The Old Mountaineers Cafe — Restaurant in South Island

This is a historic place originally opened by Sir Edmund Hilary and a very good restaurant for those staying in the Mount Cook National Park. With only a few chooses it is easy to be concerned about the limited number of restaurants in the Mount Cook Village.

After reading some very positive reviews on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews, we elected to try The Old Mountaineers' Cafe first. Our meal was very good so we ended up eating here during each of our three nights staying in the village. In short with such limited options, if you find something that works - best to stick with it.

Dining environs and decor are nice. There is a small fireplace and great views of the valley and mountains. Service is pretty good, staff worked hard to serve diners. Orders were delivered in a timely manner and most importantly, execution in the kitchen, at least with their salmon, was consistently very good.

Menu is small with a handful of mains, desserts and drink list. We had the seared and baked salmon served with basmati rice and a delicious garden salad. The fillets were fresh and very well cooked with just the right amount of searing on the outside. Inside, the fillets were soft, pink and flavourful - so much nicer than anything we an regularly find back home.

Dinner was followed with an order of chocolate cake served with Kapiti vanilla ice-cream. It was large enough for two to share and tasted very good. Wine list is small but a couple decent Sauvignon blanc options that went well with the salmon mains.

As mentioned, our first meal was very good so we returned the following two nights. Happy to return that the salmon was just as good during the following next two meals, a good sign for those who enjoy salmon that they are consistent in the kitchen at the Old Mountaineers' Cafe.

We left quite pleased with our three meals and will gladly return to the Old Mountaineers' Cafe the next time we are in the...

Bring your own food when visiting Mount Cook. Two options in the village for dinner. We unfortunately chose pizza here at the old mountaineers cafe. Making the order we asked to have no mushroom on our pizza, we were told the pizzas are pre made so no option to make changes, ok no worries they use frozen pizza no big deal given the location, however a big price for a frozen pizza at $26, but still happy to support the local village economy. The pizza came out pretty quickly, ok cool. Yes COOL it was, undercooked in fact. So we took the pizza back and asked if they could cook it longer. Back to our lodge for a second time and it was still CLEARLY undercooked. PSA undercooked frozen pizza harbours germs in the flour if eaten you could become sick or even die from consuming. When we took the pizza back the second time and asked for a refund as it was not safe to consume, the girl assured it was cooked but maybe not cooked to our liking. Please, if the girl working there reads this review, just do a simple google search of how to visually tell if a frozen pizza is cooked for safe consumption. Management please take this review seriously for constructive criticism, so you don’t cause anyone to become unwell. Staff shortages are no excuse for serving unsafe food. When a frozen pizza is served with the cheese not melted on top, soggy in the centre and the bottom is pale, it is clearly not cooked, therefore unsafe for...

Bit of a mixed bag on this one. The food isn't half bad, but the wait staff is less than stellar. I found them to be either lazy or uninformed on the contents of their menu. When asked "what's on your meat lovers pizza?" I was given a report of "it's got pork and beef". When pressed further about what types of those two products, the request was met with exhasparation and strain.

I asked if the potato wedges could be made well-done (left in the fryer longer) and that was answered with a "yeah we just make them all one way." I understand that I'm deviating outside the norm for an order of fries, but I'm also paying $12 NZD for them. Maybe some room for conversation on how they're prepared, especially if it's just leaving them in the fryer a minute or so longer.

Ultimately, the pizza was pretty good. The sourdough crust is tasty and the toppings are well flavored. Our pizza had surprise mushrooms on it (not listed on the menu). We ordered an apple crumble for dessert and were given attitude upon ordering. It's listed on the menu. If you don't want to make it, just say you can't or you're out. I don't mean to put you out and cause you great effort to do what it is I'm paying you to do.

Wouldn't come back, or do...