[T2DMan]

Add your review of Tairua Landing Cafe and be part of the fun .

Contact Details:
222 Main Street
Tairua
Ph. 0-7-864 7774

[Kiwi Markus]

Here is another great place to grab some real food. Its a nice little restaurant with an Aussie owner/chef ....lovely guy to talk to.
And he makes really big burgers......and they taste great too!
A MUST, if you plan to stop over in Tairua for lunch. We will most certainly pop in again!
Regards
Markus

[Nae]

Wonderful that it's great for lunch, but what a sorry excuse for a dinner restaurant.

Everything seemed ontrack for a good meal - we reserved a table and the menu looked nice. Once seated, we were then informed that there would be a party coming in 75 mins later, and that if we wanted to stay longer we had to sit outside when they arrived. One gas heater for 6 tables is not sufficient.

So they took our orders, and yeah, the menu is pretty good, promising much. The wine menu is heavy on Aussie wines, which is fine by us, but hmm, being a Kiwi tourist spot? When the orders started coming out, then the issues started.

Entree: I ordered the Breads and Dips and my husband ordered the soup of the day with garlic bread. Well the soup was a good choice - good taste and texture. The breads came out as a huge serving... but the bread was old (the flat breads on the plate were in fact stale - they snapped!) and the 'dip' was not dip - instead I got a bowl of sweet chilli sauce, a bowl of pickles and a bowl of chutney. No dip - and all too acidic. Not good for a pregnant lady who gets heartburn - had it been advertised as bread and pickles I wouldn't have gotten it.

So, we were hoping the mains would be an improvement, and initially they looked good. Husband got stuffed pork with vegetables and I got diced venison in a coconut rum and coconut cream sauce with rice and vegetables.

The meals looked great - until I saw that my rice was totally covered in sweet chilli sauce (Im actually allergic to most types of SCS, due to the flavour enhancers). So that was half the rice inedible right off. Fortunantly the Venison was oustanding. The sauce was lovely, the meat perfectly tender.
Hubby's pork was initially good, until he started to chew through the inch of fat around the edge. The new potatoes were good. On to the vegetables. OK, well, if the vegies were good it would have been their saving grace. But they weren't. You know the flavour that Watties frozen vegies have when you cook them in the microwave? Soggy but not cooked? Same flavour. On a plate that cost $26.

Thankfully our little girl's fish and chips was perfect for her - she engulfed it, and loved the big side of tomato sauce that came with - two thumbs up for that and the milkshake she had.

And the wine... well it was good too, and we just left with the bottle.

Finally - they replaced our candle after entree, but never lit it.

Total outcome - $120 that we could have better spent on fresh fruit, veg and meat, and cooked ourselves. It was disappointing that after four days on holiday, and this being our only dinner out, we picked there. *sigh* We're going else where for brekky tomorrow and hopefully it picks up.

My advice - stick to the 'real' food. Burgers, chips and seafood baskets. The view during the day is nice too and the staff were friendly. Here endeth the vent.