Based in Nelson - the northern part of South Island, Pic's Peanut Butter is undoubtedly one of New…read moreZealand's favorite spreads. Peanut butter enthusiasts as well as foodies from around the world trek here not only to learn about peanuts, but also to experience where the magic begins. Pic's Peanut Butter offers daily tours of the factory and guests will have opportunity to watch the process as nuts tumble out of Roasting Matilda and feed into the grinder before being squirted into jars. After the tours (approximately 40 minutes), be sure to make your way to the cafe for some amazing delights. With the use of peanut and peanut butter as key ingredients, you'll find variety of creative sweet and savory options that will fancy any taste buds. The gift shop is a great place to pick up some souvenirs or stock up on more peanut butter goodies. More importantly, Pic's Peanut Butter is committed to giving back to local community and to the world. They give out free tumblers for donations of any size. Thanks Barney & Olly for your generous hospitality (and private tour) while visiting Pic's Peanut Butter!

I am HUGELY remiss in posting a review. Today my daughter called me "remember that place in Nelson…read moreNZ with the smoked manhattan drinks?" Oh yes I do, in fact it was a highlight of places we visited in New Zealand. Inside is a pretty classic setting. Black tablecloths with white butcher paper. Clean, cozy. The first thing we noticed was this very small bar with 6 tiers of shelves hosting all sorts of spirits and alcohol, and the bar tender was ever so gracious. Our table wasn't quite ready but we enjoyed our chat with the bartender and honestly could have waited longer. The menu for drinks and food was immediately appealing. We tried their smoked manhattans. Delicious. They made it at the table and that was just fun. I got their scallops. Fresh, simple goodness. We shared their fries and I rolled my eyes. Great food, service and overall a charming relaxed and gem of a place in Nelson. Highly recommend!

A delightful setting with great seafood. Ok you hungry travelers tired of mediocre tourist food--…read moretry Cod and Lobster in the town of Nelson. Named after the British Admiral but hey, hi there anyway. Fresh is the name of the game here. You want it, they have it. A beautiful setting. Inside and out. I love it didn't feel touristy. Crazy good bar- see pic-- and great wine list. A lot of great regional pinot noir. Fairly priced for very high quality. I paid around $90 NZ for a hard to get delicious bottle. Try Burnt Cottage if you're into Pinot. Go here. Don't hesitate

Our tour guide from Red Carpet Tours recommended this pizza spot and they didn't disappoint! The…read moreowners were clearly real Italians as the food was incredible and our waitress even let me practice speaking Italian with her! We tried the La Mafiosa pizza and the Godfather pizza. Both were delicious! The panna cotta dessert was amazing too! I highly recommend this place if you are in the Nelson, NZ area! Grazie mille!

Once I figured out that Stefano's is inside and up the stairs of the movie theatre..... I…read moreretrieved my 3 Large pizzas. Make a note, large means LARGE!!! They were all fabulous.

Nelson was one of the rare civilized areas on the South Island, and this rather sophisticated…read morerestaurant was quite a different vibe. They offered some nice vegetarian pizza options with appealing local ingredients, and I managed to be in Nelson on the day of the week (Wednesday) when they were offering a two for one special, so I tried both the ones I wanted. They were good enough that I felt bad about how I struggled to reheat the leftovers in my limited accomodation the next day. Especially one that offered sundried tomato and feta; tomato and cheese on top of tomato and cheese seems redundant, but it's quite good. I also reveled in my cheap pizza by trying a fancy sparkling grape juice thing, which was quite tasty and a good vacation-y sort of way to top off the evening for the non-drinker. They had very nice service, and despite it being a vacation town, it seemed like a lot of the customers were regulars and there was a decided neighborhood vibe going on. None of which was bad; I'd certainly recommend it as a stop for anyone visiting the area.

Adjacent to Prego (Mediterranean supermarket), Comida is a lovely place to rejuvenate yourself with…read morea fresh pot of tea, espresso, local greens salad, dessert treat or sandwich. Check out their library of Mediterranean cookbooks while enjoying your meal.

Flavio and Flavia are really friendly recent immigrants to New Zealand (as of three years ago) and…read morebring a passion for Italian cheese and yogurt to this part of the South Island. Probably easiest to catch them at the Sunday market in Motueka, but you can always call them to see where else they'll have their delicious cheese for tastings.

We found out about The Nelson Market through chatting with one of the winery hosts. Lucky because…read morethis one was great! It's only on Saturday's from 8:00am to 1:00pm (or more likely to about 1:30pm). We dropped in right around Saturday during lunchtime. There's an excellent variety of vendors; a mix of food, arts and crafts. This is definitely the best market we've been to in New Zealand! We checked out a couple places: 1) Banjo Brews Kombucha We always love trying new kombucha places. This one you can sample all their flavours (around half a dozen). We ended up getting one bottle, the Himalayan ($4.00 NZD). 2) Dutch apple donut ($4.50 NZD). I never caught the name of this vendor but they were making fresh apple donuts. We got one fresh out of the fryer! Tasty and filled with a bunch of goodies. 3) Little Shaggery Farm We spotted some dried fruit (apple crisps and dried plums). We tasted both and really liked the apple crisps ($7.00 NZD for 150g bag). They were just the right sweetness. Perfect for snacking. We also tried two varieties of their pears ($4.00 NZD/kg); chojuro nashi and shinseiki nashi. 4) Windsong Orchard We spotted this place selling organic plums. They had two types: elephant heart and omega plums ($6.00 NZD/kg). We sampled the elephant ears, which were super sweet, so we ended up buying a few for the road. 5) Bratwurst Grill They specialize in traditional Bavarian sausages. This spot was non-stop busy and ended up selling out! Crazy. We tried a bratwurst ($5.00 NZD); great bread, tasty sausage and the mustard was fantastic. The lady ran out of bread and was selling just the sausage ($4.00 NZD). People were still buying them. They have a counter selling sausages to take home. The dried/fermented salami looked really, really good. Authentic and great prices. 6) The Wrapshack We shared a falafel ($12.00 NZD). Homemade chickpea patties with fresh herbs & spices, garlic hummus and mint yoghurt. This is one hefty wrap. Flavours were decent but nothing overly memorable. We sampled a couple other vendors and browsed the wares. If you're in Nelson on the weekend, it's a must!

Delightful farmer's market with lots of local fruit (cherries, plums and berries when we were…read morethere) and veg as well as some more unusual items like gourmet mushroom products (tapenade, ginger, smoked...mmm). Also food to eat while you are there such as empanadas and ice cream (mixed berry and ginger and mandarin were both great). Local country and blues guitarist added to the atmosphere. Don't miss if you're in Blenheim on Sunday morning

If you're in the Nelson area, be sure to pop in to Hot Rock Gourmet Pizza. The name says it all --…read moregourmet. I have lots of dietary restrictions which have made it almost impossible to eat pizza anymore. Sad. Then I found Hot Rock. Their Italian chef made me a GF/DF/tomato-free pizza that was scrumptious!! We're definitely going back again. Worth every penny.

Pretty great local family run pizza shop. They have some crazy gourmet pizzas with interesting…read moretopping selections. They also have pastas and desserts if you're looking for something different. There is a good sized bar and takeaway options as well. Best of all- Free Wifi!! The passport is on your check. I'd recommend stopping by if you're hungry and looking for some quick food.

Our second winery was at the Te Māina and Richmond Plains estate. Interesting that both are served…read moretogether under one roof! First time seeing that. We dropped in on a Saturday morning (around 11:00am) and were greeted by an enthusiastic, fantastic server (Jo). She's actually the first person to formally introduce herself. Very personable. Wine tastings are $2.00 NZD each and there was 8 types available (4 from Te Mānia and 4 from Richmond Plains). We tried half of the options. As always, fee is waived when you buy a bottle. They also sell Hogarth Craft chocolates ($12.00 NZD). We actually sampled these at the Nelson Farmers Market; pretty tasty if you like dark chocolates. - Blanc de noir 2017 - this is their award winning wine. Pretty unique as it's made with red pinot noir grapes but in a white wine style. We liked this best and bought a bottle ($22.99 NZD). - Blue moon sauvignon blanc 2016 - this one was interesting as the green capsicum was very prominent. - Pinot noir rose 2017 - pretty refreshing with a dry minerality. - Ice riesling 2017 - quite reasonable for a bottle. Light but closer to a riesling. We really enjoyed this spot. Two in one!

One of may favorite restaurants I ate at in New Zealand! I kinda forget about Turkish food…read moresometimes and this place happened to be one of the only places that was open. It was noon.... on a Sunday... And there was hardly anything open!! One of the few things I hated about New Zealand. But I'm glad I came here! Seems to pretty authentic as the family that runs it is from Turkey. The girl working there is funny, she's very friendly and patient with every person who has to ask her about every different sauce and dish they serve. Food is super fresh. I've tried the chicken pilich plate and the lamb shashlik. Both were soo bomb! Love the yoghurt garlic and special mayo sauces. They have quite a few others though. They have 2 sizes, as explained to me by the waitress. Small size for the normal human, and large for rugby players. I'm not rugby player big so the small was plenty enough. $17 for it. Menu also includes classic desserts, Turkish coffee and apple tea. Parking in Nelson City is miserable. Best option is to park at the Countdown supermarket and then you can spend as much time in the city as you want. No paying to park! Loved the vibe here and would recommend for anyone whose in the area. It's a good spot for lunch or dinner. 5 stars for a wonderful place!

Awesome Turkish place right in downtown Nelson. Super fresh food, very clean, great service, and…read moregreat prices! We stopped by to order some takeaway. Got a large vegetarian iskender and a large vegetarian kebab (which comes as a wrap). Portion sizes are generous! Both the falafel and the zucchini-carrot fritter were delicious in the two dishes. You also can select two sauces to go with each entree. We got tahini & special mayo on the iskender and hot chili & yogurt garlic sauce on the kebab. All sauces were super yummy. The iskender comes with a pita, and is on a bed of rice with a whole host of super fresh toppings - tabbouleh, cabbage, a beet relish, finely shaved carrots, lettuce. They have plenty of options for omnivores as well, and the doner on the rotating spits looked like it was very good quality, like real meat - this ain't your run of the mill late night drunk food doner kebab type sitch ;) The owner is really friendly too! Would definitely eat here again. The interior is pleasant as well for a sit down meal!