Enjoy breakfast, a coffee or lunch in our Mediterranean styled eatery which has stunning waterfront views of the Mercury Bay.
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Come and eat out at Kufe in Whitianga
Enjoy your early morning coffee or eggs benedict overlooking the beach or join us throughout the day on our deck. We offer light meals or more substantial dishes with freshly created food available from our cabinet or menu.
Mediterranean restaurant in Whitianga
Our menu is varied with a Mediterranean and Turkish feel. Great food to share – seafood, salads, Turkish bread, dips and pasta. We also serve great classic dishes including burgers and wood fired pizzas. Our chef produces delicious fresh baked bread, rolls, Turkish bread and loaves.
Outside or inside dining
Enjoy your drinks and food on the deck under one of our umbrellas overlooking the Buffalo Beach waterfront, or grab a table inside in the warm and still enjoy the view. View a sample of our menu below.
Just a stroll from the town centre or the ferry we look forward to seeing you soon.
User reviews
Each of our meals needed extra salt or otherwise tasted like water. One of our dish was completely missed and some unidentified things were found in the lasagna. When we nicely told the staff about this we got no apologies but instead an angry and unapologetic response. We will never go back and will gladly tell people not to go either. Worst experience ever.
After waiting for 40 minutes we decided to leave but then the bread and dips finally arrived which was disappointing in itself. To wait so long for a less than satisfactory small plate was disappointing. Whether its new or not their no excuse for such bad service.
Minutes later, the server returned to say that the modifications on our pizza were missed and the hold up was due to it being remade, but that it was in the oven. We asked if we could get the fries first to carry us over. As I went to the washroom, I noticed there was no pizza in the wood fire oven or anyone preparing pizza. Five or so minutes later, a gentleman came to explain the mistake was his error because he didn't see the modifications as the docket printing was small and that he would remake it for us now.
We got the fries quickly and the server told us she would take them off the bill as a gesture of the slow wait. Unfortunately they were not cooked thoroughly but we didn't want to bother the staff as we had appreciated the effort to get them out promptly.
After over an hour of waiting, we received our pizza and the modifications (no chicken, add tomato) were once again not followed. There was no tomato on the pizza, and no body returned to our table to quality check the food. The gentleman who made our pizza knocked on the window, as we were sitting outside, and gave us a thumbs up in effort of a follow up I suppose.
During the time we were there our water was not topped up at all, or were we offered a refill on the drinks we had ordered and finished. It wasn't busy within the restaurant, being a Monday afternoon, and there seemed to be a lot of staff wandering about. Whilst we sat and observed in the couple hours we were dining, there were two other complaints and when I went to pay there was no mention of the situation or apology. The servers were friendly, but not considerate of the service that was being provided.
My partner and I manage a bar locally and we understand that these things happen, but it could of been dealt with better as these kind of errors don't need to ruin a whole experience. Be prepared for some teething issues if you visit Kufe. We won't be returning any time soon, but it has potential.
Staff need to learn how to deal with issues and complaints, usually anything problems can be turned around with a little communication.
Not recommended at all.
Positives:
Very friendly staff.
Fresh produce, very nicely prepared.
Breakfast smashed avo came with a generous amount of smoked salmon. At first I thought there was too little bread, however there was enough and I was comfortably full at the end. I needed to ask for a lemon wedge to give it the acid it needed for flavour balance. My companions mushrooms came with old style thick bacon, and that was amazing!
Dinner of squid, courgette fritters, calamari and lamb kebabs were all delicious and of good portion size.
Less positive: remembering that the restaurant has only been open 3 weeks and all systems are new, there is still some work to be done here. Some wait staff seemed unsure of themselves and the menu, and little things like forgotten cutlery were common. The team also need to keep an eye on tables - it proved impossible to catch anyone’s eye for help even when quiet, however when I went and asked for things they were lovely and really wanted to help- so a bit more practice and training perhaps.
All in all, very good and I will go back again,
The spot is beautiful.
we waited 10 minutes before anyone came to our table and took our coffee order, then they came 35 minutes later, the coffee was so sour I couldn’t drink it. We all got different size cups too which was random. The waitress (who was lovely) brought water to our table with no glasses. Then we received our food after a 50 minute wait. It was laughable how tiny the portions were - so if your hungry DO NOT go here! Our friend is vegan so asked for avocado on toast which they couldn’t do so instead she ordered the “crushed avocado on toast” and asked for it with no salmon or goats cheese, she received 1/4 of a tiny avocado (which wasn’t crushed or on the toast) with 2 tiny bits of bread that wasn’t toasted. Another friend got the mushrooms on toast which had 6 slices of mushrooms. We got no cutlery given to us we had to ask for it, then they didn’t bring enough out. Then when we went to pay there was no staff around we asked one girl at the counter and she said “see if there is someone at the bar” When we spoke to the manager about it we were told “nobody gets water unless they ask for it” and “our choice to take items off meals” which is true however there was no way we could justify paying $22 for what she got. He didn’t apologise for the shocking service we got or for the ridiculous portion sizes. After a few minutes arguing with him he did give us a discount which was lovely of him. The food was average service was poor (the staff were friendly) but the owner was cocky and arrogant. Such a shame as the location is beautiful. Will never return or recommend to anyone.