Restaurants in Lake Taupo Region
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Plateau
One of a growing number of brewery-branded gastro-pubs, Plateau is a great place for a drink (Monteith’s beer being the main poison), but the food is the key. The menu is predominantly modern NZ (think lamb rump and rib-eye), with plenty of fancy fusion twists.
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Tongariro Lodge
Some of the world’s most famous blokes (Robert Mitchum, Liam Neeson, Larry Hagman, Jimmy Carter, Timothy Dalton) have come to this luxury riverside fishing lodge, set in 9 hectares of parkland, to relax in wood-panelled anonymity. Not surprisingly, the menu’s orientated around man-sized slabs of meat but the real squeals of delight come when a lucky lodger is presented with their day’s catch, smoked and served to perfection.
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Brantry
Chef Prue Campbell and sister Felicity continue to run the best and most consistent restaurant in the region at this 1950s town house, a few minutes from the town centre. Dine in intimate, unobtrusive surrounds, inside or out. The menu makes use of some of NZ’s finest ingredients, including top-quality cuts of beef and lamb. The set menu (two-/three-courses $40/50) is a gift.
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L’Arté
A 10-minute drive from town will reward you with a fantastically artful cafe in an ebullient sculpture garden with a gallery alongside. Lots of mouth-watering treats are made from scratch here, including the pesto that sits on the must-have antipasto platter. The home baking is a triumph.
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Replete
Widely regarded as one of Taupo’s best cafes, Replete’s counter is packed full of delicatessen delights – running the gamut from sandwiches and salads to sweets. Its pastry selection is particularly commendable. A blackboard menu offers inexpensive and interesting light meals.
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Pimentos
Such a local favourite that you may well need to book to enjoy some of the town’s best food in this convivial environment. Its lamb shanks and mash are legendary, but the relatively short menu offers plenty of well-considered experimentation.
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Fine Fettle
An airy cafe on a quieter edge of town, serving wholefood, organic, and GE- and gluten-free options. The healthy, satisfying offerings include quiches and fresh salads, plus juices, smoothies and iced chai.
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On Tap
This place packs a paunch with paté to start, steaks as big as your fist, cheese to round off and a beer bonanza throughout. Modern-man interior with beaut wooden bar and smokers' den out front.
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Eruption
Shelter behind one of the free newspapers while Eruption’s espresso machine steams and spurts out black rivers topped with creamy foam. The food selection’s limited but tasty.
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Stir Taupo
Despite operating out of a caravan by the marina, Stir managed to snaffle a 2009 cafe award. The formula’s simple: killer coffee and scrumptious sweet and savoury crepes.
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Classic Espresso Bakery
This is a budget diner's creamy dream, baking daily delights like pies and pastries, and old-school treats like lamingtons, Eccles cake and gingerbread people.
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Red Crater Café
Bright and cheery with a loungy outdoor area, this café inside Extreme Backpackers serves snacks, breakfast, and light meals including soup and nachos.
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Mustard Seed Café
This modern café with a garden area has staple breakfast offerings like eggs benedict, panini, sandwiches, cakes and good espresso.
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Bus Stop Café
Local identity Garry Gradwell dishes out burgers and toasties from the back of an old Bedford bus parked on the Maraetai lakefront.
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Licorice
It’s worth holding off for this pit stop 8km north of Turangi for excellent coffee, cheap, light meals, and lovely home baking.
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Lotus Thai
A warm and inviting restaurant with Siamese trimmings throughout, offering standard Thai fare in plentiful portions.
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Hot Plate Korean & Japanese Restaurant
This place has authentic barbecue-style Korean dishes, along with Japanese specialities including tempura and sushi.
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Thyme for Food
A popular tearoom, good for fast and simple fare such as pies, all-day brekkie, burgers and milkshakes.
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Grand Central Fry
A local legend serving top fish and chips, plus burgers and anything else fryable.
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Oreti
It’s hard to imagine a more romantic spot to while away a balmy summer’s evening than looking over the lake from Oreti’s terrace. It’s an added bonus that the food matches up – the modern NZ menu doesn’t disappoint. As you pick your way through a heavily laden antipasti lunch platter you might have to remind yourself that you’re not actually on the Mediterranean.
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