Fleurs Place — Restaurant in South Island

Wow. Spectacular setting for well made, heart centered food that is gourmet but simple. The daily catch comes to life with local ingredients. The fennel is grown right in the garden and the waves wash right up to about 3 meters from the door. We even met Fleur! She was super friendly. They had a fire going in the stove while it gently rained outside. I felt like we had been transported to Harry Potter! Shell cottage where they hung out with Ron’s brother Bill and his wife Fleur. It’s literally the same:

“Bill and Fleur's cottage stood alone on a cliff overlooking the sea, its walls embedded with shells and whitewashed... Wherever Harry went inside the tiny cottage or its garden, he could hear the constant ebb and flow of the sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering creature. He spent much of the next few days making excuses to escape the crowded cottage, craving the cliff-top view of open sky and wide, empty sea, and the feel of cold, salty wind on his face.”

Will often dream of the delicious trio of fish and the cold platter was served in shells. Fresh baked bread made with sun dried tomato and turmeric and rye. The chowder with a tomato base was creamy and full of fresh muscles and bits of fish. Loved the cold platter with about 10 different kinds of fish. I tried to finagle a return trip the next day on our way home. Recommend calling ahead for reservations. Moeraki boulders are a nice stop over to explore afterward when you’re full to...

Cold Fish Pie.

I went here recently with my wife for my birthday. I ordered the smoked fish and muscle pie, she got the scallops. The meals came out relatively quickly as we had gone early and the place was nearly empty.

The fish pie was boiling hot around the edges and icy cold in the middle. Terrible. I sent it back to the kitchen and the just heated it some more and sent it back out, no compensation, no "sorry" nothing. I can only imagine that this was some per-prepared dish pulled out of the chiller and slapped in a microwave / under a grill to heat up for service. It was neither fresh nor delicious and at $40 for this one dish it was an enormous disappointment.

I got to try the scallop dish as well and although the sauce they were is did taste delicious it was so heavy with butter, cream and bacon grease that the scallops didn't even register as a flavor.

I grew up in a very small coastal town in New Zealand where seafood dinners were regular meals. Going to Fleur's Place I had hoped to at the very least capture a bit of that nostalgia. Instead I was left with a foul taste in my mouth, an empty wallet and an overall bad experience.

I don't usually write reviews but I felt people should be warned about what to expect. Apparently Fleur's Place was once a highly regarded restaurant. Well it seems the chefs have gotten a little lazy and are happy to pile slop onto your plate and still charge you fine dining rates.

GG...

Would like to update potential diners on our meal and dining experience at Fleurs Place as a positive dining experience. This is after reading Georgie Matheson and Simon Chisholm reviews that were negative experiences at the retaurant along with a third review that appeared from sone loser who focussed on Fleur promoting herself and restaurant to sell more of her books. If she can do that well go for it is my view. Anyway 4 of us went, My wife and I who are from Gisborne enjoy food. We went with our son and partner who are studying at Otago University and our ratings are as follows: Food 8/10; Service 9/10; Value 7/10; Venue 10/10. Comments: We shared a fish platter entree amonst the four of us that we all enjoyed, Entree and mains were all fish dishes. We had two desserts between four. The brulee was overcooked and heading for scrambeld eggs and was main downgrade of our experience. Overall definately worth it. Fleur was there in person and talking with all the punters including us, making it a memorable dining experience, Meals came out quickly and French waiter did a great job. No charge for the...