orca restaurant & bar

very disappointing, slow bad service, noisy and we had booked but tables and seating not that great.
no atmosphere and food pretty basic when it finally arrives. there are places in raglan with more atmosphere than this. could be quite a good place on a hot day for lunch but doesn't quite hit the spot for a dinner.

hi corrina, just wanted to say thanks so much!! for an enjoyable night at your restaurant, the food was superb as was the service and all the family enjoyed it from the 78 year olds down to the 3 year olds. loved it so much that my sister and i returned for lunch the next day! it gave my parents a very memorable 50th wedding anniversary.

cheers,
catherine

we had a great dining experience at orca.

the table location was where we expected, having booked ahead. this is always a good sign as some restaurants put advance bookings in the worst spots, reserving the best tables for walk ins. the welcome was friendly and the young woman who served us most of the evening was genuinely delightful, striking a nice balance of being attentive but not fussing too much. the décor was bright and open but we still felt like we had our own little corner. it was a busy evening, but staff seemed to be on top of it all.

the food was what we had come for of course, and we weren’t disappointed. we had already discussed the menu when we booked and were really pleased to see an imaginative vegetarian entrée and main. sure, there could always be more choices, but orca steered well away from those tired old clichés, fettuccine alfredo and vegetarian lasagne! other restaurants take note! we can cook this stuff at home! the dishes were elegant without being pretentious and were a taste sensation, especially the mushroom entrée. the gnocchi dish was lovely too. i suspect it was done in a skillet instead of simply being boiled. venturing into meat territory once in a while, i had lamb which was very good indeed.

we had three courses with wine and the quality and presentation were excellent. there was just the right amount of time between courses too, so you never felt either rushed or neglected. a big test of an evening is when the dessert menu is presented. many restaurants either shove it your face as an afterthought or leave it so long that you simply go off the idea. no problems here. we had a lovely tart tatin and gratefully accepted a dessert wine suggestion. it was all rounded off with a good coffee.

so all in all we had a very pleasant evening. lovely staff, great food and definitely somewhere we would recommend.

a friend and i went to orca looking forward to a lovely meal overlooking the ocean, but instead experienced the worst customer service of our lives. after walking in the door, no one showed us to a table so we found an empty one in the corner. 10 minutes went by trying to flag down one of the waitresses, who kept walking past our table and seemingly deliberately ignoring us. finally one came over and said, "i can't take your order for another 20 minutes, is that ok?" with no explanation as to why this was the case. we said no and left. i cannot begin to understand the logic of this, since it was reasonably early and the restaurant had several empty tables. a very insulting experience.

we ate here on new year's eve and loved the food. unfortunately we left it a little late to book and got the last table which was situated adjacent to the bar at the back, which wasn't great so would advise booking ahead to get a view of the harbour.
we had the fish soup and pork belly for our entrees, both were excellent, as were the mains of steak tartare and duck leg. service was good, and the staff friendly. would definitely recommend.

we went to orca during an early saturday evening. the service was quick and friendly with our drinks order taken straight away. not all tables have views over the harbour so we moved and sat at a small bar in a window. orca has a decent nz wine list by the glass.

both of us had the fish with hand cut chips and when next in raglan we will be heading back.

it does look popular so you may need to book.