mister d dining

funny to see in the local paper the chef/owner charged with a second drink driving offence (12/7/12 hawkes bay today). integrity goes beyond what is put in front of you at the table.
great to see the lack of warmth from prue is noticed by more than myself. these reviews speak volumes. while hawkes bay is starved for entertainment...we don't need to devour this lack lustrerestaurantjust because we're desperate!

this new spot just up tennyson from marine parade is a welcome addition to the napier dining scene. therestaurantis well lit by a large skylight and has comfortable seating both in and out.

i stopped by for a late morning brekkie and had a coffee and ricotta slice with "drunken" fruit that was both refreshing and delicious.

can't wait to stop in for dinner and try the potato gnocchi with coffee grounds on the bar menu or the other tantalizing mains on the lunch and dinner menu.

welcome to the hawke's bay 'hood'!

we popped in for a late lunch on friday. therestaurantwas reasonably busy but it started to clear out by 2 pm.

we ordered the roast duck risotto (tasty but the duck was very salty), ortiz anchovies, bread and butter (perfect if you like anchovies as you literally eat them out of the can) and iberian ham off the bone with poached pears (lovely).

we finished with the infamous donut with a cream syringe and a custard syringe (a must try but only once as it’s very big and sweet).

service was okay but slow.

a bit on the pricey side.

was very excited to try thisrestaurantand the food didn't disappoint, it was excellent, fresh and tasted great! i had the fish in the bag, which was amazing. the downfall however was the service. a forgotten drink and having to wait a lengthy time without being served or offered a dessert menu, i had to go and ask for one after waiting so long. we ended up going to another cafe afterwards for dessert as no one came to take our order after waiting for a long while.

disappointing considering the price and the quality of the food.

we just had the most deplorablerestaurantexperience any of us have had at mr. ds. it pains me to say as it could have been a great experience and so many others have obviously enjoyed their experiences here. but we left thisrestaurantwith the worst tastes in our mouths, both literally and figuratively.

a group of 11 of us, which included 4 children and 1 infant, made reservations for lunch at 12:30 on a mildly busy saturday. we ordered straight away, some mains, a few entrees, some starters for the kids to share, including bread, and some coffees and bloody mary's for the adults. when the coffee and bloody mary's didn't arrive until 1:15, we were already 3 inquires deep into repeatedly asking "how is the food tracking for the kids". after being assured each time "the bread is being plated now" we proceeded to watch table after table receive their bread, their meals, their desserts, and in some cases even leaving after having arrived later than us.

the bread finally arrived for the kids at 1:45, with nothing more than a sorry and no further explanation. the 7 year old in our group, who was miserable with hunger along with all the rest, put it most appropriately when she then said "it took this long just to get the bread?"

the entrees and starters arrived shortly before 2:00. the mains and the kids donuts around 2:15, at which point we had already settled the bill, with a pathetic offer of reimbursing us for our donuts for the troubles. yet still after many direct inquiries, there was no explanation given for the catastrophic delays.

we finally left after 2:30, having to take our donuts as takeaway since everyone's day had now been disrupted by the laboriously overlong ordeal.

when inquiring one last time upon leaving about what went wrong in the kitchen, we were told "i'm sorry, we didn't realize you were in a hurry". we weren't in a hurry until we realized we were going to spend all afternoon against our will in this place.

if arestaurantbelieves that waiting over an hour for bread, and nearly 2 hours for mains is "normal pace" then they don't deserve our or anyone else's service, and they need to take a good long look at their service and training.

mr ds for us stands for mr delays. save yourself a few hours and a lifetime of frustration, and some money (the bill was still over $400 with our measly donut discount) and go to bistronomy around the corner.

from the moment i walked in the staff were very welcoming and bent over backwards to meet our needs.
me and my friend ordered the beef which came with a beautiful risotto, the beef was cooked to perfection, sliding off my knife.
i also asked their recommendation on a wine to match my beef and the staff seemed to have a lot of knowledge  and recommenced this amazing cab franc.

if they had arestaurantup here in auckland  i would be eating here every night, every penny worth it!

if i could give more than 5stars i would!

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 - nice in 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 relaxedrestaurantand 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.

we had our breakfast here. therestaurantwas very spacious and the atmosphere was very relaxed.

we ordered cheesey cheese (porch eggs bake with spinach and full of cheese), cinnamon doughnut with bacon, toast and jam.
i love the cheesey cheese so much!
coffee was great too.

please book for dinner and take note that they don't open every weekday.

went to mister d on a rainy weekend, first thought after entering the place "it's very warm and cozy!". even though therestaurantwas full, it didn't look packed and messy and still had the coziness in it.

the waitress was very friendly and came with our order in no time..

i had the famous donuts with chocolate filling and a cup of flat white. the donut was very moist inside and it's massive! worth the price.

overall i couldn't find any miss from this place.. food, service, and dining area are all superb!
definitely come back and recommend it to everyone :)

i am so disappointed and absolutely confused as to why this place has such a good reputation. we had been so looking forward to going to thisrestaurantbut the experience was almost painful. the biggest problem for us and the waitress and chef with the banal uncaring manner was was that we were vegetarian or pescatarian as we do eat fish.
the majority of the menu is based around meat unless you want cereal or other sweet boring offerings. i agree wholeheartedly with the last reviewer that in this day and age it is absolutely crazy to have no decent vegetarian options. we were also forced to order something off the menu with the meat part taken out. result 3 deep fried creamed corn balls of mush w one tomato on the side oh and don't forget the jug of maple syrup on the side for the bacon i didn't get. it was so unhealthy and made me feel just gross.my partner was lucky enough to get boring eggs on toast just like at home and my kids got to bounce off the wall with disgusting doughnuts filled with sugar because there was no options for them. it's not right in this progressive age to serve such 'dead' food.
come on mister d people do what you say on your website -quote 'we believe in fresh, local produce delivered with great service but no fuss. we think we’re unpretentious but we really care about our food and large wine list.' this couldn't be further from the truth.

recently came to napier and stumbled across this gem on menumania. so glad we made the effort! we shared the antipasto breakfast style platter & a donut with bacon. the platter was such a lovely, light breakfast and the donut was delicious! like a better version of the croinut. we then came back the next day for lunch and ordered the fried bread, sashimi salad & chilli soup. again, food was impeccable. the staff there are all so lovely and attentive and therestaurantitself is presented really nicely with nice, modern furnishings. love it. i suggest the owners open a franchise in wellington, we'd be loyal customers!

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's nice to have a greatrestaurantin 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.

chose to have lunch here with partner, will not go back. we were seated at an awkward high table at the back even though there were plenty of other tables, stools were uncomfortable and table looked directly into open women's toilet, not very appetising. partner had pulled pork which he said was tasty but small, i had sashimi salad which while beautifully presented was very bland, half the salad had no dressing on at all. service was cold and unwelcoming, service at payment counter was odd and unpleasant. from my experience thisrestaurantis overpriced and overrated, very disappointing.

what a beautiful place, cleanestrestaurantever, all the staff perfect, tidy, polite, well trained and also i've seen some of them speaking other languages to foreign customers, full of class, ambiance is the perfection for the kind of place it is, and the food again, wonderful, bone marrow ravioli?? real home made!! and delicious, after finishing my plate i felt like i wanted to order 10 more to take away, didn't have deserts but they looked really good, thanks for a great night

we were fortunate enough to stumble upon thisrestaurantwhile on holiday in napier. the coffee is the best i've ever tasted, the service is exceptional even when they are busy and the food is to die for - so good, we went back for lunch the next day. the menu is great - full of delicious things but not necessarily the same old boring fare you get in every cafe. i would strongly recommend the chicken hearts with harissa and the pulled pork salad - amazing.