My family has a house in Paihia and every second weekend we come up from Auckland for a break. We have always wanted to try pure taste because it states it’s an award winning restaurant so went there for lunch, what a waste of money and time. I would not recommend this restaurant as it is very expensive and I felt the service was rude, we are a younger family but live very comfortably and we felt quite patronised. My daughter ordered soup and could not even eat it as it tasted like water with orange food colouring. I swapped my dish for hers because I thought I would be able to eat it but I was wrong as it tasted like dirty water. When we left to pay my husband complained
about the soup and the lady serving us said there was nothing wrong with it as the chef said it was good and had a wonderful
colour. We were pretty disgusted that she didn’t care about
listening to what we had to say or even offering a refund as
there wasn’t even a dent in there overpriced soup. We as a
family eat out often and will not be returning here and
would not recommend it to others.

Went for breakfast expecting great things as this restaurant had been recommended. Wrong. We ordered Eggs Benedict with ham, and the cooked breakfast with poached eggs. When my eggs bene came I couldn’t believe that they had served a massive thick slice of budget ham about 10mm thick on a soggy english muffin – yuk. So unappealing. Both eggs were overcooked and hard boiled with no runny yolk whatsoever, the hollandaise sauce was revolting – bright yellow and had a yuk flavour. My husband’s two poached eggs were also hard, and the bacon barely cooked. The coffee was blah, on the thin side and lukewarm. It was easily one of the worst breakfasts we have had out. We won’t be trying it out for lunch or dinner anytime soon.

Just enjoyed a lovely meal at Pure Tastes.
Dining room at night it’s all about the view, nature has taken care of design, Paihia beach is just so beautiful.

First course of beetroot cured salmon, beautifully prepared, horseradish panna cotta a little sweet for me but lovely flavour.Overall a most enjoyable dish.

Main of poached venison with chocolate had my interest, venison was perfectly cooked however the dish and its presentation did not have an overall wow. However my dinning companion had the pork belly which certainly looked beautiful and was a much better choice than mine. The restaurant manager suggested the Brookfileds proved a good selection and was not lost in the venison, chocolate combination.

Liquorice ice cream and pear looked delicious and the standout course for myself.

The service proved, warm friendly with knowledge about menu and wine list and not short on finese – Very, Very good.

This is serious restaurant, working hard to make it an international experience. A little more time and development polishing one or two dishes and it will be.

If you get the opportunity to go – Go!

My wife and I enjoy gourmet food at our home here in Opua and Napa Valley, California. My experience at Pure Tastes 3 years ago was excellent. Sadly, I took my wife to Pure Tastes this summer and was embarassed with the food and poor service. I hope improvements are made that will return the quality as Paihia needs a truly gourmet restaurant. I’ll wait until a neighbour tells me they had a great meal before returning.

Great tasting food, excelent service, not cheap, but well worth it.