The quality of the chicken in our dishes tasted old, but we ate it anyways. This resulted in us…read moregetting food poisoning. Ambiance and service was nice though

It was great to find this excellent Indian restaurant so near the train station. We tried food from…read moredifferent regions and it was all excellent. The staff was very helpful.

Delicious little roadside restaurant. Keep in mind, this is more of a food truck as all the dining…read moretables are outside. But the food is extremely fresh and well prepared and you can't beat the great price. No wonder that this was featured in lonely planet.

There's alot of negative reviews on this place, so I'm here to present some facts, as well as some…read moreinformation to help you choose between this and Nin's Bins. - This or Nin's Bins? It comes down to two things. The first is location. If you're going to Point Kean for the seals, this is right next door. Nin's Bins is closer to Ohau seal colony, or if you're driving up/from Blenheim/Picton. Nin's Bins is a much nicer looking "shack" and also has tables with much better views of the ocean. - The weather. This is fully outdoors. There is one table that is sheltered from the rain, but that's it. - The price of the crayfish. They're a bit sneaky in that they don't publish or tell you anywhere what the price per kg of crayfish is. When you turn up, you can have a look at their ice cooler of all their available crayfish. Each one has a different price. For reference, early Jan, the price of crayfish was between $110 and $155, depending on size. You can also choose a half crayfish. - Are they live crayfish? No, none of the crayfish are live. They are already pre-cooked, and will be grilled for a few minutes in butter to warm them up. - What else is there to order? Loads of other seafoods. From prawns to paua (abalone) patties, whitebait patties to local fishes, etc. I recommend the fish, either with rice of bread, really tasty and amazing value at like $12. The scallops were also pretty good; they are small scallops but super tasty ($13-16). - When are they open? For lunch. Don't know when they start, but they close up shop once they sell out all their crayfish. When we were there on a Saturday early Jan, peak tourist season, they finished at like 2:30-3pm. And this was despite it being a super rainy and windy day. - Are they much cheaper than other places in Kaikoura? We checked out another place (Craypot restaurant in town) which was looking to charge $129 per half crayfish! Here we paid $110-155 for a whole crayfish. Up in Marlborough Sounds, we saw crayfish in a restaurant at $60 for half, $120 for whole. So their prices are not super cheap, but probably cheaper than the restaurants in Kaikoura. Don't know compared to Nin's Bins. - Taste Really nicely grilled. The crayfish tasted super fresh, and very firm meat indicating the freshness. The rest of the dish (rice, salad, bread) was very mediocre. - Payment They accept card payments. Also - no credit card surcharge! Yay!

We had dinner here in March 2002 on a previous visit to NZ. It was so refreshing that the quality…read moreand service have not changed over the intervening years. Located across from the water, each of the window tables has incredible views of both the bay and the Kaikoura Mountain range. The evening we were there, they were receiving the first snowfall of the season on the upper peaks, which was awesome to watch. We had tried to book online, but somehow our reservations got mixed up. Elly (I think that's her name - or Ivy?), was wonderful to accommodate us at the time we wanted, and at a table with a view anyway. But reservations are definitely necessary, and if you want a table by the windows, book well in advance. Hubby and I each started with the fish chowder, then had the fresh catch gurnard, which were both amazing! My taste buds were definitely happy here. The fresh bread was hot and also tasty. Joanne, our server was very attentive, making the experience truly special. I just hope the quality remains the same for our next visit to Kaikoura, whenever that may be!

I'm pretty sure green dolphins don't exist, so you're not going to find any of those here. What the…read morerestaurant does have is fresh, delicious fare and a partial view of the water. I stopped by last night and tried a variety of dishes. The white bait, fish chowder, crayfish (I chose grilled) and chocolate cake were all excellent. Even the roasted vegetables that accompanied the crayfish tasted amazing. In addition to attentive service from the staff, I found the restrooms to be very clean. If you are planning to visit the seals after your meal (~15 minute walk), then I'd recommend tinkling here before setting off on your journey.

We got caught in a 6 hour road closure due to wild fires (my heart goes out to those that lost…read moretheir homes, so sad). We were hangry and tired and Black Rabbit pizza was on our way to the hotel (once the road opened) and was open until 10pm (which is rare here) so we stopped. We ordered a pepperoni and black olive pizza which was good. Thin crust and cut like a pie. Service was excellent. Order at the counter and they bring your food to you. I suspect 2 people were working the place which started to fill up as more cars were let through. Lots of seating available and easy to access from the main road. Thank you for being open later!

The shop is a tad inconspicuous, but it's next to the Indian restaurants that most people see…read morefirst. I like the quirky decor with palette tables and Tolix chairs. The waiting bench will do well back in the cinema hehe. Anyway I was hoping to try two artisan pizzas, The Hunting (venison mince, slow cooked wild pork, chorizo and blue cheese aioli) and Orange Fish (with King Salmon etc) but they were out of salmon. A tad disappointing but they had other interesting combinations. The waitress recommended the Canadian which had tomatoes, bacon, garlic roasted mushrooms. Ingredients were generous on these superb thin crust pizzas. It was a fair wait, as they also had to deal with phone orders and takeaways. But I would say it is worth the wait. They also have salads and pasta if you decide you are not up for pizza.

Food/Pizza REVIEW:…read more Okay so here's the deal. Unfortunately relying on good reviews doesn't always turn out to be good. Hence I was completely disappointed by the food, and am a bit shocked by the good pizza review. This has got to be one of the worst and most overpriced pizza I've ever eaten. Burned crust, moisty dough and no fresh toppings. It tasted like a frozen supermarket pizza -- and even for that it was bad. Maybe the other food's better, but as a cook I would've never even send these pizzas out. Beer is great, and we were friendly treated. But for a 25$ pizza this was an absolute disaster. Salad was okay! Local Beer on tap was great. So maybe pop in for a snack and a beer, but please no pizza.

The pizza was super good and the place was super nice inside. I got a Hawaiian pizza with chicken,…read moredefinitely would recommend that.

Phenomenal fish and chips- a must-eat in Kaikoura. Everything is so fresh, flavorful and the fried…read morefish texture is light and not oily Recommend getting your food to go (everything wrapped in pieces of paper versus in paper boxes) to eat onsite because it's a funner ambiance!

My wife and I visited Coopers Catch during a recent trip to Kaikoura. We ordered the Blue Cod and…read morethe Whitebait Fritter. The Blue Cod was fresh and flaky in an airy crisp breading and paired with large soft fries and flavorful malt vinegar. We also tried the Whitebait Fritter; this omelet was airy and enjoyable. The Blue Cod was some of the best fish and chips we had ever had so we visited a second time before the end of our trip. Coopers Catch is a must stop in Kaikoura.

Everything was fantastic!! Will definitely go here again the next time I'm in Kaikoura!…read more The Italian pizzas were phenomenal! They were huge with nice thin base and toppings. For pizzas, our group tried the Italia- (tomato base, mozzarella, prosciutto crudo, parmesan, and rocket (arugula)), Siciliana with artichoke (tomato base, mozzarella, garlic, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, rocket). The sun-dried tomatoes were an awesome complement to the pizza! We also had the Risotto al mare (black seafood risotto with mussels, prawns, squid, and salmon), Salmone (pan-fried salmon fillet with lemon risotto), and Pasta alla Bolognese. Wow. Although they didn't have squid ink available for the Risotto al mare, it was delicious with nice presentation. The risotto was delicious with great texture and flavor. The Out of everything we had ordered for the evening, the Salmone and Siciliana with artichoke were our favorites! We saw many other dishes go past us along with beautiful desserts, will most definitely have to come back to try more of their dishes the next time I'm in town.

The clam chowder was amazing, the service was excellent, and the view was stunning. It was the…read moreperfect place to relax and recharge after a three-hour cliff walk.

An absolute must when visiting the charming town of Kaikōura! Reservations are essential- so make a…read morebooking! Everything was excellent- fish perfectly cooked- mussels in thick and lucious coconut cream, the crayfish with garlic butter and lemon were sublime. Loved the staff- hardworking and so so friendly! The pavlova was huge! enough to share 4 ways!