mover

Hi all - Any suggestions for good places to dine in Rotorua, Nelson, Christchurch or Queenstown? We like all cuisines as long as they are WELL prepared.

I got plenty of help for the OZ portion of the trip. Thanks to all the Fodorites, we have some great places lined up. Now I need help on the NZ portion.

ElendilPickle

If you're interesting in trying Maori cuisine, we enjoyed the cultural evening and hangi at Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve in Rotorua. www.nzmaori.co.nz Great soup and salad, really fresh seafood, traditionally steamed meats and veggies, a dessert buffet and a very nice cheese tray.

For breakfast, we enjoyed The Fat Dog, a funky little cafe with reasonable prices and huge portions.

Lee Ann

Daneille

We really liked Solera when we were in Queenstown and upon mentioning it to a work colleague who is a Queenstown native he told me it is his absolute favourite restuarant in Queenstown.

mover

Thanks Daneille. I'll take a look at Solera and also Saffron. Has anyone eaten at one of the wineries near Nelson? I understand that some of them have some good restaurants.

Lee Ann, thanks for the suggestion. We're a little hesitant about the "cultural evening and hangi". A number of the Fodorites say they are very "plastic", tacky, etc. We've seen some ot the "made for tourist" shows in Hawaii, Africa and other spots. Usually we come away disappointed. If you think it's something that SHOULDN'T be missed, we'll take another look.

Neil_Oz

Overall I enjoyed the hangi and cultural evening, but if you're looking for a good place to eat, I don't think so. I have no idea whether "steamed meat and veggies" is traditional Maori fare - it sounds somewhat unlikely, despite the nearby hot springs, but I'm open to correction on that. To me the food bore a strong resemblance to what was served up at my old company cafeteria in Sydney in the 1970s. (Maybe they had a Maori chef?)

Kiwi_acct

Hi Mover

I tried replying to this once before but my answer was wiped before I could send.

Neil

I had sensory deja vu with your description of 70's food. Ah, meat and two vege all with the same homoginised flavour. Fragrance of Au d'cabbage greating your nostrils upon entry to any building with a communal kitchen in it. Ah the memories.

But onto the thread...

Hangi can be good fun and if you want filling food you cannot go wrong. A lot of meat and starchy vegetables are usually offered. Potatoes, Kumara (sweet potato), Pumkin etc.

The hangi is prepared in a similar way to a Lovo, Umu or Lu'au if you have ever had one of these.

Rocks are heated untill glowing. They are placed at the bottom of a pit (the hangi pit) and the food which has been prepared together is lowered onto the rocks in flax or wire baskets.

The food is then covered in either wet sacking or leaves (Or both) and the whole lot is covered in earth making sure that no steam is escaping.

This is where the steamed food bit comes in. The food is not frying on the rock but is steaming in a combination of its own juices, the moisture from the ground and the moisture from the sacking/leaves.

In Rotorua due to the availability of hot springs some veges are boiled by placing them in a flax basket (Kete) and placing the basket either in or over pools of boiling water. This really flavours the food.

Some people like Hangi some loath it. It is however worth trying at least once. But haute cuisine it aint.

Hope some of this description helps with the decision making.

Steve

Neil_Oz

Steve, thanks for the rundown. You've brought to mind our first visit to NZ in 1972, when we wound up in a boarding house-style establishment at Queenstown and had the absolute best roast-lamb-and-veg dinner of my life. I even demolished the turnips, not usually my favourite vegetable (but they beat parsnips IMHO). Sadly, 1970s food wasn't all like that, but I'd better not get everyone started on another nostalgia trip.

BTW, I can believe that cooking food in the hot springs really flavours it, but I'd expect the result to be a touch sulphurous! On my long delayed return trip to NZ I certainly found the cuisine more adventurous than in the old days - hats off to the inventor of the greenlip mussel pie!

ElendilPickle

I asked about the best hangi to attend before we visited NZ in April (the thread is still here somewhere) and got some similar responses.

We still decided to go, figuring it was probably our best shot at seeing a glimpse of traditional Maori society. We knew enough to avoid any programs put on at Rotorua hotels, and decided on Te Whakarewarewa over Tamaki Tours, which is usually highly recommended. Since an arts and crafts institute is an important part of Te Whakarewarewa, we thought maybe it wouldn't be overly plastic.

As I said, we were pleased with our experience. Yes, it had its "touristy" bit (doing the Hokey Pokey in Maori), but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

We spent the previous night at Lloyds Lodge, a hostel in Whakatane. Hare, one of the owners, is Maori, and he did a traditional welcome for us. It was fun to note the similarities and differences between the two evenings.

Lee Ann

jag1jag1

I think I posted this question elsewhere, but does anyone know anything about the Rotoiti hangi? I had read it was a little less "touristy" than the others?

mover

Thanks all for the input on the Hangi experience. Jury is still out. I think we'll wait and decide at the last minute which way to go.

We're still looking for more input but here is an update of what we have so far:

Rotorua - Made reservation at Bistro 1284

Nelson - Looking at Hotel d'Urville

Christchurch - Reservation at Pescatore

Queenstown - Reservation at Saffron, looking at Solera and Gantleys

Thanks all for the suggestions!

Melnq8

Mover -

If you like Indian food, I highly recommend Little India in Queenstown. We've also eaten at their Dunedin location, and if I'm not mistaken, they may have a location in Christchurch. Excellent, well prepared Indian food at a reasonable price.

You asked about wineries near Nelson... we had a wonderful lunch in a very nice setting at the Waimea Estates Winery near Nelson.

Have fun!