Pokeno Cafe by Day

The food was really good - we ordered Cheese burgers and curly fries from the Kids Menu, but it was way too much for kids (age 9,11 & 13) and adult (age over 40). The flat white was awful yet the Mushroom and Bacon Ciabatta was delicious! No change table in bathrooms and the baby high chair was dirty, although the waiter helped clean it. Our drinks and food got delivered at different times even though we ordered it together. The waiters were confused when delivery the food & drinks due to is having to order at the counter. The service can really be improved and smaller food portions for less costly prices please.

The outside of the quiche was very thick and stale. The inside was nice enough, and the plate was cute. The coffee took a while to arrive.

Have not eaten here in a couple of years due to having bad meals however; we had dinner here this evening, and we all really enjoyed our meals. We had salt and pepper squid to start which was great then 2 of us had surf and turf, one had ham steaks and the other the prawn pasta. Huge portions, Good quality ingredients were used and cooked well. One of the nicer restaurants in the franklin/north Waikato area at the moment.

We stayed at the motel next door and had our dinners and bfst here. Excellent service, delicious meals and a few options for vegan/vegetarians which was great. Highly recommend

Delicious food and excellent service. We were late entering the restaurant but treated as valued patrons and at NO time did we feel pressured to leave. Would highly recommend to anyone stopping in Pokeno for a meal.

First time here and even though food was delicious had to comment I like my poached eggs runny lol not hard boiled. However chef came out and apologize and was very accommodating to my needs so a big star for the chef for coming to address his customers. Will be back again. Thanks chef

Stopped in on way home from canceled Elton concert.
Only 2 staff on and it was busy. Great service great food and the coffee was worth waiting for.
Thanks ladies, awesome service.

Hate to write this but one of the worst experiences I’ve had in a long time. Wait was an hour for food and felt like they forgot, ending up asking for takeaway. So expensive for some of the worst food I’ve ever been served was cold and flavourless (had the eggplant vegetarian meal). Was also over charged. My friend also did not want to go back as a separate time she got served cold baked beans with her breakfast. Am a local and would never ever go back.at least the serving staff were nice.

Amazing food. Best BLT I've had in years, and the staff are great.

Unfortunately, the cafe still allows smokers outside where food is served, and last I checked this is illegal. The cafe even provides ashtrays? Bizarre.

What a shame, because the food is on point for the area.

Pizza was well under cooked but it was the busy time of day. If the owners do read this, invest in some pizza stones and it will make ALL the difference

Also you have se great wall space for an amazing artist to add some really awesome atmosphere

Day outing to Pokeno. Stopped for lunch at Pokeno CBD. What a lovely place, was served by Loreen, super friendly young lady. Food was delish, huge portion sizes. My parents, my partner and I enjoyed our meal. A+

Some of the slowest service ever received. Server said “sorry, you’ll have to wait, as I’m the only one and I’m slammed”. That poor woman has to handle a massive restaurant on her own. Good on her. Hopefully they can hire more people to keep up!

Edited: after 45 minutes and no water, no cups on the table, no drinks being delivered, and no food, we walked out and left.

BLT for breakfast was awesome
Really good coffee
Really clean and nice inside
Really good price wise considering the rise in costs on everything
Will be bringing the whole family back for dinner loved it thanks so much

Good cafe serving good NZ tucker.
Stopped in for breakfast.
Friendly, helpful and a modern tidy Cafe.
Meet some locals there who helped point out some road directions and pointers who again, very friendly.
Worth the detour off busy highway for a coffee (or breakfast, lunch) on the way past.

Took 30 minutes to take our order, waited another 15 with no drinks on the table… figured it would take a lot longer for food so ended up leaving.sorry guys! I know your busy but don’t accept the booking if you can’t handle it.

With Pokeno growing the owners need to employee more staff to cater to demand.

Our first time stopping in on our way from Tauranga and We absolutely loved everything this place had to offer, the food was cooked to perfection with generous serves, the service was bang on!
We were a table of 7 and we ordered dinner here with each picking a different dish, we were amazed at how fast the meals were served and all came out together.
Staff are super friendly and love how fresh and clean the bathrooms are, that’s always a bonus!
Thank you to everyone at Pokeno CBD on the evening of 06/08/22 for the amazing experience.
We will definitely be back for more!
That’s a 10/10 from our family

I was in Pokeno on business and Pokeno CBD Restaurant is beside the motel I was staying at. Had an awesome breakfast so decided to return for dinner. Awesome people making a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

Arrived at 9 15 am traveling South for a breakfast, my husband ordered.his coffee was served within 10 mins, the food arrived at 9 45am had both orders wrong, one was missing part of the other was completely wrong, sent back.my drink arrived not what I ordered, took another 10 mins to be delivered.his plate of food came out.by 10 15am he went to see what had happened to my order and asked for $s back, told it was about to be served, 5mins later it arrived. Very poor service and no apologies.will not be returning

I have eaten here 3 times and the food quality, price and portions are great! Highly recommend.fave place to eat in Pokeno

Terrible ble place for dinner, food was cold before we got half way through. Recomend a drive past.