4 Best Restaurants in Stewart Island, Otago, Invercargill, and Stewart Island

The small dining room of this boutique accommodation serves mainly lodge guests, but contact the owners in advance and you might get lucky and have a real Stewart Island culinary experience of food of the sea, or kai moana. Stewart Island blue cod, salmon, mussels, oysters, crayfish, and paua (abalone) are all cooked to perfection and accompanied by fresh vegetables from the garden just yards away. This intimate restaurant has a view out to sea and seats six guests at a time. 

The owner of this eclectic store wears many hats, serving coffee, cake, and sandwiches in the small shop. There are a few tables where you can sit and enjoy your coffee, and you can browse a small gallery featuring works by local craftspeople. Upstairs, this place offers wellness treatments such as facials.

Come here for good old-fashioned fish-and-chips wrapped in a newspaper. There isn't an ounce of pretense in this cheerful little takeout place, which is little more than a trailer with a shelter tacked over; it's located close to the town's "skateboard park" (a wooden ramp). The owner has a mussel farm in Paterson Inlet, and the cod comes from the Halfmoon Bay fishery. Try the bacon-wrapped mussels or chef Hilli's divine mussel chowder. They also do great venison burgers.  

You can have a relaxed meal in the hotel's seaside restaurant or an even more relaxed meal in the bar at this popular local spot. Local seafood (including oysters), pizza, pasta, and steaks offer good value; seafood chowder is a popular choice, and if you give a 24-hour notice, you can try the crayfish. Reservations are strongly recommended in the busy summer season because there are so few places to eat in these parts. Renowned winter buffets draw the local crowd in on Tuesday night.