Monica Loves — Restaurant in Napier

This was the most shocking hospitality I have ever received. Just wait until my friend makes her post about her drink! Imagine your drink was delivered to the wrong table. The staff took five minutes to realize the mistake. Instead of making a new drink, they grabbed the drink off the incorrect table and delivered it to my friend without a word. She had to ask the other table if they took a drink of it. AND. This was after waiting forty-five minutes for average tasting cocktails. When ordering my drink, I asked the staff if my choice was a tart choice rather than sweet. She assured me I'd love it if I was in to tart flavors. After taking my first sip, I got pure bubble gum flavors. I couldn't drink it. I nicely told the staff member that she shouldn't recommend it as a tart drink as it was much more sweet than anything. Rather than a polite response as you should always give in hospo, she retorted "was it not tart enough for you?" and shrugged me off. Sure, funny response, but not the place. Overall, not a happy experience and I currently would not recommend their drinks...

Monica may love but I certainly can’t say the same. Worst espresso martini I’ve ever had – $17, served without any coffee bean garnish (small detail I know but presentation counts) and tasted like watery filter coffee. Even had residual icey bits in it. I’ve never had to complain about a drink and return it before but I couldn’t stomach this. The silver lining was that the staff were so receptive to our feedback and replaced the drinks with two new cocktails. It’s just unfortunate that these weren’t great either. Reminded me of cocktails you’d get an airport restaurant – too much ice, too much liquid, too sweet, and garnished with a chunky piece of lemon. The two stars are for the atmosphere and the staffs efforts to remedy...

UPDATE: 6 weeks after posting my original 5 star review we returned. Oh dear what a let down. Change in staff meant wine on the list wasn't available, food was great, drinks glasses sat empty while we watched 3 bartenders stack one dishwasher and 1 bartender tend, talk to and deliver drinks to four other tables. Did we not fit the narrative? Not sure we'll come back in a hurry. So sad because previous staff really made you feel welcome.

Only found this bar a couple of months ago but I've lost count of the Friday drinks we've had here since. Service is AMAZING. The bar staff totally put the hospo into...