11 Best Restaurants in North Island's West Coast, New Zealand

Though this café shares premises with a property brokerage office, it's not your usual pie and sandwich workplace diner. At lunchtime, people from all over town descend on the Local, and you are unlikely to get a table to yourself if you don't make a reservation. However, there is usually space on the long communal table. A popular menu option is to build your own breakfast: choose how you'd like your eggs and add anything from grilled salmon and halloumi to kumara (sweet potato) rosti. Smashed avo and feta is a longstanding vegetarian and gluten free brunch favorite. It's about a 15-minute walk from the center of town, or a short drive.

At this buzzing corner café, surfers—here for the great coffee and free-range food—cram the couches and Formica tables beneath walls decorated with hanging plants, surfboards, and Raglan beach scenes. The menu is huge and the meals hearty, starting with breakfast at 8. Dishes have diverse influences, with miso mushrooms chili crunch rice firm favorites. There's also a selection of organic beers, wines, teas, smoothies, and juices.

The dosa (a filled, savory pancake) takes pride of place on the menu at this southern-Indian restaurant on New Plymouth's main street. The most traditional (and popular) option is the masala dosa (filled with seasoned potatoes, other vegetables, and mixed spices), but you can also get a number of variations, including one with mozzarella cheese for an "India meets Italy" combo. Other dishes to try include aubergines with roasted coriander and cashews, lamb pepper masala, and beef with roasted coconut gravy. If you need help, the enthusiastic staff here will be happy to provide explanations. A nice touch is the "peace wall" that displays quotations from famous people along the entire length of the restaurant.

Wholesome homemade food attracts both Taranaki locals and travelers to this character-filled village café housed in a circa-1878 butcher shop. The menu runs from breakfast through late lunch, with dinner only on Friday and Saturday nights. Midway between New Plymouth and Stratford, in the town of Inglewood, it’s a welcome spot if you’re on the road, heading to the mountain.

This restaurant is actually a short walk from the beach, but the atmosphere is right, if a little kitschy. Seafood is predominant on the menu (try the seafood chowder or beer-battered fish-and-chips), but there's also an extensive selection of wood-fired pizzas. The menu matches everything with a beer or cider from the Waikato-based Good George Brewery, but you can also order wines and cocktails. Sit yourself down on a swing chair or around one of the wooden picnic-style tables and check out the colorful artwork, surfboards on the wall, hanging pot plants, and "street" signs to other famous surf places like Bora Bora and Waikiki. 

Wholesome, organic, and scrumptious food is served in a country café that’s set in the middle of a 2-acre herb garden. The herbs grown here are served fresh with your food and are also used in the natural skincare and wellness products manufactured on site. The dining area is adjacent to a themed garden designed to keep children interested. It's just a 10-minute drive from the city, near the town of Ashurst.

Traditional Japanese food made with a mix of imported Japanese ingredients and fresh local produce is the star here. There's also a good selection of beer, sake, rice wine, and New Zealand beverages. Momiji is set in an old heritage building, once a post office, in the CBD.

Occupying a 100-year-old shearing shed, the funky, rustic Rock-it serves casual Kiwi fare and local Raglan Roast coffee. The menu is small but wholesome; try the all-day brunch, poke bowls, or burger for lunch, either inside or out on the huge deck. It’s 3 km (2 miles) from town on the way to Ocean Beach. It is open for dinner in the peak summer months.

The name says it all: this is the place to socialize with friends while sharing plates from the open kitchen. The food has been fired up with flavor in the South American--styled Mibrasa charcoal oven or slow-cooked to create delicious 12-hour smoked meats. There’s also a huge selection of tapas-style shellfish, vegetables, charcuterie, and breads. While the food is high-quality, the decor is pretty casual; guests sit at high benches in the sheltered courtyard or the slightly more formal restaurant seating inside.

Situated at Waitomo's General Store (which itself offers limited grocery items and souvenirs), this versatile eatery can serve as a café if you're just looking for a coffee with a scone or biscuit, but it also offers fresh cabinet-style food such as paninis, as well as a full menu for breakfast, lunch, and early dinner. Grab a comfortable and sunny spot near the window in the lounge-style seating area if you can, but there are plenty of standard tables and chairs. The outdoor deck is a good choice in the summer. Decor is fairly sparse, but there are some nice photos (for sale) of New Zealand landscapes on a couple of the walls. The eatery opens by 8 am each day.

Join the locals at this cozy café, spread throughout the veranda, garden, and several intimate rooms of an old, mostly yellow villa. It serves a full breakfast/brunch menu with all the classics as well as wholesome, house-cooked lunches. It's located across the road from the river and a two-minute drive from the city center. The café caters well to vegetarians and vegans (try the open vegan sub with falafel, vegan cream cheese, and caramelized onion) and meat eaters are well looked after with options like a slow-cooked lamb shoulder salad.