Tucked away at the end of Wallis Street in the Wharf area, The Marlin Cafe & Grill is some distance from the town area of Raglan. In the summer when the sun is setting over Raglan, the serenity of the view from the restaurant’s deck of the harbour with boats going past and of the steep hills on the north side of the harbour is enchanting. Apart from the small deck at the Orca Restaurant, the Marlin is the only Raglan restaurant where you can sit outside and look at the harbour. The outside tables all have sun umbrellas or a pergola over them.
Since the Marlin opened, several years ago the food quality and the service has varied a lot. The experiment with a grill your own area has ended and this area has been replaced with a bar. At the moment in summer 2011, the food quality and service is quite good.
I selected table at the end of the deck with a good view of the harbour. The loud country and western music was a distraction and another choice would have been better at a lower volume level. A waiter was a long promptly to take my order. There is quite a reasonable section of medium and large meals to choose from and there is a blackboard menu as well. I ordered a glass of Trinity Hill Syrah from Hawkes Bay ($7.50) which was delivered quickly. Quite a good medium bodied red. From the blackboard menu I selected the pan-fried Raglan flounder. This has to be the Marlin’s best offer. The locally caught fish was cooked perfectly and chips were nicely crisped. Although on the blackboard menu, flounder is usually available at the Marlin. The meal came with a fresh garden salad of lettuce, tomato and carrot.
There is a small desert menu and I had the fresh fruit salad. It was a good range of local and imported fruit served with one scoop of ice cream. The cafe had run out of decaffeinated coffee so I passed on a coffee.
Overall on Value for Money I gave The Marlin a Seven out of Ten for a well cooked and presented meal with local flounder and good service.
You can usually get a table at the Marlin, but on summer evenings the premium tables with a view of the harbour go quickly.
Marlin Cafe & Grill – Dine in. Licensed.
On the Wharf at end of Wallis Street, Raglan
Phone: 825 0010