Great views, great location & even better fare! This place does everything very well, seamless menu & a great staff
Lovely restaurant but you can sit back & enjoy a pizza & a beer or a coffee anytime
A great experience to dine in a cafe with exceptional Mountain views. A good feel of cleanliness, friendly willing staff, great open fire and excellent meals. Oh to be trapped there for longer!
Just charming. Good food and organic at that! Beer on tap, good selection of wine, great view, accomodating staff. So much nicer than the vibe at the v.touristy hermitage
What a fantastic place!
The ambiance in this restaurant is warm and cozy, on a rainy day there was a great open fire blazing and the smell of Lillie's and coffee was delicious. The food quality was brilliant- fantastic gravy on organic produce. To have an entirely organic meal below NZ's highest peak, pure magic The staff were welcoming and treated us like returning friends. It was a beautiful place and highly recommended.
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Finally got to try this place on our last evening in Mount Cook and what a lovely evening.
This is the only place in the Aoraki village that has a cute, alpine feel to it. We had previously tried the (sterile) Sir Edmund Hillary cafe which just had no ambience or character.
The owner prepares the food in the kitchen and it was lovely and prepared very quickly. Yes basic food / cutlery / plates but frankly, what difference does this make when you’re in a lovely alpine village, looking out onto the base of some beautiful peaks.
The beer on tap was also great.
So glad we supported local on this occasion and I would strongly recommend everyone does (and in doing so avoiding characterless, mass tourism operations at the other eateries in town). Would have loved to have gone again if had time allowed.
I really hope this place can find some more staff because there is so much more potential to this lovely cafe / restaurant.
Thanks for a great evening to the owner and the lovely lady at the bar.
Quaint little Cafe with a very homey vibe and amazing view. It's a simple menu but hits the spot for hungry hikers. We ordered the burger which was quite standard but came with yummy fries.
Great service despite being short on staff - we were expecting to wait a long time but food arrived in about 10 min.
Would love to visit again the next time I'm at Mt cook!
Accessible within walking distance in mount cook village. Nice decent place for food and drinks
Operating hours need to confirm due to staff shortage so changes does happens. It’s ok for us, it’s open at 5:30pm and close at 7pm. Enough time for meal and chill with beer
Limited menu options, we were informed when we reached the cafe. Price ok, it’s the typical cafe pricing same for drinks. Price stays the same for takeaway, we did dine in and takeout.
The place is cozy, pls be accommodating to their staff shortage and overwhelming of orders as there isn’t much food places in this region. Not easy to run the business
What a brilliant little cafe!
Full of great stories and memorabilia which the owners have clearly taken great care collating. Including a note from Ed Hillary himself. Its a family affair and is clearly loved by people who also love the mountains. From some of the other reviews it looks as though people have been expecting gourmet dining which feels a little unfair. We had coffee and one of the home made muffins which was lovely, we also picked up a couple of the historic posters as well.
Simple and perfectly in keeping with its settings - the base of one of the biggest mountains in NZ.
Lovely cafe with fantastic views!
They mainly serve burgers & pizzas which is good to help fuel up after doing one of the Mt Cook trails but would be good to offer healthier options for the more health conscious.
We ordered the pepperoni pizza which came out pretty quick. The guy at the counter was friendly as well 👍🏼
Be sure to check out the opening times as the kitchen closes at 2:30pm then reopens again from 5pm-6:30pm when we were here.
This is a place with a great vibe.. it's covered with old photos from the glory days of Edmund Hillary and how the town used to look.. it's got merchandise which you can buy to support the local community and ofcourse the food is simple and always fresh.. it's the only cafe/bar for miles..and it serves both coffee and beer .. for a change I tried the chai latte here and it was really good .. A good chai under the shadow of the mountains brings back memories for me.. so it was a beautiful place for me... If you visit Mount cook do give it a try.. the staff is really friendly ...
What a view! Great place to relax and enjoy a beer with friends. Delicious pizza with super crispy base. Lots of historic facts and photos to check out. Thoughtfully decorated.
Price is a bit on the higher side, but not outrageous considering the location. I wouldn't stop for a small lunch or coffee, but for proper lunch or dinner it will suit you just fine!
I have seen some older reviews claiming the staff are rude, well not in my experience! They were nothing but smiles and helpfulness.
We ordered the burger and the pasta of the day, between to two I would definitely recommend the burger as I feel that it gives you more bang for your buck. The pasta was good, but the burger was simply better. Both were about 28 NZD
Provides a stiff competition to its more illustrious big brother Hermitage
Very tasty Burgers and Pizzas. Liked almost all the items on the menu. Especially their Salmon Pizza and the Chicken Burger.
Nice ambience with rare mountaineering photographs and gear on display throughout the Cafe. And offers nice views of Aoraki through the large glass panels.
Quite a personalized service and we kept going back
Stunning view for a meal. Such a blest to have a cafe serving warm food in this area.
Do not rely on time here, opening time change daily. Go to their website and call the owner to avoid disappointment ( this is what the owner told me in person when we arrived too early )
This place is great! They said there would be a longer wait due to staff shortages, but food and service was still really quick. Burgers are massive and delicious!
The food here is really good and they give you a very generous amount. The theme of this place is quite nice too. It has a mountaineer and skiing theme which fits its location and it’s view. From the cafe you can clearly see Mount Cook!
Was looking for a little cafe to pop into after our trek and we found this place. It was cosy and welcoming. The soup is amazing while the coffee was very strong! Nice place to hang and chill especially if you need a timeout!
I had a lunch there, not bad, nice view and decorations.
They are short of manpower, so no table service, which is ok.
However the opening hours is dubious.
The one on Google is outdated.
What is even worse, I personally confirmed with the staff when it will be open for dinner on the same day.
But when I headed back from the hiking only to find the restaurant is closed without any notice.
Of the three restaurants on the village this one is my favorite. It had a great pasta special, and the lady who made us this hot chocolate took extra care to make sure we had the best time. It has beautiful views and makes a great dinner spot if you can get a table early enough. The burger was surprisingly very good, it’s also quite big. They also have a nice little shop with some super cool vintage art prints of New Zealand and Mt Cook.
Despite being in the ‘middle of nowhere’ the cafe had some awesome food! A good range of pizzas, we went hawaiian that was delicious and a nearby table had a great looking meat lovers. Some of the nicest fries ever too. Fast service, and the coffee was great too! Slightly expensive but seemed worhwhile.
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This is a historic place originally opened by Sir Edmund Hilary and a very good restaurant for those staying in the Mount Cook National Park. With only a few chooses it is easy to be concerned about the limited number of restaurants in the Mount Cook Village.
After reading some very positive reviews on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews, we elected to try The Old Mountaineers' Cafe first. Our meal was very good so we ended up eating here during each of our three nights staying in the village. In short with such limited options, if you find something that works - best to stick with it.
Dining environs and decor are nice. There is a small fireplace and great views of the valley and mountains. Service is pretty good, staff worked hard to serve diners. Orders were delivered in a timely manner and most importantly, execution in the kitchen, at least with their salmon, was consistently very good.
Menu is small with a handful of mains, desserts and drink list. We had the seared and baked salmon served with basmati rice and a delicious garden salad. The fillets were fresh and very well cooked with just the right amount of searing on the outside. Inside, the fillets were soft, pink and flavourful - so much nicer than anything we an regularly find back home.
Dinner was followed with an order of chocolate cake served with Kapiti vanilla ice-cream. It was large enough for two to share and tasted very good. Wine list is small but a couple decent Sauvignon blanc options that went well with the salmon mains.
As mentioned, our first meal was very good so we returned the following two nights. Happy to return that the salmon was just as good during the following next two meals, a good sign for those who enjoy salmon that they are consistent in the kitchen at the Old Mountaineers' Cafe.
We left quite pleased with our three meals and will gladly return to the Old Mountaineers' Cafe the next time we are in the Mount Cook area.
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