esplanade restaurant

i went to try thisplacewith my wife. as we were really loved old esplanade.
i would really like to say that just buy a $4.99 pizza it will taste 100 times better then this place. we ordered pizza, garlic, rosemary bread (they used to have bread & dips simply awesome). it was just bad. after that got pizza which was worse. felt like got a round piece of indian roti and chuck some olives and other stuff on top. really not worth it.

looks good inside, the change over. beer was good. but in mire smaller glass.

if you want go for enjoyment and not really care for food then this is theplacefor you.

always a greatplaceto take friends or your family for a more classy lunch or dinner. the food is very yummy and the view of st clair is such a nice treat while you sit down to devour your meal. i recommend the beef lasagne paired with their whittakers chocolate shake.

greatplaceto visit when hungry for seafood. the calamari and fish i got was tasty and the portion size was really good. i’d definitely go back for seconds. the service was great too.

lovly spot on the corner, good service but the food just did not wow me. looked forward to a mediterranean type feed but it feel short. i ordered seafood antipasto plate. but to much picked veg and no dips to enjoy the bread with. seafood was ok. my son did not enjoy his sausage pizza as it did not have tomato base. thisplacecould be great in this location but i think they might be spoiled by not having to work hard getting people in as it’s a great location.

aplacewith a good view, good food and good vibe. the staff is really great and accomodating. they serve no fuss italian.

tried the salami pizza, mezza veg platter and garlic fries. the herb garlic fries stole the show. id say they are a must have. overall a goodplaceto dine in.

returns: sure
pricewise: $80 for two.

i always walked by this restaurant and for some reason was never really compelled to go in for a meal...but you will want to go in.... literally the best pizzas!

it's hard to find pizzas with the same quality of ingredients and flavours as you would find in rome, but thisplaceis pretty comparable.

highly recommend.

the staff were very friendly.

atmosphere very relaxing, located right in front of st clair beach with sea views.

going back for lunch tomorrow!

came in to esplanade after a long drive and hungry. a light and airy space with a good view out to sea.

the staff were helpful and attentive. unfortunately the food was not as good as theplaceitself. we ordered starters of mussels which were the best dish served and arancini which had a bland tomato sauce. it was missing something to make it a tasty dish. for mains we ordered a prosciutto pizza made in their traditional wood fired oven and lasagna. the lasagna was again flavoured too simply with the tomato sauce being a bit wet. the pizza was overloaded with rocket that quickly withered from the heat of the pizza and although there was a decent enough portion of prosciutto it wasn't particularly flavourful.
after missing breakfast that morning i would have expected to be able to appreciate the food more but it just wasn't appetising at all. one of the staff did ask if it was all ok when we swapped dishes to which i replied "it's ok". i then tried the lasagna and realised it wasn't a one off with the starter. the staff member saw we left the plates half empty and after we told her it wasn't good she told the manager, who was standing a table away from us, that we didn't enjoy the dishes but most disappointingly the manager didn't ask if anything was wrong or how the meal was when we paid bill with him moments later.

we chose thisplacebecause of the top notch views of st clair beach. the menu had extensive italian options and a good selection of local and imported beverages. we ordered the lamb papadelle, beef and pork meatballs, spinach ravioli and the seafood pizza. while the papadelle pasta itself was delish, the lamb itself was really fatty tasting and the whole dish was a bit bland. the ravioli was really good however a lot oilier than im used too. meatballs were really good and as was the pizza, great bases. service was a bit slow but as we were in no rush it was fine. personally the view was the best part of the meal.

i took my fiancée and her daughter and daughters partner here for my fiancée's birthday.
when we walked in we were quite excited as theplacewas nice and inviting with great views of the beach.
we ordered drinks from our italian waitress and i was looking forward to some authentic italian cuisine.
well, what a disappointment.
we got two garlic breads, two pizzas and two bowls of fries to share between all four of us.
the garlic breads, i thought were ok but no one else did. actually, i have to rephrase l that. i thought the bits of the garlic bread that wasn't burnt was ok.
the pizzas were a whole different kettle of fish.
they were undercooked, under - topped, over seasoned and the sparse toppings withe cheese that was on them would fall off at the slightest movement of the slice of pizza.
still, although disappointing, they probably taste good right?
they were disgusting.
the fries and the soda were the only palatable part of the whole meal.
now...here's the kicker! the price for this not overly large, totally disgusting meal?
$104.00!!!

but wait!...there's more! after this meal, i felt violently ill with terrible stomach cramps and diarrhoea! my partner was feeling similar by the next morning.

we, nor our family, nor our friends nor (hopefully) anyone that reads this review - will return here again while the current management and cooking team are there.

the esplanade is a greatplacebut the service really needs some work. the staff (waitresses in particular) were more concerned about gossiping and playing on their phones than serving customers. there were only a few people in the restaurant and the staff were not busy so it would have been nice to be greeted when we entered :)

the esplanade has a prime location and there was great excitement when it reopened in 2014 with a new owner, design and menu. unfortunately the concept is a bit misplaced. the service is generally quite good - friendly and professional and the restaurant is kept clean and tidy. the food is a challenge to assess in some ways. the pizzas are very nice "but" at well over $20 they are overpriced and not really value for money. it is true that the only otherplacewhere you can get an equivalent style of authentic italian pizza is mama mias (which is very good for takeaways) but one has to wonder why they can produce an equally good pizza for about $10 in most of europe (and north america) and it is over double in dunedin. the pastas servings are small and many of the choices are not what most people would expect - that could be a good thing but generally it isn't. it seems as if the esplanade is trying to sell a unique high level form of italian food that most people just don't want - it would be too much to call it pretentious but it just doesn't seem the right fit. beyond this the beer selection is quite limited and overpriced. their featured tap beer is peroni at $11 a pint - outrageous! the only other tap choices are speights or a cider. if you want an emersons be prepared to pay $13 - again outrageous! with such a narrow choice on the menu and overpriced drinks (and no byo) it will be interesting to see how the restaurant goes during the winter months when one off tourists are gone and they are dependent on local business. they have such a great location but with the recent announcement of new establishments being developed at the beach they may find themselves struggling.

my partner and i tried thisplacefor lunch on saturday 15/03/14. the coffee was nice, and the fries we ordered (which came first) were really good too so we were expecting good things from the pizza and breakfast item we had ordered. when the pizza came it was straight away disappointing as there was only one piece of basil on the margherita, which is a pizza i've eaten in many italian restaurants, and make at home as we are both regular basil eaters, we have a constant supply going with plants we have in our kitchen. i know for a fact that the traditional and official recipe for the margherita is to have a small bunch of basil on each pizza, not in fact one leaf which is what the waitress told me was traditional on italian margherita, all the chefs were italian and that is the only was they would cook it, and it must not be to my taste as i obviously did not understand traditional italian food.... i cook a lot and my main repertoire is italian... the pizza i make, from scratch base and all, is like a gazillion times better than their soggy, tasteless excuse for traditional italian. i literally had to cut the one piece of basil, admittedly it was a good sized leaf, about 3cm, and distribute it around the pizza. the whole thing was greasy and it was gross actually soggy and just pathetic. i was laughing about how bad it was. my partner had some baked egg type dish that had potatoes and chorizo and mushrooms in it. this was also a joke for $18.50. the chorizo was salami for a start, and the whole thing was overcooked and just tasted of burnt potato and mushroom. it was actually gross and, while we ate it, we did say to the waitress when we paid but she just questioned our palettes and then charged us the $64 dollars it cost for the meal. i didn't like the way she dealt with it at all. i work in retail management so i definitely know how to go about dealing with customer dissatisfaction and i felt that she was patronizing and unfriendly. i was being totally reasonable and just offering honest feedback, i didn't expect any discount but i do feel as though the coffee could've been complimentary or something to that effect as we did express that the food wasn't great. we would never go back, except maybe for a quick takeaway coffee.

i'm sure this will offend some, but i feel the need to put some of these other polarised reviews into context.

so the key thing here is that the esplanade is now serving authentic neapolitan style pizza, the likes of which dunedin has never seen. because of this you'll find all the reviews here are either:
a) 4 or 5 star reviews - by dunedinites who have probably travelled beyond the city limits and have experienced authentic pizza elsewhere and are delighted to finally have the good stuff available locally.
b) 1 or 2 star reviews - where the reviewer considers the pizza to be "burnt" and "had hardly any toppings" and will feel ripped off because "they didn't put enough stuff on my pizza" and they'll be basically fuming about it. oh and of course they will claim its overpriced.

so, i'm in camp a) and i'll quickly give thisplace4 stars. i have eaten better neapolitan pizza, but not in dunedin. in dunedin this is the onlyplaceto get good authentic artisanal pizza, made with quality local and imported ingredients. i know my flours (weird i know, but i am a pizza snob) and they are using one of the finest 5 stagioni - it is apparent in the flavour and texture of the final crust. i know they employ an experienced napolian pizzaiolo who takes care with each and every pizza, not a student on minimum wage who doesn't give a damn, also very apparent in the result.

my recommendation depends on what camp you fall into:
a) you know what neapolitan pizza is and you'd like to eat some in dunedin - well this is the onlyplacethat serves it. it really is the only good pizza i've had in dunedin, and i've tried them all. i'll be going again for sure.

b) if however you reckon gourmet pizza = good pizza, then you'll be sorely disappointed with the burnt, stingy, overpriced pizza on offer here. avoid thisplaceat all costs and perhaps hit filadelfios for a "kiwi gourmet" pizza instead.

i will be very interested to see whether thisplacecan sustain itself in dunedin, it takes a lot of guts to do something authentic down here when the majority won't understand or appreciate it. good luck esplanade!

oh, and no comment on the pasta... didn't order it. i'm all about the pizza baby.

thisplaceserves what may well be the best pizzas outside italy! not loaded with 100 toppings like nz pizzas, but rather simple, with modest toppings but bursting with flavour.

divine, simply divine.

and if you are in a group - ask for the back room with the long table and wonderful ceiling lights, which closes off from the remainder of the room.

simply divine! the pizza was the best i've had in new zealand - it was just like the pizza i've had in italy. it's so nice to finally have real pizza here in dunedin!

the decor is classic and clean, and the service friendly and prompt. the views are breathtaking. i couldn't recommend thisplacehighly enough!