Tips On Dining

My best advice to anyone coming to New Zealand is to plan plenty of exercise so that you'll be perpetually hungry and therefore well able to justify every single indulgence that you're likely to be faced with. Forget restraint and prepare to be surprised by the level of sophistication of the New Zealand dining experience. This is a land of edible bounty -- Canterbury lamb; Central Otago pinot noir; Bluff and Nelson oysters; Nelson scallops; Kaikoura crayfish (lobster); West Coast whitebait; South Island venison; Waiheke cabernet sauvignon; Marlborough green-lipped mussels; Gisborne chardonnay; Akaroa salmon; Stewart Island blue cod; Central Otago cherries and apricots -- and you shouldn't miss any of it.

On top of the usual restaurant and cafe experiences, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you miss special events like the traditional Maori hangi, where food is cooked underground; the sheer craziness of the annual Hokitika Wildfoods Festival, where the policy is "If it's not moving, it's edible"; and the numerous annual wine and food festivals held in individual provinces and always well-publicized at information centers.

Within the restaurant scene itself, there has been a revolution in the last decade. Fine dining (silver service) still lingers in a few city pockets, but the upmarket trend is predominantly toward fine gourmet food in more relaxed, contemporary settings. You'll be spoiled with all the choices in this category, especially in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown (in that order).

For moderately priced, casual meals, including lunches, there are now so many cafes, restaurants, and bars it seems silly to try to define what each delivers. In short, you will seldom be without a choice. Just be aware that many cafe/bar establishments offer lighter meals and by 11pm often turn into rowdy drinking holes.

A word on service: New Zealand has not "grown up" with a long tradition of service in restaurants, so there will be times when you wonder if we even know what the word "service" means. For many young people, being a waitress or waiter is a reluctantly sought holiday job to earn money for university studies -- and sadly, it often shows. However, the competitive market is forcing restaurant owners to wake up to the importance of good, friendly, smiling service, and many polytechnics now offer proper training. It is heartening to see a gradual swing toward a belief that restaurant service can be a career option, not just a long-suffering ordeal.

Service glitches are more noticeable in smaller provincial centers, and some of that can be attributed to a lack of suitable employees in the district. Areas such as the West Coast face the reality of young people moving out to the cities; and major tourist centers like Queenstown tend to have a very transient population of restaurant employees.

New Zealand restaurants are either licensed to serve alcohol or BYO (bring your own), and some are both. BYO of course is cheaper, as you don't have to pay the restaurant's surcharge on the wine. Some BYO establishments do charge a corkage fee (usually NZ$3-NZ$8/US$2.15-US$5.70/£1.10-£2.90) for opening the wine bottle. Note: BYO means wine only, not beer or any other alcoholic beverages.

New Zealand restaurants and cafes do not apply any sort of surcharge to simply sitting at a restaurant table. You are only charged for what you purchase. However, where there are outdoor cafe tables, you must purchase from the restaurant/cafe they're owned by. You cannot use this seating as a casual resting place when you get sore feet.

Most cafes and restaurants now have table service, but some smaller cafes still operate on a counter service policy, where you place your order at the counter and pay before receiving your meal.

Important note: All eateries are now smoke free. This is a government edict, with smoking banned across the board in all restaurants, nightclubs, and public buildings.

Tipping is not customary in New Zealand, although I've never met a New Zealander who doesn't like a show of appreciation for good service and value. But that's relative. My policy is don't tip for the sake of it. You may be used to that in your own country, but I maintain that that does nothing to foster an improvement in New Zealand serving standards, which, let's face it, still need work. If you feel you've had a special dining experience and would like to reward the staff, then do so by all means, but be aware that many restaurants operate a shared tipping system, so your favorite waitress or waiter may not be the only recipient of your good will. She/he may have to share the goodies with others who may not deserve it -- something I personally would like to see changed.

Dining hours vary from one eatery to another. Many cafes and restaurants open for coffee from around 9 to 10am and serve lunch between noon and 2 or 3pm, reverting to coffee and snack service only after that, then serving dinner from 6pm on. Others open for dinner only and that is almost always from 6pm onward.

Other than that, it's all pretty straightforward -- eat and enjoy! Oh, and don't forget New Zealand wine. With the many international award-winners to our credit, I can assure you, you will be tempted!