thirsty whale bar & restaurant

ordered the fish dish! talk about delicious. till today, i seek for a similar dish, up here in auckland. lovely customer service, location and atmosphere. check them out if youre in napier!

if you going to "the thirsty whale", be ready to wait. went there with 3 friends and a toddler. ordered 4 mains and some fries. and had to wait 45 minutes for the fries to arrive. and another 30 minutes for the mains to arrive. this leaves a total wait time of one hour, fifteen minutes of wait for main course. 

i would have hoped the food would be amazing after the wait. but guess what (you have seen the rating), it was less than mediocre. the order and feedback follows:
fish and chips: 3 mini pieces of fish. the batter was not seasoned at all. the chips were soggy.
thai red curry: they used chicken breast which was a tad bit chewy (read overcooked), which could have been forgiven. but the dish that was served was not even hot.
chicken wings: the worst of the 4 dishes. no flavor. no salt, no seasoning. it was chicken nibbles dipped in flour batter and fried. full stop.
ribs: the saving grace of our meal. got nice smoky ribs with ample of sauce to stir things up. 

also ordered two desserts: creme brulee and choco fudge cake. but again, the wait time was 35 minutes after we ordered, that we could lay our eyes on dessert.
the choco fudge cake was nice and warm. the creme brulee was creamy in the middle and crackly on top as it should be.  but the fruits did not go with the creme brulee. but that's a pass and they came separate.

the ambiance of the place is beautiful. with heaps of outdoor seating overlooking the port. and a humongous indoor seating area divided between two levels. the staff was very helpful given we had a toddler with us. 
but will i return; the short answer is no. its a damn long wait for food even when the restaurant was not busy.
pricewise: $70 for two.

great food and location on the wharf. the seafood was great and cooked well. the burger and fries were great too. really good for what you pay.

excellent food and service. the location on the docks and the maritime décor inside the restaurant combine to produce a great ambiance. highly recommended.

we are wellington based and were recently in the bay for a weekend trip.               it was recommended that we try the thirsty whale restaurant and bar in ahuriri for an evening meal meals and drinks with friends. it was very pleasing to be greeted at the main entrance by pleasant staff and seated promptly. the ambiance of the room and dining environment is also very pleasing and the facility has an excellent fit out and décor.            
the menu offered an excellent selection of en tree's and starters which were lovely, the mains included steaks, seafood and other options that were well prepared and cooked superbly. the desert selection was also very tempting and again offered a wide selection to choose from.
our group thoroughly enjoyed our time and meal at the thirsty whale and felt really welcome and enjoyed the refreshing and enjoyable atmosphere that we stayed long into the evening and early hours of the morning.

thank you to the thirsty whale management and staff for making us feel so welcome and giving us an enjoyable and great hospitality experience.

great service. really good value for money and very tasty. we had venison meatballs which came with a small alas and sauces that where amazing, chicken dippers again with great sauce the wedges side dish was a meal in itself and very different from anything had before and that was the point of difference - lots

went for breakfast on saturday 13th feb 2016 me and my partner ordered eggs benedintine it was sub standard eggs were over poached and hard on both meals my coffee was burnt so not a great experience

beautiful atmosphere, lovely view and great steak. although the dessert had canned fruit salad with a deluge of juices. but desserts are a rip off at any resturant

great place they have a new menu love the fish of the day and lovely sitting on the deck with great hawke's bay weather over looking the marina

we did not have a reservation but managed to get a table here within about 15 minutes.
the staff were friendly but the service once we were seated was very average. we endeavored to get a wine list in vain - didn't manage to get a wine order in until after our food arrived. we had to wait for cutlery after our food came.
the food was ok, but not great. we ordered the prawn entree, which was a huge pile of noodles with a few prawns in, more suited to being a main dish, and chicken strips with a dipping sauce, which were ok. for mains we had the venison, which was very rare ( ok by me but some people may have balked at how rare it was) and the pork fillet, which was a bit tasteless and served with very mushy asparagus. the mains were ok but definitely average, and just missed the mark a bit.
the restaurant atmosphere was eclectic and pleasant.

the restaurant/pub has a good layout. there are 2 separate function rooms and we were seated in one. customer service was very slow and on the less friendly side, might be due to the number of people we had for the function. my partner and i ordered a pizza, pork belly and a side of chips. the food was average. the kumara mash was luke warm and still had chunks of kumara in it. also the pork belly had no crackling and looked more like a loin.

we went to thirsty wale on easter monday. i ordered the pancake stack which really did not disappoint. the banana, bacon and pancakes were all cooked perfectly! i really could not fault anything about my meal. my husband had the scrambled eggs with the full whale, which he loved and the size of the additional sides was very generous! the prices were fair so would definitely go back. my only critique would be the coffee - didn't enjoy my coffee, and i thought the cups were quite small.

we had a family cycling get-together in napier 23-26january15 and on the saturday night decided to go to the thirsty whale (a couple of people had been before).
what a fantastic experience.
we were a party of 9 and seated upstairs with a lovely view however as the sun went down it was very intense (heat and in-your-face). michael, our waiter popped a table cloth up to block this. so thoughtful.
nothing was a problem and the food was outstanding.
for great service and good food when in napier i would definitely recommend this venue.

the setting is absolutely fantastic along the quay and when combined with food from the whale as we call it; you most probably end up with a good vibe. fantastic!

if you're after a decent, reasonably-priced pub lunch this is the place. water front bar-come-eateries are notoriously mediocre, so this was a pleasant surprised. good quality calamari, lightly fried came with a (some what boringly dressed) vietnamese style salad. burger was light and delicious with mountain of thick cut chips and deliciously garlicky aoli. service was attentive, relaxed and friendly - they pleasantly accomodated my picky meal and drink instructions. i'd return.