Where do I start, first I will say if you dine here prepare for an experience, not just a meal out.
Felt like I had died and gone to culinary heaven. The atmosphere was calm and unhurried but efficient, plenty of time between courses for discussion commentary and anticipation, and we were not to be disappointed. Without a doubt the finest restaurant I have ever dined in. Beautifully presented, generous sized meals and a marriage of flavours that was divine! Thankyou to all at Mount Bistro, you Rock!

We dined at this restaurant recently and had the most amazing experience. The staff were lovely and attentive and the food… what can I say… this has to be one of the nicest meals both my husband have even eaten in a restaurant. From our entrees to our drinks, and everything in between, every dish encompassed freshness; the quality and presentation were excellent. Our commendations to Stephen Barry for his unique approach to understanding food and allowing us to experience his deliciously fine menu.

This dinner rounded off a perfect weekend getaway and without hesitation i recommend the Mount Bistro to everyone. I would travel from Sydney to the Mount again, just to experience another meal from his menu.

Amazing food! Some of the best I have had in Tauranga/Mount area, but have now resorted to ordering takeaway style as my friends/ family and myself feel that our last experience there was far below our standards.
The lady of the house, had a bad habit of speaking over me, and making my friend (who is a supervisor and wine steward at Mills Reef) and myself (previuos wine steward and cocktail maker at Millennium Hotel) feel stupid when asking about the wine range they had available. Our waitress was good at taking orders but did not smile the whole time of doing it and did not try to talk to us at all to make us feel welcome or less of being just a paycheck. The best service we had all night was from the head chef as he brought my dads flambeed entree over.
Overall delicious food, but customer service needs a big improvement!

Fine dinning at its best! an a amzing dessert plater to finish off the evening! I could write 1000′s of words at how great an expeirence you will have here but it won’t do it justice. Great for all special occassions! TRY IT!

Went to dinner as a group of six and this was a real treat for us… usually the budget doesn’t stretch to cover dinner on the slightly higher end…. The Mount Bistro was WELL WORTH it!

The food was sublime, the service was faultless and we came away feeling like we’d had a damn good evening.

Thanks to the entire team… we will all be back.

Best meal I have ever had! Everything about it was great. I had the corn fed chicken and my partner had the lamb were both delicious and beautifully presented.

Entree was so good too, definitely the best restaurant I have been to. Staff were very lovely too and the meals came out in very good time. Would definitely go back and recommend to anyone.

Rushed… Waitress visited 4 times in 8 1/2 mins (maybe they had a booking after us??) Scallops (entree) were Murdered extremely overcooked. Salmon was slimy skinned and again extremely overdone. (Almost white in places) I asked a passing staff member to take my plate to the chef and ask him/her what sort of job they think they made on the dish….. She seriously took off with her head down and didn’t say a word, just ran off??? We were then left alone for 20 mins with dirty plates in front of us.
When paying the prices didn’t match up with the order and the maitre D’s explaination was “We are using Bluff Oysters at the moment so that’s why it’s more expensive” UMMM I had Scallops!!! I just grinned and paid. Unfortunately I will not be returning here again.

Great dining experience. The entree was fabulous and both of our mains were delicious. Our waitress was courteous and efficient. The dessert platter was great with a selection of smaller desserts so you got to have a taste of everything, great to share between two people.

Had the Duck for my main which was the best duck ever!
The service from wait staff was lacking but the chief made up for it with his service!
Will go back!

I’m going to chime in here and join the surprisingly few people who are underwhelmed by this restaurant.

Average is a great description- gimmicky is another.
The seafood sword is just tacky and a waste of good seafood, and my dessert plate was very disappointing- tasted like they’d all been pre-frozen or taken straight out of the fridge.
The decor is outdated and tired and as for the TV in the corner..!!!

This place is seriously overrated and overpriced, but as there aren’t enough decent fine dining places in the Mount to compete, I guess people will just keep going and think this is as good as it gets.

I have been to this restaurant twice – the first time soon after it opened, and again just before Xmas 2011. The first time I swore never again – everyone had been telling me how wonderful it was but we experienced terrible service, terrible food, bad decor – I thought never again, but decided time heals all and it had won more awards so went again. Average average average. I had pork which was OK but the crackling was stale and tasted bland and like it had been made 3 weeks earlier. The desert was nice, not exceptional, husband had tuna entree and said it was nice and paella for the main and said it was overcooked and had too many flavours. Certainly the decor has not changed, nasty 80′s tired, but does come across as clean. They badly need an interior refit. The service was good however the food is too hit and miss for us to bother going again.

Eight of us went to the Mount Bistro for a birthday celebration, and we had a wonderful night. The staff were friendly and unpretentious and the food was amazing………..

Everyone at the table said it was the best food they had eaten anywhere.

It is clear that Chef Stephen Barry loves what he does – you can taste it in his food.

We will be back!

This was the best dining experience I have had in ages! Our family shared four dishes, which is how the Thai eat. We were so full! The food is extravagant, beautifully prepared and tastes like heaven. The service was really good to! We were told to stay as long as we liked and were attended to regualry. The price was reasonable to and this is now my new fav restaurant in nz

Dinner yesterday was faultless, Dutch Waitress very, very friendly, chef and Aides were friendly, approachable and very professional. Presentation and quality as good a I have experienced anywhere in the World. Fish Chowder better than San Francisco (hard to admit, but true). No problem with timing, as should be expected for everything that is fresh cooked. I can only guess that Chris (he of the 2 star rating) was more used to fast food (or is a jealous competitor). Can’t wait for my next trip back from UK, this will be our celebration dinner evening!! Highly recommend by all 5 of us who appreciate good food.

A group of us dined at the Mount Bistro on a Friday night, and I can only assume we ended up at a different restaurant than the other people who have written reviews (or the restaurant are writing their own:)) . I agree completely with the experiences of ‘Foodie E’ and ‘TonyB’.
The whole restaurant has a slightly bizarre sort of 1980’s ‘Faulty Towers’ manner and feel to it. We were greeted well enough, and then the lady reprimanded us that the huge lazy susan on the table “was not a toy” (not sure why this restaurant need’s a lazy susan!). The décor is average and rather sterile and was uncomfortably hot. However, we ordered from the quite extensive menu with help from the very pleasant Dutch waitress and then waited. And waited… After what seemed an eternity they entrees finally arrived. I had scallops that were rubbery and tasteless. The others said theirs was “OK”. The pork belly was great.
The mains on the whole were very average. Corn fed chicken was ordinary and a little dry with a rather strange combination of a hot and cold ingredient salad, steak was nice, but just that, just steak with a squashed baked potato, sour cream (again very 1980ish) and some ravioli. Duck medley was tough and pretty tasteless. Deserts were OK with the hot chocolate pudding bordering on good, but it was all was WAY overpriced. I think I could forgive most of what I say if the prices were reasonable.
Final rating for me is: over rated and overpriced. Will not go back.

We had a great experience at Mount Bistro…great service, lovely wine and our meals were divine!!! A bit on the expensive side but worth it especially for special occasions….worth a try without a doubt!!

Quite simply the best food I have found since the Sebel went away from fine dining. Classic case of NZ’s fine dining being incredible value compared to the rest of the world while our middle-of-the-road dining is outrageously expensive for what it is. Skip two outings to regular places in Tauranga, go to Mt Bistro and pocket the difference.

Fantastic restaurant. Been a few times and always amazing. The Sword and Saucery is amazing and staff create a great atmosphere. We have been as a couple and also as a reasonably large group and each time the service is 100%.

Fifteen of us dined at the Mount Bistro on April 29th. It was a special occasion and I wanted everything to be perfect. And it was!!! I can’t thank Stephen and his friendly staff enough. The food, the menu and the service were superb.. equal to anything we have experienced before.. and we have eaten in top restaurants around the world. I can’t praise this restaurant enough. Absolutely top-class!! We can’t wait to return!

Mount Bistro was one of the best dining experiences I have had in recent times.
The seafood chowder was the real deal and the duck medley was magnificent.
Combine the great food, the delightful waitresses and the immaculate table setting and one has all the ingredients for a fine dining experience.
Mount Bistro comes with my highest recommendation.
Trevor M

I have now been to Mount Bistro 3 times. Why I don’t know! The food really is very average. On my most recent visit I had steak. The steak itself was a very good cut of meat and well cooked but it was served with a grey looking potato thing which looked as if a whole tray had been made earlier and then sliced and heated when ordered. The decor is awful. I think its one of those places which has done well in competitions but makes no effort on a day to day basis. My coffee tasted like fish! I’m not sure how they managed that. This place is over rated and over priced.Dont bother with it.

Dined on 4 March – the food was outstanding and the service was exceptional. The downside is that by the counter someone was there for over 2 hours folding towels and doing jobs that should have been behind the scenes – real shame as we were paying top price for the night.

Went here in January 2011 for our daughters birthday, we had a wonderful evening. This is the fourth time we have been and as normal the service, food and wine were excellent. They even surprised us with a small cake and sparkler candle for our daughter.
We will certainly be eating there again soon.

Excellent food, good service, highly recommended.

I have been looking forward to dining at the Mount Bistro for sometime and was not disappointed. The food was some of the best I have ever eaten, the service was great and the menu inspired. I am vegetarian and often eating out is a bit of a non event for me but the dish was superb. My husband loved the “Twisted Tale” – good luck for the competition! Well done. Highly recommended.

lovely restaurant, small but yet comfortable. try duck, its great!! delicious dessert, had tasting platter, really yummy!
Excellent service, highly recommended:) 5 stars!

Average to Good.

Went in April 2009. Unfortunate that outside heaters had not be filled with Gas.
Service was good, menu provided a good selection, some items were VERY pricey. Cuisine type food but veges came with it (a plus these days!) Quail entree ($21) bit fiddly, but nice to see something different being put out there, Steak & Kora main – Steak was beautifully cooked, Kora was fiddly, Selection platter for desert a great idea !
Felt fairly rushed after desert as waitress brought bill out within 10 minutes and came back 10 minutes after that to take the payment.
Nice food.
Would go again maybe for an occasion.

Having seen the above two reviews we were expecting great things of this restaurant but were disappointed. The food was average and the prices on the high side – the cost for two courses for two and a bottle of wine was $152.
Service was variable, meals were slow to arrive but they did keep the wine and water glasses replenished well.
The entrees were OK but neither of us thought our main meals were very good, the Medley of Duck was quite tough and the Fish Special (Snapper) was bland and a little overcooked – I can produce better at home!

On the basis of Cuisine putting the Mount Bistro in its top 50 we gave it another try. But the results were the same – average food and high prices. Two courses for two and a bottle of wine came to $169, you can eat better for less at several other restaurants in Tauranga. Don’t understand the Cuisine rating as they are usually fairly reliable.

I visited during the Monteiths Wild Food Festival and the dinner was superb. We especially enjoyed the Montini’s and appreciated the time Stephen took to come out and speak with us about each course. I highly recommend the Mount Bistro and look forward to coming back for my birthday.

Excellent food and atmosphere. Highly recommended. Booking essential