Edgewater Restaurant - Lake Wānaka, New Zealand — Restaurant in South Island

Mediocre food, odd request from waitstaff.

I ate lunch here with my family July 15, 2024 while walking around around the lake. The food was average to below average, however one of the waitstaff made a request that troubled me.

We entered from the lakeside door and I indicated to a waitress that we would like seating for 3 for lunch. She said sure, grab a table and order at the bar when ready. When we went up to order, the gentlemen behind the bar indicated that he would take our order at the table, no problem, so we sat back down and 2 minutes latter, he arrived to take our order.

As we started, he indicated that he would need to hold a credit or debit card at the bar while we ate. I've only been in new zeland for about a week, I've never been asked this before, and indeed I dined in over 40 countries on 6 continents, and this is a first. My initial though it, perhaps they will record the card number and details while we dine, for nefarious purposes. So I told him no way, he can hold my drivers license. Frankly it didn't feel like a sketchy place, but still, this request is too absurd. He said, in that case, please order at the bar. Ok, so we got up again and placed our order at the bar and paid before we got our food.

I'm from the US, I am used to tipping, but when the payment system asked me for a tip, I was so off put that I declined.

After that the meal went off without a hitch. My take on what we ordered is as follows:

"Fried Chicken" was quite good, although it wasn't fried chicken, it was chicken tenders. I would say that they were well flavored (peppery), the coating was delicate and the dill dipping sauce was a good counterpart. "Beef Burger" was below average, even for new zeland. This was my 3rd restaurant burger in NZ, and while none of them seem to have much flavor, the ground beef in this one was mushy and substantially under cooked. The Rubin was a disaster, rock hard and sharp bread, almost no dressing and flavorless. My daughter ate half and gave me the rest. The potato wedges were decent though. The mushroom soup was good The Ginger scone was good The flat white was below average The hot chocolate was below average, even for new zeland

So in summary: The food was acceptable to below average, with the fried chicken being far better than everything else, the warm fireplace was nice after a walk at the lake in the winter, however the odd encounter with the waiter at the bar was very offputting, and I cannot recommend...

Five stars for the food and views. Two stars for the front of house.

From the moment we arrived, the front-of-house staff displayed an attitude as we didn't order drinks (literally just finished drinking at the same bar), which set a negative tone for the evening. There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm, and the staff seemed more focused on talking amongst themselves than attending to the customers. This made us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Additionally, we had been told that a special dessert would be prepared for my partner to mark the occasion. However, after finishing our meal, nothing was presented, and we were left waiting. When I inquired about the dessert, we were merely handed a dessert menu and told that it would be on the house if we made an order. This was a far cry from the special experience we had been led to expect, and it was disheartening to be treated in such a way after sharing such a personal celebration.

It is particularly upsetting because I had intended to give high praise to the chefs for their excellent food, but the poor service overshadowed what could have been a positive experience.

This lack of attention to detail and the unwelcoming atmosphere were a huge letdown, and I hope that future customers do not have to endure the same. It is such a shame, as the food itself was wonderful, but the overall experience left much...

The flat white with soy milk tasted absolutely great here! I was actually surprised how delicious it was since the reviews are on the lower end at this establishment. The price was pretty okay for the size of cup, especially compared to other places in town. Since it’s a bit out of the way of the town centre I would say this is not my top pick for Wanaka, but I did thoroughly enjoy my morning that came with a great cup of coffee and an even greater view of the lake. And yes, there were some people cleaning when I arrived, but they are a hotel and cafe opens at 8am…. What can you expect? I’d rather sit through a few minutes of vacuuming and have a clean area than a dirty one. Plus the place is large and has a patio, so there’s plenty of seating out of range of...