Seafood Restaurants in Hawkes Bay

20th November 2012
My husband and I dined at Pacifica on 20.10.12 for my birthday. We had such a lovely evening! They accommodated our need for a lateish booking ag 8.30pm, and seated us briefly at the bar before taking us to our seats. The restaurant decor is beautiful - wooden floors, lovely new tables and comfy chairs. We were given sparkling water, and my only (minor!) criticism of the whole night was that we weren't made aware that we were paying $10 for the bottle! I would have just had normal water for free! We were given complimentary breads and dips, and then a complimentary amouse bouch (a fish soup). The menu is made up of a variety of small(ish) mains for $25 each rather than entree and mains, with the idea that more than one can be ordered if desired. We ordered a main each - I had tempura fresh water koura, crumbed scallops and smoked eel porridge; and my husband had ban fried blue nose fillet, crispy whitebait, morel mushroom and Kina cream. Both dishes were absoultely beautiful. We then ordered another main to share - more because we wanted to try another one than because we were hungry! One main each would have been sufficient! We had seasame crusted swordfish, crispy whitebait (which was added specifically for us as my husband is allergic to the sauteed prawns that would usually be on the dish), and coconut creamed paua. Again, a really great dish. We ordered a dessert each to finish. I had a frozen chocolate milkshake, which is exactly what it sounds like and very nice. My husband ordered the apple parfait, and it was nothing short of stunning. Apple parfait, with apple foam, candied apple, apple jelly, some sort of apple crumbs, and white chocolate frozen creamy thing. It was AMAZING. We also had two chocolates to finish off the meal. We chose not to order any drinks and in the end the meal cost about $110. Given the huge amount of food we had it was well worth the price for a very special meal out. The hostess Rebecca was very attentive, as was our lovely waitress. My husband was previously a chef and is quite hard to please when it comes to cooking, and he gave each meal 10/10. Thanks Pacifica for a great night!