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There are many dining options across the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. You can buy everything from fruit from roadside orchard stalls and take-out fish-and-chips joints to cafés serving sandwiches and espresso coffee, right through to fine-dining affairs. Even when restaurants are formal in appearance, diners and hosts tend towa
There are many dining options across the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. You can buy everything from fruit from roadside orchard stalls and take-out fish-and-chips joints to cafés serving sandwiches and espresso coffee, right through to fine-dining affairs. Even when rest
There are many dining options across the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. You can buy everything from fruit from roadside o
There are many dining options across the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. You can buy everything from fruit from roadside orchard stalls and take-out fish-and-chips joints to cafés serving sandwiches and espresso coffee, right through to fine-dining affairs. Even when restaurants are formal in appearance, diners and hosts tend toward a relaxed country-casualness. Restaurant owners make a point of using the region's abundant resources: the fish is likely to have been caught that morning from a nearby bay, and shellfish are from local mussel and scallop farms. A huge community of artists lives in the region and their work is likely to be for sale even though it adorns restaurant walls.
Dinner service begins about 6 pm in the winter and around 7 pm during the summer months, though many places have "all-day menus." In peak season most places keep serving until at least 9 pm. For many restaurants reservations are a good idea, especially in the summer around the Coromandel. In winter, phone ahead to check if the restaurant will stay open.
The high prices set this restaurant apart from other local options, but then again so does the food: in the open-plan kitchen, nationally renowned chef Stephen Barry fuses quality indigenous meats, seafood, and produce with Pacific Rim flavors. À la carte menu choices range from small tapas to share and appetizers (which can also be requested in a slightly larger portion size) to full main courses. For those who inevitably want a taste of all the desserts, there's a tasting platter. The street-side restaurant looks out onto Mauao (Mt. Maunganui).
6 Adams Ave., Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, 3116, New Zealand
One of Thames's newest cafes, this place comes with a good pedigree (having been opened by the team who previously ran another popular dining spot in town) and has quickly gained a local following. Rainbow vegetarian tart with pesto and ricotta, butterscotch scones, and sticky bao buns are available alongside more traditional offerings such as cornish pasties.
501A Pollen Street, New Zealand
07-280-0297
Known For
Hot and tasty soups, including a vegan green velvet variety
The standout restaurant in town showcases local produce, shellfish, fish, lamb, and beef. Lunch easily segues into dinner in the sheltered courtyard or in front of the fire, depending on the season. Service is swish and prices are up there, but you get what you pay for. All-day brunches and light lunches are also served.
31 Kapanga Rd., Coromandel, Waikato, 3506, New Zealand
Put a slightly upscale yet still casual restaurant in a popular local hotel, with a waterside location in a vacation town, and you've got this can't-miss dining spot. There is casual pub dining in the bars, but Salt, with its alfresco dining by the palm-edged marina, is the star. The menu changes with the seasons, sometimes offering free-range pork belly with prawn dumplings, lamb backstrap, or grass-fed eye fillet with béarnaise sauce. Bar snacks include lots of fresh seafood such as Coromandel mussels. Reservations are recommended in summer.
1 Blacksmith La., Whitianga, Waikato, 3510, New Zealand
Within one of the few hotels remaining from the gold rush days, you'll find classy pub grub in a convivial atmosphere. The Grahamstown Bar Diner (GBD) is the main restaurant bar, serving everything from breakfast and lunch to bar snacks and pizzas to evening main courses. On weekends, it gets pretty packed late night thanks to music gigs. Down the back is a more casual bar with pool tables; upstairs, there are some basic but clean and excellent-value accommodations.
700 Pollen St., Thames, Waikato, 3500, New Zealand
The 1876-built Talisman Hotel offers quality pub fare, with a focus on using local produce where possible. You’ll meet the locals here, be it over brunch, lunch, or dinner, where your meal could be anything from crammed-full burgers to confit duck leg. Suggested wine matches for the evening mains suggest more care than your standard pub grub.
7–9 Main Rd., Katikati, Bay of Plenty, 3129, New Zealand
At the base of Moutohora Island Tours, run by Ngati Awa Tourism, this place specializes in breakfast and lunch. The café opens up from 7 am to 2 pm, and its right by the water, as good an excuse as any to try the delicious seafood chowder with its mix of prawns, calamari, fish, and mussels. Also recommended is the potato and kale soup with red roasted almonds. The café serves a hearty Kiwi breakfast and also specializes in fresh-baked pastries.
15 The Strand E, Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, 3120, New Zealand
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