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.

This place is so good! I love a good beer and I found a few of them here. I went in on Boxing Day…read moreand it was pretty busy, but the server let us know before ordering that there would be a 30-60 min wait on the food. We were okay with that as we were waiting out the rain, so we ordered some beers at the bar and settled in to a comfy table. I ordered the Bitter Bitch and my boyfriend got the Perriss IPA - they were both so delicious! I love a hoppy IPA and both of these were super hop-forward, so I was in happy land drinking mine and part of my boyfriends (hey, he was our driver, I was doing him a service). I also ordered the shroom tacos (yay for vegan options on the menu that aren't salad!) and my boyfriend got the chicken burger, which came with chips. My tacos were on the "small bites" menu, so I ordered a side of avo to bulk it up. Anyway, also before ordering, the server told us that there was a 15% surcharge on everything since it was boxing day. Um, that's annoying and frustrating when companies push the employees inflated holiday pay charge on to the customer, but it was raining and we just wanted to chill so we agreed to the charge. All together for two beers, a chicken burger and mushroom tacos with avo, our bill came to $68. That seemed completely absurd to me, I'm guessing the beers were more expensive than we had planned. Oh well, life goes on. The food was super good and so was the beer, and the lighting in here is great for photos as well. I would recommend this place 100%, just know that you will come out with a significantly smaller bank account.

If you are crew on the cruise ships, just beware of this brewery. They will not accept our crew ID…read moreor a photo of your passport, which the ship holds from us. One star for good atmosphere, but the rest was disappointing. My friends and I walked directly to find this brewery only to be turned away because of our IDs. You'd think a bar in a cruise terminal would learn that crew cards are issued in color coded and printed horizontally for the seldom few crew under 21 and are white and vertical for those over 21. Isn't the drinking age here 18 anyway?! Highly disappointing... Food is typical overpriced bar fare. A disappointing way to end an otherwise adventure filled day.

Very good restaurant with friendly servers. They have daily specials in addition to their extensive…read moreregular menu. They serve New Zealand lamb, beef, pork, and chicken. They also have an extensive alcohol selection though we didn't try any during our visit. There is a large interior space as well as an equally large outdoor patio. They have outdoor string lights that help set the pleasant ambiance. A mixture of high and regular tables line the space. We ordered a Lamb Shank, Pork Ribs, and a Custom Grill with 2 portions of beef and 2 portions of lamb. All food came out in about 15-20 minutes, which was a bit long but we had ordered close to their closing time. I appreciated that they didn't complain, but were smiling and happy. Never once did we feel like we were being rushed out. Everything we ordered was delicious and tender. The chips (fries) that came with some of our dishes were crispy and fresh. The salad that came with my custom grill was perfectly tossed together. The prices are a bit on the higher side, but the quality cannot be beat and the service was 5/5. We'd be happy to return here if we're ever back in the area!

Well, restaurant on this food row. It may be a brewery but unfortunately I couldn't drink…read moreconsidering all these winding roads all around. Food good. Most steaks are brought cold and you sear them on a hot stone. We had no time for such play. Steak was good. Great music and music videos up on the monitors. All the songs are my type if I may say so. Staff professional.

This place belongs on the island of misfit toys, a craft beer pub that doesn't have any craft beer…read more I come in and almost all of the taps are empty. Why did they even bother opening?

We were exploring Rotorua on a cold NZ winter night and discovered this insanely cool downtown…read morearea. We were hungry and walking through the dark streets looking for anything that might be open and also have gluten free options for me. A few streets down from us we heard music and saw neon lights flickering in the distance. Like unsuspecting deep sea fish we felt magnetized to the sparkly lights in the dark of night, luckily for us that once we reached them we were the ones doing the eating! This restaurant is located on a really cool street partially covered by a neon light canopy, sort of like going into a spaceship. We saw the menu of Brew Craft and were sold. The inside has a nice intimate atmosphere with low lighting with a casual gastropub design. In addition to a large selection of brews, they also have an upscale dining menu with tons of options to choose from. Our server was very friendly and helpful and pointed out their many gf options designated on the menu including unconventional items like chicken wings, chicken tenders, and pizzas. We decided to share the gf chicken wing appetizer and the slow roasted lamb shank main. Both were incredible. The chicken wings were crispy and saucy and kept me going back for more. The lamb shank was fall off the bone tender with a delicious mashed potato. We wanted to order so much more, but as we were staying in a hotel and couldn't take leftovers home with us, we settled with just being full instead of indulging to the state of miserable. It was absolutely delicious though and definitely recommended for anyone who's celiac and looking for a safe gf place to grab some not so casual eats in a relaxed chill environment.

Came here on a Sunday afternoon and it was not all that busy. So we were attended to quickly with…read morethem splitting some larger tables to make a smaller for the four in our group. They do have a fairly decent menu selection from which i chose the Brewers Breakfast, my other half the Piglet Burger and the other two a Brewers Breakfast as well. Strange as it may seem to have with a breakfast i ordered one of thier peach ciders as a drink. Now that was delicious.. Maybe because i like my ciders? The orders came out pretty quickly. Everything in my breakfast was cooked just i liked it. In a breakfast i really pay attention to the poached eggs , which i can be real finnicky about .These were cooked to perfection. The yolks not hard or even a little hard but soft and runny that the yolk ran out nicely ( if one can say it that way!). Everyone else was happy with thier meals and me having the biggest sweet tooth was the only one who chose a dessert. Though a simple one of a chocolate cake it went down well. So, anyway overall . On the food front no complaints. Particularly impressed with the poached eggs. Service was great, especially with the speed of and throughout the meal the girl coming by occasionally but not being overly intrusive to ask how things were. Price was as you would expect...so so, and the atmosphere was very good. Well worthy of a 100% rating!!

Fun lunch on a quiet Sunday afternoon. This restaurant has been here for 30 years and I could see…read morewhy. My husband and I split the chicken satay salad. It was plenty of yumminess for both of us. Lots of tender chicken served in a bed of greens, red onion, tomatoes and crunchy noodles. The chili sauce as generously poured on top. We had a large cappuccino to accompany our meal. We chose to sit outside and appreciate the warm summer air. Win win

This place is so cutely decorated, like out of kids coloring book. The service was super fast, you…read moreorder up front, pick a table and food was served within 15 minutes. I got the mushroom on toast which was yummy. It could have used some citrus or spice to cut the creaminess but still good. My husband got the salmon Benedict, the eggs were cooked perfectly and the hashbrowns were crispy

Excellent kiwi service. Very friendly and knows the menu really well. Casual place with great food…read more The battered oysters were amazingly crunchy and fresh. The mussels were too bad. Had better elsewhere. But they were juicy and large. The steak was cooked beautifully with the works, veggies, mash, fried eggs, onion rings and creamy mushrooms. A fantastic shared plate meal!

Delicious food! I had a chicken burger with a side of curly fries. The curly fries were probably…read morethe best fries I've ever had and The burger was very good as well. Great food but the missing star is for the service. The people are very friendly be we waited 40mins- an hour for our meal to come. But really recommend it to people around this area!

Went as a large group in themed costume and was seated at two tables that had been reserved for us…read more One table OK service and timely meals and left after paying as you would expect. The other table I was at had to wait 2 HOURS for food, was given a pitiful excuse by the waitress that 15 other orders got to the kitchen between the two tables, even though orders were taken at the same time and there were other people in the restaurant who came in and ordered after us who got their meal and left before us. They only recognised a problem when we complained about the wait. When the food finally arrived, half of it was cold, the rest over or under cooked, I had salmon that tasted like water - I could've done it better myself (it must've been pre-frozen). When it came to sort the bill they blamed us for not telling them the food was late earlier, would not apologize for the poor service, and only gave us a $60 discount which equated to ~12% only after a lengthy argument with the manager. The worst part was they let us sober up while we waited! We have done this as a group once a year for ten years, and this restaurant is by far THE WORST DINING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD.

Just popped in for a beer on a hot afternoon.... decided to grab a little something to snack on…read more Just ordered an entree each. Service was quick and friendly. I really enjoyed my s 'n' p squid (tasty n tender). But what surprised me the most was my mate, who usually isnt too fussed over food, raved about his scallops. Served as they should be with roe attached. Days later he was still raving about them. Nice decor. Only thing lacking was the view.

Large spacious bar conveniently located on Hood Street alongside all other popular watering holes…read morein Hamilton. Ample seating. You can take your pick on indoor or outdoor, upstairs or downstairs. They have a few different menus, we went with Geoff's sliders platter from the bar menu. Felt pretty instant, nothing to write home about. They have a pretty large drinks selection, but I wouldn't say they have a large craft beer selection as they advertised. The waitress didn't know what an IPA was when I tried to order one. Generally a good place for a large group of people if you are not too picky on the food and the drinks.

I came here this week for a large group gathering and the service was awesome! I called the night…read morebefore to request space for 25, and they were happy to arrange a section of the indoor, downstairs eating area for us. They were attentive in bringing water and clearing our used glasses. I ordered one of the large, shared platters for appetizers and the food was really nice. Ordered a chicken nugget kid meal for my son and I was surprised by the amount of food that came with it. My only complaint is that it was really warm in there, even with the doors and windows open. That said, it was a great venue for a group and will happily go back in the future.