labour weekend, so was very busy but the staff were great and so onto it! Highly recommend.

We had a fabulous lunch at The Front Room on Saturday. Tried the Sweet Potato Rosti and it was wow, loved it. That dish is now my new favourite. Also had a great coffee... They do really good coffee ☕😁

I visited The Front Room on a trip up north to visit family. We decided to go for dinner and we’re not disappointed by the lovely service, the menu and the atmosphere. The food was delightful and would highly recommend a visit from anyone looking for a great meal with great service.

April2022 went to the back of the Front Room. Went for afternoon snacks with friends and a dog. All welcomed. Was surprised with what came out on the plates to how they were priced. Lacking in quantity and flavour to the price. Had the calamari and jerky.

Loved the coffee. Such a great find! We stumbled upon it. The staff was super friendly. I loved the calamari!

Loved the coffee. Such a great find! We stumbled upon it. The staff was super friendly. I loved the calamari!

Loved the crispers and the Salt n Pepper Calamari. Great gluten free options. The atmosphere was good too. Will be going back again

Beautiful courtyard for our brunch. Food was excellent and service was great. We were there early on a sunny midweek morning - this place can get really busy on the weekends

Had the calamari and wife had the Bao buns, delicious. Coffee was ok, but so delicious and an awesome outdoor seating area. Recommended!

Excellent coffee and pleasant service, coffee did take a good 10 minutes to come but they were getting busy. ( Sunday morning around 10)

Went on a very busy Mother's Day, staff were super friendly and accommodating. The fish n chips were delicious!

Great service with attentive staff. The lovely flat white and delicious date scone were exactly what I wanted. Thanks The Front Room

The only thing this place has going for it is location and the sooner someone opens something similar the better. My partner has food allergies and a request sent to the kitchen regarding the contents of a couple of ingredients was met with clear derision - the 'chef' actually rolled her eyes! Its the second time something similar has happened so NEVER going there again. Pretentious, expensive, arrogant, unfriendly and we didn't even bother complaining as they obviously don't really give a flying. However, the floor staff are obviously doing their best - my heart goes out to them :-(

Went here for lunch on a beautiful day and the outside garden is truly lush and loved and a treat to sit in.  Unfortunately the food was plain and parts of it a bit gross. I got the pan-fried fish which was unseasoned fish on top of canned black bean salsa with asparagus and a dollop of garlic mayo...more of a lazy thrown together weeknight tea than a cafe lunch. Had to order chips separately to make a meal, and they were good. Partner's beef sandwich was ok but more like a cafe cabinet number that you'd pay a quarter the price for. Both of us got weird little jugs of horrible wallpaper paste gravy but luckily there was enough garlic mayo served with everything as an adequate condiment.  Our iced coffee looked delicious with a single scoop of vanilla ice cream, but was weak and had that flavour that coffee gets after too many days in the fridge.

Visited here today for a treat before my daughter went back to university. My daughters meal was terriable, and when the waitress asked how it was, she was told politely that it wasn’t enjoyable and wouldn’t be eating the steak sandwich- swimming in horseradish, chunks of onion that were only fit for the compost bin and a few over cooked chips. I was shocked when charged full price $24 for this unsatisfactory food, and queried it. Waitress replied it was eatable so there was nothing she could do, then proceeded to tell us to have a nice day!! Well, their loss as I am from a family of 5 who regularly eat there, and have recommended them in the past- my advise now- stay away and spend your money elsewhere!

Nice location and lots of potential but we have been disappointed on every visit. Indifferent service, at times very poor, food very average for the price. Wine range good.

Terrible value for money. $15 for one piece of toast with avo, tomato, and haloumi that couldn't be considered a meal. Service was satisfactory but not friendly.

Went here yesterday with a friend who was down from auckland. Chose this place for its sweet garden bar. Was nice smashing a beer out the back but when it came to the food - terrible! I ordered chicken schnity, a very, very easy pub grub kinda meal! I was slightly hungover and hungry af. So ordered safe thinking theres no way this dish can disappoint as a 10 year old child couldn't mess up a chicken schnit! God i was wrong! The mash spud was cold and lumpy, the broccoli seemed to be microwaved and the garv... Has gravy and sauce become so expensive that cafe's and restutants can only afford to give 30ml per customer. The tincy tiny garvy jug i was given was not mixed properly when it came out of the microwave so half of the gluggy sachet mix was still at the bottom! Not what you want after a big night!

Went for brunch at the Front Room last Sunday. On arrival it was clearly busy however, we were made to stand there completely ignored for a couple of minutes before being seated. We then waited a good 15 minutes before we were asked what drinks we would like, latte and an iced coffee - latte arrived 10 minutes after ordering and no sign of the other drinks so politely asked and was told it was on the way. We ordered 2 of the big breakfasts. 30 minutes after ordering these arrived (along with the iced coffee) at which point we were starving. Food was bland, poached eggs slightly over done and bubble and squeak very average. Tomato chutney was good. Once finished we walked up to the counter only to be told we needed to wait for a table of 13 to pay first - all paying seperately! Come on... was a massive disappointment as have dined there regular some 12 months ago and it was great. Will not be returning when there are 2 outstanding establishments close by.

Went here for coffee. beautiful location but both the soy latte and the iced coffee were so bad. Both tasted like burnt mud. got a no hassle refund and went somewhere else.

Went in for brunch with my partner the other weekend, and I have to say well worth the trip!<br/><br/>We had the Turkish eggs and the Works (big breakfast). Both meals came out within a reasonable time, were a good filling size and equally delicious!  The staff were friendly and welcoming and had good knowledge about the menu. Coffee was delicious and came out hot and before the meals.<br/><br/>Overall was a lovely Sunday lunch and would recommend to many others!

Attracted by the great breakfast menu. However disappointed by the poor service - coffee arrived early but the food took another 40 minutes, poor lighting - when most breakfasters want to read a paper then, and be warned if you want your eggs on toast you have to pay an extra $4 for a slice of toast!

We just ordered mains as a quick dinner on a Monday night. The staff did not seem to know what was on the menu but we ended up with pork belly, salmon and a mozzarella salad. Although they were all averagely nice, there was so much sugary sauce on the salmon that we we unable to finish it, and this was the same in the side salad. An average experience which probably meant we would choose somewhere else next time.

Food was ok however portion size was way to small for the price we paid. $4.00 for a side of grilled flat mushrooms, this came out as two small button mushrooms. Staff were very friendly and helpful though. But, $49 for two of us and we had to go down the road to Paraparaumu for kapiti ice cream to fill up as we didn't want to spend anymore money on their small portion meals.

B Grade Operation - front of house service was extremely slow and it would seem the kitchen can only cook for one table at a time. We asked for some menus and the response was 'we are just serving this booked table, next to you at the moment'. It would seem that if you don't book, you are placed in a lesser priority queue. My steak was cold and the risotto under the scallops - I could do better myself and I can't cook. When I went up to pay the bill, I noticed the cook madly texting on his mobile phone. These guys have to be joking. There is a much better restaurant next door, that I have been to once and would thoroughly recommend.

A lovely setting, but unfortunately the portion size at The Front Room is abysmal for the price. I paid $22 for a piece of chicken schnitzel that would have left my 4 year old child hungry. Won't be going back.

Location: Nice and clean<br/><br/>Service: Very bad and very slow<br/>Price: Average<br/> to high <br/>Quality: Poor, looked like what I would get out of a jar at home<br/><br/>Recommended: No<br/>Would we go again: No<br/><br/>I was not impressed with the so called Spanish platter, a few bits from the fridge that were bought at the supermarket deli and peppers out of a jar......need I say more!

One of my favorite places to go in Waikanae. Great food, especially their baking! Great coffee, great service!<br/><br/>Outdoor eating area and dog friendly :-)

Wow.  Just wow.   We've been to The Front Room today for a client lunch and I have to admit ... I had to DRAG my heels back to Wellington afterwards (it was such a warm, late-summer afternoon, I could have QUITE easily parked myself up in the back garden for the rest of the afternoon with a bottle of Black Barn Rose and pretended to be part of the furniture).    Every element of lunch just hit the spot (both with us AND with our clients) - a shared Spanish tasting plate, followed by  *The.  Most.  INSANELY.  Good*  pear and buffalo mozzarella salad, a few glasses of Black Barn Rose, and affogato to finish (for completeness, clearly :) ).   The wait staff were lovely - attentive without being obtrusive; you gave us Jaffas with the coffee (*excitedly claps hands*), and (at the risk of sounding JUST a little odd ... ) your bathroom smells DIVINE (although : NOTE to self ... best NOT to sniff the diffuser sticks too closely, or you'll end up wearing the smell on the end of your nose the whole way home.  *sigh*).   Thank you Front Room - I'll be finding another reason to get myself up to Waikanae for a return visit VERY soon!

Been here a couple of times with friends and family and have enjoyed it every time. They do a good breakfast and the coffee is always good. Yummy friands to be had here too!

I visited the Front Room for Sunday lunch over Queen's Birthday weekend with two friends and as the restaurant had been recommended to us we arrived with high expectations. We were advised that there would be a 30 minute wait on food and after the waitress took our orders we settled in to experience the ambiance of our surroundings. This was cut short upon hearing the chef swearing profanities at the wait staff while the clearly untrained employees tried to manage the heavy weekend clientele which the kitchen had not pre-empted at all. <br/><br/>An hour after ordering as we were about to exit the restaurant our food arrived with the waitress stating the chips that were meant to be an accompaniment to our meals would be a further 10 minutes. When I said we'd been waiting an hour for our food she simply shrugged and offered no further explanation. The food sans chips was a good average, nothing special, over priced and certainly not worth the wait together and with no apology or discount I can honestly say after travelling all over the world this was the worst dining experience I have had to date.

We took our adult children for dinner on a Monday night. <br/>We were pleasantly surprised that Monday is a BYO so we took our own wine.<br/>The service we great but the food was amazing! <br/>We all ended up trying each others dishes because we all thought our own was the best!<br/>We will definitely go back and highly recommend this place for a quiet, high end dining experience

My wife and I had a fantastic meal, Pork belly and squid starters and duck and fish mains - all we thoroughly enjoyed. Service as great plus the outdoor area was private and pleasant.<br/><br/>Walked out after the meal feeling really satisfied.<br/><br/>The only thing we found disappointing was when a lady came through to the back with her dog which proceeded to lift its leg on a tree right next to our table which is the only reason why we are taking a star off.<br/><br/>Would definitely go back again.<br/><br/>Would advise to smarten up the front outside of the Cafe as it doesn't do it justice (make a bit more sophisticated) - this might get people in considering the place next door was packed when we were there showing people are in the area.

We decided to try this place but what a terrible experience. We just decided to have a meat and cheese spread that we shared between the two of us. The food was poorly presented. The meats included some extremely dried up salami, the cheese was a tiny piece of camenbert that had not recently been cut with dried up sides all around, the other small piece of cheese was smaller than middle finger.<br/>The only good thing was a pate that I placed on some burnt cibatta bread.<br/>The waitress took our money and did not ask how was the meal, hence I am writing this review.<br/>Horrible, horrible experience.

We've been here several times. From the first day, the staff was friendly. <br/><br/>Only on our last visit with a male staff who served us didn't give me a good impression even though his tone seems friendly, his action did not tell that way. But, I'll postpone reviewing about this particular staff's attitude till another visit. Other than that, the staff there are usually friendly and the food is very good and atmosphere is very relaxing and nice on a sunny day.<br/><br/>They also let you use free wifi for 45min if you ask the password.

We felt the food was overpriced considering the size of the meals. Service was really bad. Ignored for the most part. Went back for a glass of wine one afternoon. We were the only people there and were not offered a wine list, instead we had to ask. Staff training wouldn't go amiss.

We have visited The Front Room restaurant many times over the years and it has been consistently excellent. Its current menu (summer 2013) is the best ever. We run a B&amp;B at the beach &amp; recommend our guests dine there. We have never had bad feed back. The Duck is superb, the pork hock melts in your mouth and the char grilled steak is always the very best. Service is good.<br/>Bob and Maggie Smith

Another lovely night out at The Front Room, our favourite Kapiti restaurant. Great service and ambience, excellent wine list, always welcoming, and interesting and contemporary cuisine. Began with delicious marinated olives, ended with the most delicious cheese board ever! Restaurant was packed with happy groups. Most sophisticated choice of dining out in Kapiti.

Good service and setting but the food was disappointing. The childrens pack which was recommended for a lite lunch was a paper packet with a pack of Salt and Vinegar chips (not good for a child), an orange, and juice. I wasn't impressed with the chips being S&amp;V flavor.<br/><br/>My choice of dish was the Southern Fried Chicken with potato salad. It was disappoint once more that it comprised only of two chicken drummers and a small amount of potato salad and all for $19! You could easily make the dish for $5. <br/><br/>Quite disappointing.

Front Room is one of our favourites being Waikanae locals; although we visited it regularly before we moved out here. It's a real treat. The staff are usually really good, there is one lady there who is really knowledgeable and friendly, and has the balance of customer service right (attentive without being pushy). They could vary their menu a little more, is my only recommendation. Would definitely recommend. Thank you!

Front Room is our cafe of choice at Waikanae Beach (and there are plenty of high quality cafes to choose from). The staff are friendly, the coffee is really good (and I am fussy about my coffee), and the friands are to die for. When it is fine the outdoor area is really great, not too noisy and lovely atmosphere - it feels like you could be in Bali on holiday!

The garden seating is lovely, but being ignored for 20 minutes is definitely not! The three waitresses that were outside and knew we were waiting made no effort to see that we were being served. The one that I did manage to talk to as she walked past us promised us a menu that never came. I later saw her clearing tables at a leisurely pace. We finally left without anyone seeming to notice or care. We will not be back.

Of the 3 restaurants at Waikanae Beach, this is our favorite and we come here for breakfast or lunch most weekends. The staff is attentive and friendly and the food is consistently very good. The outdoor area is nice in summer and is dog friendly.

Brunch this morning and had excellent food, wonderful service, brioche to die for. the coffee is great too. Highly recommended

We were very disappointed with the entire dining experience. We had gone there especially as it was our Wedding Anniversary. Although our waitress was pleasant enough she did not go out of her way to make us feel welcome or looked after. Having to wait 45 minutes for our mains did not help. My main was the pan fried fish which I gave a 7/10 with a side order of beans which was very ordinary. My wife's meal, chicken breast risotto, was very bland (3/10). We were not offered a dessert menu or coffee's after our meal and left feeling very unhappy and unsatisfied. We would not dine there again.

I was with a group of 24 (aged from 6 to 90) for Dinner at the Front Room on Saturday 11/12/2010. There was pre dinner drinks outside and then a set menu (Nibbles – Bread &amp; dukkuh: Entrees – Watermelon, feta &amp; Mint; Waikanae Crab Cakes Duck &amp; pistachio Nut Terrine: Mains – Pan Seared Fish with French Lentils lemon braised silver beet; Roast Pork with Slaw, black pudding &amp; cider roast apples; , Char grilled Beef fillet, Chimichurri sauce, potato puree, bbq spare ribs and beer battered onion rings along with roast new potatoes, green leaf salad and grilled asparagus; followed by Cheese Board Chocolate Mousse Cake with Berries &amp; Cream and Tea and Coffee).<br/>It was a delightful evening,<br/>the outdoor fire was blazing away which provided a nice centre piece for the pre dinner drink and there was a grassed area that the 3 children could run around on. The drinks were quick in being delivered, and often you didn’t need to go the bar as the staff walking pass would wait until the drink had been decided on and they would say “I will get that for you” and it arrived.<br/>We shifted inside and once seated the Nibbles were promptly delivered, which was followed by the taking of the various orders from the set menu. The food was superb – everyone that I talked to was very impressed with the quality of what they had and the quantity of each serving was ideal. The service was very impressive and unobtrusive – this combination was just right.<br/>We came away with a nice warm feeling and will be back to The Front Room and I have no hesitation in recommending the Front Room.

The food (or lack of it!) is a little uninspired. Service is quick, but there is no passion and there is about as much atmosphere as eating a meal at the 'golden arches'. Although the outside area did look nice, it was shady and cold. My advise is to get some fish &amp; chips and take a walk on the beautiful beach, then grab a take-away coffee from the Frontroom.

It was our first visit to Front room on a very busy sunday. 6 adults 3 children.<br/><br/>The childrens menu had 4 choices - all ranging from $5-$8; a kids snack pack (le snack, juice, lcm bar and salted crisps), a fruit kebab (2 short sticks with 2 piece of apple, small piece of watermellon, 1 banana slice and marshmellow), or boiled egg with solider toast. Our kids left starving hungry so not a place we will go back to to feed our children. It's pretty obvious they don't like children there due to the poor kids menu and only one highchair.<br/><br/>the adults ordered a caesar salad, fish pie, and the full breakfast (can't remember what it was called exactly). There were no complaints, all were tasty, but the menu was so limited that we all ordered the best of a bad menu. Everyone agreed that the menu was lacking choice.<br/><br/>Coffees were ok, including the fluffies. Wine list was limited but a pretty good beer list. Water was on the table.<br/><br/>We thought the staff were pretty unanimated and bored, a smile wouldn't go a miss. We didn't appreciate the loud conversations from the kitchen either. None of us needed to know about which fijian resort the kitchen lady had been to when asking the chef about where he was from.<br/><br/>Outside looked amazing, with a fireplace and tables to sit in the summer. <br/><br/>I think we will go to the next door restaurant next weekend. I highly doubt we'll be back unless we hear they've changed the menu and staff.

Visited 13 January- really disappointed - would not visit again. Served cold soup which had to be sent back. Main meals were also lukewarm in fact the chicken was almost cold. These also had to be returned. The servings were small and the meals boring. Give it a miss - much better value elsewhere.

Our first visit to The Front room. Thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food. Felt negative before going thinking we would be hungry so ordered an entree, but didn't need as more than full. Will certainly visit again.

Always very pleasant though the menu never changes. Nearly as good as Angels Eaterie, better than Rumours. Best when the owners are there.

Was recommended this as a pleasant evening out. The tables are a little crowded, but the food and drinks were very nice. A new waiter was a little over-attentive, but in general a nice meal. Added a surcharge for public holiday, so keep in mind.