The Apple Shed Cafe & Bar

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#4 of 20 Restaurants in MapuaVegetarian friendly, $$ - $$$

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The Apple Shed Cafe & Bar

Review

At a glance

Closed now

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Website

+64 3-540 3381Improve this listing

About

Features

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

PRICE

$$ - $$$

FEATURES

Waterfront

Location

Aranui Road Shed 3, The Wharf, Mapua 7005 New Zealand

Does this restaurant primarily serve Healthy cuisine?

Yes

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Closed now

• Opens at 10:00 AM

Sunday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Monday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Tuesday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Wednesday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Thursday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Friday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Saturday

10:00 am - 9:00 pm

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4.3

747 reviews

Excellent

401

Very good

220

Average

Poor

Terrible

48shelly64

Salisbury70 contributions

Loved the food, the view and the service!

Nov 2023 • couples

We had a delicious dinner here. The service was great and the food was awesome. We have found it hard to find creative vegetarian food in New Zealand so far, but the charred leeks main course was inventive and delicious. The market fish was also great- snapper on a prawn and crab lasagne. And the roast potato side dish was perhaps the best potatoes we have had, 95% crunch to 5% potato!! All with a couple of glasses of ice cold local white wine. It cost around $130 for all that which we felt was good value.

Written 8 November 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

annie h

Blenheim296 contributions

Stunning Meal,location and Staff

Mar 2023 • couples

Wow what an amazing place for dinner. Absolutely blown away by the food. After ordering for entrees are main and a desert. We shared all of this between four of us. The tasting session was incredible, as was the presentation in freshness of the food. Our waitress Janelle was super familiar with the menu and gave us new ideas about trying something. we never probably would have. She was a breath of fresh air and loves a good train station LOL. Only she will know what we mean by this, we can’t thank you enough for her interaction with us and other clients around us. Definitely not to be missed if you’re visiting the Mapua area, sensational and we will be back

Written 6 March 2023

nmw27

London124 contributions

Definitely recommended

Feb 2023 • none

I note a few comments from last year which said levels have dropped. The probability is that NZ has been really struggling (like so many countries) with hiring and training good staff. For me this place has come back to very good indeed. Lovely, friendly staff who could not have been more informative and efficient. The food was excellent. I recommend the beef carpaccio and rare grilled tuna. On our second visit we were persuaded to have a special starter of the day - a salad of watermelon, feta cheese pieces, smoked feta cream, sliced green olives, toasted almonds with a balsamic glaze. A lot going on but it was simply sensational. The butterscotch pot with horseradish meringue for pudding. Yum. Finally a big shout out for the Te Whare Ra Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc - delicious.

Written 6 February 2023

Lara G

1 contribution

Awful place

Sept 2022 • family

Arrived on 25.9.22 at 10.30am to be told they do not service food off the menu until 11 or 11.30 the server had no idea. We ordered a flat white coffee, a hot water and two date scones, it took 20 min for the coffee to arrive and the hot water arrive cold. 50min and still no scones, finally enquired about a refund so we could leave. Refund sorted but the server asked if there was anything else we wanted… ridiculous as we never got what we ordered in the first place so definitely wouldn’t want anything else. The whole place wasn’t even busy the whole time we were there, I would hate to experience this place on a busy day. Would never recommend this establishment.

Written 26 September 2022

ChcTravellerNZ

1 contribution

Beautiful setting a friendly staff - very over priced food

Jan 2023 • family

We dined here with our family. We understand that prices are increasing and I have worked in hospitality for many years. We understand fine dining and quality food, and for these prices, we expect perfect food and service, and we’re happy to pay prices that reflect that. The waitress was lovely, bubbly and knowledgeable. The drink order was slow. We waited for drinks for longer than necessary. I ordered tuna and it was lovely. I really enjoyed it & found the flavours worked so well together. I feel it was a little pricey at $42, and the chef could have possibly added a small carb to make it more substantial. My husband ordered the lamb rump and it was over cooked and so small that he was able to finish the meal in about 8 bites. It was $44 and just came with a very small slice of gratin. We had asked about whether we required sides and the waitress said that the meal shouldn’t need them. We ordered a side of potatoes, and if we hadn’t, there would absolutely not have been enough. As it is, we picked off the meals from the kids’ plates as they had beer battered fish and fries which was actually double the size of the mains. My elder son ordered pork belly, but it was so chewy that he couldn’t cut it. No one came to ask how our meals were (or we would have said something), nor did the manager ask when she gave us the bill. When she saw my shock at the total price, she looked away and didn’t even query whether there could possibly be an error. We noticed the table next to us making similar comments as ours as well. It’s such a shame as the flavours are great and the setting amazing. Just a few tweaks and I would consider coming back again, but at this point, we will absolutely not be returning next year.

Written 1 January 2023

whyd0ineedascreennam

Nelson36 contributions

Luck of the draw

Dec 2023 • couples

Booked a table for lunch a couple of weeks in advance, asked for an outside table (which we've been able to do in the past with no issues). Not any more, it appears. "They (whoever "they" are..) won't let us do that". No offer to note this as a request (grudgingly done when I suggested it) and I'll be intrigued to see where we end up. Not a good start...

Written 10 December 2023

ngaire b

Arrowtown215 contributions

Mixed feelings

Feb 2022 • none

Four of us ate dinner in this restaurant. Positives The atmosphere was nice with a lovely view. The staff were pleasant. Two of us had the fish which was very nice. I cant eat chilli or cucumber, both of which were listed as ingredients for the fish of the day. I asked to have these omitted and there was no problem. Negatives Two of us had the lamb. One person received a very small portion and we did complain at the time to the waiter but nobody came back to us about it. Overall both lamb dishes were dry. Once again when we paid the large bill, and the person behind the till asked if we enjoyed our meal, we mentioned the lamb was not good, but got no reaction. Given the fact that the mains were $38.00 and then you needed to pay extra for potatoes and extra for vegetables, we ended up paying $47.00 per person for a main meal, so you would expect the food to be perfect. Overall we would not come back given the fact that there are other nice restaurants in the area.

Written 27 February 2022

99qwerty99

Arrowtown52 contributions

Overall a bad experience

Feb 2022 • none

This outrageously priced restaurant failed on so many levels that I would never consider going back. It has 5 main courses all at around $38. Well I can perhaps cope with this if the food is wonderful. However, you soon realise that the $38 only gets you the 'meat' only. If you want say potatoes and vegetables that will cost an extra $18, or possibly $9 if you share. So for $47 you expect something good. With the exception of the fish, the food was quite frankly terrible. The lamb was dry and with no jus or gravy to moisten it lacked any real flavour. and was pitiful for the price. The side dishes had broccoli that was undercooked and tasteless, the Motsarella in the salad was awful and close to wet cardboard, and the kale was so tough that I was unable to bite through it, and was forced to spit it out. If all this wasn't bad enough one of the group who had a piece of lamb that was minuscule politely raised our concerns early on and again when paying the bill. Both times the staff completely ignored our complaints and nether said or did anyhing. We paid $325 for 4 people for an experience that left us totally dissatisfied. To cap it off they wanted to charge us 2% to pay by credit card.

Written 28 February 2022

Monza Monza

Nelson-Tasman Region2 contributions

You'll leave still hungry

Feb 2022 • friends

Lovely setting, pleasant staff but my gosh, they call their mains 'large plates' but nothing could be further from the truth! My 'large plate' of falafel was quite literally 4 golf ball- sized balls with salad garnishing. For $38! When they arrived I double checked they hadnt got my order muddled with a 'small plate' - because it was the same size as my friend's 'small plate' meal! I tried to order a bowl of fries but the wait would have been half an hour. So we ate our meals and rushed to the next door restaurant for fries. I'm 5"6 and I was still starving after sharing a starter of ciabatta and eating my expensive 'large plate' meal. Can't recommend the place at all.

Written 26 February 2022

Philj

Nelson-Tasman Region21 contributions

Birthday Dinner,

Oct 2022 • family

Lovely evening with great water views from our table at the window. Four of us shared starters which were ok, 3 shared the slow roasted shoulder of lamb with sides which was very good and sufficient. I had market fish, snapper, which was the tiniest piece of fish with a large prawn served on bok choy, fish was tasty but for the price totally inadequate. Service was very good, young friendly waiter. Just dont order the market fish, also the menu seems to have downsized since our last visit, fairly recently as we are locals.

Written 7 October 2022

crowd pleasers

Nelson45 contributions

Good but we would love a more exciting menu

Jan 2025 • couples

Great location and we had a lovely seat outside. It was cold tho. We ordered the beef carpaccio and raw fish dish. Wasn’t the most tastiest we have had and seemed to lack flavour Service was good lovely young waitress. Rose we shared was nice but would have liked a better wine menu.

Written 6 January 2025

billbutler2016

Hastings35 contributions

First class food with a view to match…

Mar 2024 • couples

We picked the Apple Shed from the several good looking places to eat lunch at Māpua Wharf because the view looked good… and it was! But it also turns out the whole culinary experience is excellent too… we had bread and dips to start followed by the best plate of fish-n-chips I’ve had in a long time washed down with a glass of first class NZ Riesling. Along with personable and attentive service it was a lunch to remember… and the sun came out too!

Written 5 March 2024

DaveR663

Nelson55 contributions

Disappointed this time around

Nov 2021 • couples

We took our friends from the North Island to the Apple Shed for lunch because we had dined there many times before and were always happy with the meals and service provided. However we were let down on this occasion. We understand the problems hospo are dealing with but reducing plate sizes and poorly trained wait staff are not the solution. Disappointing way to showcase our wonderful region

Written 22 November 2021

Sonya

3 contributions

Disappointed experience

Jun 2022 • none

We came for dinner on Saturday. Our entree was cold and tasteless. Both mains we didn't enjoy. My snapper was over done and very dry and the meal portion was very small. My partner ordered the steak and didn't even eat it all as it tasted horrible. We won't be back.

Written 7 June 2022

silverhead2016

Nelson89 contributions

WHAT IS GOING WRONG AT THE APPLE SHED?

Sept 2022 • none

This has been our favourite restaurant for many years so my wife and I decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary there with dinner. We arrived at 5.30 p.m. and were the only people in the restaurant at that time. However, it took almost an hour for our meals to arrive. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. The food was poorly presented some of which was cold. Who serves BROCCOLI still with the hard inedible stalks still attached ? We had no wish to cause a fuss on our special night but as we were leaving the Manageress asked if everything was o.k. We told our story and I must say she was very understanding and professional, however I just wish for your high standards to return please.

Written 21 September 2022