Plateau Bar + Eatery — Restaurant in North Island

I wanted to like this place.

Plateau Bar + Eatery—the name alone whispers promise. Taupo backdrop, glowing reviews, premium price tag. You expect something memorable. What I got instead was a forgettable dinner with a side of regret.

Let’s start with the beef eye fillet. A steak should arrive with presence, not pity. This one came in looking like it had survived a heat lamp hostage situation—wilted vegetables, muted color, zero personality. The steak itself? Rushed. No crust, no depth, no soul. Just protein and a plate trying to pass for fine dining.

Then came the market fish—the kind of dish you hope will redeem a meal. It didn’t. Dry. Flavorless. Like it had been abandoned on the grill while someone checked their phone. Fish should be delicate, layered, whispering flavor. This one barely muttered.

The Korean Fried Chicken? Best of the bunch. Crispy, decent seasoning. But then—out of nowhere—a lonely lemon wedge, as if someone thought, “Hey, maybe this’ll fix it.” It didn’t. Citrus and gochujang? Not this time.

The service? Fine. Polite. Not the problem. But when you charge premium and plate mid-tier, that’s the problem. Food at this level shouldn’t feel like an afterthought.

So no, it’s not a bad restaurant. But it’s also not the elevated experience the hype leads you to believe. It’s the kind of place that makes you check the bill twice and walk out wondering what else you could’ve eaten instead.

If you're headed there, go in eyes open. And maybe...

Honestly the review would be higher if rating the food only. We only had the salmon entree and the cauliflower side along with a spicy tomato juice and a coffee. All of that was largely good, if not just a little ordinary. The greeting, however, soured us both to the experience. We arrived at 5pm after an incredibly long journey. The restaurant had a few tables full, but was at minimum 70% unoccupied at that early hour. The host immediately checked his book and announced to us that "If we hurry, we'll be fine, but the table is booked at 6:30 - so you'll need to hurry." We probably should have just left. Couple that with the wait staff taking around 10 minutes to even approach our table (we were trying to hurry, after all) and we found the service marginal for a place that is going out of its way to appear upscale. The other reviews of this place are mainly good, so our experience is likely unusual. But in this business, it might be worth a reminder that a paying customer is still a paying customer. It's odd to be in a position of feeling as though the restaurant is doing you a favor by allowing you to eat there. There is reasonable competition in Taupo in the high end restaurant space where we have felt very much welcome....

We walked in for a late lunch (it was 2pm). The waitress was pleasant, and also gave a kids menu for our daughter. We were able to get half a seafood platter as the full sized one would have been too much. This was on suggestion from the waitress as this option was not on the menu. The platter had a goodly selection of clams, squid, prawns and even smoked salmon! Accompanied with slices of lemon and other sauces, the platter was well presented as was the pork belly, with crispy skin. For dessert we had a slice of lemon tart. This came with a raspberry conserve and mascarpone cream. My daughter had a caramel sundae. The waitress thoughtfully brought a saucer so that the excess whipped cream could be skimmed off. There was quite a lot that the cream alone was worthy if another dessert. All in all the dishes werenpkated very well, the taste of the food presented was excellent. I couldn't fault it. The service was also excellent, the waitress pleasant and conscientious. The prices on the menu were appropriate for the level of...