A most convenient stop in the middle of nowhere. Not the best of foods, but it hit the spot…read more Friendly staff.

Good place to stop for a meal or to stay overnight in one of the a-frame cabins. Location is of…read morecourse amazing. Lunch options are a fixed price buffet or a la carte meat pies, while dinner is typical pub menu. It can be a bit hard to know what type of cabin you're booking, because their website naming is inconsistent with their own booking engine: I thought we'd have a kitchenette, but we didn't. (Not a problem, the shared kitchen was good.) In any case, furnishings were basic but comfortable.

This place is an excellent view of the two main mountain peaks. The food is really good as well…read more Nice ambiance. Excellent hiking trails.

With Glacier views and a serene setting, Matheson Cafe is the perfect combination of delicious…read morefood, relaxing and ideal location. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, you really can't go wrong here. We opted for dinner and needed a reservation as it is a popular place in town. It was the perfect choice to see the sunset over the glacier. If staying in town for the night, this is the way to go. Food was just as good as the locals said it would be. Service was quick and our server was very attentive and checked in with us often. Everything here was fantastic. The only thing (not the cafe's fault) is the bugs around sunset and once the sun goes down are very annoying. After sunset, we along with the other guests at nearby tables all requested to move inside to enjoy the rest of our meal. They were use to this request and able to accommodate all of us right away.

Good breakfast and lunch items in Paringa on the way to Wanaka on South Island's West Coast. Great…read moreplace to stop and stretch your legs between long drives. They offer many choices for breakfast and lunch. We chose salmon chowder, smoked salmon croissant and white bait (particular juvenile fish of southern hemisphere). The whitebait (only in season during October/November) is delicately sautéed into an omelette of sorts and served with bread. They raise the salmon and eel on property. Great rest stop and good food while driving from Franz Josef to Wanaka.

Great stop either heading out of the glaciers for breakfast/lunch or before heading into town. The…read morecafe has an assortment of everything.... well, you guessed it, Salmon!!! Sandwiches, to hot plates, and smoked. I had the smoked salmon, good flavor, though not a fan of the dressing sauce. The outside patio is good for viewing the farm, pools of salmon swimming in circles. A great way to entertain the kids by letting them feed the fish. Great roadside stop.

Though we only very briefly pit-stopped in Twizel, for gas & takeaway, we enjoyed our time…read morestrolling through the town-with its quaint, family-friendly vibe, and welcoming locals. The café was quite cozy-offering pre-baked goods and made-to-order platters, loads of drink variety, and an in-house bookshop to enjoy while waiting. We opted to select a variety of pre-baked goods, warmed, and packed to go, including a date scone, salmon frittata, bacon egg & cheese sandwich, bacon egg & cheese quiche, ginger crunch, and two flat whites. We did have errors with our order-they warmed up the wrong salmon option, giving me instead a salmon bagel (I was able to correct this immediately) but after driving away, I realized my date scone was not the big item underneath the ginger crunch, it was a weird folded napkin (oops, so it was forgotten) Though the food we did obtain was quite tasty. The ginger crunch was moist, with a bold flavor profile-tart sweet ginger with a creamy light icing-so yummy I want to try recreating at home! The savory bacon breakfast items were layered with ingredients all well-seasoned, and a balanced amount of sauce between. The salmon frittata had large chunks of creamy flaky salmon, well folded within the layers of egg, cream, and butter- with just enough seasoning to give a pop without overpowering. Overall, I recommend giving them a visit, triple check the order; the food is very tasty.

A warm and cozy feeling cafe with great food and nice attention to detail in their items. I ordered…read morean egg/bacon/fried tomato breakfast and had a muesli parfait on the side that was garnished with a little rose as a nice touch. It was certainly a tasty and photo-worthy brunch.

Burger tasted basic and was surprisingly chewy, but huge portion, slightly dry and grass-fed…read moreflavor. Beetroot relish is excellent touch.No fries or porta wedges, but for a burger, quick service, large portion this is OK.

Full of Beans was recommended for their specialty pies and coffee. The ladies manning the…read morerestaurant were all very nice. Their system is that you order at the counter and then sit with a number. I got their mince and cheese pie and the cream soda milkshake. The mince and cheese pie was very good but not as good as some other pies I've had in Arrowtown and Sheffield. The cream soda was delicious and very filling. This was a good experience. I recommend checking them out if you have some time in Franz Josef.

We were doing the loooong but beautiful drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown, and stopped in Wanaka…read morefor lunch on the recommendation of our travel agent. How could we resist a place called the Beanie Cafe? It looked very promising, and did not disappoint! They had a great assortment of savory pies in the case as well as sweet treats. I had a slice of bacon and egg pie (no, not quite the same as a quiche; the eggs weren't scrambled, and there was a crust on top as well) that came with a very fresh tasting tomato sauce, and a side salad that was a delightful surprise! The pie was delicious! I had an excellent latte and shared a Louisa bar. The bar was a delicious combination of a buttery crust, raspberry filling and a macaroon like coconut topping. The decor was comfortable and welcoming and staff were friendly. This is a fabulous place to stop for a light breakfast or lunch!

Oh man. After a coffee deprived drive down the West Coast (Haast - you have something serious to…read moreanswer for !) I chose this by name mainly. Only coffee geeks would choose this name. And compared to may last one this was like heaven. The coffee was nice and the food even better. I can highly recommend the Portobello Mushroom Stack. Staff friendly and the chairs comfy. I even stayed on for good measure and a second coffee. Who knows whats to come .... Thank you - restored my faith in New Zealand cafe's !

The food is pretty average, fish and chips burgers, and the like and they have just a cuppa beers…read moreon tap. With that said, I'd just hiked about 14 miles and the nice staff and the incredible view made this a nice place to get myself together,, The steak burger gave me life.

There are not a lot of dining options in the Mt Cook area so we ended up eating here a couple of…read moretimes. The food was better than I expected for a more remote location. Service was spotty and at one point I had to get up from the table to go find someone to help us. Tip: You can make a dinner reservation for a window seat - nice views.

What a lovely lady the owner is! So friendly, and so much fun! Tanya was kind enough to make us a…read morebig plate of Poutine as it was exactly what I wanted, and not available around here! We suggested she add it to the menu, so if you stop by for some food, ask about Poutine! It was delish! Follow the signs for the glider airport and you can't miss the diner. Enjoy!

My husband and I stopped and had a lovely lunch here on the way from Tekapo to Wanaka. We saw the…read moresign on the highway and pulled off. At the time, we were the only patrons, and the owner was there, along with her husband who was back in the kitchen cooking, plus one other staff member. And they were all so friendly. We enjoyed talking to them about where we were from and what we were doing on our trip. They seemed genuinely excited when we said we were on our honeymoon, too! My husband got fish and chips, which he said was good, and I got their soup of the day, which was a pumpkin Thai curry soup. It came with really good, super fresh, homemade bread too. The soup was phenomenal! I wish I could make that at home. And it was perfect, because it was chilly out, and we sat on the patio. The service here makes you feel like you're visiting friends. I'd definitely recommend stopping. We weren't aware of all that was around Omarama, but we probably would've gone gliding too, if we had more time!

Was hoping to get something different for breakfast from what was offered at the Hermitage hotel…read more(buffet breakfast) and unfortunately due to Covid, it seems like these folks are not back on their feet just yet. Some counter based takeaway items like croissants and bagels are available and espresso is as well but no proper breakfast offering unfortunately (looking at the reviews and previous menus this has been a thing in the past). Coffee was decent though.

This cafe is located on Highway 80, on the way to Mount Cook (20 mins from Mount Cook) . It is a…read morecheaper alternative for meals compared to the restaurants/other food options at Mount Cook. It is a simple cafe with heaps of tables and a lovely fireplace. Note that the menu is not extensive if you want to save a few bucks and just want to fill your tummy, why not?

Stopped here for lunch and had a great meal. I had the lamb salad and my husband had the chicken…read moresandwich. Both were very good. They have tons of seating both inside and out with a nice view of the lake. You order at the counter and take a number for your table and they bring your food to you. Nice staff.

We were walking around the main strip of Wanaka and spotted a few happy hour signs. Alchemy was one…read moreof them; happy hour is from 5:00pm to 6:00pm ($7.00 wines and beer on tap). We dropped in on an early Monday evening (just before 6:00pm) to take advantage of happy hour. The place is beautiful with a few tables outside to people watch and enjoy the lake view. Otherwise, there's tons of seating inside with hipster light bulbs, a fireplace and old vintage equipment as decor. The dinner menu is split into share plates, mains, sides and kids. The pasta of the day was a seafood linguini ($25.00 NZD). We saw a few mains come out to neighbouring tables that looked appetizing. Same with the coffee, which most tables ordered. There's also a separate dessert menu. The Alchemy dessert platter ($18.00 NZD) sounded promising. Nice touch with the complimentary sparkling and tap water. Only lame thing here is that wifi stops working at 6:00pm. Er... - Crater Rim Waipara riesling ($7.00 NZD) - sweet but not overly so. It's regular $11.00 NZD for a glass. - Soljan Estate Reserve Hawkes Bay syrah ($7.00 NZD) - a little drier finish. Decent. We only came for drinks but the food looked pretty legit. Chill, relaxed vibe.