BEST FRESH OYSTERS IN THE WORLD!!!…read more $18NZ for a dozen fresh oysters...the freshest of the fresh! The toppings are limited, but you really don't need to add anything more than a bit of lemon juice...PERFECTION! They also have hot sauce and vinegar if you like that sort of thing. And these are also the cheapest! If you do the math, that's only about 1 US dollar an oyster! Love it! $8 for the seafood chowder...rich and hearty, full of fish and mussels. Makes a great filling complement to the fresh oysters. This is just a little shack off the highway, nothing fancy, but I wouldn't want it anyway else. I think the oysters are harvested from the local waters just a few hundred meters away. It doesn't get any fresher, cheaper, or better than this.

The BEST chowder in the world. Yes I did say that. We bought five more to go and it was great for…read morethe next two days. Try the fried mussels and fried fish (both by the piece) if your not into chowder. Otherwise you must try the mussel or smoked fish (Snapper) chowder and you will be singing praises when you leave.

Still great fish and chips!! Ordered the snapper, garlic butter chips, salad for $18 and a thick…read moremilkshake for $6 with no regrets. They do charge for tartar sauce and ketchup separately and fish portions seem smaller than the pre-pandemic days, but the prices didn't raise too much. Will always drop by whenever I'm on this side of NZ.

Wow, great fish and chip shop, great prices, friendly people, and quite a bit of seating. Great…read moreYelp find! Best battered fish we've had on the North Island so far.

We just stopped for a quick breakfast but it was lovely. The people were nice and the food was…read morefresh. There's inside and outside dining. I was told they do dinner too.

GO HERE! The food is incredible! I had the vegan bowl, outstanding! I can't say enough about how…read morefresh and delicious it was. Husband had the lamb Greek salad, also absolutely delicious! No Non-Alcoholic options except for NA beer, disappointing. Would be great if they offered NA wines or Mocktails.

We were staying in Tauranga and looking to try some delicious local seafood when we read the…read morereviews for this place and were sold. We arrived pretty late after a long drive and were excited to find it open and able to promptly seat us. The inside is pretty small and intimate and has romantic lighting and a cozy collection of tables and chairs. The turquoise statement walls bring in a subtle ocean theme along with the giant picture of an angler fish on the wall..that's one intimidating fish face! Our server was very friendly and helpful at pointing out the gluten free options on their menu. I had the pasta marinara with seafood which came out beautifully plated and tasted delicious. The husband enjoyed a nice crispy beer battered snapper and fries. We'd heard they have a great dessert menu but were honestly too full to try anything. Delicious eats and a fun relaxing vibe to the atmosphere!

At first, I was a little thrown off by the name.. because we were looking for an up-scale…read morerestaurant to have a date night! But after looking at the menu, we were convinced it would be delicious. We sat and ordered a bottle of wine, the muscles in butter wine sauce and the seafood chowder! The meals were absolutely delicious! By far- the best mussels I have ever had, before we even finished them we were wanting a second order of them! The seafood chowder was delicious as well! But if I were to go back, I'd ordered the mussels first. Staff was great and the location was perfect!

After our first day of bicycle touring in New Zealand from Auckland to Huntly, we arrived on Main…read moreStreet tired, thirsty and VERY HUNGRY! After walking up and down Main Street, eyeing the restaurants and deli shops as if they were prey to a pack of wolves, there was only one shop which stood out from the rest of the crowd. The fresh seafood on ice, fish & chips, and smoked fish of the day drew me in. There's seating indoors and outside. This is a fish market, don't come here for ambiance or a romantic dinner for 2... or 3... or 4. The decor is the meal, laid out fresh on the counters by the purveyors of this fine seafood establishment. The owner and staff are very helpful, answering questions from customers who are either ordering to eat in or to be freshly packed for home. Taking a seat on the curbside table, we started on the smoked fish of the day. The white flesh of the smoked fish has a firm texture, stronger flavors and medium to high oil content. The anticipation was over when the family size platter of Fish and Chips arrived. The no-frills little chippy shop serves up chunky pieces of moist white fish against a crispy batter. The batter here is better than most chippy shops we've had in New Zealand, generally underwhelming and greasy. The mountainful of chips are crisp and firm. The fried battered oysters and scallops are a good complement to the fish and chips. The family size fish and chips platter was affordably priced. The standout of the meal was the Kina. If you're always on the lookout for the ultimate uni/sea urchin experience on your travels, don't pass up a chance to try the New Zealand version of the spiny shelled creature. Kina has been a part of the local Maori diet for hundreds of years. Having ordered one from the counter as my "dessert" and brought out to our table, an elderly Maori passing by gave a recommendation to eat the dark seedy liquid around the roe. The owner had recommended against the idea, explaining most Kiwis find the taste of the dark liquid too bitter. After separately a few pieces of the roe from the dark liquid inside the half opened Kina shell, the roe was fresh, had a soft texture, and slightly bitter compared to Japanese sea urchins. I tried a small taste of the dark liquid with a roe, and as warned it was indeed very bitter, enough to scrunch up your face. Try the Kina roe on its own. The five star rating for this shop was mainly due to our hungry stomachs after a day of cycling, the affordable and generous portions, the friendly staff, and the Kina experience.

A solid 4.5. the meat lovers pizza was on point. Four for dinner at 6:00 pm on a Saturday, walked…read moreup, were treated promptly, and had good service throughout the meal. They were out of the calamari so we did not get to try that. I had the lamb and it was delicious!

My [new] wife and I have been to a few places throughout New Zealand while on our honeymoon that…read morehaven't been added to Yelp yet, but this is the first place we've been to where I've felt compelled to write a review. True to its name, Enigma is a bit of a mystery. It's a quaint little bar and restaurant situated right across the street from the beach of Mercury Bay, giving you an excellent view of the water and various sea craft sailing by. The restaurant has a large interior dining room and ample outdoor seating to enjoy the sunshine and cool breeze. As with many beach restaurants, don't feel obligated to dress in your best - the linear do that well enough to compensate. The portions this restaurant serves is mind-boggling. The Mussels Pots is unbelievable. For $17.50NZD, you get a dozen of the biggest green lipped mussel freshly caught right out of the bay outside. Absolutely outstanding. You can taste how amazingly fresh they are and the white wine sauce is beautiful. The tiger prawn and mango salad was lovely and fresh, and the portion was nicely sized as well. Of all of the restaurants and cafes we've been to, Enigma is the only one I've felt the irrefutable need to visit a second time. This is easily the best place we've eaten at in the Coromandel Peninsula and I do not say that lightly at all.

Delicious, fresh oysters. Fun, fast service for take away (near or far). Lovely place that is easy…read moreto miss, so drive slow and enter carefully-they're busy! Lovely place on your way to and from the lovely beaches nearby.

A very easy to miss spot if you aren't actively looking for it while heading into or out of the…read moreTawharanui Marine Reserve for tourists. We were lucky our snorkelling instructor whispered into our ears about this place because it was so worth it. The small shop sells fresh shucked oysters out of their oyster farm. They were so fresh and tasted of that clean and pristine NZD waters. We decided on a dozen oysters as a snack for the two of us before heading into Matakana proper to find a more substantial lunch. They have bigger plates should you be more greedy. Hehe. They have more than enough different garnishes for your oysters from spicy, sweet, salty, and other. We settled into the little table underneath a few of the trees on the lot and just delighted in slurping up each oyster. The oysters were medium sized and really sweet. We really recommend stopping by here in you are in the area. It's a gem.

This is an enthusiastic 5-star rating…read more I called around 10 or 11 this morning (Monday) and was pleasantly surprised that someone answered my call. Since they don't open until 5, I was already preparing my message to plead for a table. Luckily, I spoke to a real person and got the reservation set for 7. My husband and I actually arrived about 30 minutes early and so as to not be rude, we decided to sit out in the car and read reviews of the restaurant-- both on Yelp and Trip Advisor. Not only to get a better sense of what to order, but perhaps to adjust expectations should any need adjusting. One person (on Yelp and Trip Advisor) left a pretty scathing review of the service as well as the restaurant's response to their review. I went over to TA to see if this was the kind of restaurant I DON'T want to support due to poor customer treatment. (I've been really treated badly at one or two restaurants in my life and will actively boycott any restaurant that I feel has multiple, legitimate complaints against it.) The restaurant's reply was actually quite cheeky (and seemed logical and fair) and I immediately knew I'd enjoy my visit. And thus, I did. Lo and behold, it was the owner (i believe) who waited on our table and gave an incredible overview of wines, beer, the menu, the evolution of his menus, etc. He was charming, knowledgeable, and provided excellent service. We felt welcome and in-tune with what the restaurant was all about and what we were ordering. The food was the best we had during our entire two-week stay all across New Zealand. My favorite was the ostrich and my husband's was the carpaccio with tripe. There wasn't a single misstep from the first plate (we ordered 5 total for dinner) to the two we ordered for dessert. I wish with my whole heart that he would just move to Colorado and open up the restaurant next to our home so we could eat there every day! I highly recommend. 5 plates was the perfect number for my husband and me to split-- we probably should have split dessert as well, but couldn't help ordering one each. We had the tuna, scotch egg, beef carpaccio, duck, and ostrich. The wild mushrooms cooked with the duck were to die for. The polenta with the ostrich was mind blowing. All the components--sauces, veg, flavors were on point. For dessert we ordered the chocolate thingy and the lemon thingy. Both incredible. It was actually quite impressive for dessert to be as good as dinner. Often even the 5-star restaurants don't quite make desserts as well as their entrees. These desserts were just as imaginative, complex, tasty and beautiful as the mains. And everything really was beautiful. Plating is an art form they have absolutely perfected. I'm quite impressed with this restaurant. We drove all the way down from Matarangi to eat there on our last night in NZ and I couldn't have asked for a better send-off !

We had posted a review on tripadvisur on how this was the worst restaurant experience in three…read moreweeks in New Zealand due to the horrible attitude if the staff. I would suggest Yelp readers see this review and their response. We have posted over 150 generally positive reviews to trip advisor and were appalled by their response to our negative review. I went back and read Their response to other reviews raising concerns and see a pattern of battering those who object. I am surprised this person can survive in the hospitality business.

Very busy at 6.30 on a Wednesday, we tried to book but they told us they only had one table free…read moreand they kept that for walk-ins - so we moved out asses pronto and got over there to claim it! Really good choice of seafood dishes; we had the market fish (red snapper) in a ginger and garlic sauce, just delicious, melt in the mouth stuff. They were a bit short on dairy-free desserts, but we had the sticky toffee and date without the ice cream, which managed to fill in those few small holes that remained. We're booking again for the weekend! Three times we've eaten here. Definitely our favourite place in Auckland.

On our second-to-last day of roaming around Auckland and discussing the costs of owning a home in…read morehistorical or modern redeveloped areas with our New Zealand friends, Geoffrey and Margaret, they brought us to stroll around Wynyard Quarter, a waterfront area located on Auckland's Waitematā Harbor. They showed us the modern architecture, focused on sustainability, public spaces, restaurants and bars, and vibrant marina living in this redeveloped harbor area, which had quickly become a destination for tourists and locals. From the Jellicoe Harbor Breakwater built in 2020 to calm the waters for race boats and supporting yachts since Auckland's Waitematā Harbor hosted the 36th America's Cup, we could clearly see the cruise port from where we disembarked and the city center. Geoffrey and Margaret insisted on showing us the waterfront and promised to take us to a seafood restaurant. We mentioned that we love eating seafood, but were "preserving" our stomachs for casual, comfort, or unfussy food because we had been eating gourmet cuisines over the past 17 days while in Australia and during our cruise. We were thankful that they understood our request and dropped us off at our hotel to freshen up for dinner while Margaret made the reservation for an early dinner. We returned to the Wynyard Quarter's waterfront to Swashbucklers seafood restaurant, where we immediately felt comfortable with the vivaciousness of the hostess and server. We started our meal with icy-cold Peroni beers while sharing the tasty steamed mussels and garlic bread. Our server mentioned their fresh catch of the day was a snapper, which I adore, so I ordered it while my husband, Geoff, and Marg ordered the Fish & Chips, which we were told was a signature dish to Swashbucklers. All the food was flavorful and well-prepared. We were mostly impressed with the quality, quantity, and flavor of the steamed mussels. My husband gushed about the crispy, light-battered fish and the excellently textured chips. I enjoyed the tender pan-fried snapper with garlic butter, and complemented the fish with a slice of garlic bread. We'd love to return for the camaraderie, flavors, and flavors at Swashbucklers. 4.4 stars

Best meal i've had in New Zealand. Must visit. Dumplings…read moreare unreal. Great staff, everyone was great.

Blue ginger is a place we will be coming back to. The service was prompt and engaging. The food was…read morephenomenal-fresh, good tasting and culture appropriate.