The Stoaker Room Wanaka — Restaurant in South Island

We stumbled across The Stoaker Room when we were searching for a "nice restaurant" to celebrate the end of our annual skiing 🎿 trip.

Criteria: Good food, good wine 🍷, casual vibe, "something local" … most importantly, an experience everyone would enjoy.

The pictures 📸 on Google told a good story, we decided to "give it a go" - a Saturday lunch.

From the moment we entered, we felt at ease. The décor was wood, in a calm, friendly, you're at home with mates sort of way. Nothing pretentious.

We were shown to our table - corner booth. Private. Spacious.

We ordered the Stoaker Tasting Platter and paired it with the matching Wild Earth Wines.

The waitress informed us the platter would take a while (at least 30 minutes), but assured us the wait would be worth it - we appreciated the fact that expectations had been set.

Our meal arrived - WOW! There was definitely a lot of food for two people 😋 I promise you it tasted as good as it looks ... a picture, in this case, tells a thousand words! Fantastic presentation - the wooden board really added 'weight' to the meal's presence.

The meat 🍖 melted in our mouthes, a burst of flavour. The vegetables 🥕🥔 were roasted like we do at home - fresh & wholesome.

After lunch, we took a walk outside and stumbled upon the kitchen - the chef👨‍🍳 invited us in for a chat and a look-see. It's always nice to see how one's food is prepared - the kitchen was a "working kitchen", the smell of meat 🍖 when he opened the barrels made our hearts yearn for more.

A "must do" experience for anyone who loves ❤️ their meat! You won't be...

My partner and I are MASSIVE fans of the Stoaker Room in Cromwell and were so excited to try the sister restaurant in Wanaka. We were very curious though if it would be as good as the Cromwell location.

Safe to say, we were blown away. First off, what a beautiful update for the interior of the building. The old cafe and shop that used to be at the location really did not showcase the space as well as the Stoaker Room has chosen to. It's so open and we loved the rustic feel. Very excited for patio sessions there come next summer.

We were greeted by a man with a beard whose name I don't remember, but he seemed very proud of the restaurant and let us look around and take in the new decor. He explained some of the new updates and how the menu worked. He seemed very happy to be there (which isn't often the case in New Zealand hospitality) and it made us stoked to be there. Right off the bat, we were very pleased.

We were then waited on by a blonde woman who seemed to have a European accent (again, can't remember her name). She was so patient with us and gave us great recommendations - even at one point advising us that perhaps we were ordering too many potatoes haha.

Food was mind-blowing. Can't really say more than that - we had absolutely zero complaints and loved everything.

Probably the best restaurant experience in Wanaka at the moment. I know that's a bold statement, but the service was top-tier and the food was incredible. Doesn't get much better than that. Keep up the good work guys,...

Steak was perfectly cooked, juicy and so very good! But the side dishes were a big disappointment, "grilled vegetables " were not grilled at all and tasted sugary sweet, like they had been soaked in sugar water...the texture reminded my husband of frozen vegetables. The mac and cheese portion was tiny and lacked creaminess and cheesy tang. The roast potatoes were okay, we thought they'd be crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle but no, we can make better at home. They also only serve beer and wine and liquor here, no mixed drinks or cocktails. The local brews and wine were a thumbs up.

5 stars for the steaks, both rump and ribeye were delicious. 4 stars for the service, the quesadilla, and stuffed mushrooms. 3.5 stars for the bread and burgers. 1-2 stars for the side dishes.

If we go back we'll stick to steak, salad and beer/wine. The salad looked good and we wish we had ordered that instead of the fake "grilled" vegetables.

The massive shared platters the other tables ordered looked good, maybe we'll try that next time.

But please do something about your horrible...