Chamois Bar & Grill — Restaurant in South Island

Ordered the Grilled Salmon. While waiting, everything else that the kitchen served out looked so good that I thought, the food is worth the wait. Over 30 mins go by, and the food isn't here. The kitchen is serving burger after burger, pizza after pizza. But nothing much of the other menu items. Finally after 45 mins of waiting, a friend's steak comes and it looks so good. So big, so well made. They fully used up the plate and filled it with so much goodness. Then comes my Grilled Salmon, with excitement I go to collect my food. And with utter disappointment I came back with my food. The portion size of the Grilled Salmon, the main attraction of the dish, was pathetically small. It was as if I ordered a side/entree instead of a main course. The couscous was also served dry. Like they were overcooked or something. Not something that brings the dish together. Add on to the fact that the dish wasn't filled up compared to other items of the menu. They literally just use some sauce to cover the empty space. It's just sad to look at. My table of 9 were all looking at me with sympathy. I'm just utterly disappointed with this. Would recommend to go for either Burgers or Pizzas at this place, cause its the only food that they can serve well. 2 stars because the other foods do actually look nice, and my table was complimenting the food. The remaining missing 3 stars because of the hell wait, the horrible portion, and the sad taste of my Grilled Salmon...

I am very annoyed by the service we were offered. Arriving late to Aoraki Lodge, we tried to call multiple times on our journey from Greymouth to confirm the time we could order main meals for dinner due to our late arrival. First off, the number available sent the call to the lodge, who instead advised they couldn’t offer us the number for the restaurant or transfer our call. After checking multiple times online, we finally got through to someone from the bar and grill but they simply stated that we arrive and order instead of telling us when the kitchen closed. Going by what is stated in the end online, we arrived at 9pm just to be told the kitchen closes at 9pm but the bar is open till 11pm. When we told the staff on hand about the issues we faced calling them, they simply ignored the issue, especially the feedback about the wrong number online as well as the difficulty to get in contact. Furthermore, staff had a whole lot of trouble trying to understand what we were saying, resulting in us having to repeat ourselves multiple times. Evidently, English was a second language for the staff we interacted with and I have no issue with that coming from a family with immigrant roots, but the lack of understanding has definitely resulted in our bad experience and service with your business. Please advise or at least update online that your kitchen closes at 9pm so those travelling a long distance to the area can make necessary...

A lot of people here writing negative reviews are quick to judge the place without taking the whole picture into perspective. Mount Cook village is a remote area with only 3-4 restaurants, Chamois being the only pub/ bar open till late.

We came here twice in 2 days because the service and food was great on the first night, leading us to return on the second night. Whilst the food was slightly pricey (as expected due to remote location/ closest supermarket 60km away), it was extremely wholesome and generous.

It’s not fancy or fine dining (go to the Panorama Room at Hotel Hermitage if you’re after this a vibe), but for a pub feed, it was delicious.

Shout out to the lovely bartender/manager (?) with glasses who was so warm and welcoming, as well as incredibly informative about the local spirits. I would have typically given this place 4 stars however it doesn’t deserve the bad reviews it’s gotten and I hope that this fairly improves...