East Pier Hotel

Rating: 2

We ate lunch here in August 2026.

Bread with dips
Korean chicken
Fried halloumi
Basque cheesecake

East Pier is a sizeable restaurant, the kind of place where they can easily close off a couple of rooms for private events, and is located right on the Ahuriri waterfront. Their prices reflect this. $27 for a mediocre cocktail? $25 for five small pieces of fried chicken? The prices, and the quality, are reflective of a we’re-in-a-plum-spot-and-people-will-come-here-no-matter-what attitude. Admittedly, sitting in the Napier sun on a still August’s day was nice, and the first real sunshine we’ve seen in months (thanks, Wellington). And the food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything you’d make a fuss over. Even trying to think of which dishes were best, or worst, feels a bit redundant, it was all just a forgettable pile of average. Actually, no. We thought that the little coleslaw was a good accompaniment to the halloumi, cutting through the greasiness. The lettuce leaves served with the chicken were a less successful version of the same concept.