The quality and quantity of the Queenstown dining opportunities and the Queenstown bars and pubs is fantastic! Powderhounds have awarded Queenstown with Best Skiing in New Zealand awards for dining, apres and the nightlife.

Queenstown Restaurants

Queenstown has a huge diversity of dining opportunities to cater to the many tourists. Queenstown restaurants range from formal dining to cafés, pub meals, and cheap eats with food vans and in the food courts. There are restaurants in Queenstown serving NZ cuisine as well international eateries such as Italian and Mexican, whilst Beach Street is “little Asia” with a range of different Asian restaurants including Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai.

Despite the large number of Queenstown restaurants, it can be difficult to get into many popular restaurants unless you want to have dinner at 4:30pm! So if you have a particular restaurant you’re keen to dine at, you may want to make a reservation well in advance.

The Botswana Butchery on Marine Parade is THE place in town to eat. The upscale décor is gorgeous and you feel like royalty if you sit in one of the throne chairs. The food is outstanding, particularly the steaks. Perhaps resist that you’re in lambing country and go for a good Angus pure ribeye or Rolls Royce eye fillet. If you’re on a diet the desserts are complete cruelty because all the favourites can be found on one fabulous menu: affogato, lemon tart, crème brulee, and date steamed pudding. Botswana Butchery has awesome wines and there are lots of $2000 bottles of wine if you really want to charge up the company account. It’s lucky that the food and wine are superb because the service can be severely lacking, particularly if it’s busy, which it generally is.

Also top of the pops is Blue Kanu (16 Church Street) which is usually heaving every night of the week. This is our pick for the best Queenstown restaurant, serving up rather unique cuisine which is a fusion of Pacifica and Asian fare that they call “Polynasia”. Absolutely exquisite! The cocktails are also divine.

White and Wong’s (59 Beach Street) has an eclectic east meets west menu with classic street foods from China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. With phenomenal food combined with funky décor it’s no great surprise that it’s really hard to get a table at this Queenstown restaurant.

Another popular Queenstown restaurant is The Cow (Cow Lane off Beach St). This old dairy has been lovingly restored and serves up gourmet pizzas and pasta. This is a very social place because the tables are shared, and if you have to wait for a table, the bar is also a festive place to hang out.

The Bunker is another of the upscale Queenstown restaurants (Cow Lane), and due to its popularity it’s often booked out. The chic menu includes specialities such as Paua (abalone) ravioli. Upstairs is a smart bar with great wines, a diverse cocktail list, comfie couches, and a cranking fire in winter.

Ivy and Lola’s Kitchen and Bar is located at Steamer Wharf. This Queenstown restaurant provides high quality yet reasonably priced steaks and other fare, and the breakfasts are beyond superb. The eclectic mix of art deco and Victorian décor contributes to a warm and friendly ambience.

Madam Woo in the mall is a vibrant Queenstown restaurant serving up yummy Chinese and Malaysian street food. It’s very trendy, very busy, and very expensive for what it is.

Queenstown has lots of Indian restaurants, but a stand-out would be the Bombay Palace (66 Shotover Street). The curries are close to sensational and the food is reasonable on the wallet.

For a relaxed meal, head to The Ballarat in the mall. This restored pub and restaurant serves up a large range of meals and has great cocktails.

A dining option that combines a classic Queenstown tourist activity is the Stratosfare Restaurant, which is perched up above Queenstown and accessed via a gondola. The restaurant offers amazing panoramic views over the town, lake and surrounding mountains. It is open for lunch and dinner offering buffet-style dining.

Another novelty dining option is a Walter Peak tour to a sheep station on the historic Earnslaw steamboat. See the Earnslaw tours page for more information.

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Casual & Daytime Dining Queenstown

During the day the Queenstown café culture flourishes. Even during winter the crowds sit outside and enjoy a latte or beer. Alternatively diners sit inside in front of open fires.

Fergburger in Shotover Street is an icon of Queenstown, selling a large range of yummy takeaway burgers. Chances are that you’ll have to queue for a very long time to get a burger because this place is really trendy. One of the Fergburger mottos is “Ferg Loves You”, probably because of the millions he’s made through selling an endless number of hamburgers to the tourists. A couple of similar type burger places have popped up in Queenstown, but they can’t compete with the original and the best. Next door to Fergburger is the Ferg Bakery which has a large range of superb baked delights.

The Vudu Café & Larder (16 Rees St) is open for breakfast and lunch. They have a large range of yummy gourmet baked items as well as cooked menu items. On fine days you can sit outside and gaze across the lake.

Joe’s Garage in Searle Lane used to be good for a hearty breakfast, but the last time we visited the food had gone really down hill.

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Queenstown Nightlife & Bars

There are plenty of options for Queenstown nightlife and après-ski in the form of wine bars, pubs with DJs, nite clubs, garden bars, and old-fashioned pubs. There are Queenstown bars to suit all age groups and tastes from the high heeled fur-wearing set to the happy-go-lucky backpacker.

Attiqa (Level 1 & 2, No. 4 The Mall) has a sundeck rooftop bar which offers great lake views on warm days, or when the plastic blinds are down it’s more cosy yet still hip. This Queenstown bar prides itself on serving Mumm champagne by the glass. On the first floor is a tapas bar.

A gorgeous little bar is Bardeaux in the laneway between Searle Lane and the Mall. It is refined, small and intimate. Sit at the bar or on one of the comfie armchairs or couches. The cocktail and wine lists are extensive and they also serve up snacks, tapas and cheese platters.

Across the lane is the Habana rum bar which is nice for a quiet drink. Another petite bar is Bar Up, which specialises in upmarket cocktails.

Or check out Rhino’s Ski Shack in Cow Lane, which has funky retro ski décor and hessian cushions, and their own beer. This place is more of a locals’ bar. Don’t play with the Jenga Horny Board!

For a little bit more festivity head to Cowboy’s in Searle Lane. Someone had a really fun time designing this bar that comes complete with a bear at the entrance, saddle bar seats, cow hide chairs, beer taps shaped as guns, and lots of other cowboy décor. And if you haven’t injured yourself at one of the Queenstown ski fields, you can always give it a crack on the mechanized bull! The Cowboy Bar has great happy hour specials and complimentary food in the early evening.

For a laid-back drink or meal, Pog Mahones is a very cosy Irish Pub that backs onto the waterfront.

Après is particularly happening at Brazz, partly because of good happy hour specials. The crowd is very mixed and the place is generally packed.

There is also a small casino as well as an ice-bar at Steamer Wharf. The temperatures in Queenstown are too warm to have an authentic ice-bar purely made of ice, so they have to make do with some man-made refrigeration. Like one Queenstown ice bar wasn’t tacky enough, there’s also another ice bar in Searle Lane!

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