4 Te Anau Restaurants You Should Try On Your Next Visit to New Zealand

I popped into several Te Anau restaurants before deciding where to eat during our two days in town. Most restaurants in Te Anau are either on the main street (Town Centre) or on the lake shore (Lakefront Dr). While Te Anau is not a big town, there is still enough variety to please the palette during your stay. Read on for all the details…

 

 

The Moose

We started the day in Christchurch, flew with Air New Zealand to Queenstown, picked up our Airport Rentals hire car and drove for two hours to the Kingsgate Hotel in Te Anau where we stayed. We dumped our gear and did the rounds of several Te Anau restaurants before returning to The Moose which is exactly where we started. I was famished when we finally ordered lunch at 3pm, but I didn’t want to overdo it so late in the day for fear of spoiling my dinner. We decided on a beef burger and garlic bread (pictured above) to share before we settled into a rustic table in the sunny courtyard with views of Lake Te Anau. Thankfully our food arrived quickly and we tucked in with gusto. We debated whether the burger patty was homemade and never did come up with a decisive answer. We almost omitted the beetroot relish when we ordered, but I’m glad we didn’t. While it was messy, it was the hero of the dish, particularly when it mingled with the aioli. The garlic bread was a very generous serve and dripping in garlicky, herby butter. It was fabulous! The Moose is open seven days a week from 11am.

Allison @ Flights to Fancy

 

 

 

MacKinnon Room

If you are looking for something a little bit fancy the MacKinnon Room is the Te Anau restaurant for you. Located in the Distinction Hotel & Villas, the MacKinnon Room enjoys impressive views of stunning Lake Te Anau. Sunset is the perfect time to dine. The dinner menu features lamb shanks, venison striploin, beef tenderloin, chicken roulade, blue cod and an aubergine (eggplant) parmigiana for the vegetarians. Mains range from NZD$28 – NZD$38. I ordered the beef tenderloin (pictured) medium well and it was a little over for my liking. A nice dollop of mash to accompany the beef would have been perfect, but it wasn’t one of the sides on offer so I had to make do with the little morsel of potato fondant it came with. The Hubs opted for the venison as it is not often seen on menus in Oz. Despite his reservations he enjoyed the butternut puree and blueberry jus more than he expected to. The MacKinnon Room is open for breakfast and dinner seven days a week and well worth a visit.

Allison @ Flights to Fancy

 

 

 

 

 

Habit Food

Habit Food is not your typical Te Anau restaurant, but if you want affordable and delicious street food this outdoor food truck is the place for you. We loved Habit Food so much that we visited two nights in a row during our one week road trip in New Zealand’s South Island. Located across from the Fresh Choice grocery store, Habit Food serves Asian inspired steamed baos stuffed with local meats such as seafood, pork belly, chicken, rabbit, and venison. Vegetarians are not forgotten with a tofu bao and salads on the menu. Pair the bao with a side of fries and you have a satisfying meal for around NZD$15. Habit Food can get crowded, but you won’t need to wait long. The baos at Habit Food are incredibly soft and made to order. We recommend the Ocean Bao with fish of the day and the Krusty Bao with fried soft shell crab and chili mayo, but you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

Jackie @ Life of Doing

 

 

 

Olive Tree

The Olive Tree Cafe is a little hole in the wall cafe, that is easy to miss among the many other Te Anau restaurants on the main street. The Olive Tree Cafe is open for breakfast, lunch, and in the summer is open for dinner. Their outdoor terrace in the back is a cute little nook which is the perfect place to enjoy your coffee on a sunny day. Their pancake stack is a must try if you are headed there for breakfast. However, they offer a wide variety of breakfast dishes including some gluten-free options. No matter what time of day you chose to dine at The Olive Tree, you will have a unique and rustic experience like no other in Te Anau that won’t disappoint!

Samantha @ Miss Samantha Elizabeth

 

 

 

Other Te Anau Restaurants To Try

While our time in Te Anau was short and we couldn’t test them all first hand, I saw a few other Te Anau restaurants that piqued my interest. Miles Pies looked perfect for a quick bite. There was quite a queue when we stopped in and the sausage rolls and pies looked pretty good. There is limited seating and that was ultimately what prompted us to look elsewhere as there were all taken. I had my heart set on eating dinner at The Fat Duck, a gastropub with an innovative menu. The Hubs convinced me the MacKinnon room was a better option as it was an easy walk from our hotel and we could leave the car at home and have a few drinks. We did contemplate stopping in for lunch on our way back to Queenstown after our Milford Sound Cruise, but we decided to just drive straight through and get it over and done with as the weather wasn’t the best. There are 31 restaurants in Te Anau (according to Trip Advisor) and I’m sure you will find something to tempt your palette while you are in town. Bon Appetite!

 

 

Have you been to Te Anau? Do you have any favourite Te Anau Restaurants? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below …

 

 

Until Next Time …

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Disclosure Statement: This review is not sponsored. I paid for my meals at The Moose and Mackinnon Room in full. The information in this article is based on my own personal experiences and has not been influenced in any way by the brand(s) featured. The contributions by other writers have been taken in good faith as a true representation of their experience. This post may contain affiliate links which if clicked may earn me a small commission on purchases at no extra cost to you.