Alpine Restaurant — Restaurant in South Island

A stunning view over Mount Cook can be seen from every table in the restaurant, making it a perfect setting for a special dining experience.

The weather was gorgeous outside which meant the view of Mount Cook was especially beautiful. Seated by the window felt like we were outdoors, with the warmth and cosiness of the lovely decor in The Alpine Restaurant around us.

We dined for lunch at midday, with a buffet at $65 per head being the only option. The buffet had a good mix of dishes from all sorts of salads, to cheese and antipasto, congee, chicken dumplings, fried vegetables, Indian Dahl, Butter Chicken and steamed rice, to the traditional roast lamp and pork, baked fish, seasonal steamed and roasted veggies and a good selection of all your traditional desserts. What stood out to me was that the buffet had flavours from many different countries and nationalities around the globe. Perfect to suit the multicultural visitors from all over the world.

There were some great vegan and vegetarian options and easy access for wheelchairs.

While the food was good, the service was unfortunately lacking. There seemed to be plenty of staff but no one came to check on us or clear our plates as we enjoyed our many courses of the buffet. I had to look for someone a couple of times to ask for assistance with drinks and coffees.

Lunch time was very quiet with only one other couple eating at a nearby table, and a tour group of around 12 towards the back of the restaurant.

The music could have been more thoughtfully chosen, as the elevator-style music felt a little outdated and old fashioned. But the decor was lovely and had that beautiful alpine lodge feel… warm and inviting. Overall our experience was lovely and we had a really special lunch.

I would definitely recommend The Alpine Restaurant to anyone wanting to enjoy an integration of food and stunning views… while appreciating one of the best locations in all of...

We stayed at a Mt Cook Village motel for 2 nights and given the sparae dining options available in this area, we pre-booked the buffet dinner at the Alpine Restaurant for our 2nd night. We were extremely glad we did, as the quality of the food and the spread did not let us down. We enjoyed the buffet as a proper meal after 8 days of travelling around the Southlands where our meals were mostly home-cooked and we only had proper sit-down dining with our own dedicated tables perhaps 3 times in total. We were apprehensive due to some of the negative reviews about the food quality but we found no cause for complains at all. The food was fresh and delectable especially the red meats, the service by well-trained and super friendly wait staff were impeccable and the hotel had a decidedly old-world charm and ambiance about it. The views were to die for with Mt Cook clearly visible, so the location was extremely strategic.

I guess the restaurant doesn't really need to promote itself given its unique location and captive audience, but that doesn't mean they compromised on the food, at least for the dinner buffet, and they certainly had a reputation to keep!

This meal was decidedly a mid-point highlight of my 2-week...

We went for the buffet which costs 80$. The presentation is nice and there's a lot of variety if you're vegan, gluten free, etc but the good parts end there. The food is very unseasoned, even the desserts were so boring in flavor, something you would expect to buy from pac and save. The better food, like the salmon and Sushi, was still just average. Pasta was overcooked, seafood had no seasoning and the most tasteless chicken ever. Very disappointing for this price-point. The worst part was that we were only allowed to eat and sit in the dining area for 1 and a half hours. And the restaurant was far from full. You're not able to eat, socialise and have drinks in that short time span. So greedy, this buffet is what you'd expect for $30. I would not recommend this, if you're at Mt Cook, there are many good...