Ruffins Rock Restaurant

Rude Service and some of the food was burnt———————————————————————————I was in coromandel town for a family holiday (with an infant and a Senior) this autumn during Easter and came to Ruffins Rock cafe for my dinner after a day spent outdoors, i.e. I was really tired and it was late. We tried many restaurants before coming to Ruffins but nearly all required pre-booking and only Ruffins had space inside and did not need a booking, so it was a last resort at a difficult time for us. There was just one lady serving at Ruffins rock cafe and manning the counter. Being cold, my father asked for some warm water instead of the standard water served to him and was surprisingly told an abrupt ‘No’. My father became a little upset but I diffused the tension by ordering green tea (warm drink). I thought that maybe the serving lady has too much on due to which she maybe having a bad day, something we all have once in a while.Getting back to the food, we ordered from memory spring rolls as appetisers and tofu version of Pad Thai and stir fry vegetable curry with some rice. These arrived in reasonable time.The spring rolls had burnt ends, the Pad Thai had limited vegetables compared to what we are used to (From Wellington) but the stir fry was bitter. The root cause for the bitterness was that the tofu in our dishes was over fried due to which it had burnt. In the Pad Thai there was not much curry so the impact of the burnt tofu was contained, however the stir fry dish has juice/curry/gravy and the burnt flavour had leached into the entire dish making it a punishment to eat.Our situation was a little desperate as we were really hungry, had few other options and knew the host was having a bad day, so we compromised and ate as much as practical.Before leaving we told the host that the Tofu was burnt. She got angry and said she has run restaurants for decades and this is first time someone has complained. I told her I am just trying to help and will still pay and paid. She said, “ Don’t need no ones help” very rudely and refused to accept that the tofu was burnt. I then went back to my table and brought back some pieces of burnt tofu to show her. Finally, seeing evidence, she said rudely, “Why did you eat it then”. I told her we had walked several kms with an infant and a senior today. She remained beaming with anger, God bless her soul. We had enough for the day and hurried to end the night in our hotel.Next day I contracted a terrible tummy bug which till today I feel nausea from (more than a month on). While I ate at other restaurants too during that period, I still suspect that the experience at Ruffins had something to do with it.My advice is to pre book restaurants for dinner when in Coromandel town, especially during autumn/winter, as the options are limited. If Ruffins rock cafe is the only choice left, consider a detox diet for the night instead, based on my experience!