The Wharf Cafe — Restaurant in North Island

The place is very comfortable. It is closely coupled with the adjacent Thames Wholesale Fisheries. One can order fish and chips at the fisheries and take their buzzer device with you into their cafe on the wharf. When it buzzes you pick it up, wrapped in paper in the traditional way. You can buy wine in the cafe to enjoy as you eat the meal with your hands. There's a water cooler and a table with paper serviettes and cutlery if you need it.

The fish and chips are very superior - the best in the area. The Wharf business never compromises quality for the sake of speed. The chips are always crisp; the fish lightly battered and cooked to perfection. I rate Thames Fisheries the equal of the justifiably famous Mangonui Fisheries in the far north.

How good? Permit me a little rave to try to do it justice:

It's hard to find truly gourmet finger food. You certainly don't find it in branches of big fast-food chains.

I've enjoyed a few examples, back when when we still earned money and could travel and dine out. The unforgettable thin-crust pizzas of Rome and rural Tuscany. Once or twice, in the company of Indian friends, I have dined on the finest of Indian cuisines, eaten by hand, folded in plain naan bread. In those restaurant settings, one expects outstanding food, with or without table cutlery.

But there are taste experiences that surpass all expectations. Where you expect ordinary, perhaps hope for very good, and are surprised by the divine. The huge wild blackberry bushes that explode in the Dutch countryside, the tiny, exquisite wild strawberries on the edges of the bicycle paths through the national park of Kennemer Duinen, west of Haarlem, the neatly trimmed blackberry boundary hedges of German farmers that adjoin public pathways. Be there at the right time, ready to forage a continuous feast until you can eat no more. (We learned to have small sealable food storage items in our bike panniers, so Nature's fast food became nature's take-aways.)

I remember my father and I eating spontaneous John Dory sashimi in our fingers, on the rocks in Taipa. I was quite young, eight or nine I think, and I had seen the fish in a clear rock pool, stranded by a receding spring tide. I caught it with my bare hands, and Dad knew just what we should do with it. We had no soy sauce, no wasabi. Come to think of it, back then nobody in Kaitaia had even heard of those condiments , much less sashimi. But sashimi in effect is what we relished that magic day, and even now I have never tasted sashimi that even comes close.

Close to us in Thames is another place where you can get gourmet finger food that surpasses what you might expect. We lunch occasionally, as we did today, on fish and chips at The Wharf Café. They're listed in Facebook as "Thames Wholesale Fisheries and The Wharf Coffee House & Bar". Their food is affordable even for we superannuitants, and always tastes great.

When they have fresh lemon fish available, ignore the temptation of the snapper. Go for the lemon fish. I kid you not. Their shark n taty is right up the best of what the world can offer. God, I hope Michelin never discovers them. If they did we could no longer afford them.

If you can't get lemon fish on the day, choose the snapper, more expensive but always wonderful. Or take a risk and choose hoki. That's the cheapest fish in the NZ market, but don't worry, the staff make even hoki wonderful. Best to use their cutlery for hoki, as the hoki flesh is less firm in your fingers than the other varieties.

For the wine, take the house chardonnay - really. You'll get a gourmet meal for a fast food price. It really is...

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. Rude doesn’t even begin to cover it. My first experience here will also be my very last. Be warned! I had two terrible experiences, both during the same first encounter with this restaurant. First: When I ordered at the register, the counter person talked me out of what I wanted and told me to order something else instead. Feeling awkwardly pressured, I caved and accepted. What arrived to my table was a half frozen, undercooked, mushy fish patty with unidentifiable chunks of seafood inside. Just awful. I returned it and requested my original order. Second: I walked into the bar area to order a drink. The lady behind the bar looked up at me and started making comments about my appearance — then both people behind the bar continued to laugh and poke fun at me! Is that seriously how you treat your customers? So unbelievably rude. I told my friends what happened and they were shocked at the absolute ignorance of these undereducated townies. They practically laughed me out of the place because I had some tan lines on my chest from being in the sun all day. I really don’t have a single good thing to say about my experience at The Wharf. An utter disappointment that actually infuriated me....

Went to buy snapper and chips for lunch. THEY HAD NO SNAPPER!!!! We were offered lemon fish (shark) or monk fish (whatever that is). This was at midday during the week! Won't be going back there anytime soon. Thanks for your reply. However, for 20 years when we lived in Manurewa we would go to Clevedon Fisheries for snapper & chips. It was only 12 minutes away. Summer, winter, lunchtime, dinnertime, anytime and many times. Even with different owners. Never once did they not have snapper. Since moving to Pokeno we have been going to Kaiaua Fisheries even though it is half an hour away. Again, dinnertime, lunchtime with guests, many time. They too have never not had snapper. Someone recommended your establishment and although it is 50 minutes away, we decided to give you a try. Hugely disappointed to be offered shark as an alternate to snapper. We told our recommender that we would not be asking her for any more advice. As I said, we won't be going back to The Wharf anytime soon. The stars would be zero if that...