Review Downbeat - Orewa

Had a fabulous celebration dinner here on Saturday night. Our second time dinning here since the new menu. The new Lale (la lay) branded Downbeat is a spectacular selection of Tapas with Middle Eastern flare. We had beautiful Charcoal kebabs chicken and lamb Goat Pide, 2 beautiful salads. Very generous portions and such warm friendly service. Highly recommend for a full dinner or after work /weekend drinks with some lovely sharing tapas. Give Lale a try beautiful food, beautiful people and simply stunning setting. Great work team see you all again soon.

Lovely new menu. Real tasty dips and super lamb dishes, great Middle eastern food, excellent value and authentic flavours. Yummy baklava - huge! Nice relaxing music as well. We eat out often and this is up there with the best!

First time we've been since the launch of the new menu. I understand that the restaurant will be rebranded soon so as to reflect the new image. We shared a pita with 3 very tasty dips to start followed by two of the best kebabs (one chicken one steak) that we've had anywhere. Both were very generous servings, and were beautifully tender and well flavoured. Cocktails were excellent and again generous. Compliments to all the staff who were very friendly and attentive. We enjoyed our meal here immensely and will definitely be back.

A very different twist on Sweetcorn and Kumara Fritters! Quite delish and very filling. Quick service at 4pm which is when Happy Hour starts! Tap beers are Heineken, Tiger and Asahi only for Happy Hour Prices. Dogs welcome outside 😊

Mine and my family's favorite restaurant to eat out at. Delicious menu, brilliant service, and a nice mood throughout. Great for special occasions and regular Friday nights. I would recommend checking when live performers are set to arrive, the music is fantastic.

The fantastic food from DOWNBEAT made for an unforgettable evening! Longest table event. Beach n Bites!

The food was good, with all meals freshly prepared. There were only 3 tables in use on a mid-week evening, which was great for us.

I ordered the ravioli and it was really tasty. The sauce it was in was really so yummy, would definitely order it again. My only comment would be that it was slightly on the small size for the price. The Creme Brulee was to die for. Will definitely be going back again... in the summer to hear live music!

I booked for 20 people last night and had not one complaint. I thoroughly enjoyed my food and thought the service was great. We were most impressed that everybody got their food around the same time considering we were such a large group. Well done guys.

Food and cocktails were so good! Classic kiwi cooked meals but made with such top restaurant quality, Definitely will be going back 😊

Excellent food, very good service at what is now a mezze restaurant.

We had dinner here on a Friday night. When walking along Orewa main road, we choose Downbeat because it looked the most appealing. Liked the atmoshere. Service was good and the Ribeye was yummy! Would good back.

Exquisite lunch menu for $20. You get a main dish and a drink (either alcoholic or non alcoholic). Great value and very relaxing atmosphere. Linguine carbonara are awesome.

Great service, really friendly and helpful young guy served us. Lovely meal and great cocktails. Was sad there was no live music figured it must be a COVID problem. Look forward to trying it again sometime.

Delicious food, great service.

Great addition to the orewa dining scene. Service if fast and friendly without being intrusive. Good selection of craft beers and food is quickly prepared and tasty

What an amazing brunch we had here over Easter!! I can’t explain. Service was quick, super friendly & food tasted AMAZING. We stayed for a couple hours or so. We felt really looked after and 100% relaxed. If I come back to Orewa, this is the first place I’ll stop by! Such a little gem in the heart of Orewa. Foodie to foodie? Don’t overlook this delicious bungalow!

Chips was too salty but otherwise a lovely meal and great service!

The food was really good, and the location and setup are great. Our mains arrived ~10 minutes apart, and drinks orders were similarly slow to arrive at our table. A busy time of year, to be sure, but expediting processes could be addressed somewhat.

My daughter and I were looking for somewhere to go for lunch and decided to pop into downbeat as they had a pizza and pasta deal for $14.50. <br/><br/>We were greeted by the friendly staff and ordered a meat lovers pizza and a couple of chocolate milkshakes. The pizza was tasty and had a good range of toppings on it. The sauce tasted like it had a bit of Marsala sauce in it. The salami had pepper corns but was not over powering. The milkshake went well with pizza

The menus are dirty the seafood was off and the engagement from the staff are a joke. Besides the restaurant decor I can see why the place is always dead. Wont be going back not for that amount of money.

1. Against a 7pm reservation, Snapoer was a featured main, and told not any now available as early as 7pm<br/>3. Ordered seafood risotto , with a side of steamed vegetables. Risotto served without steamed vegetables, requested after 10 minutes of risotto serving where is veg side. Told would be 2 minutes, had to ask a further time and told same. Finally got side 20 min later!<br/>No apology, told me if didn’t now want will take back!<br/>3. No follow up by wait staff on more drinks required, had to ‘beckon’ wait staff continuously throughout evening. The every young / teenage staff were preoccupied with chatting with obvious friends dining there.<br/>. 5 The pork belly my partner ordered was bland , very very ordinary.<br/>6. Finally, the live pianist renditions were repetitive and at a volume the made conversation difficult.<br/>7. We went to this restaurant with friends, who highly commended to us, they were acutely embarrassed

Came here for lunch today with the family, the service was exceptional right from the start, and so friendly to our little ones who loved the waiter! Kids had meals from the kids menu which looked great, hubby and I ordered charred broccoli and lamb from the small plates menu as doing keto. The lamb was plentiful and so soft... It just melted in the mouth and was absolutely gorgeous. The broccoli was nice, and there was heaps of it to share. We'd return for sure.

The downbeat passion cocktail was so delicious. Thoroughly enjoyed the pork belly! Lovely young waitress very helpful. Would recommend to family and friends

Downbeat is ‘okay’. I feel the quality has reduced since changes in chefs (perhaps)? (Have had the chicken salad twice) and the second time the chicken looked like it had just been shredded from a supermarket chicken. Also paying $14 for a sundae (that was one scoop of vanilla ice cream and a biscuit broken in half) is extremely steep... may be worth revising that downbeat. Otherwise starter options are varied and the atmosphere is lovely with the live music.

Downbeat is a unique spot in Orewa, with a great vibe and good service! Cocktails were delicious, service is great and their wood fired pizzas are yummy, I just wish there were more vegetarian options- however the vegetarian option they do have is delicious. I’d definitely recommend Downbeat to locals and visitors alike

Great service. Super friendly. Good portions. Comfortable surroundings. We came for breakfast and we will be back to try lunch and dinner 😊

Beautiful meal in a great setting with lovely staff - thank you we will definitely be back.<br/>This place is a little gem on the hibiscus coast.

Always great service + top notch food. We were only too happy to celebrate their 1st birthday! 🥂great live music also for a beautifully chilled evening

Absolutely STELLAR local jazz venue! With very funky and retro decor it suits the whole vibe of a jazz bar. Staff are welcoming and friendly. As for the food, we're slowly working our way through the menu. So far we've tried the mussels, new orleans pizza and tiger prawns which were all divine! However, the pizza has been the standout so far. I recommend this place highly, especially on a Friday evening when they have jazz musicians playing, but it's worth booking ahead!

The idea is good but lacks something. the food is not to everyone's taste. Also, have you thought of showing old B&W movies on your big screens once a week? That could be great.

Went for the $12 mussel special, massive yummy mussels with fries! Even got a free plate of bread while we waited which gives the experience that extra touch! Highly recommend!

A wonderful atmosphere, full of life and fun! the waiters/waitresses were lovely and accommodating, food was made fresh from the oven and tasted delicious! highly recommended

Taste bud shattering flavour and groovy atmosphere! The live music adds a vibe that is unparalleled locally. Excellent service and beautiful food I would highly recommend this place and will definitely be back again.

I am not a person that does bad reviews But this Cafe rates one!<br/><br/>1. Don't go there on a Friday night when they have live music and you want to hear your self think- unless you want to scream at your partner! Good excuse I suppose.<br/>2. Manger thought that a 15 minute delay was acceptable for 1 person in our party to wait for his meal, while we ate ours - his explanation was that the food was prepared from fresh (go figure)<br/>3. I have prepared and eaten salmon so many things in my life but never have I had this when my meal arrived, it was obvious that it had been forgotten and left under the lights, it was dry and so pale it looked like snapper.<br/>I offered to pay half of my $29 meal and the manager reluctantly discounted the whole amount.<br/>The pork belly was good and the other fish fish was ok.

Excellent service, and a great place for a glass of bubbly, and listen to the live jazz band music, and catch up with friends...will be back to try the menu.  Very friendly and very helpful staff.  Check to see when the next live jazz band is on, but looks like they are on weekly at end of week evenings and Sunday afternoon 4pm onwards...