This restaurant and cafe is a five star, food and ambience outstanding and very good prices which make up for the cost of travel to the venue. I am a chef both NZ and internationally trained and belong to the MasteCchef association. I now travel the world both on business and leisure and eat in many fine resturants and this place would be in my must go to when in Marahau. The food and service has always been of good quality and is consistent. Bravo Monterey we need more quality places like this in NZ. I highly recommend this place

This is a review of the Monterey restaurant rather than the cafe.

Two of the meals we had were of good standard however the lemon pasta was drenched in olive oil which was not stated on the menu and the person who ordered it is not a olive oil fan. It was hard to taste the lemon at all because of the oil. Perhaps the chef has been watching too many Jamie Oliver shows with the overenthusiasm for the oil… The desserts were very ho-hum which was a surprise as the cakes from the cafe have always been so good.

A real shame as had looked forward to this meal for a long time. Overpriced and overated. More of a shame as have always been impressed with the cafe/teahouse in the past.

Setting – Delightful view over the Orinoco Valley, distance between tables both inside and out enable you to have a private conversation, table settings beautiful, house and grounds world class – what a treat to be in.

Service – attentive but unobtrusive.

Food – to die for – all courses.

Cost – reasonable – much below Auckland prices for food of this quality

Overall impression – Superb. Europe eat your heart out. The Kearns family of Orinoco, Nelson have created the ultimate dining experience.