Rain Bar & Kitchen

THE BEST LAMB MEAL I HAVE HAD I SOME TIME!! Dinner out while in Tauranga with two good friends. We were met at the door by a lovely waiter and shown to a table in a spacious what seemed light dinning area. Wasn't to busy when we arrived but room did fill while we were there. Waitress provided menus and took our drinks order. Drinks arrived soon after and after some discussion re which meat meal was the biggest, big rob went with the 500g bone in rib eye while the 2 light weights went with the hawks bay lamb rump. As per my header this has to be the best lamb meal I have had in ages. That includes my slow cooked falling of the bone never any left effort at home. The confit onion and port wine demi simply took the generous portion of lamb to another level. Every mouthfull was a delight. I, as did the others ordered the duck fat potatoes and to be honest I was expecting crisp crunchy roasted potatoes but we got what I felt were soft steamed spuds that still went well with every mouth full of lamb. Karl also enjoyed the lamb while big rob sweated over cleaning up the 500g rib eye. I'm told that the menu has recently changed to this and it changes often. I wud be disappointed if I went back there and the lamb was available. It was that good. 100% recommend this to all going there and wud even go as far as to say if you're in Tauranga this is a must have for dinner. Thoroughly enjoyed the night out with two good friends and the food for me was first class. Two lovely young ladies waited on us for drinks and food and as I say I'd go back here in a heartbeat. If I had a complaint it wud be that the menu was hard to read for us old farts that don't carry our glasses to dinner.

Best lamb roast we have ever had. Tender and delicious. Good selection of vegetables and a really nice sauce. It was a reasonable meal size, much bigger than our other guests meals. They had a pasta dish which was tiny. Service attentive and polite and meals arrived in a timely manner despite bring busy. Restaurant/bar is noisy and towards the end of the evening cold. We would return.

My mother and I both chose the salmon salad and it was the best restaurant meal I've had in months. Outstanding flavours and textures and beautifully presented. I want to go back tomorrow! 😄 The service was delightful - so polite, joyful and CARING. What we also loved was that everyone working there seemed to be having a great time together (and if they weren't it had us fooled...which is yet more evidence of great customer service)! Just ducked in for a nice lunch. Did NOT expect such an awesome experience. Thank you so much for making the effort.

We can in with friends, we hadn’t been before. The waitress told us about have oysters available and would cook them. We got 2 dozen should have got more. They were cooked perfectly. Can’t wait to come back. Would love some more oysters.. Thank you

Rain rejuvenation! It’s been a long time since I’ve frequented Rain. It used to be my second home for Friday drinks and all manner of social get togethers. It was always a fun time. I don’t really know why or when we stopped coming, but I think it coincided with moving further away. Maybe I got barred for my impromptu dancing? Who knows. Well thank goodness we are back. Let me set the scene. It was a cold, dark, rainy Tuesday so I texted my Favourite Husband and told him the good news … he was taking me out. He’s a lucky man. Firstly, the covered outside area with heaters was toasty warm and nicely private. Because despite it being the most boring day of the week, Rain was busy. Go figure. My wine was delicious, equally delicious was the server didn’t look down her nose in disdain when I asked for ice with my wine. We decided to go with 2 small plates on the basis that I’d sold this impromptu date as “A drink and AN entree …” You’d think he’d know better by now … The tuna with mezcal and lime. This was well seasoned, citrusy, creamy avocado and some texture from the radish and rice paper crisp. The portion size was generous. It was delicious. We played safe with the good old chicken liver pate with an onion jam and other delightful garnishes. We’ve tried pretty much every chicken liver pate, parfait and mousse in the bay. This was up there with the best. The presentation confused the Favourite Husband, but I think that says more about him than the kitchen. I’ll leave that there. These 2 dishes were so good (and because I wanted a second wine) we also ordered the pork belly bites. Fall apart, soft pork, beautiful coleslaw and just a delight. There’s enough of interest on the menu to tempt us back. Many more times. Plus I need to investigate if they still do half price cocktails when it rains. It is winter after all.