BLUEBIYOU — Restaurant in North Island

I ordered the clam and prawn cavatelli with smoked tomatoes and basil and mum ordered the mushroom and truffle cavatelli, mixed mushrooms, parsnip crisps and fresh herbs. Waitress took our order but advised she thought they didnt have any more serves of cavatelli. This was at 1pm (lunch service which started at noon). She came back to advise they had only one serve of cavatelli pasta. But they could do linguine with one of the dishes. As mum struggles with linguine, spag, fettuccine etc, we ordered the cavatelli for mum with the mushroom and truffle. Well mums came out with the linguine. I couldn’t swap as mum doesn’t eat shellfish. So this is Mums first time out of the house in five months and I sat there to watch her struggle with the pasta, which she was eating to be polite plus she was starving.( I wish we had just got up and left and gone to Auntys for fish and chips! ) As watching her try to eat her meal, I was nearly in tears! But hey that’s not the end of it, when I got home and was reading the menu to hubby, I realised there were no mixed mushrooms, just button ones that were sliced very thin and lost in this particular pasta, plus no parsnip crisps to be found. Mine, no tomatoes or basil? Wow the chef must have have been having a real bad ‘no love’ day. Will we go back, yeah NAH! This has to be the worst dining experience we have ever had in the Mount. Lesson the Bluebiyou... if you don’t have the ingredients for a dish don’t serve it!!! At $32 and $38 the customer deserves better than that! PS: A couple sitting next to us complained to the waitress that their steak was over cooked, then someone from the kitchen (I’m assuming the chef) came and spoke to them offering to cook them...

Bluebiyou Blues

As a regular at Bluebiyou who typically enjoys their food, my latest visit was a bit of a letdown.

Opting for the Wagu Steak at $38, I requested it medium, envisioning that perfect pink center you'd crave with Wagu. Unfortunately, it arrived overcooked on a smaller plate than anticipated, fries came with an extra $14 tag. For a $52 main course. I expected a lot more.

I ordered an entree as well (after the initial hiccup with the Tempura Oyster Mushroom being unavailable). The K-Fried Chicken, chosen as an alternative, didn't quite live up to the Korean Chicken standard set in my previous reviews.

The overall presentation was underwhelming, and while the steak was decent in taste, it looked quite sad and small on the already diminutive plate.

This meal was our anniversary lunch, and reminiscing about better times at Bluebiyou overshadowed the present letdown. I pondered whether the mid-afternoon timing or a busy Beach Bar had stretched out the kitchen and affected the quality. One can't help but wonder if the Head Chef was even on-site that afternoon.

We also faced a few items being unavailable after ordering, prompting some menu reshuffling.

Despite the laid-back atmosphere, the service was slow.

Hoping this was just a one-off glitch, especially considering my consistently positive experiences at Bluebiyou over the past five years.

With news of a new chef joining in December 2023, perhaps they're still in the process of finding their groove. Fingers crossed for better experiences in the future. Otherwise I'll just go to the Beach Bar, food is similar and the one would argue, the views better.

Online pictures and menu need...

Sometimes it’s when a plan doesn’t come together that you win. As it was a Friday night, I stamped my feet and declared we were going out out. The Favourite Husband begrudgingly agreed providing it was one drink and an entree. Yawn. I suggested the Beach Bar. We found a park 3 miles away and trudged through the rain only to realise we were about 2 decades too old and significantly too hard of hearing to be comfortable in there. So we cheated and went next door to Bluebiyou. The last 18 months or so we have been here several times and I’ve got to say, it’s been consistently good. My mains favourite from previous visits has been the beef cheeks with an orange element; but I noticed that it’s sadly no longer on the menu. But we weren’t having mains, because the Favourite Husband was in charge, so I opted for the cocktail of the week; because I can. A frozen mango margarita. I’m not a mango fan but frankly nothing will come between me and a margarita. I have to say it was beautiful. Top marks. We shared the chicken liver parfait and the tempura oyster mushrooms. The chicken liver parfait was a good flavour but a bit stingy on the portion size. Pretty much every bar and restaurant in the Bay offers a version of this and I’ve had better. But it was ok. But smashing it out of the park were the tempura oyster mushrooms. To be fair you could deep fry a sandal and it would probably taste good, but the seasoning on these was outstanding. They were melt in the mouth morsels of paradise. I shall return and dine on margaritas and mushrooms and die happy. The only reason it’s not 5 stars is because the ambience is a bit beige and you feel the party is...