TOP 10 BEST Restaurants in New Zealand - Updated October 2024

Richard Chen (Jia)

Mike Bailey

lorraine middlemiss (Rainez)

Solomon Li

Riverstone Kitchen

85/100 (2633 ratings)

Pork and Herb Rillette

Birthday Cake Chocolate

Hot Smoked Salmon Entree

Slow-Cooked Okaahu Lamb with Potato Gnocchi Herb Oil

hot chocolate

Fish & Chips

Apple Fritters with Cinnamon Ice Cream

Free off-street parking

Non-smoking restaurants

Wheelchair Accessible

Accepts American Express

"Beautiful food in a gorgeous setting, with impeccable service. We did a day trip from Christchurch hoping for something special, and it was exactly..."

Pynylopy

"Unfortunately they google review have 5 stars. I would give 10 🌟 🤩 stars to this place. I love their breakfast , so unique and so..."

Navjot Sidhu

"Came at 2:59pm (kitchen closes at 3pm), we were greatly surprised when our waitress insisted the kitchen remain open for our last order of lunch..."

Xiao Cui

"Lives up to reputation. The food was very, very good, the service was awesome. The squid dish was amazing, the pumpkin and parmesan soup was the..."

Sue Lind

"Lovely garden, delicious food, and in a beautiful setting. Staff were friendly and food came out rather timely. Definitely worth dropping by if..."

Benjamin T

"We had a brilliant lunch here. Every course of everyone’s meal was great! And because we were able to eat outside under cover it felt really..."

Jillian Crisp

"Great warm indoor dining with plenty of outdoor sitting options too. Had best lamb in last few years! Amazing in house baked bread and desert..."

Vasile Remus Coman

"Our tour stopped here for lunch (so can't speak to price or variety on the menu). We were running late for our arrival time but the staff were all..."

Jason Zahn

"Drove from Dunedin for afternoon tea at Riverstone kitchen and the service was great. Took a little to be seated (when heaps of empty tables) but..."

Lena K

"The food wasn't the best but we did not try much of it. The waiters and cooks were extremely fast and got our food relatively quickly(The place was..."

Daniel M

Criterion Hotel

A Drink of Expresso Martini

CRI Mixed Gill

Taco De Pescado Stir-Fried Pork Belly Noodles

Salad

Pints of Tap Beer

The Criterion Beef Wellington

"Awesome place to stay and the food was fantastic This place deserves all the praise it can get, the staff from owner Sue and everyone else thanks..."

Cheryl Gallagher

"Wow would highly recommend to anyone & everyone. Great atmosphere, awesome friendly staff & amazing meal, oh & I can not forget the pudding - YUM...."

Tammy Carter

"Thank you so much for the meal we won in your Valentine’s day completion, Lovely staff and fabulous meal, we will be..."

Missy Duncan

"Had a great day sampling interesting craft beer. Finished off with with a tasty chicken burger in the Snug at the..."

Graeme Simpson

"Excelente location with good access to public parking. Lovely staff. The best pork ribs I’ve ever had. The rooms are comfortable and many options..."

Emilia Samek Morrone

"Recently went to the Criterion on the Monday afternoon of the long weekend in NZ. A local put myself and 6 of my mates from Oz onto the pub.....what..."

Terry Blanch

"Great classic cocktails in a fabulous old building. Food was pretty good. We had the tapas, the chicken and salas was amazing but the vegetarian..."

Pippa Harding

"Absolutely amazing food and great atmosphere. The tapas menu is delicious with so many different options. Loved the black doris plum cider too. So..."

Chantelle Bradfield-Stanger

"A friend suggests trying dinner at Criterion as they used to live in Oamaru. It was a lovely night to have dinner at Criterion. The service and food..."

Brian Kwok

"Spent a few nights in Oamaru recently. Planned to visit a few restaurants but ended up back at the Criterion every night - the food is just that..."

Danielle T

"Change your plans to visit the Criterion. We arrived in town from Dunedin last night. Called in to the Criterion for a drink with no great..."

Ross Hicks

"Having dined here twice before I knew this would be the perfect venue to have our 100 Years North Otago District Council AA celebration. Katrina was..."

Karen Weir

"Served by an absolute customer service star - Jacob. It's always the people that make an establishment shine, and Jacob is clearly the Criterion's..."

Clayton Hill

"We share 10 tapes between 4 of us. Lots of lovely flavours, attentive friendly staff in the heart of the historical part of oamaru. I thought it was..."

Carl Hensley

"I missed the Vegans Welcome sign but they sure are. Enjoyed a glass of vegan friendly wine and my scrumptious vegan veggie stack. (They also cater..."

Colin Wolverson

"Stopped to listen to the Foxy Tones..at the criterion. They were fantastic so we had a few drinks and were lucky enough to get a table for 10 in a..."

Rangi Clark

Portside

Pineapple Frozen Margarita

Chocolate Brownie

Cod

Chai Latte

"Wow!! What a dinner!! The food was amazing! We had the seafood chowder, blue cod and bacon and my favourite.. the best Polenta chips ever. I would..."

Karyn Coker

"Tried the new menu tonight. Was absolutely amazing...compliments to the chef and the staff were awesome..."

Kaye Murdoch

"Outstanding service, waitress was lovely even gave us some local tips and some of her knowledge on fishing in the area. We only had a small meal as..."

Adam Carr

"Great food. One of the best Seafood Chowder I have had. Would recommend this..."

Maree White

"Seafood platter in the sun with a rose -..."

Ruth Macindoe

"Had a great meal lunch with seven of our friends and my Mother to celebrate her 91 St Birthday. Nice tasty meal, wonderful service and very helpful...."

Max Muldrew

"New menu rocks. Pork was out of this world great service and beautiful..."

Jenna Wylie

"Great food, great staff and great..."

Dylan Winter

"Portside has the perfect setting right beside the sea with a menu for everyone, sophisticated and smart we dine there nearly every week! The best..."

Annabel Berry

"Yum yum amazing food amazing..."

Belinda Spivey

"Second time we've been here so far, lovely spot, great food and service. Definitely will be back..."

Catherine Barr

"Lovely service and the menu with interesting choice, quite different from the usual stuff around. Two of us had the sea bass which we both found a..."

John Steel

"My partner and I came here on our way home from Christchurch on Sunday the 6th of April. From opening their really awesome door to getting back in..."

Jennifer Jury

"We had our wedding reception here in January. Originally we were going to be at Fleur's Place in Moeraki but after the most disgusting treatment we..."

Angelina Wood Marques

"Very pleasantly surprised by the great places to eat in Oamaru. Great food, awesome setting - I managed to get a table facing the ocean and away..."

Noms13 Noms

The Last Post Pub & Restaurant

84/100 (1617 ratings)

Old School Apple Strudel

Blue Cod Fillets

Beef

15 Dollar Special Blue Cod Muslim Salad Was a Couple of Eggs in Chips What More Could You Ask For

Wheelchair Accessible

"I highly recommend this restaurant - had a roast meal here yesterday for lunch & it was seriously one of the best I have ever eaten. The service was..."

Chris Allan

"Thankyou to the lovely service from all the girls especially Karen full of laughs and good spirits the whole service. Thankyou to the great food..."

Brittaney Payne

"loved the food an the service was so nice to meet all my brothers co workers :) would defiantly drive up again to eat there..."

Kimmy Casey

"Awesome food great friendly staff good..."

Andrew McDonald

"Lovely atmosphere...lovely fireplace! Warm and friendly staff food..."

Judith McLaughlin

"Always excellent customer service, great food. And wonderfull with my children. . .top marks team. We will always..."

Aleisha Maindonald

"if you want a very nice Guinness this is the place to go. Very friendly staff and a great..."

Mick Hall

"Excellent food,excellent service, would thoroughly..."

Steve Thorne

"Really nice place!! ☺️ Good atmosphere, lovely staff and delicious..."

Renee Papahadjis

"Best meal I’ve had in..."

Sarah Marchant

"went there for lunch today - great staff, great food and great service. Only problem is the covered in 'outdoor' space, it is too hot on a warm/hot..."

Helen

"Fantastic - had the bacon wrapped pork fillet followed by banoffee pie. To die for, and I probably will, eating too much! Took half of the dinner..."

Noms13 Noms

"Spent a couple of weeks dining here whilst away with work, highly recommend it, have pretty much done the whole menu with no flaws found. Awesome..."

Rob

"Great service, great food, great..."

Camille Strowger

"Randomly dropped by for dinner during our stay in Oamaru and was pleasantly surprised by the high standards of food served here. Do not miss out on..."

HL

"What a delicious meal, even the medium size,pork roast was huge, the blue cod dish was also very tasty.The garlic bread was so crunchy. The waitress..."

susan Hopkinson

"Fantastic meals, with very lovely service. Portions were very large, but taste was actually pretty good. I'm normally very critical as I run venues,..."

JC thebeerguy

"Had dinner with friends, great prompt service with excellent menu including my special meat... Just kidding, local Campbell's butchery meat, prices..."

Campbell Braddock

"Great little restaurant with excellent food! Friendly greeting as you walk in..."

Chrissy

"When I arrived(6 people) was nice , there was only 1 other table, but I can see why it started to full up. OMG food was absolutely amazing, decent..."

Elizabeth King

"Have always had great service here, meals are generally very..."

Remco Bol

"Wow! Outstanding food & very friendly & accommodating staff. Steak cooked perfectly & awesome bangers & mash. The special was “Kitchen Creation”..."

Mark Hope

"I had the roast of the day which was Pork! And husband had Ribeye Steak. Both lovely meals and great..."

Rosie Hale

"Cosy European pub feel, wonderful staff, big serving on..."

Mhyedaz

Midori

Wheelchair Accessible

Accepts American Express

The Roost

Seafood Cheese Ravioli

Wheelchair Accessible

"Roost has a great relaxed atmosphere, great magazines,and really tasty food. A very good range of food including gluten free options. Clean toilets,..."

Jenny

"Very Yummie Hot Chocolates, Havn't tried their food..."

J&TS

"Wonderful friendly service, and warm cosy atmosphere. The large coffees are HUGE and only $6. I also had a Chai and a delicious caramilk fugde slice...."

Nicola Bensley

"hot chocolate was soooooo good👌 good friendly service...👍 staff are so welcoming and friendly and coffee is amazing Quick service, 🔜..."

Nikesh Karkar

"We came here for an early morning coffee and scone, staff were friendly and happy to open up when we arrived a few minutes before opening. The..."

Kate Chandler

"This is only one coffee shop opened in the early Sunday morning near Brydone Hotel. We want to try something different and apparently it was a good..."

Ying Wang

"We so enjoyed this sweet local coffee shop. We were in town visiting for an extended stay and enjoyed starting many days here. Owner is so kind and..."

Sara Willetts

"visited in a busy time. I wanted to have here, but it was almost time to go, so I had no choice to change it to take away. It's a pity that I used..."

J hann

"A simple cafe which produces excellent coffee and breakfast. The pancakes were light and fluffy with lots of banana, walnuts and caramel sauce. The..."

Bailey Rowe

"Nice place to have breakfast in this quiet town. The food is pretty descent and the interior deco of the cafe is quite modern yet..."

鐘予恩

"The coffee here is very good. The food choice in the cabinet is okay - for a hungry visitor. Staff regularly seem a little reserved here, but my..."

Martin Kane (Organist)

"I'm base in Auckland and I was here with my granddaughter last week on a holiday and I must say the service was excellent. The food was worth what..."

Aggie Browne

"the place was very warm and cozy, the staff was also really nice and..."

Ka ChingChing Adventures

"Went here for labour day Sunday brunch. Due to unforeseen circumstances they were short staffed (only two staffers) We had to wait for our coffee..."

Paula Obrien

"Great food will be back next time in..."

Darrell Rushton

The Woolstore Cafe

"Brilliant place to visit , the Audi and the Merlin engine definitely favourites. Worth a visit if you're a petrol..."

Darren Wood

"Great smaller collection, 12 cars and 4 bikes there on the day I viewed. But some of the cars are amazing! Racing 1930’s Riley, Group B Audi and a..."

garthsbrother

"Was good to go see ,was mainly for the..."

L Kelly

"Very interesting vintage car collections.This is one good way to see the history of the city of..."

ABRA Productions

"Wonderful collection of cars and memorabilia, a must see for petrol heads and especially rally enthusiasts, the group b Quattro is..."

Ben Charlie Safari Wilson

"Located in a lovely building that has a logfire going in the back and looks out to the steam-punk exhibition. There is a all day menu offering..."

Jonny Orr

"Really good museum. Great collection of cars and motorsport. Came here in March..."

Christian Malloy

"Great selection of well maintained older cars, clean and can take your time seeing them, be nice to hear the cars..."

Julia Cox

"So much to see, could have stayed much..."

Paul Judson

"Would highly recommended ..."

Samantha Dixon

"Pout tout les passionnés de voiture cet endroit est fait pour vous. Voitures très propre et collection impressionnante autour de l’univers..."

Funky Burritos

J hann

"Ein must have für jeden oamaru..."

Michael Berg

Glen Marshall

Angela Taylor

Carolle Morris

Andy Hansen

Northstar Restaurant

Wheelchair Accessible

"Great meal, blue cod was lovely. Service was great & Erin was a great hostess, so friendly and welcoming and gave me a great wine option. Oh and the..."

Michelle Edwards

"It was a busy night for a function we attended, the buffet food was top notch, ive never had beef so soft before in my life. The ladies and gent..."

Jazz Walmsley

"Love the menu 😋 Get the ribeye with the roast veges, it will not disappoint. Didn't take photos cause I was so excited to eat everything. The..."

Aiyanna Nakoma

"After a terrible experience at a place just a bit further up the road from this place we ended up here, Absolutely fantastic service, friendly, ..."

DMH Contracting

"Wonderful chicken sandwich, but serving was far too big for..."

Heather McLean

"Been here for 6 weeks through work, accommodation and hospitality has been exceptional, epically from Kayla and..."

Alexander Ballantyne (Alex)

"Huge portions even the desserts. Delish meal and great..."

Tessa Jensen

"Went to the North Star restaurant for a team lunch and had one of the best lunches I think I’ve ever had. The food was full of flavour, warm and..."

Kate Chandler

"We popped in here for a late breakfast. They don't actually have a breakfast menu, but we had a very reasonably priced ribeye steak cooked to our..."

Doreen Cleave

"it is a bit busy but..."

Tevita Leo

"The only cons is my limited stomach that cannot fill all the tasty food. Highly..."

Chan Ming-Che

"Absolutely wonderful stuff, very pleasant and friendly, I'm vegan and had a vegan salad with roasted veggies and Couscous and I have to say I've been..."

Trena Craft

"We enjoyed Christmas Dinner. It was very professionally run and amazing staff. Thank you all for a lovely time. Have a great break yourselves after..."

Don & Denise Alexander

Wheelchair Accessible

"Very nice pizzas. Had salmon and highly recommended. 12$, so a tad expensive for the 8inch small. Definitely more than once.. Enjoy 15/6: visited..."

Ahsan Siddiqui

"Looks like don’t need to book the table on Saturday lunch. Pizza is nice, even the small size is tasty. It’s cozy for the friends meetup or light..."

Ying Wang

"The pizza served tasted authentic and unique. It does not taste ready made fastfood pizza or modernised commercial pizza but its more like homemade..."

Dan Summer

"Loved these pizzas! The satay chicken and chilli beef were outstanding. It was quiet in the evening so we weren't sure about going in but glad that..."

Dane Marcus

"Delicious gluten free Oscar's delight. I was extremely impressed by the amount of topping. Highly..."

Lara Johnson

"Dozed off in the Blues and warmth indoor after a hot comforting pizza. Perfect for a windy gray afternoon. Highly..."

Jessica Chen

"We were reluctant to go in as we are regulars at Scott's and it looked empty but we were in for a treat. Pizza was scrumptious and the boysenberry..."

Teresa Le Bas

"Great pizza. Good value. Excellent..."

Daniel Martin

"Delicious pizza at a great price! Excellent service..."

Georgia O'Brien

"Best pizza we've had in a while! Service was friendly. Loved the place. And our pizza were amazing. Reasonable size and really good pricing for the..."

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Loulou Loves Cake

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Jennifer Lindsay Frean Gower