"Another blast of wind hit, and we just heard the ceiling creaking. Then in a split second it all happened, it honestly felt like an earthquake, so just gut reaction I put my hands over my head."
As wind rocked the building Robinson says she heard things breaking as the ceiling smashed into the table. An insulation tube broke loose and swung free, surrounded by wires from lighting, narrowly missing the hot pot Robinson and her friend had ordered for dinner.
"It felt like it was my final moments, I wanted to say something to my friend or anything because it just felt like my life flashed before my eyes."
When the breaking stopped, Robinson says there was dust everywhere.
"It covered my clothes, face, all in my hair all in my mask and my wallet the table, everywhere."
They were offered another table and more food, but the pair just wanted to leave.
"As we were leaving, a staff member made a joke like 'don't forget to pay'."
She says the restaurant staff did not approach the table to offer help, and when her friend got up to leave, they paid the full price for the meal they did not finish.
"I didn't want to pay $70 for a really scary thing to happen to me. They said to pay at the till, and my friend just paid so we could get out as soon as possible."
Stephanie Shen, the duty manager who was working that night, says she did apologise and intervene – but spoke in Chinese to Robinson's friend as it is her first language.
"This all happened so suddenly but the foreigner guest who was sitting on the side of the collapsed place moved away swiftly and did not get hurt. I immediately went over to their table to apologise and to comfort them. I also offered to change a table for them and to give them two new hotpot sets. But the Chinese-speaking guest replied saying they had finished eating."
Shen says she apologised profusely in Chinese to Robinson's Chinese-speaking friend, who told her "it was okay".
Shen told the Herald upon reflection, she thinks it may have been better to speak English but the situation was "chaotic".
"I admit that it was my fault to not have used English...I'm more used to speaking it. This may have caused the foreigner's misunderstanding. I sincerely apologise to both of you. I hope that the Chinese-speaking guest can reminisce about the situation at that time. You and your friends were indeed frightened by this sudden event."
She also stressed it was her mistake to charge for the meals, and has since been told by her boss it was not the right move to make.
"As for the full payment, I personally mishandled it. I sincerely apologise to the customer. It has nothing to do with the boss."
Shen told the Herald she wishes Robinson and her friend had told her they were not happy with the situation on the night, rather than saying it was okay.
"If the guest told me that they didn't eat well and didn't want to pay on the day I would have dealt with the situation accordingly."
A Wellington City Council spokesperson said the City Compliance team was working with the building owner to assess the situation, but the building was not on the register of earthquake-prone buildings.
"According to the initial reports investigation this was a weather-related incident, but we will not have all the information until a full investigation has been done by our teams."
