Villa Maria Gimblett Gravels (formerly Te Awa)

Beautiful place, great eating and the most hospitable staff fantastic!

Went here again last weekend. As usual, the food and service was phenomenal. They had a wedding starting later in the afternoon but all was made clear when we booked and when we arrived. The menu follows a constant sharing plates formula but always with a few exciting seasonal twists. It's a joy to eat here and the charcoal ribeye with smoked bone marrow was to die for.

I had the most amazing lunch here a couple of weeks ago. Not only was the food delicious but the service was excellent and that makes all the difference. I love all the small plates on the menu but on this occasion we had 2 of the large plates, the fish and the chicken and had to have the crunchy potatoes to accompany them. Delicious.

My wife and I had one of the better lunches we have had. Everything at Te Awa restaurant was excellent. From the very friendly staff to the dishes and the wine. The ’True Earth’ carrots were amazing. Overall the dishes were of a really high standard with tastes that really was to our liking. So the lunch took three hours...; Ulla Claes, Sweden

Despite an empty restaurant, we waited for over 20 minutes for service (and still didn’t receive any). We picked up our own menus and approached multiple counters for service while people around and behind us were continuously put first. Finally when we were served we were told that there were no available tables (although only one other couple was in the restaurant all other patrons were visiting the bar for tastings). Unfortunately this is the first time I have felt discriminated against since moving to New Zealand. My overall impression is that this restaurant is poorly staffed, and the mood is pretentious.