Love this brewery!!! Walk off the street up the stairs to a magically decorated brewery &…read morerestaurant. The bar greets you as you enter followed by an array of seating choices, cozy chairs, dining table, outdoor seats with a beautiful view, it is amazing! Choose from craft beers or wine. The fish and chips were delicious! Service was prompt and friendly. A great stop in the Rotorua area

We dropped into Crafty Trout Brewing Co to check out their beer and cider selection. The bottom…read morefloor has merchandise and bottles for purchase. The bottles are reasonable but the merch is expensive (more than any brewery I've been to). $30.00 NZD for a growler! Insane. They also do beer tours ($30.00 NZD including tasting rack otherwise it's $10.00 NZD). The upstairs is called Bier Kafe. They had a few specials ($14.00 to 25.00 NZD). The regular menu is pretty pricey. Apparently, they are "world famous" for their pretzels and woodfired pizzas. At the bar, there were 14 flavours on tap (except they were sold out of their smokey ginger beer). The pear cider sounded pretty good. Tasting rack (four 200mL glasses) costs $20.00 NZD so we opted for a few bottles to take home instead. Some of their desserts also looked interesting. Dark moist chocolate beer cake ($9.00 NZD) or apple cider strudel ($10.00 NZD) anyone? - Lure cider ($4.50 NZD) - Granny Smith with hints of pineapple. - Smokey ginger beer ($3.00 NZD) - non-alcoholic made with Pohutakawa & Cherrywood smoked ginger, honey, fresh lemons and Lake Taupo glacial mineral water. You can taste the smokiness. Pretty decent!

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.

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 walked for a while along the banks of Lake Taupo, before we settled on the Lake House for…read moredinner, located centrally in town, right across the street from the Lake which allowed for beautiful views of the lake. The large terrace wasn't very busy, but there were only 2 or 3 servers, for both inside and outside, so it took an awfully long time for someone to come and take our order. My husband ordered the lamb rump and I went with the roasted lamb salad. My lamb was roasted to perfection, and combined with the feta cheese and a delicious dressing, this salad was absolutely scrumptious. The lamb rump was also cooked to perfection, but it was kind of drowning in sauce. Just too much of it. Water is served free here in New Zealand, but just don't ask for ice in it. Most places don't have it. Also, count on getting just one napkin and make do with it. The wait staff was friendly, but kind of timid and not very attentive to the customers. At the end of our meal, we had to wait again a considerable time for the bill to come. Even trying to get the attention of the wait staff turned out to be a chore. It would have been nice for someone to come by our table to ask how our meal was and if we needed anything else. In short, nice view, tasty food, but mediocre service. I couldn't really give more than 3 stars for that.

I was looking forward to this place. Bunch of drunk kids where idling there when we got there…read more Service was awkward. The chocolate fondue is not to be taken. Waitress over sold it. It doesnt worth 20$ at all. Get some whitakers and fruits from the grocers and enjoy that one at home. It was suppose to be dark chocolate. It was chocolate syrup with few sad piece of banana and pear, marshmallow and brownies. Everybody I asked afterward for a good place to eat told me they could have warned me about this place.i guess next time I wont trust the other famous website I checked on... Bartender was good though. His service was good and his attitude as well. I enjoyed the beers.

A delicious BBQ place in Taupo is very welcomed. We were really hungry after walking the Tongariro…read moreCrossing. You can definitely smell BBQ as you walk into the restaurant and that's not a bad thing! We started with some wings and they were the right thing to wet the appetite. You can smell and taste that hickory that permeates throughout the wing. For our entries, we opted for the smoked pork chop and a side of St. Louis ribs. The smoked pork chop was cooked well and it was good thick cut too. The crackling and bone sauce just provided for flavour and texture while working your way through each bite of the pork chop. The ribs were super sauced and the meat was almost fall off the bone. It took a little pull to get the meat away from the bone but I liked it that way. They were pretty finger licking good. We had a good time trying all their different sauces with each bite of our food too. Overall, this is a good spot for some BBQ if you are in the mood.

Very much family restaurant, food average. Thought we would get good Smokey flavours, very bland. I…read morehad beef short ribs and my wife had pulled smoked beef with mac cheese, worst Mac cheese tasted. Apologies we have high expectations after eating at a number of Texas Roadhouse chain stores which smash SMK

On our recent road trip, my happy half was driving as I was looking around. She noticed the sign…read more"Beer for Sale" before I did and quickly turned the car around. We stopped and were thankful we did! Zeelandt Brewery prides themselves on traditional styles brewed perfectly. They offer sample tastes for free, plus all their bottles to go. Tom gave us a tour and talk about the brewery and beer. I bought their explorer pack of their 6 main beers, plus 3 special bottles available at the time. These latter ones may rotate, so what you get will depend on what they're making. The brewery is located in a vineyard with beautiful mountains around, they have free parking right outside. Thanks for letting us use the restroom to freshen up as well! Prices are reasonable for the quality of the beer; we also loved the labels!

New Zealand, to what I've seen so far, has no shortage of pubs! I'm Taupo, I think there were 4…read morethat I saw, not including a couple of breweries. The pub vibe inside is very nostalgic and your traditional English pub that many of us have come familiar with and this one is equally endearing as well. My friends and I settled in for dinner on our last night in town to give it a go. It was busy this night but the staff is warm and friendly. They focus on your traditional English items but had a couple of pasta dishes if feeling a bit Italian for the night. We were happily surprised at our orders and the portion sizes were huge (seems to be a theme with each restaurant we've been too). Pics attached. When ordering the fish & chips, you get a choice of larger or small. I got the large... way more than I thought. Reminds me of the gold ol'days before Covid. Go for a half portion if not up for the large. Cute pub, would welcome going again and if in Taupo, give it a go!

OMG the beef pastie is to die for! Always on our list to go there for a beer and pastie with mushie…read morepeas!

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.

We had a great time meeting travelers and playing pool in the back of this good ol' Irish Pub! The…read moregreen beer was flowing on St Patty's Day and we were ready for it. Add a little bit of drunken philanthropy and you're the hit in the crowd. I'd go back and do it all over again! Even a little dancing on the front floor successfully showed us the time of our lives! Thank you for celebrating and keeping the spirit of St Patty's Day alive! Cheers!

From the owner: Welcome to Mulligan's Public House!…read more When you visit Mulligan's Public House, you're in for a treat. Experience our off-the-pier-fresh Salads, Mulligan's World Famous scrumptious Irish Stew, Prime NZ Steak, Stout Pie or light meals such as Fish & Chips, Burgers and Pizza or any of our other mouthwatering dishes. Our chefs are renowned for their creative combinations of spices and sauces. Our warm and charming atmosphere will instantly relax you while our attentive staff spoils you. Weekly menu specials offer unique flavours and pairings. Mulligan's Public House is very famous with backpackers specials. Mulligan's Public House is the perfect destination for your next visit to Taupo, whether an intimate dinner or a night out celebration or casual drink after work . We open 7 days and nights a week. There's always something happening at Mulligan's for locals & backpackers! Every Tuesday - Our world famous Quiz Night. Wednesday is Poker, Thursday - Live Music & Jam Night, Friday - Girls Night and much more. Please call for reservations for dinner or jump in to enjoy your night out. Gift certificates available.

Server spilled entire glass of wine on my wife's leather pants. Pants were ruined. Refused to do…read moreanything and now ignoring us. Food was also weak. Talk about taking zero responsibility. Skip and go somewhere else.

Great share plates for a late lunch. We had the shrimp, pork dumplings, and Korean fried chicken…read more The Caesar type salad wasn't great though.

My husband and I stopped here for lunch on our drive from Auckland to Wellington. I must say,…read moreparking in this area is not easy to find at lunchtime! We had to park about 3 blocks away and walk. This is located close to the lake, and had some beautiful views. If it were cold and rainy, we would've opted to sit on their patio. The service as quick and the food was delicious! I had a pie and my husband, I cannot remember what he had but he loved it. If we weren't driving, we would've had some drinks. A nice selection on the menu of food and drinks and everything was delicious. I would definitely go back!

Food was Good! Location Great! Nice Patio with Lake/park views! Very walkable area! Parking was…read moreeasy!