We loved the feel of this place, its proportions and atmosphere can claim the grandeur of its name. We had only coffee because we were going out to lunch. We are coffee fanatics from Wellington and were very happy with ours.
The staff or management need more of a presence though to make this place extra special.

I have to agree about the coffee – although Hawthorne is my least fave in the bay. I really love their sweet rolls that remind me of some european bakery, crisp, buttery and yummy. However, while the menu is really enticing the actual food is not quite on the mark for me – its okay – just not as good as I expect. have had prawn salad, pizza, brekky, hubby had jewelicious with black pud one day and that was ok (actually some gravalax with fennel one night was good). nice place to have a drink, just not coffee!

Coffee was OK – but the food was horrific. I had pizza – only to find that 99% of the dish was potato on top of a soggy dough. It did not even contain any tomato or tomato products.

I’ve had nothing but good coffee from the Opera Kitchen! Top food as well, and nice spacious atmosphere.

We kept going back and giving Opera Kitchen another try because we really love the outside terrace and the funky inside decor. What a shame the food and the staff let it down.

A pleasant lady served us at the till, but the rest of the staff were pretty grumpy, miserable bloke was on wait staff. My iced coffee was much better than normal and well you can’t really mess up an orange juice, can you?

The main meal have shrunk though! I had a small portion of polenta which was tasty with the chopped chili running through it and peppery fresh rocket. My partner had lamb salad, which looked pretty awful. The lamb was stringy, tough and overcooked and the salad hmm, well just not fresh.It was a very small portion and definitely not worth $18.50.

So that was our last visit. We gave it our best shot!

Went to Opera Kitchen for lunch today. While the place was very busy I found the service to be quick, friendly and helpful. I ordered the Crumbed Chicken Sandwich with avocado and chili jam and a flat white. It was delicious and the coffee was fabulous. I go to this eatery a lot and have always enjoyed the food, coffee, wine and service. A wonderful addition to the Hawkes Bay food scene.

I drive pass daily on my way to work so finally I decided to try it out for a early morning coffee. Freindly staff however one male staff member made me feel uncomfortable. I felt as if he thought I was going to walk out with his newspaper when I was only returning it back to where I found it. Coffee was OK.

Opera Kitchen is housed, funnily enough, in the Hastings Opera House and is a funky building with trendy minimalist decor.
We’ve recently moved to the area and have now been here 4 or five times, mainly for lunch. The small menu has some ‘different’ choices like kidneys or sardines which appeals to my OH, but lacks an inspiring veggie choice for me.
The counter choice of cakes and baking is superb, although as the previous writer confirms, the coffee is dire. We get a much better cup of coffee in the supermarket cafe nearby!
We won’t give up on Opera Kitchen (yet) I hope they read this and raise the standard of coffee and menu choice.

It Wasnt busy at all but had to wait a while for our order. The food was nice but terrible coffee.