The Duke Of Gloucester — Restaurant in Napier

Went there last night as part of a big group. We ordered the starter of Wontons which was served with a bowl of soy sauce. Each bowl had about 8 wontons, far too many for a single starter serve & they were dry & a bit over cooked. They would have been much better served with sweet chilli sauce. The soy sauce was too salty. I discarded some of the very crisp & dry outside shell. I ordered the pork roast for mains. The pork was dry & overcooked & chewy, the veges were not roasted, they had been boiled, and every part of the meal was tasteless. Not one item of the meal had been salted when cooked. If I had been blindfolded I could not have guessed what I was eating. The veges were hidden underneath the pile of dry pork. The gravy was awful. My husband ordered fish & chips. The chips were greasy & the batter was not cooked properly so he peeled it off & ate the tiny bits of fish inside. We didn't order dessert because we were too disgusted with our first courses, so we left early. I think the one star out of 5 is a very generous mark! We come to Napier every year or so with friends so I will not be recommending the Duke...

Tasty lunch! We started with the (massive) bowl of house pork crackling, which was reminiscent of chicharrones, but a little lacking in flavour by itself; it'd make a great drinking snack, however.

For mains, I tried the prawn personal pizza, and my partner ordered the double Duke burger. The pizza was a delight, with one of the most balanced and delicious topping combinations I've ever had, on a thin, crispy, and yet still light and chewy base. I want to try more of their menu offerings in future, but it'll be hard to go past this pizza!

The burger was stacked, but the flavour profile was less interesting: patties were ok, bacon was ok, cheese was ok, sauces were a little bland (or possibly just not plentiful enough to compete with the other ingredients' large serving sizes)... I think it needed something acidic or vegetable-y to elevate it, but my partner enjoyed the meaty monstrosity, and we both agreed that the side of beer battered chips were incredible.

Service from our waitress Kimi was top notch. I'll definitely be back, and bring some mates (looking forward to trying out the...

We are long time patrons of "THE DUKE" and for good reason. We have never been disappointed with any aspect of our visits. We can always get a park and not have a distance to walk to get into the venue. Quite often right outside the door. The bar and facilities are excellent and always getting better. The gaming room has been recently updated and the TAB (my favourite) is friendly and familiar. We love the food so much we even go there for our Christmas Dinner. Awesome. They have all the normal specials, but the menu suits pretty much anyone and I've tried pretty much everything. The steak is my favourite and is exceptional. I ask for medium rare and that is exactly how it comes. Every time. However, sometimes I have a bit of trouble fitting in my dessert. The bar has brilliant staff and all my favourite drinks and they do let us run a tab so that we only have to pay once, at the end of our visit. All together and superb venue that I am sure we will be visiting regularly for years to come. Good work you guys and gals at the Duke. Brian...