Review The Station Bar & Bistro - Napier

Absolutely amazing friendly staff nice chil music comfortable seating and the food wow just woe I attach some photos

Free WiFi, delicious food, and over-priced milkshakes - what more could a tourist want? My mother is a local and comes here often. I’ve now been here three times over the last 10 years, and although I didn’t always have a great experience, my recent trip was excellent. Large portions, friendly staff, and tasty food. The free WiFi was a bonus, although I was disappointed how small the milkshake was given the price. I imagine I’ll be back next time I visit my mother.

Won a bit of cash so decided to treat myself to a good steak. Had a fillet steak (blue) with buttery mash, 2 fried eggs, and pepper sauce with a Macs apple cider. The steak was cooked perfectly as were the mash and eggs. The only way to improve the whole experience would be to age the steak for a few more days but the Health Dept might have something to say about that 😎. All in all, a very pleasant experience. The staff were friendly and professional. Another visit with excellent food. I had the shrimp cocktail and seafood chowder as a main with a Guinness to wash it down. Was very tired after a fairly sleepless preceding night, so went home without doing all of the puzzles in the paper.

Enjoyed the food there, ordered seafood chowder, was really nice. Burger is ok, doesn’t have any vegetables in though. Tacos were nice, squid is very yummy. I really enjoyed my cocktails as well, but I went back the second time, a different bartender made my drink and it wasn’t tasty at all.

My most favorite place in Napier. Meal was perfection. Hearty meal. Warm and friendly environment. Would definitely recommend to those wanting good comfort food and a good drink.

Great place to go for a quick, laid back meal. Great staff and amazing atmosphere. Food was plentiful and delicious

Delicious drinks, amazing food and atmosphere x The staff are absolutely lovely as well as the service ❤️ 100% Recommend x

Friendly and professional staff. We would recommend and would visit again. We had the rump steak with mash and vegetables and the chowder. So good! ☺️ Finished it off with an ice cream 🍦😋

I rather enjoy The Station. Here you can expect relatively fairly priced - more expensive dining options, but they are well deserved. Large portions for what you buy and generally really good service and range of options

I'm not a big fan of just anyone cooking steak for me but that was chefs kiss 👌 I definitely recommend coming to the station bar and bistro in Napier. The service was done well, and so was the food and iced mocha I had gotten.

Had a Pina Colada, was to die for. The hubby had sweet and sour chicken and it was Soo tasty. I had a Lamb Shank. Meat was falling off the bone, gravy was yummy.. Had a great time and staff was lovely

Oh what a treat. I can’t remember the last time I had such a great night. Pity about the Warriors but this place looked after us perfectly. Great food, cold beers and a pleasant atmosphere. I couldn’t fault it. I’ll be back again and again. What a venue. Loved every second.

Delicious meals at reasonably prices. Staff are welcoming, helpful and service was great.

Nice dining experience. Good value nicely cooked food. Very friendly staff. Free parking out front. Would happily dine there again

Delicious food. Amazing service. With reasonable prices. I'll certainly go back next time I'm in Napier. Here we have Sirloin steak with fries and vegetables. And garlic Prawns. Yummy!!

The double burger was good and the fries were good and the chocolate milkshake was rich with the whipped cream the rating I will give this is a 40/10

Arrived late afternoon and were seated in a comfortable booth table.<br/><br/>It wasn’t busy, only with 3 other tables with 3-5 people at each. Our meals were the Lamb Shank, and Slow Braised Pork Belly BOTH were amazing and very very delicious.<br/><br/>We dined with a 10 year old who ordered themselves a Hot Dog (American Style) with crunchy fries and also enjoyed an Ice Cream Sundae.<br/>There were other kid friendly options aswell to choose from, which all came with an Ice Cream Sundae.<br/><br/>Parking was easily available and no problems finding spaces close to the entrance. <br/><br/>All in all it is a place we would come back to if we were ever to be in Napier.<br/>Staff were efficient and friendly too and that’s helpful.

This place is amazing it’s right next to the cinema, nice atmosphere inside and hidden away from the busy street. The breakfast I had here was beautiful really start of the day right and the coffee was also beautiful too. The staff are very friendly and made sure you were happy with things. I will be coming back to This place again that’s for sure

This place was great! We were seated in a timely manner, we got our food after only a short wait and it was all delicious! We would definitely return to this establishment again!<br/><br/>The only little criticism that I have is that I am aware that the building once housed a train station - yet I couldn't see anything about that shown anywhere. It would be great if there was some of the history about that on the walls for patrons to see!<br/><br/>Other than that - it was a great experience and we shall definitely return!

Great service and well priced. Chicken Diane was sublime and my scotch fillet cooked fine. Great place for a meal before going to the cinema next door

Always good food and friendly service, take away meals available which was nice :) we will return, nice dessert selections available in a cabinet, petit cheese cakes to die for

When travelling I’m told we need to go somewhere where we can have “normal” food.  In other words the “one that needs to be obeyed” does not always want Thai, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, etc.  On that note then we headed to the Station Bar and Restaurant.  You can’t book a table.  Apparently you turn up and either grab a seat or you wait until a seat becomes available or something else I was not able to fathom.  A bit of a poor man’s Lone Star.  Anyhow keep an open mind I was told - so I did.  The first thing that you notice is how extensive the menu is.  I mean, it is massive.  It caters for all tastes and prices.  Entrees from $8 to $12.  Mains range from the $19 wraps with salad and fries, to the $35 “Fillet Mignon - Eye fillet, on sautéed Lyonnaise potatoes, roasted mushrooms & bacon, topped with a light cracked pepper sauce.”  Well madam went for the “Open Cajun Chicken Sandwich - Butterflied Cajun chicken breast, served on toasted Turkish bread with lettuce, tomato, relish, mayo & a basket of crinkle cut fries”.  I’m on holiday (not that it would have stopped me) so I went with the “Char-grilled - 225g Eye Fillet - Premium eye fillet served with waffle potatoes and a vegetable bake” at $32.  A jug of mushroom sauce was an extra $3.  Madam had her eye on my waffle potatoes all through the meal.  They were cracker!  Both meals were presented nicely and were well worth the price.  The décor of the place needs some attention.  It feels a bit run down even though the building from the outside looks reasonably modern.  Anyhow, no complaints by me with the food so that means it will be a revisit if I can book a table!

Good place for those who like Lone Star, Thirsty Whale, and Speights....not my kind of place. I doubt if they make anything onsite. It tastes like it's all out of a packet and re-heated. Big meals....not good service. Nice that it is next to the movie theatre!

Have eaten here over twenty times since it opened from sit down meals to bistro, service is always friendly food well priced and the seafood chowder is amazing never had a bad meal or experience

we dined here tonight and we were delighted. food was very tasty and very generous portions. our food was delivered quickly and was nice and hot. lovely surroundings. all in all great value for money and we'd highly recommend this restaurant to anyone. we will be back :-)

After travelling through the Upper North Island over the last few days, we finally arrived in Napier, and were fortunate enough to stumble upon The Station while looking for somewhere to eat. Turned out to be the best meal we've had so far! The service at The Station was superb from start to finish, and the food was exactly what we wanted. As we changed a couple of things from our menu selection, our server listened to what we wanted changed to make sure she really understood, rather than returning with an incorrect meal or having to come back to ask. The prices were great, and everything came to our table extremely promptly as well. And as much as we loved The Station and would definitely come back, Anna in particular deserves praise for her people skills and really taking time to ensure that we got exactly what we requested, even suggesting some local tourist attractions that we could visit. 5 stars to The Station, and 6 stars to Anna!

My partner and i recently stay in Napier, and decided to try the station bar and bistro for a meal. The service was excellent and the food exceeded the service beyond our expectations. Would highly recommend to anyone who is vi sting this city and would like a thoroughly enjoyable dining experience.

Friendly staff. But every time I come here the drink service doesn't exist. It's a fatal flaw. I can say we have been here with empty glasses from the first drink till we leave every time.<br/>The food is good quality. However, there is room for improvement. Some meals are too big and this is a fundamental flaw. You cannot sell entrees and desserts if your main meal would fill two people. Someone needs to address these issues. It's ok when Napier is busy but when it is quiet it will go backwards.<br/>I would only come back for pizza.

Me and my fiance came here a few weeks ago to celebrate our anniversary and the food was amazing! A lot of options at reasonable prices. The service was amazing too. Was really helpful. I would go back again :)

My family (group of 7) of us dinned here last night, we tried to book but were told there are lots of seats so no need, and to just come in. We arrived and there were no tables, after some were made available we sat, the waitress was lovely and the dining room was nicely decorated. The menu is massive (too big) and after ordering we waited for 55 minutes before we got our food. I think that If it is going to take an hour to get food out – you tell people when they sit down so they have the choice to go elsewhere (my nana was shattered by the end of the night). As if that wasn't enough they forgot one of the meals, after another 10-13 minutes My husband’s arrived, they gave him an extra piece of fish and a drink for the hassle which was nice. Unfortunately you could tell the meal was rushed, they gave him the wrong side (salad not veges as he had ordered) the fish was soggy and oily, and the batter was about 3 times the measly piece of fish inside, and if that wasn't enough he has been sick all night and is off work today with a stomach ace. Food quality is nowhere near the $25 meal standard the prices allude to. Over all we won’t be coming back, good service terrible food, and very very overpriced.

We ate at the station 2night with kids and had awesome service frm ashley and the other man tht served US food was abit over cooked bt they well and truly made up 4 it thank u x will definately be going back again

Me and my partner went to The Station for a nice dinner before we went next door to watch a movie, we were seated immediately and given our menus, the lovely waitress asked if we wanted something to drink as we looked through the menu, she came back and we explained that we understand the have a large group in but how long does she think the food will take as we want to go and watch a movie by 8.30pm, she informed us that if we order a main we get a $5 off voucher for the movies, so two mains is two vouchers which was nice to be told before we ordered, she said that because there are only two of us it won't take long as she knows we need to be gone by 8.30. Prompt and polite service, excellent food, private eating set up, quick to clear the dirty plates and ask if we need anything and if everything was ok, lovely night out and couldn't complain about a thing. Very highly recommended.

What a fantastic place. Great options on the menu, great atmosphere. We did wonder how long the food would take to come out but were pleasantly surprised at the time and we weren't in a hurry anyway. Wait staff were very attentive. There was a slight hiccup in the ordering process where the incorrect meal was delivered to the table, but this was sorted immediately by the attentive staff that not only made the correct meal, didn't charge us for it, AND provided an interim snack while the correct meal was cooking! (as the rest of us were already eating), whilst also apologising. We found this service to be _over and above_ and would most definitely dine here again when in the Napier area and will recommend it to friends. Also their theme was trains which I'm quite the fan of.

Food took just over 45 minutes to arrive, our lemonades were flat and when food arrived the steak was cold! Who dishes up a meal with the meat cold? I returned mine and went my hubby ate his with cold meat, was not offered a discount or even a decent apology. Would never go there again. Worst dining experience ever!

Busy Saturday night, but plenty of parking. Wanted to try out the movie meal deal, so went up to the bar and asked if we could order and if there would be a problem getting out for our movie at 8.30. Reassured we had plenty of time, we ordered 2 of the $14 hamburgers and drinks and were handed a number to place on a table and $5 off movie vouchers. I went next door and got our movie tickets (no hassles with the two $5 off vouchers) and then went back to our table. Burgers arrived with a cute accompanying frying baskets of crinkle fries after about 15 minutes. Definitely worth waiting for, hot and tasty. Couldn't fault the service. Gentleman who took our order at the bar was polite and friendly, and he brought our plates of food to our table. I would have liked to have sat in the beer garden outside but was put off by the smokers. Good first experience

About an hour for the food to arrive for a party of 5. Ordered the sea-food basket. The mussels hadn't been cleaned properly of 3 mussels 2 had 'beards' attached. Will not be returning. No offer of a refund even though part of the meal was inedible.

We had dinner here last night, despite the reviews, and were impressed. Especially given the reviews. The food was good, arrived in a reasonable amount of time, and the staff was VERY friendly. We ate in the bistro section of the restaurant. We will go back.

My wife and I very rarely go out so we were looking forward to a meal and movie date together. It was a Wednesday night. We arrived at 6:25 pm and ordered drinks. We asked if we had time to have our meal and get to the movie we had booked for 7:15 pm and we were assured we would have time if we ordered burger and chips. We waited till 7pm before asking the waitress how our meals were going. She came back to say that the chef was too busy to tell her! We waited till 7:05 before we paid for our drinks and left. I called the General Manager the following morning to explain what happened. He took my number but has not called back. Very poor all round - would not recommend this restaurant. Very disappointed.<br/><br/>Dear David, I am so sorry that I missed you each time you came in. We redeemed your vouchers tonight and were very impressed. When we arrived the place was humming and we were told it might be 45 mins until we got our meals. We ordered drinks and our meals. We were pleasantly surprised when they arrived in about 20 mins considering it was so busy. We had the burgers we ordered the last time and they were superb. I would say that they were excellent value for money and I would come again and recommend your resturant. Obviously our previous experience was not up to your usual standard. We will be back soon - thanks very much.

Horrible!!!! Would not recommend to anyone!! Order took way too long to arrive and restaurant wasn't even that busy and when it did arrive no one out of the group was happy with their meals! Staff were un-polite and rude. Would never dine here again!!

Usually I don't write reveiw's on restaurants, but after having such a great meal I had to let people know about this laid back awesome place. The menu is fantastic, the pizza's were great and my wife loved that she got a gluten free base at no extra charge. We sat out in the Garden Bar and it was surprising how big it is and enjoyable to sit out there. I was impressed by the drink selection and having Heineken on tap was a nice surprise. We will definately be going back to eat very soon

You know I always feel really sorry for eating places that get reviewed. Most of the people that review them have absolutely NO IDEA of what it takes to work in hospitality, it is damn hard work and even if the waitress looks like she is not smiling, she is trying her best and probably really tired from being on her feet for hours, taking abuse from snobby customers and trying to keep waiting people happy because there are so many orders and the kitchen is going as fast as they can. I recommend that people who go out to eat, just think for a minute about what it is like for those serving you, don't be selfish and demanding, don't have an attitude that makes you look as though you think you are better than those serving you, be grateful and thankful that these people are working their butts off, hard work usually, to keep so many people happy and usually with not so much as a thanks ! Customers often don't know the liquor laws either and licensed places have to be so careful with hefty fines that can be charged. Don't go to a place with the thought to ALWAYS review them, instead go out and be happy and have a good time, and never expect a place that is NOT a five star restaurant, to be a five star restaurant. Instead, go and choose an actual 5 star restaurant where you can be as snooty as you like, moan about the size of the meal , pick at everything about the place and then probably come away only paying half your bill !!!!<br/>I just think people have FAR TOO MUCH to say often, and know very little about anything behind the scenes, especially in hospitality. Give hospitality a break people, it is one of the hardest industries to work in and one of the least to get credit.

After reading some of the negative reviews, I was hesitant about going to The Station - doubly so since I was wanting to attend a movie straight after. But hoping for the best and the fact that it was a "quiet" Monday, I went anyway. Overall, the experience was good. The atmosphere is quite "pub-ish", but the prices were ok, and the food tasty / filling, and those waiting on the tables polite (with smiles), and we were able to eat and get to the movie with about 10 minutes to spare. We may have got slightly better service than we otherwise might have due to recognising the young lady who waited on our table from another (now closed) establishment - so it might be that our rapport with her helped our experience.

Would not recommend at all. Will never go back there and will tell everyone I know not to go there. The first time we went for dinner was ok as I thought I'd give the place a second chance, went back again tonight expecting to spend over $200 on dinner for four people and got told to leave as one of our sisters didn't have identification: we weren't even going to buy alcohol, only wanted to have a meal and there were kids already in there eating which didn't seem to make sense so we took our money elsewhere. Your loss someone else's gain.

Nine of us dined here and all of our meals were excellent. However while most of the staff were obliging and very pleasant there was a waitress who was not at all helpful even a smile from her would have made our experience more enjoyable <br/><br/>We will return and just hope that she is not on duty.

25 minute wait for garlic breads, downright unfriendly staff, slow poor service; average food at best. not impressed, would not recommend.<br/><br/>Also methinks menu mania is a piss poor website for not allowing users to post a comment under 200 characters ;)

We have been here a couple of times and is usually awesome, but recently went there for lunch and ordered the fish burger, was a large bun with a tiny piece of fish, abit of lettuce and a soggy bit of tomato, the chips were also on the cold side and had gone a little soft. Would go back but definatly not for a fish burger.

Arrived to a crowed enviroment then were told to squeeze in next another couple. On ordering our food, the waitress staff were un polite and showed little respect for their customers. After waiting 45 minutes for our meals, we asked waitress staff how long much longer our meals were going to be and got this response, "as long as it takes". Then fially recieving our meals one and a half hours later, they were incorrect. Overall a poor experience and would not recommend.

We have been here several times, once for lunch and also for dinner. Each time the service was excellent and the food was delicious, with good sized portions, fresh vegetables and salads. Would certainly recommend for future.

wouldn't recommend eating here if you plan to go to the movies afterwards. we ordered at 7pm, asking if that would give us enough time to catch an 830pm movie - the waitress said it would only take 20-30 minutes - however, our meals never arrived until 825pm meaning we had to shovel down our meals to get to our movie on time... we checked twice on the progress of our food, with standard replies and no apology was made when the food was delivered, or when we paid.... food was good when it arrived