Lantern

To be as absolutely fair as I can be let me add some context. 1) I am a tourist so I'm unaware with what the average pricing/quality is of restaurant food Service: 5/5 The wait staff were very friendly, accommodating and answered all our questions Drinks: 5/5 The cocktails were tasty, not too strong and had lovely flavours and presentation. They were $20NZ each. Atmosphere: 5/5 It's a cute spot, we ate indoors as it was a little cooler out however they also have a nice outdoor area. Good music, fresh aromas from the kitchen and good seating. Food: 2/5 I'm going to use Cook/Flavour/Plating/Size/Price as my rating scale here. 1- The cook of the food was perfect. There was nothing over/under done. The meat was tender and juicy, the veggies crisp and fresh. 2- The Plating was elegant and well done. The dishes were presented thoughtfully and had pops of color. 3- Price - So this is where I'm unfamiliar with what normal pricing is, however we paid around $120Nz for 2 people to have 2 drinks, a large platter and a snack each. We omitted having the short ribs as they were $75 and based on the portion size and flavours I'm glad we did. Prices seem steep for what you get but it could be normal. 4- Size - The dishes are small. They recommend 1 Large + snack or 3 Small per person and that's probably right however given the price that's a steep bill. We tried sharing 1 Large + 2 snacks between the both of us and left Hungry and kind of let down. 5- Flavour - As I'm finding with everything in Tauranga, it's bland. Even our potato chips from the grocery store were under seasoned. If you want crisp, natural veggies then you're fine but the only hint of any flavours or seasonings was salt and some chopped chillies. It's definitely not the robust and complex flavours you'd get from other Asian cuisine and while it boasts to be a fusion restaurant, it's an attempt at best. While flavour is entirely a personal preference, as there are raving reviews about this restaurant, myself personally found the cook and presentation of the food to be lovely but the flavours left me wanting. All in all I gave it a 3/5 as the drinks, service and atmosphere are great but the Price/Size/Flavour of the dishes felt lacking. * It is worth noting they have a lot of Gluten free options so if you're struggling to find somewhere to eat, I'd still recommend it as its by no means awful. It's a nice, slightly pricey, average restaurant experience*

Great food and staff, good choices, lots gluten free, all delicious