Rotorua Restaurants

If you are keen on Indian cuisine, the Tandoori restaurant is the right place for you.
A wide range of home made dishes are available from the menu, together with typical Indian drinks.
We had a great dinner for a cheap price. Highly recommended.

Favorite Dish: Samosa and curry and coconut chicken

I tried hard during more than a week at the Mountainbike World Championships in August 2006 - but as we never knew when we would finish working we could not make a reservation, and so we missed out.

The place was highly recommended by locals, and obviously is the place to go in Rotorua. The food MUST be delicious. I also checked the internet restaurant websites, and nearly everybody was delighted and rated it highly. So I think it is well worth to be mentioned although I did not succeed to have dinner there.

This is one of the places locals recommend. It is a bar/restaurant with live entertainment in a classic historic building from 1940, and as far as I could see it was always crammed with people.

The food is hearty and features such typical dishes like garlic bread, seafood chowder, salads, all kinds of burgers, panini, chicken wings, fish'n'chips, sausages, pizza, steak sandwich and filling desserts. Snacks include nachos, wedges, chips etc. I have not tried the famous Pig Tail Fries ;-)

Everything is served with the big games from the three Sky Sport channels. Also in the garden bar you will find a big screen, so you will not miss the important things of life ;-)

On the entertainment side Pig and Whistle has live bands every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, and a solo guitarist on Wednesday and Sunday night.

A remarkable note:

CHILDREN under 18 years are not admitted after 5pm on Friday and Saturday!

I can't believe that fat dog dump has three reviews and Weilin's has none.

Weilin's is a northern Chinese noodle house. Its decor is more government school canteen than classy restaurant, but nevermind, its tops. The people running the place are really nice and the food.......is brilliant. Its around the corner from Fat Dog on Tutanekai street.

Noodle soups, northern chinese dumplings and buns, dry noodle and rice dishes, ALL PREPARED WITH NO MSG! I have tried maybe 7 dishes off their menu, including 4 different soups, And they are all really tasty.

Most importantly, Weilin's is cheap and the food is plentyful. You can eat, and eat well for $10-13 or spend more on more fancy stuff. Two of my favourite soups cost $9.99 for small size (which is big enough) and $10.99 for a large (which is a gut filler).

Cant say enough about this place, backpackers go forth.

Favorite Dish: Chilli Beef soup with Veges.

Available in mild/ med hot / hot. The Mild is pretty spicy, My partner had a hard time with mild.
I went for hot. If you like hot, you will like this.

Not Thai hot but getting there. I leave after a big bowl, with a full warm belly, Bright red lips and a clear nose. Absoultly brilliant.

1 more image

If you find yourself out and about in Rotorua, check out the Fat Dog Cafe. A small hodge podge kind of place, with funky tables, chairs and couches. Choose your dining pleasure from the menu board, and get ready for a huge plate to arrive. A yummy variety of sandwiches, lasagnas, salads and desserts.

Favorite Dish: I had a chicken sandwich, and my friend had the veggie sandwich. We were both pleased with our choices.

We stopped by Lady Janes but didn't get anything. They had lots of flavors to choose from and it looked really good.

They were closed many times when we walked by or else we would've definitely tried it.

The Pig & Whistle is an interesting bar/restaurant housed in the former police station. It always seemed busy and had live bands some nights. We ate there one night and the food was pretty good.

Favorite Dish: The food was typical pub menu. I had a chicken sandwich and the fries that came with it were tastey.

3 more images

Aorangi Peak is perched on the side of Rotoruas Mount Ngonotaha, and at 2,000 feet above sea level it gives you enjoy fantastic views over the city, the lake and beyond.

An up-market restaurant offering an a la carte menu, Aorangi Peak is ideal for a special evening during your stay. Four of us enjoyed an evening here, watching the sky fade and the city light up as darkness fell. Superb service combined with one of those menus that make it hard to know what to choose because you are so spoilt for choice. We actually drove up to the restaurant in advance to check it out and to see if they had a table available. They were kind enough to print out a personalised menu for us to take away and ponder over.

Favorite Dish: The Roast Five-Spice Duck Breast ($37 NZD) was really good. The presentation generally was a little overly 'artistic' for my taste, but the quality of the food was brilliant. Dads Cheese Board ($22.50 NZD) was big enough to feed a small army, and the Baileys and Chocolate Fondue ($25.00 NZD for 2 people to share - or 1 to gorge themselves on) with fresh fruit was probably the best dessert I've ever chosen!