Mission Estate Winery

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.

Craggy Range Winery

Terrior Restaurant

overall rating 3 stars Price: $$$$

Food: 9 Drinks: 7 Ambiance: 9 Service: 5

Craggy Range winery is set beneath a stunning outcrop of rock and really is a sight to be seen. The restaurant is aesthetically pleasing with the outdoor tables set next to grapevines and beautiful views abound.

This is an upmarket establishment and with lunch main prices over $30 you expect good service. We had a wonderful French waiter and the timing and food could not really be faulted - as you can see from the photo, my beef with potato and truffle gratin, with Bearnaise sauce and Craggy Range merlot jus. Other mains we enjoyed were the very well cooked salmon sitting on a bed of caperberries, olives, mandarin slices and watercress; and the organic chicken breast with a fabulous combination of babaganosh, lentils and preserved lemon.

However, our experience at this restaurant is an example of why I write restaurant reviews. Between the 5 of us we had two different versions of the menu, with different prices particularly for the mains. We asked for clarification from our waiter and were told all mains were $32.50 except for the fish of the day $36.50. The fish was actually not available when we arrived. When we received the bill the mains were $32.50, $34.50 and $36.50, making it not match either of the menus we had seen. With the total bill coming to $287 we were hardly going to argue over $6-8, but we all felt that something should be said. We politely told the Maitre d' as we were about to pay. Unexpectedly, the response we got could not have been worse. He was rude and bordered on aggressive. There was absolutely no need for quite the response we received and it really ruined the lunch for everyone.

We were not all visitors to the region and the snobbery and arrogance shown to us will not earn them any recommendations.