Plato — Restaurant in South Island

Absolutely the best fish cuisine we’ve ever had!

We found this hidden treasure after a random walk through the blocks of graffiti walls. It is located near the wharf without many restaurants around.

The place is cozy and spacious, decorated with abundance of tea pots and collections of ornaments. There are heaters by the window seats which keep you warm and dry on a windy and rainy day.

Plato keeps their menu simple and focused, mostly shells as entrées and fish cuisine as mains, and more lively with several creative options consisting of pork belly, beaf and lamb.

We had oyster, clams and mussels, all very worth trying. Though the season for Bluff oysters might have passed, Plato still managed to offer the most fresh and meaty Pacific oysters we had in town. We tried the mussels in three different broths, seaweed, horseradish butter and laksa, all very satisfying. Pork belly and squid were adequately seasoned and cooked, going exceptionally well with their own slaw salad.

Their fish cuisine are must-try. We had blue cod and king fish various ways, baked with coconut crumble paste and served with coconut broth, and pan fried with spices and served with citrus pickles, by which we were totally amazed. The chef clearly favors Asian seasoning and undoubtedly master it, far beyond any restaurants claiming to be Asian Fusion we’ve been to.

The big portions left us not much room for desserts, yet we ventured ourselves into their licorice ice cream, crème brûlée, apple and rhubarb crumble and brownie, and we came back for the brownie a second time.

During our 5 days’ stay in Dunedin, we spent our dinner time with Plato three nights. The owners and staff are exceptionally warm and friendly. It is definitely our most cherished memory...

I work weekends so my Friday night is Tuesday night. As you might imagine it is even more difficult to find places to eat if you finish at 7:30 to 8pm at night so to find somewhere that is pleased to take your booking and makes you feel more that welcome is a blessing. Now to the food, we weren't in love with our entrée. It was interesting but not overly exciting the Garlic bulbs were beautifully baked but it was hard to find a good combination from the rest of the items to go with it. I was a bit worried that we had hit the wrong place this time but along came the mains. WOW what a change ! You know when the whole table goes quiet as the food has taken over everyone's thought process. All three meals were full of flavour and perfectly cooked. After trying a little of Mum's Southern monk fish curry and Peter's flatiron steak, I knew I'd be back for more. I had the Salmon deconstructed sushi style, beautiful. Will follow my gut instinct next time and get the smoked fish...

We had a great anniversary dinner here! The portion size was nice and big for the price - like what I would expect to get in the US. The service was the best Ive had in Dunedin; very attentive and knowledgable. My wife has food allergies and they easily catered to her needs. My steak was cooked with skill - the best ive had in New Zealand. And the sauce was excellent. My wife said the salmon was delicious and cooked perfectly. The dessert brownie was still warm and you can tell that a lot of love and care was added by the little details ( sprinkled dried berries on top). Over all one of the best meals we've had in a long time. We will definitely...