Blue Lake Eatery & Bar — Restaurant in South Island

Went into this bar/restaurant with high hopes. The food on their website looks amazing. Went into the bar for a couple of cocktails first, the bar tender was friendly however, when we asked for the cocktail menu he told us that we have to scan the QR code and can order directly from the app (not what we asked him for, and you are charged a surcharge on the app). We ordered over the bar after we found the cocktails we wanted. There was a paper cocktail menu that we found later in the restaurant. Quite a high surcharge on paywave so be careful there. The cocktails were nice, however one of them had a cherry in it that overpowered the cocktail (and this wasn’t supposed to be in the cocktail). There was no music in the bar, there was no ambiance/atmosphere to speak of. We took our drinks through to the restaurant and looked over the menu. We didn’t see any of the amazing dishes that was on the website on the menu. I ordered the poached pear salad, my Fiance ordered the cauliflower steak (both entrees). The staff serving were nice and the food arrived fairly quickly. Mine looked like a lettuce with a sprinkle of grated cheese on top. The cauliflower steak looked nice but was undercooked. The salad didn’t have any taste of poached pear (which I mentioned to the waitress when she asked us how the food was) her reply was that she’d let the chef know about adding more poached pear in future 🤷🏽‍♂️ The price wasn’t bad for a tourist town in the middle of nowhere for entrees. Most of the mains were around the $50 mark but there was no way we were doing mains after the entrees. Nice looking place, combining dining and the bar scene. It was warm (in the restaurant side they were playing some modern Metallica, which we all know is rubbish since the 90’s, kind of a weird music choice for that restaurant). Staff were friendly but seemed like tourists working their way through the country with no real care for their work other than being polite and getting paid. Wouldn’t go back here again. The food was not what was expected and the atmosphere...

We always enjoy the food at Blue Lake. Portions are always generous, the menu is exciting and updated frequently and prices are reasonable. You have to remember that Tekapo is a very small town and relies on the tourist dollar and the busy seasons- school holidays in particular. Our meals were amazing. I had the Vegetarian Fusilli which was full of a variety of roasted vege and a lovely tomato sauce with parmesan. Just what I felt like. Hubby had a Parsnip Soup as he wasn't feeling as hungry. No complaints from him at all, and said he would order the same again. Only small ( and very small) thing was that the staff were quite slow to get our drinks order in. In fact, we were seated and then ignored for almost 15 mins. We had made a booking ( 6.30 pm) and there were only four other tables dining( two with children). My husband eventually went and got his own beer from thebar and the staff seemed a bit perplexed with this( we didn't mean to be rude, but we had been waiting a while). I have worked in Hospo and the general rule is that drinks are where the money is made, so my advice would be to 1. make contact with the party/ table and tell them you will be right back with the drinks menu and 2) Get the drinks order done within 2-3 minutes if possible. There were two waitpeople on so they may have been short staffed ( and I get this) but just a heads up and some communication would be really good. Otherwise, an excellent place to visit in Tekapo with delightful food and ambience. Thanks...

I’m terribly disappointed with the service at this place. We chose it based on the great reviews online, and after a three-hour trip, we were really looking forward to eating there. When we arrived, the host informed us that the kitchen wouldn’t open until 5 p.m.—which was fine—so we decided to wait and ordered a small starter (some wings) and a beer.

The same host brought the order to our table and practically threw it down. We weren’t given any cutlery, napkins, or anything else. Meanwhile, I noticed another table—also waiting to enter the restaurant—was told they could go in, and menus were brought to them right where they were seated.

We weren’t told anything, but we assumed it was okay to go in since that was our plan anyway. As we were walking through the (completely empty) dining area to find a table, the same host shouted at us in a very rude and disrespectful tone, asking where we were going and telling us we had to go to the counter first to be seated. We were shocked by her attitude and the way she spoke to us.

Again, the restaurant was completely empty (aside from the other table that had already been invited in), yet it took her at least three minutes to prepare our table. At that point, we decided to leave. We were genuinely excited to try the food, but the host’s attitude was so unpleasant and dismissive that we didn’t feel comfortable staying. I can’t say for certain if her behavior was racially motivated, but it definitely felt...