The Fat Duck — Restaurant in Fiordland Community

Venue itself is pretty cozy, staffs are friendly but seemly overwhelmed easily despite not being a full service.

A tad bizarre how you have different servers taking the food order, taking the drink, serving the food, asking about the food and paying at the end. So not sure if my review on the food was even passed on, as the one that gave us our bill seems oblivious about it.

Love the selection of beer and wine in this place, staffs even offered a small taster before we decided on our drinks that night.

Food overall is a tad of a letdown, primary cuz the reviews I’ve seen on this place, as well as the price being charged here (you kinda expect amazing food experience, but not really in the end)

Started off with the duck wontons, mentioned in the menu that it is shredded duck. Presentation is nice, with crispy pastry. The filling however is overly pasty and mushy,, like pate,so that’s very unpleasant. I’d say the overall flavour is not bad, but texture is just off-putting.

Ribeye steak, with mushroom sauce. Way too smoky, I can’t even taste anything else other than that. It is obvious that the heat of the grill is too high as the whole beef is leathery despite just being medium. Not to mention that the steak itself is bland. The mushroom sauce doesn’t help much cuz it is also just as equally smoky. Wouldn’t recommend this at all.

Lamb shank. It bogs my mind that this is the chef’s recommendations. Sure, the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender, presentation is quite pretty, but that’s just about it. It lamb itself has no flavour whatsoever, as if it was cooked inside a vacuum bag all by itself, and covered in gravy when orders come in. The gravy doesn’t do much justice too, as it is just way too sugary, all you can taste is sweet. Again wouldn’t recommend this either.

Fish and chips. Finally, something redeemable, but not entirely so again. The fish that day was gurnard, quite a generous portion, well fried and well seasoned succulent fish. Would happy grade the fish 9/10. But! If only the tartar sauce was better: It is way too rich and creamy with none of the tanginess, I wouldn’t let it close to my fish after tasting it just once. Chips, your standard fair that doesn’t stand out as great or bad. Coleslaw, probably one the worst I’ve tasted in a long while: the whole thing is just bitter upon bitter, dressing is way too heavy and rich. I can’t believe that I would support KFC’s mushy coleslaw over this, I’m sorry but it’s true. And I don’t care that the waitress tried arguing that they’ve sold many of it that day, cuz it is simply unpalatable.

Dessert, cheesecake. Frankly I wouldn’t go back for the cheesecake. It is obvious corners has been cut, when the cheesecake flavour is below that of a frozen supermarket cheesecake. But at least the base of the cake it well made. I would however vouch for he coffee-flavoured ice cream, now that is something worth the flavour. If it wasn’t for the accompanying ice cream, I probably won’t be able to eat much of the cake itself.

Overall I would say the dining experience here is that of below average. And it’s rather sad considering it being so highly regarded, and highly pricey too. I’d happily come back for the bar drinks, but not the...

Sadly very disappointing on service. In fact the worst service we have experienced in New Zealand in three weeks stay. They were busy when we turned up at about 7.15,,but were able to offer a table outside . The first course was fine if a little slow. The Pate was creamed to spooning consistency but tasted nice. The main courses then took over an hour to arrive.other customers came had their orders taken were served paid and left. after 40 minutes with some difficulty we attracted the notice of the waitress who had been swapping life stories with the couple at the nearby table with her back turned to us. We asked if there was some problem with our order and were breezily assured without checking it would soon be on its way but then we said we were getting cold as the sun dipped down. Blankets were brought A half hour later still no meal and we attracted the attention of a different waitress who went to see how things were and came back with a kind of explanation that said in effect they had overlooked our order and did we still want it? At this stage the town is beginning to close down and the restaurant is taking down its parasols and turning stragglers away so we opted to stay. When it arrived it was a nice piece of plainly cooked fresh fish on top of a chickpea heavy salad with a mint and yoghurt dressing. Our admittedly distant memory of our order was for a local fish in a creamy sauce on spinach, but we were past caring and famished. The manager did agree to a small discount but there were no offers of complimentary drinks or a dessert on the house that could have salvaged our evening...

Found this spot on our way in from Lake Tekapo on a large road trip, and had just finished the long drive out to North Mavora Lake to satisfy my inner nerd (LOTR, IYKYK). The name is what drew us in and we are so glad it did. Had read that getting a reservation is recommended and while I agree, the staff got us in no problem. We got there right after opening, around 5:15 pm and were offered a table with about an hour limit or a bar top table to stay as long as we liked. We never felt rushed.

The hostess (wish I saw names, lovely woman with blonde hair) was extremely kind and welcoming to us and our infant daughter. She got us a nice padded high chair, talked to us about some specials, and got our drink orders in all before we sat down and through her kind demeanor we still didn’t feel rushed or pressured. Our waitress was over promptly to take our orders, and I believe the manager checked on us and all other tables regularly. She was even taking group photos for people at other tables.

The atmosphere was very cozy, and the food was delicious. I got the 55 day aged sirloin with garlic butter and duck fat potatoes, and my wife got fish and chips. We also split risotto balls. Very tender steak cooked exactly right (med rare because I’m not a heathen). Also if you’re around during the winter, the home made mulled wine was delicious! Don’t forget the brandy!

Just a traveler passing through but I would absolutely...