Food was overall great. Service was amazing and the wait staff took our empty plates quickly. Ambiance was great. Only very slight downfall was the dessert options, there was apple pie as the only hot option and all the cakes and custard were sub par. Also the seafood was a let down, prawns were obviously defrostes and had zero flavour. Everything else was fab. Defdinatly going back!
Reading the other reviews I was a little worried about dining here. We were a large group that came here for the Xmas dinner advertised for the month of December. There was plenty of food choices and although there were a lot that wasn't quite to my personal taste , I still managed to find some delicious food. All food looked fresh and inviting especially desserts. Service was great. Only down side was that we were quoted less than what they tried to charge us at the end but they were quick to rectify the situation and all was good.
We had a lovely dining experience at the Whitbys Buffet, still one of the best value meals in town. We were seated thoughtfully and our waitress was so kind and attentive she really made our occasion special. The food was divine, seasonal and well cooked. The steak that the chef was preparing at his station was done to perfection as I like it. The highlight of the meal was the selection of desserts, one of the best desserts I have had in my life, namely the cream brulee and the sinful strawberry tart. We look forward to coming back.
@
Great service and excellent value !
Took our two mothers their for Christmas lunch on Friday
Clean tidy , staff attentive and whilst their were no surprises on the buffet menu, we were no let down
Thank you James cook !
Was super highly recommend great night friendly staff loved it will definitely be interested in coming back hopefully with a bigger crowd 😊 thanks jamescook
We had a lovely experience. The staff were so polite, and so friendly, especially towards the children. The "tea guy" was obviously very passionate about his job and made sure we never had an empty cup! The food was delicious, and we were seated at a table by the window with a lovely view. Thank you!
Took advantage of a Grabone voucher and had high tea with bubbles as a weekend treat. The restaurant was busy with big tables occupied, however we had a lovely table for two overlooking Wellington.
The glass of bubbles arrived promptly and soon after the tea trolley with a lively assortment of teas. The food then arrived and it was lovely, presentation was stock standard high tea form but everything was fresh and delicious. The only bone I would pick is the sausage rolls were not hot.
We were offered tea refills often and the person on the tea trolley was fabulous, very helpful and welcoming.
Would come back for sure!
I would not say that it was the worse experience I have had, but simply it was a good experience but the meal does not make me want to return
A great way to celebrate my sisters 40th Birthday. We had an awesome first time at Whitby's Restaurant and Bar. Awesome food, Awesome people, we were well looked after. Even had the TV to watch the Hurricanes Semi Finals. Had an amazing time there. Planning to hold Mums next bday here. Guests loved it...everybody was thinking of the great food the next day, can't stop thinking and talking about this night at a great restaurant. You won't know how it is until you try it. DA BOMB!!!!! THANK YOU TO THE BEAUTIFUL STAFF AT WHITBY'S RESTAURANT, YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!!
Loved the food. Great variety. The buffet for dinner was very lovely. I hope to be back soon for dinner. Me and the wife treated ourselves. It is a good value meal.
I've been to a few of the Buffet lunches with a Grabone voucher and its always great with a wide range of hot and cold selections. with rotating soups and desserts. A cheese and crackers board also. Instant tea and coffee. I don't like the bread and butter pudding though. Staff are very attentive even when busy. Overall a great lunch experience
Great buffet dinner!
Amazing selection of food, attentive staff who made sure the food was never empty.
The chef who made the "to order" tortillas was great and put so much care into his work. They tasted delicious.
Fantastic selection of food for my very picky group of 6.
Would recommend this to all!
I've been here before for breakfast and it hasn't really changed much over the years. For $25 the buffet offered all the usual suspects - a cooked range, a fruit salad range, make your own toast (with a selection of packet spreads), pastries, porridge, eggs poached upon request, cold meats, juices, french toast, yoghurt & cereals. So breakfast is what you make it from a selection of foods that don't have any special finesse. It's great if you don't know quite what you feel like or want a bit of everything and is slightly cheaper than Chameleon. The staff are friendly and attentive, and were there to top up hot drinks as required. Nice decor and clean environment.
Came here for an awesome buffet lunch. There was so much selection, I didn't know where to start. However, I did wish there was more hot food to choose from. But, great flavours, everything cooked beautifully and presented wonderfully. The desserts were great, i could see that the pastry chef was being experimental as there was bubblegum sponge cake :) overall I enjoyed my time at Whitbys Restaurant the staff were very welcoming and attentive. A great place to try. Give it a go. :)
We came in for the Easter High Tea, We left feeling full and satisfied.
The portions were lovely, and the staff very friendly. At first my friend and I lamented that no relish was provided for the savory tier, (which had spinach and feta rolls- sausage roll format, and croquettes) but they were moist and flavorful enough that we didn't actually miss it.
The only bad thing I have to say is that one of the tea's (they one we went to order) is currently on back-order so not available which would've been nice to have been told when they gave us the tea menu.
I would definitely go back for high tea again the atmosphere was pleasant the food filling and the staff lovely which is all one can ask for really.
Thoroughly enjoyed everything here! Have been here twice and on both occasions, food was spectacular, service was awesome and just the atmosphere in general was amazing, also very kid-friendly!!! Will definitely be visiting again soon, absolutely loved it!!!
I celebrated my birthday there. I had heard about this restaurant from my sister and her partner who have been before and said it was a smorgasbord which was a good option as well as a set menu. The atmosphere was really good, the music wasn't too loud which is a plus as it is good to actually hear what the other person is saying and you don't need to shout at them across the table. The food was amazing!! really yummy. It would have been nice to have some different options as I am lactose intolerant and there wasn't much of a variety of options for me as it hard to choose what I can have and cant have. Especially the desserts. The waiters were very pleasant although I didn't like them hovering over us as it put me off and you felt like you had to rush and I don't like being watched while I am eating it puts me off. I would definitely come back and recommend it to my family and friends.
Each visit to Whitby's is a total dinning experience from the minute you pass through the front door to the minute you leave .
The atmosphere, the food, the service are all beyond excellent .
We had an amazing dinner in November. The food & the service were outstanding!
I celebrated my 48th birthday here. We were on holiday in wellington so decided to come here. I thought the food was fantastic, really tasty and well presented. The guy on the piano was marvelous and even played some of our favourite songs for us. The staff were friendly. I enjoyed the meal and everything was enjoyable. We will be back next time in Wellington. Cheers
The kai was great and our group had a great time. The piano was exceptionally lovely and not like other restaurants where music can be really loud this was just right. We would certainly go back to Whitby's.
The other comment I wish to make is booking online. This is very simple and easy but there was no acknowledgement from either the restaurant that our booking was confirmed. This is not good because I then had to ring the restaurant and find out if we were booked in. Online needs to respond with a confirmation or the restaurant needs to. Do you see where I am going.
I have selected September 2013, however, we will visit again when the opportunity arises. We are on a mission to visit as many restaurants in the Wellington area and to see which is the best and which we will not visit again.
Thank you for your service and kai very ka pai
HI,
This restaurant is lovely, the food is very good, it's a shame that this website didn't book the reservation, after waiting two weeks for a confirmation, I rang the restaurant only to be told that they hadn't got our booking so done it was done over the phone, very lucky that I rang as it was for a special occasion that wouldn't have been
We've just had dinner tonight (five of us) for my husband's birthday and our host was excellent, very attentive and friendly, thanks Nicholas (Nick). Food was good and the coffee was excellent!! Will go again!! From table 21..booked for 6.30pm :)
Went for dinner last weekend.Fantastic buffet, good value for money, they have this 20 dishes from 20 rugby playing nation promotion on,very delicious. Great meal with great service.
Went for dinner at Whitby's few days ago and really loved both food and service.
Place was packed and yet the buffet looked lovely and the service was very attentive.
The young English maitre'd at the desk was absolutely lovely, very polite.
Keep it up.......
Took the whole family here...around 20 of us. The food was fine, some a bit bland, but overall everyone was really happy. Felt that we could have received better service. I put a bar tab on, yet I had to be the one that kept getting up and asking everyone if they wanted a drink. Was quite disappointed about this because I couldn't see why a waiter couldn't have done this for us. The bar bill was only around $100 (for 20 people!) - to me this is a reflection of the service we received. I would dine here again though because I enjoyed the food and the setting.
Our family party of thirteen (age ranges from 5 years to eighty three years) dined here on the 27th December 2008. We have celebrated many, many family occasions here - first communion celebrations, birthdays, fathers' and mothers' days, new year, Easter and Christmas festivities, and a couple of years ago a golden wedding anniversary. In the early 1980s I also annually went with my work colleagues for a Christmas lunch. We have regularly spanned a great many years of dining at the Whitby restaurant. It is always a pleasure to be at this location. It is decorated and maintained in a modern, spacious and clean style, with immaculate bathrooms. The food is of a very good buffet standard and suits our range of diners well, and it is consistently good value for money. The service is good. Well done for providing a reliable and pleasurable dining experience for so long.
Still the greatest buffets. Great for family, group and couples. My kids enjoy it with so much selection of ice creams and deserts. Wife enjoyed the sea food chowder and the prawns. Beautiful pork ribs. We had to roll ourselves out. Lol. Kids eat half price too.
Another good buffet dinner. Sure, there are things that aren't perfect, but then it's $65 for all you can eat. This ain't Ramsey's at the Langham - what you get, for what you pay, is perfectly acceptable, and we'll keep going back every couple of months until such time that it isn't. The staff are always pleasant and personable, and the only negative is the cost of parking in the building. It would be good if Whitby's could somehow negotiate a better rate for its diners.
1st time here. Seems most buffet have not survived covid. Probably the only buffet left in the capital. Personal experience enjoyed the food. Decent variety, won't be everyone's cup of tea. Waiters were awesome, environment subtle and cosy. Felt very welcomed. Good place for a family buffet dinner depending on how busy it gets. Sunday buffet wasn't too busy so food was always plenty and didn't have to wait long to food items to be replaced. Well done James Cook hotel.
We celebrated my mother's birthday here. We had a group of 14, buffet dinner, and kids eat for free special. $65.00 per adult. It was well worth it and we stayed over 2 hours. Highly recommended.
Did the Chocolate High Tea here and it’s absolutely wonderful! The varieties of chocolate and also savoury is so good. The staffs were very friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend it.
I enjoyed my time at Whibys, was welcomed by the staff and was served by a lovely waitress who’s name I believe was Kelly. She served me the majority of the night and was constantly checking on not only me but the surrounding customers. She is also an amazing barista I ordered a mocha that was one of if not the best I’ve had in a while. The food was really good for it being a buffet some of the meat was dry but still had great flavour, lots of variety of foods to choose from. There is also a blind man who plays piano and he is very good but it does really make it feel as if the place is a little to fancy and wouldn’t mind just listing to some random music because when he stops it’s dead silent I would recommend giving it a visit
We had a fantastic family birthday celebration at the buffet. Great service and excellent food. Highly recommended. Thanks so much for a memorable evening.
Stayed in the hotel and breaky was included. Nice crispy bacon and hashbrowns. Perfect poached eggs from the chef.
We had booked our table in advance (I would absolutely recommend doing this). Buffet-style meal. Very busy restaurant but there was plenty of food to go around and it was replenished quickly by kitchen staff. As the restaurant is so popular, we had to queue up to select the foods we wanted but the quality of the food was excellent. The waiting staff were very polite and friendly. Would definitely recommend to others!
Not a huge selection at the buffet but good range and everything is so delicious and worth the price. I love this place.
When you miss your flight from Hamilton, for being five measly minutes late for stupid check in, then have to sit there with no cafe or bar open while you wait for the next flight to Wellington, arriving at the hotel at like 8.55pm and then break-neck-speeding it to the 17th floor of the James Cook Grand Chancellor before 9.30pm when they stop taking orders, you will be overjoyed to have made it to Whitbys. The service is friendly and relaxed, and super helpful. Don't sit in the breakfast part where the tables have cups and saucers on them! Yes, you can have another glass of rose'! The scallops were perfect, the risotto delicious and the steak just nicely done. Thanks Whitbys. Happy to recommend!
We had the high tea, hosted by Moira (who was so fantastic!!!) All the lovely loose leaf teas you can drink, which she brewed for us throughout the experience. Excellent food, not sure how they managed strawberries in June. Highly recommend if you want a cute date. 🏳️🌈
The mothers day Buffet was great as usual. The food selection and deserts were awesome. Very professional and friendly staff. The best place to take mum on mothers day. I will be back next year with Mum again. Thanks
We had my sisters 50th birthday, she booked the room for her buffet breakfast birthday celebration. Everything was on point from the time we walked in to the time we left. The lady at the reception was amazing and so friendly, the room was beautifully set up they way my sister wanted it. Everyone enjoyed the buffet breakfast and the morning celebration as the staff there, made us feel very welcomed and their service was amazing. Thank you so much for your awesome hospitality. You all made my sisters day feel very special.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes