Places to eat in Dunedin

Velvet Burger specialise in absolutely amazing burgers - but consider yourself warned: they are huge, so if you are heading here for dinner, skip afternoon tea and go easy on lunch! I have introduced many people to Velvet Burger, and am yet to hear a bad review! They also serve chips (fatties and skinnies) as well as things like wedges. Velvet Burger are in two locations, one on George Street at the university end near Knox Church, and the other just barely south of the Octagon. The latter has far more seating, and also has an outside area downstairs. Velvet burger fit the niche of being WAY above take away burgers from the fast food chains, without the formalty and pricing of restaurants.

Favorite Dish: Babe burger, and here's what their website says about it: "BABE $12.9
Looks good on paper and tastes even better- a great combination of Crumbed Chicken Breast, Salad, Bacon, Pineapple and Cheese with Aioli and Velvet Relish." Just make sure you grab lots of paper towels, the pineapple juice makes eating them a messy business, but its totally worth it!

Although we have our favourite restaurant(s) in Dunedin we try others from time to time ;-) Bennu is next door to our number one restaurant, Etrusco, and is also part of the historic Savoy building.

The interior is stunning, with the tables spread over two levels, and a spectacular atrium above the bar. The grand room boasts of massive pillars, arches, and a fantastic stucco ceiling. The kitchen is open, so you can see that the staff work properly.

The young staff were very friendly and attentive, and the meals were very good. I had a thick fat steak and pasta – the latter was a special order because I needed carbs before my athletics competition the next day. The waitress ran between our table and the kitchen to find out if they would accept this special request. I think they were irritated because pasta indeed is not a great choice with steak – but I already explained why I needed it, and so I apologised, and I got what I wanted. And really, dear Bennu chefs: Your potato suggestion was much more appropriate! ;-)

They also have special deals in conjunction with the Rialto cinema, and happy hours, as well as a pizza menu.

I can happily recommend this restaurant for further visits. It serves good quality food in a nice atmosphere, and with good service.

You can also go to Bennu and just have a drink or cocktail at the spectacular bar.

The name Bennu BTW is the Egyptian equivalent of the Phoenix, that is why this bird is the symbol of the place. The Bennu is said to be the soul of the sun god Ra. It was also associated with the rising of the Nile and resurrection. The bird was pictured as a grey, purple, blue, or white heron with a long beak and a two-feathered crest, and sometimes like an eagle.

This great little cafe (fully licensed) is down the Otago Peninsula in Portobello which is about 20kms from the Dunedin CBD down the splendid peninsula road.

It is set in a 19th century post office right in the little village of Portobello and has great views of the harbour and centre of the village.

It serves outstanding seafood, steaks, venison, lamb and a variety of other dishes. It is open daily for lunch and dinner.

The friendly staff and atmospheric cafe make for a great dining experience.

Favorite Dish: When by the coast, eat seafood, the Southern Blue Cod is fantastic.

1908 Cafe & Bar is a 90 yrs old nicely decorated Cafe along the Otago Peninsula. We went in for 2 reasons: it look nice and we were hungry. We ordered coffee and 2 plates of Breads and 1 plate of dunno wat. the toppings we had are quite special, the pink one were made of Reddish. I think this place is not over priced.

Our first lunch was at Esplanade Restaurant , we had a glimpse of the beach. However we can’t stay long as we had to rush for the 12pm tour at the Speight Brewery Museum. We ordered 2 large pizzas, Seafood and Hawaiian. Its about $30 Each, i think it worth the money - Huge mussels, Scallops and prawns.. Yummy. we couldn’t finish and take home!

Dunedin Lonestar is typical of any lonestar I have been too, they are slightly overpriced (around $29-30per main), although the small meals are reasonable $22.50each and are pretty big so unless you incredibly hungry or usually eat a lot the small meals are proberly enough.

Good meals, but they always seem to be busy so if you don't like busy restaurants I would try somewhere else.

On Mondays between 5-8PM they choose a table and whoever dines there gets there meal free which we thought was pretty cool, although we didn't win!

It was quiet hot in there with so many people but the waitresses were friendly and the food was great!

Favorite Dish: I've only had a couple of meals from this restaurant but enjoyed them both equally, the hog and the lamb cutlets are both really nice.

Delicious food, amazingly friendly staff and reasonably priced. We can here for lunch on our last day in Dunedin - proberly a good thing we went on our last day or I would have wanted to have lunch here every day!!

It is more of a restaurant than a coffee house and they are fully liscensed.

My chicken open sandwich was $16.50NZD, my partner had the eggs benedict (All day breakfast!!) which was $14.50NZD.

The meals are huge and well presented and are delicious! Our plane was delayed and we had all sorts of problems so ended up having dinner at nearly 11PM and lunch lasted me almost all the way until we had dinner which is great!

Highly reccomended!

Favorite Dish: Chicken Open Sandwich - It was to die for!! Thick piece of American Rye bread topped with bacon, lettuce, hashbrown & chicken tenderloins with an amazing sauce.

Update Feb. 2008
What a shame! On our visit to Dunedin in February 2008 we had to find out that one of our two favourite restaurants has closed down. We were so looking forward to a dinner there! I was told they closed down because the owner of the historic building in George Street had announced to raise the rent drastically, and the owners were not willing to pay. So this perfect nice place is history. Hopefully they find another place, as their fabulous cuisine was such a great experience. A sign in the window indicates that the upper floors of the building are for lease.

I leave this tip here because I hope Cusina Pilipinas will open somewhere else soon.



The first thing I noticed was just the name, and as I thought Filipino restaurants are rather rare, we wanted to get a taste of this kind of cuisine. The first surprise was that the restaurant was not at the ground floor as I had supposed... The second surprise that the the area in the first floor was not all... There was another staircase which led to a spectacular attic with a very old kauri ceiling and looks over a part of the city. The house was the home of Dunedin's first hospital doctor. (I must double-check this... It has been a while... The history of the building is printed in the menu.) The third surprise was the divine food, everything tasted so incredibly delicious, and the the fourth surprise the moderate prices. Over all, a great dining experience. When we are back in Dunedin, we will be back at Cusina Pilipinas!

Favorite Dish: All dishes had unique flavours, so dining was like a discovery tour, and the tastebuds being surprised with every new dish. My starter was to die for: marinated fish with fresh herbs, absolutely divine.

The restaurant also offers morning/afternoon teas and finger foods, caters for all kinds of functions - but have not tried this.