Like everywhere in NZ, make reservations…read more I'm staying in Queenstown for a few days, and booked this reservation a few nights prior. The restaurant itself is long and narrow, so tables on one side and servers and the kitchen on the other. I ordered bruschetta for my starter & spaghetti bolognese for my main. The bruschetta came out with sliced prosciutto on top which I could have done without. I wished for more tomatoes, onion, and oil. The spaghetti bolognese was flavorful but just ok? Like, I'm not Italian but can make a better version of that at home. Although it's a simple dish, that probably not something you want to hear when you're selling it for $36 NZD. So the overall dining experience was a bit meh. I went to a pizzeria in Te Anau with better flavors. It might be a nice dinner date because the ambiance is lovely, if a bit loud. The service was fine, if a bit on the slow side.

Our last meal in Queenstown was here. We had reservations (and it was busy) and were seated…read moreimmediately. We had the back of the restaurant, corner table. Not much to look at but it was a little quieter and away from the ovens back there. Husband had the fettuccine carbonara and I had a margarita pizza. Both were excellent. We started with a Caprese salad which was also excellent. My pizza had homemade crust with the bubbly burnt edges that happens in a woodfire oven. So good. Service was excellent. Parking on street is less than rare so we parked in a lot for roughly $10USD. Great experience.

We ordered one prosciutto and 2 all vegetarian pizzas with garlic bread. If you want to enjoy…read morepizza, don't order the garlic bread because the bread was so good that we couldn't eat the pizza. Fresh and delicious.

Unfortunately, wasn't quite as impressed with the food at The Cow compared to some of the other…read moremeals I had in Queenstown. Pizza was okay, I didn't love the crust or the sauce, but was pleased with the amount of toppings. The pasta was good but nothing special. Service was nice though!

Perfect meal at the end of a long day! They were closing when we got there but were nice enough to…read morestay open for us. We had a delicious green salad which was big enough for 4 of us to share . The bruschetta was freshly diced tomatoes and balsamic glaze. We split the pasta bolognese which was homemade pasta in a tasty sauce. So glad we found this gem .

OMG this place is underrated. If you are vegan and visiting Queenstown, GO HERE. I had no idea…read morebefore entering what I was getting myself into. They have an ENTIRELY VEGAN MENU! (well the regular menu isn't vegan, but they have a menu for vegans!!) This was epic because my boyfriend could get his meat pizza and I could order anything from this page-long menu made just for me! Another thing I loved about this place - the wine list comes along with a huge selections of vegan wines, marked with a little circled V in front of them. Pretty sure this is my new favorite place! I ordered a penne alla arrabbiata with a glass of *vegan* Italian Primitivo and holy f*ck was I happy when that baby was placed in front of me. Granted, I'd been traveling most of the day and hadn't had a proper meal, but I ate that penne so fast, my mouth was on fire from the chile. They even topped it with some bread crumbs instead of the parmesan that the non-vegan version comes with. Et viola! I was in vegan heaven. My boyfriend was happy with his pizza, and I was hoping to save room for dessert, but couldn't make it happen after that pasta. I did like that I left feeling full but not overly stuffed, but I was really hoping to order the vegan chocolate cake or the coconut panna cotta. I'm hoping to make it back here before leaving QT, if only for dessert!

Fabulous Italian food with a beautiful view of the water. We had the Fruiti de Mare and Bolognese…read more Delicious!

There were many great options and I had a hard time picking what to order. I ordered the oysters…read moretempura which were delicious. I thought the lamb rack could use more seasoning and was a bit too bland for my taste. Love the outdoors and the lake scenery which made my experience more enjoyable.

One of the best pizzas I've ever had in my life (and I'm from New York so that says a lot). Funny…read morecreative Signage and good chill vibes. Fast service. Loved it! 10/10 recommend the Montonara!

Excellent pizza! If you're American it's the only place we've found with fountain soda and refills…read moreso a plus for us. Service was average.

We were a group of 12, my brother in law called and made a reservation over a month before, then…read morecalled to confirm a few days before. They confirmed the reservation with him. We arrived after a long day of traveling and they had no reservation for us and said they had no room for us . This was pretty frustrating, especially since we had 4 kids under 6 with us. So then we decided we will just order take away and eat it at a park. When we went to order our food the staff said to wait and they would make sure they could get us seated. They worked super fast and got a table from a large group that just left ready for us. We really appreciated that. Pizza was excellent, drinks were excellent. We had full bellies and happy kiddos!

Fat Badgers Only a few pizza options in Queenstown, the six…read moreof us were craving pizza and wanted to bring it back to our airbnb, by accident we ended up having a pizza taste comparison. So we asked different local people what they recommend, so after we purchased the first pizza, it looked like an individual size, so we bought another from the second choice and that was not much bigger. We remembered as we were walking through Queenstown that there was another shop handing out samples and it said "Largest Pizza in Queenstown", that was a go for us were quantity was most important, so we got a 3rd pizza from 3 different pizza restaurants. Ended up, all 6 of us preferred the Fat Badgers the most! Half Fat Badger, Half Arnold Schwarzenegger was a very tasty pizza and good size. Was loaded with lots of ingredients and very generous. I would recommend this pizza restaurant over the other "popular" pizza restaurants

Just coming back to update that my spouse and I are still thinking about this dinner in NZ! We…read morereally enjoyed each dish we had & we enjoyed looking over the menu to reminisce. Our menu: Piccolo- kika fried chicken with gochujang dressing, lime mayo & picked daikon Grande- lumina lamb shoulder, ras el hanout, & date chermoula Contorni- roasted carrots, whipped tahini, puffed grains, lemon dressing

One of the best meals I had in my entire trip to New Zealand. Starting with the restaurant itself,…read morethe ambiance was beautiful. The staff was incredibly friendly, it was just a very comfortable environment to eat in. And of course, the food. Every single thing was delicious. In particular, this was one of the best tartares I've ever had, but again, there were no misses on this menu. Even the desserts were great, the Pavlova in particular was a standout. Absolutely highly recommended!

Based on our experience of trying to get a reservation at one of the nicer restaurants in…read moreQueenstown and what our Airbnb host told us of her previous tenants' experience of looking for a place for dinner (they ended up getting pizza late), we were proactive regarding finding a place for dinner. My fiancé made the smart decision of looking at areas outside of downtown and found this restaurant. It's a little on the outskirts of downtown but not too far (via car). Our reservation was for 9 but we got there almost an hour earlier yet managed to get a table. The owner/manager (?) welcomed us and sat us himself. As for tables for dining, this place is pretty small so it makes sense to make a reservation for dinner during the busy seasons. This is definitely a local place and the service shows that. We ordered the tomato and basil bruschetta to share and a glass of Riesling, we enjoyed both. Like most places in NZ I've been to, they have one vegetarian option in their mains so I went with it: house-made gnocchi with tomato, chili, basil, olive & caper sauce with ricotta and Parmesan cheese. It was absolutely delicious, after having Italian at several places in NZ, this dish felt the most authentic and was hands down the best. I've enjoyed every part of the dish and wanted more. The fiancé ordered the Fiordland wild venison, seared on mushroom risotto and steamed green beans and liked it a lot. The service was pretty good, I've learned to lower my expectations regarding service when outside the US but our waitress was sweet and personable. The owner/manager also checked on us several times throughout the meal. We had a little issue with some items being wrong on the check itself and getting the check (but I assume they simply didn't want to rush us) but all in all, I truly enjoyed this place and it was probably the best meal we had on our trip.

While staying in Queenstown on holiday our AirBnB was just down the road so we called in a takeaway…read moreorder because we consistently saw the restaurant packed with patrons. We ordered a Mediterranean pizza and garlic bread. Although it wasn't 100% authentic Italian it was the best pizza we ate while in New Zealand. The toppings had great flavor and the crust wasn't too crispy, hard, or floppy. Give it a try!

This was hands down the best restaurant that we visited during our time in the North and South…read moreIsland. My wife and I visited with our 7 year old daughter and we both did a tasting menu and our daughter ordered a la carte. To start the service was superb our server was so sweet and had such great energy and everyone else that helped us from the wine pairings to the kitchen were very interactive and friendly. By the time we left we felt like we were family. Now on to the food. We had venison, lamb, seafood pasta, and a wonderful dessert prepared table side. Each entry was better than the last and prepared on point with quality ingredients and wonderful presentation. Each plate we tried was an experience and the quaint ambiance added to the experience. We would travel back here just to go and eat here again. Do yourself a favor and go eat here!

Hands down the best meal my husband and I had in Queenstown this past week. The attentive service,…read morethe quality of ingredients, the intimate ambience--everything was truly top notch. We had the gnocchi, focaccia, salmon, potatoes, lamb, and salad. All of it was superb and I loved the thorough explanation that came with each course. Oh and the tiramisu was divine!! I will be thinking of this meal for years to come.

First night in queenstown and was looking for some food and drinks for our jet lagged selves…read more Smiths did not disappoint. My partner had the lamb burger, we shared the poutine, and I had the venison pot pie. Portion sizes are huge so I had to take away some of my pot pie and some leftover poutine in a box. Taste wise, my partner enjoyed his burger, we both loved the poutine, and the venison pot pie was good but a little too sweet for my liking. The poutine, while used mozzarella instead of cheese curds, was our favorite and would just come here to order a few orders of that. We also got a flight to share to try some local brews including 3 sours, 1 ginger beer, 1 cider, and 1 lemonade. They were all good and I especially liked the ginger beer on the menu. The alcoholic lemonade was also quite nice and better than any alcoholic lemonades I've had in the states.

I recently had the short rib burger which I did not like at all. Dry meat and very little that was…read moremoist enough to eat. A day latter and the Smith Burger is everything I'm looking for, It was a perfect medium rare, I didn't ask for - but nonetheless so good, a great combination of sauces and garnishes made this one of the super burgers I've eaten. So delicious and satisfying. Moist, flavorful, and just so damn good - it's everything thing the Fergburger wasn't. I tried the fried cauliflower as well -wonderful-be brave and get the hot. A fantastic beer selection as well.