North Island's West Coast Restaurants

Dinner menus in the higher-end restaurants will likely be the chef's latest creations using high-quality New Zealand eye fillet of beef (beef tenderloin), fish, salmon, lamb racks, pork fillets, and chicken. The best focus on fresh regional and seasonal ingredients. You will also find Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Japanese, Mexican, and Italian restaurants, even in smaller provincial centers. "Smart-casual" is about as formal as attire gets. A legacy of the more basic cafés and hotel restaurants lives on, particularly in some smaller towns; check the guidebook to avoid anything less-than-professional.