Absolutely a delightful surprise. We came here as part of an excursion and didn't expect much, but the experience exceeded expectations. The food was incredibly fresh and flavorful, the restaurant has a unique and well-suited style, and the staff were warm and welcoming. It was a wonderful addition to our trip. read more

Osteria Da Gino - Italian Near Me - Matamata, WKO

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This restaurant deserves 5 stars for the ambience and quality of the food. I ordered the prime rib with the mushroom cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and grilled vegetables. The steak was cooked to perfection l, was bone-in, and was a large portion that I shared with my partner. My partner ordered the beef bolognese and he said it was delicious, but the portion size was not as large as the prime rib. Service was so-so. We arrived without a reservation and was only offered outside seating, although there were several tables available inside. We were out of water halfway through our meal and had to request a refill of our carafe. No big issues, and the place still deserves 5 stars. We are visiting Matamata from United States, and we so enjoyed this restaurant for our first meal after arriving. I highly recommend making a reservation first and ordering the prime rib. read more

Osteria Da Gino - Prime rib with the mushroom cream sauce, paired with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. Beef bolognese pasta in the back. - Italian Near Me - Matamata, WKO

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Ordered a spicy rigatoni- no spice. The wait person said "people complained about the spices, so we left them out." Aent it back. Pizza was heavily salted! Egg in a Caesar's salad! This was a truly terrible meal. I'm pressed to figure out how it got it's current rating! read more

This is the best restaurant in Matamata. We really enjoyed our food here! The smoked salmon on the salmon salad was melt in your mouth delicious. I had a soy latte that looked like a dessert and had a ton of fluffy foam. The spaghetti gamberi had a great flavor. Everything we ordered was better than expected! The waitress was super nice. The place had a ton of seating, and was probably good for families. Plus, they had a gelato stand out front that looked good, but we didn't get to try. read more

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Absolutely excellent place to dine! They offer huge charcuterie boards, good selection of alcohol, and great cuts of meat. The service was outstanding, and this place is open a bit later to allow for travelers to eat dinner a bit later due to jet lag and things. I would definitely come back here, highly highly recommended. read more

Osteria came recommended by the hotel we were staying at, as well as strong reviews on yelp. We tried the following: Marinated Olives; 5 out of 5 stars. The marinade was olive oil with peppers and garlic. Very tasty and a very generous amount. Scallops with bacon and lemon as a garnish: 4 out of 5 stars. Scallops were very small but tasty. Pepperoni pizza: 3 out of 5 stars. The sauce base is very mediocre, almost sweet similar to a maple syrup rather than savory flavor, and the dough is very average. Pasta Gamberi: 5 out of 5 stars. This was the best dish of the evening. Pasta was cooked perfectly, the blend of garlic, herbs and olive oil was on point, and the pan fried shrimp was excellent. Would recommend the pasta here, skip the pizza. read more

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We just finished the late afternoon tour at The Hobbiton Movie Set, and our guide recommended that we came to Osteria da Gino for dinner. We were a little underdressed and didn't have reservations, but they didn't seem too bothered by it. In fact, we actually saw a few other guests from our tour here too! They had a pretty busy night, but they still managed to seat us and provided excellent service too. Let's be honest, New Zealand isn't really known for having amazing food options, especially not in a small little town like Matamata. But we were very pleasantly surprised with our experience here. I ordered the spaghetti marinara with a selection of mixed seafood. The boyfriend ordered the Rigatoni and scallops - delicately pan fried scallops, bacon pieces, onion, fresh chilli & garlic flamed in chardonnay with tomato salsa & Italian Parsley. I think we inhaled our food in record speed. Yes, we were very hungry after the tour! I loved the cozy fireplace and intimate feel of the restaurant. We had a lovely experience here and I would definitely recommend it. read more

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We went here tonight for dinner and got the cheese bread as an appetizer as well as the fettuccini and prawn pasta, both were excellent and I highly recommend going here if you're looking for a quality meal in the area. The chocolate cake for dinner was wonderful! read more

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I'm having meals with my deaf folks here and I'm hearing. The manager and staff keeps mocking at how my folks signed and most of them showed rediculous manners to our big group. Audistic behavior. NO NO NO. read more

Nice food , lovely people good service. Nice and clean. I stopped by on my way to Rotorua. They hv some lunch special pasta lots of people so I walked in. Very good experience. Recommend read more

Osteria Da Gino - Seafood pasta with bread for lunch - Italian Near Me - Matamata, WKO

On our way to Auckland, and by mistake fell in. N absolute surprise the middle if know where. Delicious! Thank you. read more

Osteria Da Gino - Italian Near Me - Matamata, WKO

I have eaten many meals in Italy on vacation and this Italian food, in the middle of rural New Zealand, was absolutely delicious! We did not expect to find this kind of cuisine in Matamata. Our server was great and the food was amazing. I had a seafood pasta dish that was overflowing with seafood - no skimping here. And my husband had a duck dish, with a creamy caper sauce and roasted veggies. We sat at a table for two just by the fireplace and it was wonderfully cozy and atmospheric. I would recommend this to anyone passing through Matamata! read more

Osteria Da Gino - Starter with fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and basil. Duck with caper sauce and seafood pasta. - Italian Near Me - Matamata, WKO

I haven't been to many restaurants in New Zealand that I enjoyed, but I enjoyed it here. Probably not "authentic" Italian, but very tasty. Had the garlic pizza bread, spaghetti and fettuccine. Would definitely recommend! read more

This place is pretty humdrum. Ordered a salad which was an effort at a Caesar's salad. The dressing had sugar in it - pretty lousy. Ordered a pizza as well and that too had sugar, in both the tomato sauce and the crust. I do not recommend this establishment at all. read more

Really liked this place. Prompt, polite service and excellent food. Tried the burrata, beef cheeks, and one of the pizzas. The burrata was lovely and fresh. Beef cheeks were very tender and well seasoned. Pizza was good, nothing special. It became very busy shortly after we got our appetizer, so the service slowed a bit but was still good. Great place to eat in Matamata. read more

This restaurant is pretty unauthentic (we are from Italy). We also found to be pretty bad, with flavors that overwhelm otherwise good ingredients. The pizza had a bad base as well (tastes like a frozen grocery store pizza). I am not able to recommend this place and I am not sure why this restaurant has so many positive reviews. read more

Delicious food! We tried the tomato soup, chicken sandwich, pepperoni pizza and bolognese. Everything was tasty. Highly recommended!