Dave
February 12, 2010 at 1:48 pm
My wife and I went for dinner and had a fantastic time. The atmosphere was amazing. The staff were outstanding. We both felt we were back in France. Well done to all that made our night an experience to talk about with others. Thanks Dave.
Robert Harcher
February 17, 2010 at 10:11 am
This restaurant must be the best in Wellington Food. Service. Atmosphere, just fantastic. Will definitely recommend it. Just an amazing experience.
Lisa Fraser
May 13, 2010 at 11:21 am
Thank you to Timothee for the wonderful service and attention to detail, to Laurent for superb cuisine and beautiful presentation. It is always a pleasure.. a ‘treat’ to dine at the Hippopotamus and I definitely recommend it. Lovely
Kim
August 11, 2010 at 9:54 am
I recently dined here for the High Tea, and i have to say i was very disappointed. There were 20 if us attending for a family event and most of us came away disappointed. I do realise that it is only an afternoon tea but for $30 per person we did expect a little more, and the fact that i only got one cup of tea also is disappointing. The staff had no idea what they were doing; one girl said we got unlimited tea with the high tea, another said we had to buy extra cups of tea. It turns out they did come around with tea pots however they didn’t bother to ask what flavour tea you were drinking and just filled half full cups with different flavour teas.
There was also a fire drill during our afternoon tea; the staff again didn’t know what to do and were just looking around blankly until someone came and told the staff people needed to go outside.
Overall it was a very disappointing experience and i will not be attending high tea there again and will not be recommending it to anyone else.
One positive thing I can say was the venue was great and I’m sure would make for a nice dinner atmosphere.
Tania
August 31, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I dined here on the 28th August 2010 with 6 other friends for dinner, as part of the Wellington on a Plate promotion. I was very disappointed.
While the food was fabulous, the service was atrocious. We were well looked after in the bar, however when we were seated at the table, no one was offered a drink or a wine list for at least 15 min, we all sat with empty glasses. Once wine eventually arrived it was poured by the staff who kept it in a serving area. While water was poured nearly every 5 minutes our wine glasses were not, we retrieved the wine and poured it ourselves in then end.
There was plenty of staff on, and the food came out promptly but after that we were on our own.
After our dessert and once plates were cleared, we again sat for at least 15 minutes while at least 4 staff gathered in the bar talking. We had to interrupt them to ask whether we could order coffee please. At no stage in the entire evening did the staff introduce themselves, ask us if everything was alright, were we enjoying the meal, ask if we wanted more wine, drinks, coffee. We had to ask for everything.
I had heard the reputation of this restaurant was fabulous and the food was great, but the staff (about from the very friendly, helpful Irish bartender Peter) need a kick up the rear end!!
I would not risk taking friends here again unless I could rely on improved service.
Emma Renton
October 7, 2010 at 2:30 pm
To whom it may concern,
I recently dined at Hippoptumas and thought that it was exceptional with an overall high standard of service delivery, professionalism and a pleasant ambience.
We were warmly welcomed by a friendly French waitress who escorted us to a formally set table. I was most impressed by the fact that you wait staff were French. Their accents, mannerisms, personalities and humour made for a very refreshing and genuine experience. While we were reading our menus and commenting on the different dishes to one another, the waitress picked up that Tristan and his were dad speaking basic French to each other. When she came over to take our orders, she humoured them in the French language and spoke basic French to our table. This was a great experience, as we were fully immersed in the French culture while dining at the culturally inspired restaurant. We all love France and really enjoyed feeling as though we were there for a night! A pot of tea and delicious dessert treats topped off our night perfectly!
Thank you for your time in reading this.