mister d dining

we came by for a lateish lunch after a few drinks. the menu looked very interesting and it was open from the morning. it wasn't busy so we were able to get a table easily. they also do takeaways, which one of our friends did with the doughnuts. the decor around the place was quite interesting with bits of art and other interesting items, like a skull with the bottles of wine.
we grabbed a few things to share to start and then a main each. i am a sucker for octopus and i enjoyed their rendition with the tender octopus, potatoes and creamy sauce. the fried bread was quite interesting as it was literally a bowl of fried bread. i had the bone marrow raviloi and that was delicious. the beefy broth gave the entire thing a great flavour. my friend had the souffle and that was also quite delicious. i thought that the smoked fish cake bene was a bit on the smoky side but it was still tasty.
of course, we tried their fresh made doughnuts afterwards, all generously coated in sugar. the only difference between them is the different flavours that you inject in. i had the coconut and lime one and thought it was a bot too heavy on the kaffir lime since that dominated the flavour. the manuka honey one was good if you like honey since that was the dominant flavour. the baked sugar was also quitenicesince the vanilla in the cream and custard was really nice, which went well with the crispy flaky pastry.
there was a wrong drinks order (coke instead of coconut water) but it was an easy fix. the toilets are located outside the building past the kitchen. if you were lucky you could watch them make the doughnuts on the counter.
it was on the pricier end but i really enjoyed the dining experience here with the delicious food andnicestaff.

we arrived early for lunch and got a table straight away. we were served complimentary bread rolls to start with olive oil. they wereniceand filled the gap whilst we waited for our mains. we ordered pork belly with coconut rice which was yum but the greens were very bitter. my husband ordered the duck risotto. he said the risotto was nice, but crispy duck would have been better. we ordered the bone marrow ravioli for the kids to share. neither liked it so my husband finished it. he wasn’t that impressed with the flavour combination. portion sizes are small. overall service was great, but i wouldn’t say the food deserved the price point. whilst they did provide a high chair, they aren’t really setup to cater for kids.

visited mister d's twice during our stay in napier. the first time for dinner, and my friend and i were so pleased with the food and service that we returned for breakfast the following day. great interior, and equally asnicecourtyard for a warm day.

napier is a beautiful coastal city known for its beaches as well as art deco buildings. it has been on my list as a must-see city in new zealand for a long time but i’ve never really had the opportunity to come down. this weekend, i was fortunately enough to visit the city with work. knowing that food is a big part of my life, i searched up the top restaurants in napier and chose mister d to have a big dinner in the city.  walking on the streets on a thursday night, the city felt empty although quite serene andnicein its own way.

delicious food, great value,niceambience.
the duck risotto was great.  

we had the salmon sashimi salad entree and it was probably enough to feed two people by itself.  we were so very impressed with the freshness, flavours and size of this dish.

the portion sizes are very generous - something that you don't often see in upmarket restaurants anymore.  

the ambience is verynice- upmarket without being pretentious.  great place for dates and family dinners alike.

the maitre-d was very friendly.
overall, a very enjoyable experience.  a gem in napier.

came on monday for breakfast delis. came today at 11.05 for brunch and all we could hear was the chef saying it's five past 11 alredy. and he continued to slam doors ect and when the chefs angry you can taste it in the food. being a chef myself it's not really a good look especially being in an open kitchen and the customers are in ear shot. all you need to say is no that's it. food wasnicebut was let down with the attitude of the chef.

the childish amusement of shooting up a donut never seems to fade. the triplet of 10ml of each - chocolate, creme anglaise and strawberry, at mister d was my introduction to the induction of anaesthesia in an otherwise lifeless lump of fried dough about to undergo dental surgery. although i'm sure it wasn't their idea, mr d have given countless napierites similar pleasure over the past couple of years.

unfortunately donut anaesthesia can detract from the rest of the menu and that is a pity because mr d serves up excellent, intelligent, thought-out, modern, bistro cuisine. we've been at least half a dozen times when visiting napier and have never had a bad meal.

the space is large, white, modern, vaguely industrial but more carefully thought out than that. tastefully decorated in clean eclectic-cool. an outside area is at back -nicein summer. the bar area extends towards the entrance and this makes your own entrance comfortable and the protocol obvious (an attribute some restaurants lack). it's a relaxed restaurant and kids are usually evident.

on this occasion it was brunch for four:

service - brilliant - we all agreed one of the best wait staff we had experienced.

flat whites ok - well made, and reasonably good depth of flavour.

poached eggs on a choice of toasted breads: dry looking egg - perfectly poached - alongside dry looking sourdough, thankfully "garnished" with a piece of butter - count your garnishing blessings i suppose.

porridge with poached quince and what looked and tasted like clotted cream (i'm sure it wasn't but that's what it reminded me of): creamy and delicious - the quince was lovely. i don't think it needed the cream; it was already very rich.

a deconstructed hawaiian pizza without the base. let's face it the base is only there to bulk out and support the delicious combination of grilled pineapple and ham. so on an oval plate there were thick slabs of ham, grilled pineapple, tomato, with a peppery caramel topping and a scent or two of fennel or anise. damn good and if you think hawaiian pizza is naf - try it and you may realise that nothing is naf that is also delicious. it gave me a new respect for naf pizzas!

and my own order? - sorry i can't resist... holly bacon and maple syrup syringed donut. the latter was a bit dense but the perfect match of very good smoky bacon with smokey sweet maple and base of fried donut. basically a rearrangement of pancakes with maple and bacon.

mr d is a napier institution - one of the best places in town for a good dining experience that is both relaxed and delicious.

great place!nicedeco, clean and tidy. we went there at2:30pm for lunch. they still accepted our order even their lunch closed at 3. good service. my bf and i had a chicken lamb pork starter. it's really awesome! you must try it! so different compared to other restaurant. and we also had turkey tortellini which was so tasty inside, creamy sauce were perfect match. pan roasted fish cooked with raisin olives chickpeas was also surprised me, but could be more tender. cloudy bay clams with fried bread was not bad, just need more time to cook with clams.

enjoyed fried bread it was something different!niceice coffee and ice chocolate too! definitely coming back to try other menu! another reason to visit napier

had a great coffee and doughnut here but would be good to have more filling though! i would def go back there again though,nice& clean and great friendly staff

this is our favourite place to eat. the braised duck risotto is to die for, as is the bone marrow ravioli. the food is always top quality and the atmosphere fun and not too precious. the service has been a little variable however, with one night being fantastic, and another night being a little slow and the waiters a little snooty. prices are spot on. we can have a great night out for two and come away with change from $100.

it'sniceto have a great restaurant in the city, rather than heading out to ahuriri, but the waiters need to work hard at giving exceptional service to make up for the lack of a harbour view.

this restaurant was recommended to me by a reputable hawkes bay winemaker at the food and wine festival in auckland so we were very excited about our dinner here.

first impressions were fantastic. modern slick restaurant, great looking open kitchen, lovely tables and seating andnicemodern menus. our waitress was polite, enthusiastic and helpful. great start to the night.

the menu read fantastically. so we ordered 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 sides. we also ordered a lovely bottle of hawkes bay syrah.

from start to finish the food was underwhelming, unseasoned, tasteless. the fried bread starter was exactly that, fried ciabatta. it was quite nice. it was screaming out for a little balsamic to dip in as it was very heavy with the aioli. the olives, popcorn and nuts were ok too. nothing special but ok.

the lamb ribs were quite a shock. flavourless, very little meat, no seasoning. terrible. the tortellini was just ok, again no seasoning at all. thank goodness for the cracked pepper and coarse salt at the table. we had to cover the food in both of these to get any flavour from them.

the side dishes were nothing short of pathetic. the potatoes read beautifully (potatoes, stock, onions, rosemary)....where was the stock onions and rosemary??? non existent. flavourless, zero seasoning. absolutely terrible. also the side of vegetables, boring, bland flavourless.

by this stage i was so utterly disappointed and really quite baffled that we just wanted to leave.

we had such high hopes after such great reviews and we couldnt wait to go to mr d's....hugely disappointing. you could say that we maybe they had an off night, but an off night over 6 dishes......
i wonder.

we tasted some fantastic food in other restaurants over our trip to hawkes bay and we will not be going back to mr d's and that really is a pity. style over substance.

a pleasant surprise as we had not heard of this place. meals were both great, i had ravioli gf clam pasta.niceand fresh. quick service. very polite service. best coffee i have had in a long time.
pasta with clam slightly overcooked. would recommend as new restaurant and will only get better.