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    Waterside Restaurant & Bar

    3.7 (15 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Waterside Restaurant & Bar Photos

    WATERSIDE RESTAURANT & BAR ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - Waterside Restaurant & Bar

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    Loaded fries w onion, garlic butter and cranberry sauce
    Catherine Durkin R.

    Comfort food to end all comfort foods. We ordered a sampler that included succulent pork sliders, jalapeño poppers, buttermilk fried chicken wings, halloumi cheese sticks, loaded fries (w cranberry sauce, onions, and garlic butter) plus quesadillas and bread and dips. Did it make my race go easier the next day? No! But I enjoyed the hell out of this meal both before and after.

    View from the patio.

    This is our first time at Lake Taupo and we didn't know what to expect in the downtown area. Waterside is right in the front row lakefront on the end of a "restaurant row". We made a reservation but didn't really need it. Got seated immediately on their front patio with a fantastic view of the lake. Service was good, food was really good, prices were reasonable. We we looking for a light dinner. Shared the jalapeño poppers and an order of the chili chicken and bread with 3 dips. All really good. My husband also had a bowl of soup. We each had a couple glasses of wine and coffee. Out the door for $118 NZD. View and location is priceless. Would def go back.

    Olena W.

    During school holidays we went to Taupo. This was a very cool experience. All motels and hotels were booked. Restaurants were too! Three nights in a row we visited Waterside Taupo. We tried all their menu and enjoyed great service. Found them through business network of Bartercard NZ.

    Cajun chicken salad
    Liz O.

    The view is what brought us in. The sunset and waterfront was lovely. The food is pub food but with costly prices. The food is fine, but when you look at the place, you think it'll be a bit nicer. Anyway, still a great night. We were told up front we'd wait 30 minutes for food. The staff was lovely and apologetic for the wait. I'd go back again for the view and patio seating.

    The dining room

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Had a burger with steak cut fries. Quick service and food was very good. Great view of the lake. I will go back there again

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    10 years ago

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    Review Highlights - Waterside Restaurant & Bar

    Shared the jalapeño poppers and an order of the chili chicken and bread with 3 dips.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Emporium Eatery and Bar - Emporium Eatery and Bar

    Emporium Eatery and Bar

    4.0(26 reviews)
    115.3 km
    $$

    It's always a bit of a crap shoot when vacationing and trying to find a good spot for dinner…read more Emporium was a winner for us today. We made a reservation online although when we arrived it wasn't too busy and we were able to get a seat outside on the sidewalk. As most places do not have A/C in town, this was preferable to the somewhat warm restaurant. Our nice server Michaela took good care of us and made some good food recommendations. We started with the prawn toasts (indescribable but REALLY good), then followed with Fish and chips (light and good) and the coconut chicken salad which was shaved cucumber, poached chicken, coconut, and peanuts with a light refreshing dressing-quite good (according to my spouse). A bottle of Rose topped things off. The menu has quite a lot of choices so it should be easy for most people to find something that interests them. Nice food, nice service, nice meal.

    Location is great, in the heart of the Art Deco city center, a half block from the tourist…read moreinformation office. Service was fine. A little inattentive, but we got everything we asked for, we just had to ask for everything. We had fish and chips. There was a lot of fish, flaky and perfectly cooked. The chips (fries for us Americans) were really really good, seasoned and crispy outside, potato-y inside. All-in-all, a welcoming a reasonable lunch.

    Photos
    Emporium Eatery and Bar - 12 Hour Roasted Lamb Shoulder

    12 Hour Roasted Lamb Shoulder

    Emporium Eatery and Bar - The Bar

    The Bar

    Emporium Eatery and Bar - Restaurant interior

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    Restaurant interior

    Hennessy's Irish Bar - Baileys Cheesecake

    Hennessy's Irish Bar

    3.9(11 reviews)
    63.5 km
    $$

    The best Irish Cottage Pie: tender chunks of lamb in subtly seasoned herb sauce and topped with…read moremash (mashed potatoes) and sharp cheese. Came piping hot and stayed hot then warm throughout the meal. One pint Kilkenny meal! Friendly, attentive service. Typical Irish bar vibe. The Beer and Guinness pie has a spicier sauce and beef not lamb. Both are great. I would order both again and it will be a tough decision as to which to order. Enjoy!

    We'd spotted Hennessy's Irish Bar the day before and saw that they would be showing the Super Bowl…read more We decided to drop in on the way back from doing some morning activities and caught half the game. We came around 2:30pm on a Monday and it was busy. It's a typical Irish pub. They have a lunch special ($12.50 NZD) with 9 options. Sadly, they'd already run out of the lasagna & salad. The main menu is split into starters, light meals & snacks, gourmet burgers & sandwiches, mains, salads, vegetarian meals, kids meals and desserts. - Clam chowder ($12.50 NZD) - B wasn't feeling well so she opted for a soup. She said the clam chowder broth was sweeter than normal but had a good amount of seafood in it. - Ham, cheese & tomato toasted sandwich ($12.50 NZD) - served with fries. Fries were boring and barely crispy. My dad got his sandwich without cheese. It looked minuscule. - BLT Baguette ($12.50 NZD) - served with chicken schnitzel. The bacon was more like a slab of dry ham; took out half of it. It was decent but nothing more than that. I could have ate another. Food wise, go elsewhere. Best to come here for just drinks and to catch whatever sport you fancy watching.

    Photos
    Hennessy's Irish Bar - Closeup of ham, cheese & tomato toasted sandwich

    Closeup of ham, cheese & tomato toasted sandwich

    Hennessy's Irish Bar - Bar

    Bar

    Hennessy's Irish Bar - Date of birth chart (hilarious!)

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    Date of birth chart (hilarious!)

    Cobb & Co

    Cobb & Co

    3.1(11 reviews)
    63.1 km
    $$

    Visiting the area and Yelp has very few current reviews. Had dinner here last nite. The drinks were…read moregood, but an odd NZ thing seems to be that if a drink isn't on the menu, they can't make it? Drink requested was a cosmopolitan. They have all the ingredients, but sorry no. Anyway, food, apps and meals were all very good and as described but came out sporadically, with last meal (party of 4) a full 15 mins after the rest. A good value for the cost. Would go back if we were here longer.

    DONT DO IT. Like me, you have read the previous reviews, there all bad. But like me, your hoping…read morebecause the reviews are 3+ yrs old, it may have improved. It hasn't, don't do it. The meals are all prepared, plated out the back in a chiller, they sear the meat and send it out. The mashed potatoes ect have a crust shell on them. We had; Shrimp cocktail; should've called it a sauce cocktail, there was more sauce than anything else. Pork belly; it was all fat and skin. I get this meal everywhere all over the world and this was the worst and most expensive. Steak. Why ask how you would like it cooked if your just going to do it rare. Kids go Mac cheese, Cheerios and bbq bburger, they had no complaints, but again, all pre-prepared meals warmed up. Kids Cocktails were the only reason the got any stars. This meal cost almost $200 for 3 little kids and two adults. For $36 steaks and pork belly they were crap. Everywhere is better than this. I hate giving bad reviews but I just don't want anyone else to have a bad experience here.

    Photos
    Cobb & Co
    Cobb & Co
    Cobb & Co

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    Craft Bar & Kitchen - Pork Ribs

    Craft Bar & Kitchen

    3.5(42 reviews)
    63.8 km
    $$

    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.

    Photos
    Craft Bar & Kitchen - You can add a Scallop and Shrimp skewer to your order

    You can add a Scallop and Shrimp skewer to your order

    Craft Bar & Kitchen - Pork Ribs + Chips + Salad

    Pork Ribs + Chips + Salad

    Craft Bar & Kitchen - Sour kiwi, Good George ipa

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    Sour kiwi, Good George ipa

    Waterside Restaurant & Bar - cafes - Updated May 2026

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