Lake Taupo has much to offer though it’s not a very big place. Other than the lake and cruise, there’s also rapids, falls and craters. The culinary capital maybe in Wellington but Lake Taupo is not bad too!

In our short stay, we managed 3 restaurants. 

The Brantry 

For some contemporary New Zealand cuisine and wine. It had nice and cosy interiors, some private dining areas and the food was good but not exceptional. We started with curried prawns and smoked fish croquette. Mains were roast pork belly, pan fried salmon and desserts were apple turnover and sticky date pudding. For the price of NZ$50++ per pax, it was good value.

Storehouse

For great coffee, waffles, sliders, clothings, homewares and more, visit this cosy 2 level cafe. We tried their chicken sliders, flat whites and ice cream waffle and we enjoyed each of them. Sweet potato fries were quite dry unfortunately.

Dixie Browns

For a great view while dining, and food which would not disappoint, visit this restaurant/ cafe. Their roasted pork hock was the most amazing! Flavorful well marinated and tender skin and meat, looked really huge but was not really enough for the both of us (as it was so delicious), tangy tomato soup, and hearty breakfasts left us feeling satisfied! Cookies & cream dessert cocktail was also creamy and delightful.

And we leave you with a photo of the top 10 coolest McDonald’s in the world… with a decommissioned DC3 plane with 20 seats as part of the restaurant.

We’ll be posting hobbiton next, please stay tuned!