Good burger spot. Nothing fancy, great for kids. No table service, you order at the bar.read more

Fun place to enjoy some food before heading back for some beach fun. Great clean bathroom.read more

Best Steak sandwich in town well worth a visit The Phoenix…read moreon the Strand Gastropub with an atmosphere!

While road tripping across the north island of NZ we stopped by The Phoenix in Tauranga for lunch…read moreand it didn't disappoint. The Angus burger was terrific and paired well with the golden lager. Nice atmosphere and staff was friendly.

Ordered a steak and cheese with blue cheese. I got steakum meat. Blue cheese sauce( no real cheese…read moreon sandwich) came in a cup. 18.50 + 2.00 up charge for fries instead of potato chips. Absolutely horrible. I live here and decided to try it again after a horrible meal years ago. I learned my lesson for sure. By the way the soap dispenser in the women's bathroom wasn't working. Mentioned it to a manager. Not sure if it was fixed. 2/28/2026

We arrived in Tauranga late so we were searching for a late night place to eat. Johney's Dumpling…read moreHouse popped up (which is located right inside The Rising Tide) so we decided to check them out. We dropped in on a Thursday evening (around 8:00pm) and it was busy. The music is super chill (indie pop). Great playlist! They've decorated the place with hipster lighting, hanging plants and wicker chairs. Made for a laid back and chill atmosphere. There's 39 flavours on tap. Huge selection to please everyone (including milkshakes, juices, hard liquor and wine). The menu is split into starters, burgers, vegetarian & vegan, shish kebab and sweet. There's also a separate menu for Johney's Dumpling House; dumplings, siu mai, buns and Asian greens. Short and simple. - Paddle #1 ($12.25 NZD) - we tried all their sours and a cider. Mount Brewing Co. strawberry lime & cider (#9), Deep Creek - boys in blue (#10), Funk Estate - cosmic hustle sour ale (#14), Deep Creek - steam funk strawberry (#21) and Hot Water Brewing - peaches and cream (#27). The sours lacked any flavour or sourness. Tasted more like water juice. The strawberry yoghurt sour ale smelled like jello. All pretty disappointing. The strawberry & lime cider was decent but very light in flavour. - Paddle #2 ($12.25 NZD) - these were all ciders. We tried Zeffer - apple crumble cider (#34), Harringtons Brotherhood - three berry cider (#35), Mount Brewing Co - pear & feijoa cider (#37), Three Wise Birds Summer Fling - apple cider (#38) and Hawkes Bay - ginger fusion (#39). The pear & feijoa cider had a terrible aftertaste and the apple cider wasn't anything special. Our three favourites was the ginger beer (infused with mandarin), three berry cider and apple crumble (tasted like dessert). - Chili oil sauce - this deserves an honourable mention. I think the waitress called this a sweet chili sauce but it was a roasted garlic chili oil flake sauce. Really good and a surprising underlying heat to it. Make sure you get a dipping sauce. - Pork & prawn (steamed) ($12.00 NZD for 10) - NZ pork shoulder and Whiteleg prawn. These were the better of the two dumplings we tried. Thicker wrapping than normal but a generous filling. - Siu mai ($12.00 NZD for 10) - pork, mushroom and corn. Never had siu mai with corn before but these were decent. Definitely filling. - Steamed BBQ pork bun ($3.00 NZD) - this was my least favourite of our dishes. The bun wasn't fluffy and the filling was dinky. - Beer battered fries ($6.00 NZD) - these were light, crispy and perfectly battered. Excellent. - Sweet sesame lamb shish kebab ($12.00 NZD for 3) - served on a bed of 'slaw and garnished with roasted garlic and parsley. The lamb skewers were incredibly tender and well seasoned. The slaw was healthy and roasted garlic chips was a nice addition. The food was good for a brewpub. Stick with the ciders for drinks and you'll be happy.

Quality/Quantity - Best Happy Hour deal in town, too bad it…read moredid not apply to the craft beers... Mac Gold - #1 seller at this location. The beer was ice cold, thank you. They also have a full menu, cocktails, and wines; see pictures. Lots of different promotions; see pictures. Atmosphere - Cool colorful food court, good size. Very spacious indoor/outdoor seating. Mostly, if not all locals as they all only sat in the outdoor patio area. Not one person sat in the outside front for people watching??? I was actually worried when I got here that they did not have any customers and was pleasantly surprised when I found and joined all the locals. The men's bathroom had a caribbean vibe; see picture. Kid and dog friendly. Open 7 days a week: Monday 4pm - 10.30pm Tuesday 11.30am - Late Wednesday 11.30am - Late Thursday 11.30am - Late Friday 11.30am - 1am Saturday 11.30am - 1am Sunday 11.30am - 10pm Yelp hours differ and read - 10am to 10pm. Service - Counter service. Price - HH prices $6NZ, $3.60US each. I had a few. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 1994, see you on my next visit.

Great Tuesday special ! , beer and fries $14 dollars…read more They will switch out the beer for hard cider. They do switch staff a lot due to increase and decrease in seasonal business. Therefore be patient with the staff.

If you walk past this alleyway you will miss this bar as it's down a 20 mm anyway once you arrive…read moreyou will notice how fantastic it looks

Hidden gem under your nose on the Main Street, tucked away down a small pathway. This place has a…read moregreat courtyard and was buzzing with trendy locals enjoying a few drinks. Serving main dishes but also platter served up by the chefs choice for the night. We chose a small platter for 2 and the kids had a burger and pizza, and were well happy! Definitely come again for the great staff and ambiance!

This is my first 1-star restaurant review... Yikes. It already had a 1-star review, which, had I…read moreknown, I would have avoided it in the first place. As it was, we'd just driven 2 hours, the kids and hubby were hungry cranky and pub food seemed like the best idea at the time. The atmosphere and decor aren't actually bad, but man, the food was terrible. I ordered a cheese pizza (like, just sauce and cheese) and the server had difficulty understanding this request (because it wasn't one of the menu pizzas -which to me, all looked like awful combos for a pizza). Anyhow, I suppose that should have been my first clue. The pizza came in a fairly timely manner, but the crust was thin and soggy, the sauce tasted like leftover spaghetti sauce and the cheese was manufactured tasting. It really sucked. Even my kids wouldn't eat it (insult to injury). Stopping in for takeaway at the local Pizza Hut or Dominoes would have been WAY better. My husband got the "special," roast of the day. Special indeed. It was a few small pieces of pork, cauliflower and broccoli (both tasted previously frozen) with weird white sauce, one piece of roasted potato (flavorless) and some carrot sticks and a scary looking fried thing that I can only assume was meant to be a crackling. The whole dish tasted as bad as it looked. Do yourself a favor and eat before you come here, or just don't even other coming here at all. Yuck.

Stumbled upon this place looking for lunch one day. Absolutely loved it! Staff were friendly and…read moresuper helpful. Food was delicious and reasonably priced. Nice little pub in the middle of town.

The oldest bar in Rotarua - highly recommend the ginger beer and it's such a great place to come…read morewatch the game!

Two of us came in for dinner after a long day out and about. Wanted something light…read more We had two Cloudy Apple Ciders, a Seafood Chowder and a Harissa Chicken Salad. Both were excellent. The service was fine, even though it was was very busy. Plan to book ahead.

In Hamilton for 2 nights. Enjoyed this spot twice . One of…read morethe few bars we could belly up to as many in NZ seem to have no stools. Great cocktails and beer selection. Friendly, engaging staff.

This is a serious contender for best bar in Hamilton. I came here Saturday night with my husband…read moreand a couple friends. Why, why have I not been here before now?! I used to live just up the block! My husband had already been here and, somehow, did not bring me in immediately. This is one of those places where I had a "love at first sight" moment. Even on a fairly crowded night, the vibe in this place is super-cool. It's small, almost uncomfortably so, but in spite of that (because of that?) it has a great intimate feel. The cocktails are pricey, but different and skillfully prepared. There is a good selection of whiskey (my whiskey-loving friend tells me). There was a DJ artfully spinning a weird, awesome, "did-he-just-do-that?" selection of tunes. The decor is comfortable/cool, with walls of exposed bricks and "I never want to get up" comfy couches. The back walls are lined with loads of books and one portion of the ceiling is covered with records. They appear to have some bites to eat, but admittedly, we were just there for drinks. It's a little tricky to find, set back from Victoria Street down a side alley. But, it's SO worth finding.

Ambience was good. Food not snd service could use improvement Lots of tourists in townread more

What a great find in mount manganui! Open late, happy hour options and great food. Though the mount…read morehas limited street parking options, you eventually find somewhere. The bar/restaurant has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating in addition to bar seating as well. We were torn between trying several small plate starters and ended up getting the small plate sampler which included a lot of the greatest hits that we wanted to try. Best decision ever. Everything was amazing. Literally everything on the carving board was excellent, extremely well cooked and a perfect way to try several different things in one go. The board offered a range of temperatures, textures, and proteins including truffle Arancini balls, snapper sliders, polenta fries, garlic bread, mussels, ceviche, double cooked pork and a variety of dipping sauces. We also got some beers on tap for happy hour and we were legit happy campers. Definitely recommend for a chill night out or for a low key dinner. Enjoy !

There are a lot of restaurant choices in Tauranga. Bamboo's menu looked interesting, so we stopped…read morethere for lunch. We really enjoyed the food; I was surprised the restaurant was not busier on a Sunday afternoon. Food: We enjoyed all the dishes we ordered -Five Spice Roasted Pork Bao, Honey BBQ Chicken Bao, Vegetarian Spring Rolls, Chicken and Mango Salad Service: The employees were friendly but not very attentive. Although the restaurant was not very busy, they did not check on us at all and never refilled the water glasses. Ambiance: Casual, bright space.

Bamboo has only been open for 4 weeks at the time of this review. It draws you in with cool music…read moreplaying, and several outdoor tables in a cool, new setting. We had plans to walk up the whole main ave to check the town out on our first night, but Bamboo looked so much fun that we stopped immediately. Service was super friendly. We had a great server named Maria who chatted with us and gave us tips on the town. She also gave more service than were used to receiving in New Zealand, checking to see if we liked our food after we ordered and making sure we were good. The food was mostly a hit too. We loved the Korean fried chicken wings, and both Bao that we tried. The Bao is only served by the each, but each one is HUGE. Not like the typical small Bao we're used to getting in orders of 3 small sandwiches. The only miss was the Detox Turmeric Soup. The noodles and dumplings were good, but the broth had no flavor. It definitely was missing salt, and some kind of fat. I added a bunch of hot sauce and soy sauce to mine to make it a little more flavorful. Fortunately, everything else was so yummy that I would easily come back and try something else! We saw so many other delicious plates go out and wanted to try everything. The cocktail and wine list was good too. This is a great, hip place that would be perfect for a get together at night with your best mates, cocktails, and bites.