Akaroa Restaurants

1 more image

Fresh white paint, a tempting blackboard menu and a new name greeted us when when turned up at a favourite Akaroa restaurant on our most recent visit. What had been "C'est la Vie" - an Akaroa institution, reknowned almost as much for its funky decor as its delicious food - had transformed itself with a stylish makeover into "The Little Bistro".

A new owner/chef, a new look, a new name maybe - but still the same high standards of food and service I'm happy to say. The dishes that sounded so tempting on the blackboard by the front door lived up to all the menu had promised - with good wine to match. All in all a great evening. Looking set to keep up the standards set by its predecessor, even if it hasn't followed the Akaroa tradition of using a Frenchified "Le P'tit " in its name, The Little Bistro won the same top marks from us as C'est La Vie had always done.

Favorite Dish: There's just one word for the meal we ate at The Little Bistro - delicious! Fresh, local ingredients and great cooking to suit the season is always a winner.

Two soups - one made from flavoursome roasted kumara and root vegetables - autumn's bounty in a bowl - the other a creamy chowder packed with seafood fresh from the waters of the South Pacific - a great start to dinner on a rainy night with the first nip of winter in the air.

Main courses followed - rib-eye steak for MrL , a blue cheese-spiked vegetable risotto for me - both cooked to exactly the right state of melting tenderness. No room for dessert, though the local farm berries with vanilla bean icecream was more than a little tempting. Next time ....

Now they call it Hilltop Café & Bar but I keep calling it Hilltop Tavern, as it has been known forever. This country pub with the magic view of Akaroa Harbour, right along the State Highway 75, has been a stopping-point for travellers for more than a hundred years – and now there are often stories around about people spending the night there when they get surprised by snow, and the roads get unpassable until the next morning. However, to make one thing clear: The Hilltop Tavern is no hotel ;-)

The new owners have nicely renovated the place and enhanced the menu, and you can stop for a drink, snack or full meal. There are panoramic windows inside, so you can enjoy the postcard-like view over the harbour, and in nice weather conditions you can sit outside. It surely is the café with the best view of the whole of Banks Peninsula, not just Akaroa Harbour. Tour buses stop here for refreshments or at least for a photo.

Winter opening hours Mon – Fri 9.30 am – 3pm, Sat/Sun 9.30am – 5pm

A rather obscure shop along the beach. The queue for the Fish & Chip is reknown but we just had to get our hands on it. Some say that they serve the best fish and chips in the world.

Once we have collected our food, we quickly drove back to our apartment to start our feast. We were truly overwhelmed by the amount of fish and fries they gave us. A pack could serve two persons!

4 more images

Akaroa Fish Shop serves one of the best Fish & Chips we have tasted on our South Island Trip.

There were many orders ahead of us and we have to wait for our lunch to be served. We choose the batter for the fish and fries to go along with it. We were given a number when we made payment. We waited for our number to be called out. Collected our meal and have it at the benches overlooking the harbour.

A very worthwhile meal if you are on budget.

Dont know what it was called, but the town is so small it was the only fish and chip place across the road from the water. Everyone sat outside eating fish and chips. Had Akaroa cod caught locally, gorgeous!!!

Just a little fish n chip shop down by the main wharf.... Akaroa's restaurants tend to be a bit on the pricey side, but this place was quite good.

Favorite Dish: I was pleasantly pleased to see some fish only $2 per piece, so tried some Hoki and Gurnard for myself (both NZ specialties, I believe). Delicious!

3 more images

What I really like about this restaurant is that the view is great, but the prices of the restaurant/cafe aren't similarly over the top... indeed the cafe prices are quite modest, a nice surprise indeed. Well worth a stop...magnificent views. Most of my banks peninsula photos were taken from this very spot, in the car park.

Favorite Dish: The coffee was nice, and I really enjoyed the huge chocolate chip cookies (something NZ seems to do very well indeed) which were only about $1.20 ea.

Nice views from restaurant but that's about it. Food was old and dry, staff didn't know what vegetarian means and tried to offer ham sandwich when I asked for the vegetarian option... no toilet in bakery and according to staff the nearest one is 10 minute walk to the left when in reality there is another public toilet 2 minutes to the right (which I only just discovered later)...there are plenty of cafes next door to it with all facilities and probably better food (which wouldn't be hard to achieve).

Favorite Dish: none