Restaurants in Waikato
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Scott’s Epicurean
This gorgeous joint features swanky leather banquettes, pressed-tin ceilings, great coffee and an interesting and affordable menu: try the pytti panna (Swedish bubble-and-squeak) or the ever-popular spaghetti aglio e olio (there'd be a riot if it ever dropped off the menu). Friendly service; fully licensed.
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Orca
A day started at an Orca window seat, looking over the water, with some eggs Benedict and a superb coffee is a day well launched. Come back in the evening for rabbit pie, wine-appreciation nights and live music.
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Rangiriri Hotel
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Red Cherry
With happy staff and a cherry-red espresso machine working overtime, barn-like Red Cherry offers coffee roasted on-site, delicious counter food and impressive cooked breakfasts (oh those corn-and-pumpkin fritters). It’s Cambridge’s best cafe by a country mile (it’s actually a country 4km out of Cambridge on the way to Hamilton).
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Boatshed Cafe
The Boatshed Cafe on the lakeside (take Gorton Rd from SH1) sells mainly homemade food, some of which is gluten- and dairy-free. Basic kayaks can be hired from $20 per half day. You can paddle to a couple of waterfalls in around an hour.
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Singer HaBARdashery
A classy operator on the Hood St strip, Singer is a moody tapas and wine bar occupying the oldest stone building in Hamilton – a former haberdashery. Expect a dizzying selection of wines and beers, great coffee, satisfying brunches and zingy tapas (try the ‘Needle’: eye fillet, mushroom, scallop, chorizo, and haloumi skewered on a knitting needle).
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La Commune
La Commune Vegetarians and ecowarriors rejoice! Not only does this bohemian place deliver fresh, well-presented meals, it has a selection of vegan wines, good magazines, funky 1950s furniture and a commitment to recycling and ecofriendly products. Special treats are the Thursday buffet ($10) and live music on the weekends.
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Vinnie’s
Run by a long-lost New Yorker, Vinnie’s looks like a truck stop from the outside, but inside it’s all Hawaiian prints, reggae tunes and surf movies flickering on the walls. On the food front it’s burgers, salads, wraps, cheese-steaks, pizzas and its ‘famous’ meatloaf. Free wi-fi is available, too.
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Workman’s Cafe Bar
Truly eccentric (old transistor radios dangling from the ceiling; a wall-full of art-deco mirrors; Johnny Cash on the stereo), this funky eatery has built itself a reputation that extends beyond Matamata. The poached salmon Benedict is a showstopper!
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Hydro
On the east side of the river (walk here along the water), Hydro is a fun cafe occupying an old block of neighbourhood shops, with tables spilling across the pavement. Great for brunch and light meals with novel taste combinations (the scallop salad with mango chilli is awesome). Wi-fi and by-the-glass NZ wines available.
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River Kitchen
Hip River Kitchen does things with simple style: cakes, gourmet breakfasts and fresh seasonal lunches (angle for the salmon hash), and a barista who knows his beans. It's the kind of place you visit for breakfast, come back to for lunch, then consider for breakfast the next day.
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Onyx
All-day Onyx occupies a lofty space, with onyx-black furnishings and warm-toned timber floors. Wood-fired pizzas are the mainstay, plus salads, tortillas, sandwiches, steaks, cakes, organic coffee and 95% NZ wines. At night it’s almost urbane.
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Palate
Simple, sophisticated Palate has a well-deserved rep for lifting the culinary bar across regional NZ. Chef/owner Mat McLean delivers an innovative mod-NZ menu with highlights like honey-spiced duck with kumara and coconut puree, citrus couscous, orange salad and Cointreau jus.
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Canvas
The restaurant in the Waikato Museum offers classy dining with a lovely outlook. If you're just taking a sightseeing break, the light meal options ($16 to $18) are delicious – try the pumpkin ravioli.
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Aloha Market Place
It’s takeaway without the grease, Japanese surfer-style. Grab some delicious rolled-to-order sushi, some udon noodles or a donburi rice bowl and head for the harbour. 'No rice, no life'.
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Behr Burger
Awesome gourmet hamburgers are the go at this buzzy main-street nook. ‘The Chief’ (NZ rump steak, honey-smoked bacon, a free-range egg, cheddar cheese, salad and aioli) plugs the hungry hollows.
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Redoubt Bar & Eatery
The sister establishment of Te Awamutu’s Redoubt, Matamata’s version is just as good: thin-crust pizzas, chowder, steaks, a winning hash stack (or 'hesh steck' in Kiwi accent), and live music every Friday. Oh, and plenty of Monteiths!
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Zephyr
With Che Guevara's noble face gazing from the wall you can expect great Cuban coffee. Settle in for tasty counter food ($6 to $8) or a mix of Cuban, South American and Mexican dishes.
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Cafe Oasis
It’s a strange combo – from the name you’d expect felafels but instead you get blaring FM radio and a menu that’s half authentic Thai, half classic European. Fusion be damned.
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Redoubt Bar & Eatery
A relaxed little place to eat or drink, with cheap-but-potent cocktails, old photos on the walls and a decent menu stretching from pasta to curry. Watch tractors roll along the main street through fold-back windows.
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Berlusconi on Whitaker
We know the defunct Italian PM has his fingers in a lot of pies, but surely they don’t extend to this upmarket wine, tapas and pizza bar in Te Aroha. Mind you, it is suave enough.
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Rata
Sit in either the funky old shopfront or the courtyard garden for, as the local media described it, ‘robust food – nicely cooked and plenty of it’.
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Indian Aroma
Brightening up the town with a saffron-yellow glow, this attractive restaurant with orderly glass-topped tables serves all the fragrant favourites. The roses on the tables are fake (a sin in Rose Town?).
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Metropolis
A global and varied menu is offered at this casual and popular café, which covers all the bases and has a chirpy atmosphere.
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Aqua Velvet
This airy ‘kitchen and ballroom', open to the road and rafters, serves up generous brunches in a bustling atmosphere.
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