Restaurants in Queenstown & Wanaka
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Bella Cucina
A top-shelf Italian eatery has been long overdue in Queenstown – as of 2008 that role has been taken by this beautiful kitchen. Fresh pasta and risotto are highlights while the pizza is good for sharing. Beautiful, simple food done just right.
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Botswana Butchery
It’s a humble name for Wanaka’s classiest eatery. In a dining room trimmed with dark wood and leather, Asian-inspired dishes like seven-spiced big eye tuna go head to head with Botswana Butchery’s signature aged beef steaks. Definitely food for grown-ups, as is the serious Central Otago–skewed wine list. Just come with a few imbibing partners, as surprisingly few wines are available by the glass. Downstairs in Post Office Lane there’s a growing range of bars to explore after dinner. Let us know what you discover.
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Wai Waterfront Restaurant & Wine Bar
Small and intimate, Wai (meaning ‘water’ in Maori) is white-linen classy with lake and mountain views. It’s known for lamb and seafood, and the Oyster Bar does the world’s favourite bivalve in 17 different ways. The seven-course degustation menu ($115 without wine and $175 with wine) is a splurge-worthy opportunity for a great culinary adventure. Think about it seriously. It’s actually less than you’ll spend on another round of outdoor adventure activities, and will last a lot longer.
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Botswana Butchery
This stylish and new face on the local culinary scene is a breath of fresh air. Opulent and aesthetic interior design makes way for a wine list that rivals anywhere in town. The meals are a divine combination of seasonal vegetables augmenting prime cuts of beef, lamb, poultry and seafood. There is an emphasis upon taste in all avenues – whether that is the design of the interior, the creative plating or the elegant flavours that permeate the memorable meals.
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Vesta
Sometimes it’s a good thing when you can’t work out exactly what something is. In the case of Vesta, just examine the evidence: a gloriously overgrown 1920s-style garden, a gallery and gift shop specialising in NZ design, and a compact wee cafe serving coffee and cake just made for mid-afternoon recharging. To confuse things, Vesta is housed in Williams Cottage, Queenstown’s oldest home, and now an interesting museum.
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Cow
Tucked into a hidden corner of Cow Lane, this is a classic QT eatery. Housed in a former cow shed (hence the name of the restaurant and the street), the Cow hasn’t changed its menu since 1976 – and is damn proud of it. Amazing pizzas, simple pasta and stellar garlic bread will leave you satisfied. The atmosphere is cramped with low-slung ceilings, a roaring fire, thick wooden tables and rustic candlelight.
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White House Café & Bar
It looks like a Greek townhouse miraculously airlifted from Santorini, and inside this long-running local favourite you can linger over plates of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine with lots of vegetarian options. Polished wooden floors and Turkish rugs do nothing to break the delicious spell. In summer, relax under endless Central Otago blue skies seemingly also imported straight from the Med.
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Glenorchy Café
With a reputation extending beyond little old GY, the Glenorchy Café is an institution oozing cool and natural style. The portions are as big as the surrounding peaks, and the coffee has powered many a mountain mission. Perennial favourites like pizza and breakfast stacks keep locals coming back time after time. Sit among the shadow of the peaks in the back garden – you’ll struggle to leave.
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Café Gusto
The most common answer to the question ‘Who’s got the best coffee in town?’, Gusto provides robust meals like breakfast burrito with jalapeno peppers, or smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Both will set you up for the most active of days, and after you’ve kayaked/mountain biked/rafted/hiked, come back in the afternoon and recount the experience over excellent cakes and Wanaka’s best coffee.
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Fergburger
Less of a burger joint and more of a rite of passage for every Queenstown visitor, Ferg serves up the best burgers in town till way past your bedtime. All tastes are catered for including vegetarians, fish lovers and, of course, carnivores. The burgers are huge and the atmosphere festive –this could very well be the best burger stop in all of Aotearoa.
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Ardmore St Food Company
This cosmopolitan lakefront cafe has everything from muffins the size of Mt Aspiring to quirkily dubbed breakfasts like Green Eggs and Ham (bacon, eggs and pesto if you’re wondering…). There’s a concise but considered list of local wines and boutique beers, and the attached deli is a good place to pick up gourmet goodies for a lakeside picnic.
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Kai Whakapai
A Wanaka institution, Kai (the Maori word for food) is the place to be on a sunny day, with perhaps the best patio in all of Aotearoa. Massive sandwiches, great coffee and exceptionally slow service are all a part of the experience. They have the locally brewed Wanaka Beerworks beer on tap, and some local Central Otago wines as well.
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Soulfood Store & Cafe
Park yourself in a rustic wooden booth and stay healthy with organic soups, pizza, pasta and muffins. Not everything’s strictly vegetarian, and breakfast with free-range eggs breaks the spell in a tasty way. The attached organic food store, which has freshly baked bread, is a good spot for a pre-picnic stock-up.
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Stables
With courtyard tables adjoining a grassy square, Stables is a good spot to share a tasting platter ($29.50) with your closest travelling companion. Have a local Brewski beer from Wanaka, or a glass of Central Otago wine. Later at night, step inside the 1860s stone building for a more intimate dining experience.
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Fishbone Bar & Grill
Queenstown’s more than a few miles inland, but that doesn’t stop Fishbone from sourcing the best of NZ seafood. Everything from scallops to snapper is treated with a light and inventive touch. You’ll see a steady stream of contented customers leaving the quirkily nautical space every night.
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Red Star
Burgers are burgers, right? Wrong. Taking the idea that fast food doesn’t have to be rubbish (or even that fast) and running with it, Red Star spoils diners with a menu featuring inventive ingredients and 17 different burgers. Everybody is catered for – even vegetarians, who get a show-stopping three options.
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Joe’s Garage
Joe’s is the perennial favourite among locals looking for their morning coffee rescue. The hipster environment flies dangerously close to too cool for school but pulls back on the throttle before it’s too late. Great coffee and fantastic brunchy food is all found at this locals’ hang-out.
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Solero Vino
This tiny French restaurant is hard to find but impossible to forget. Exquisite food is presented in a simple and elegant style. Traditional fare such as escargot and salmon are cooked to perfection. If you’re lucky, the soup of the day will be the gazpacho and you’ll be in gastronomic nirvana.
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Lone Star
The line ‘everything’s bigger in Texas’ seems to fit the food here. Massive plates of grub are the calling card of Lone Star. Tex-Mex flavours and a festive atmosphere keep the mood light – though too many meals here and you won’t be. Best to tuck into the Fred Flintstone–worthy ribs.
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Gantley’s
An atmospheric dining experience in a historic 1863 stone-and-timber house at Arthurs Point. The contemporary NZ cuisine and highly regarded (and award-collecting) wine list are worth the journey. Reservations are essential; a courtesy bus is run to and from town for à la carte diners.
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Kappa Sushi Cafe
Queenstown’s best Japanese eatery is also its most casual. Scarily fresh tuna and salmon feature in good-value bento boxes for lunch. Later at night linger longer with excellent tempura and Japanese beer and sake. In summer watch the passing parade in the Mall from the upstairs deck.
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Missy’s Kitchen
A dramatic upstairs dining room with equally spectacular lake views serves up local beef, lamb and salmon in innovative and award-winning ways. Prolong the experience with a cocktail at the bar. The list of local beers and wine make returning for a second night worthwhile.
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Halo
A stylish and sunny place that effortlessly blurs the line between breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast burrito will set you up for a day’s adventuring. Come back at night for a Caribbean jerk chicken burger and a glass of local wine. It’s beside St James Church.
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@Thai
The title of best Thai in town is a hard-fought battle here in QT – and the winner is @Thai. Find the semi-hidden set of stairs and head on up for a great meal. The pad Thai is worth writing home about and the hor-mok seafood red curry will blow your mind.
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Vudu Cafe
This local favourite has been sorting out caffeine fixes for ages. Food-wise it boxes above its weight with great eggs, soup and a veggie lasagne that’ll put you off meat forever. The funky surrounds, with local art on the walls, complete the scene.
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