Overall Rating: 5 Price: $$$ Cuisine: Contemporary
Food: 8.5 Drinks: 9 Ambiance: 9 Service: 10
On another gorgeous day in the Bay we visited the famous Mission Estate for lunch out on the terrace of an elegantly restored historic seminary building.
The history of the place goes back as far as 1851 when it was established as NZ's first winemaker. But today, we were not there for the wine, more the food and a birthday celebration.
The Mission's lunch menu has some very tempting entrees, but our party of 5 decided to settle for a main and dessert. Mains ranged from $24-32 and were all individually prices so there was no confusion! The mains we chose were the Moroccan spiced short loin of lamb, which was served on a bed of a poor attempt at babaganosh, but was otherwise quite nice; fish of the day(bluenose), and fish and chips.
I think the highlight of today's meal were the desserts. Mine, the butterscotch creme brulee was fabulous, the Tiramisu looked and tasted divine (see photo) and the pannacotta with peach sorbet was also delectable.
There had been one mention of a birthday when our orders for mains were taken and so it was a surprise to see 'happy birthday' written in chocolate on the birthday girl's dessert plate. Brownie points go to the waitress who subtly took note of this. All staff were extremely friendly and the service could not be faulted. Wines were obviously from the estate, and there were beer and softer options available. The setting is also a beautiful spot, with grapevines overhead and a beautiful view.
This well established restaurant obviously prides itself on excellent food and service and is legendary amongst the locals. It is definitely a place not worth missing on our next visit to the Hawkes Bay.
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