Vudu Cafe — Restaurant in South Island

Have visited this cafe a few years ago and it's still one of the busiest due to it's ideal location in Queenstown and it was highly enjoyable.Having just come back from our Easter week, we were quickly turned off by the huge crowd waiting inside. A simple grab a coffee was no way going to happen this time of year. However, my experience this time was not quite so enjoyable. I understand it was busy and people are trying to look in the glass slice/cake counter which is located right in front however, the young staff were quite rude when trying to walk past to deliver the coffee/meals to other diners. Quite a few times whilst trying to select something I & another customer were met with a rude " Excuse Me !!" and a roll of the eyes more than once. Staff, you are dealing with adults/tourists here so please be a little more polite. The staff need to realise that the queue and influx of people hovering around the main area is necessary especially given the cash register is also there not to mention the door to the restrooms. The design of the cafe is simply not ideal and a major problem for both staff and customers, however coffee and food really good and worth the wait if you have time and patience. Worth walking around and finding other cafes not quite so busy in peak season as there are plenty...

5 stars on all accounts!

Staff are friendly, helpful and timely. The atmosphere is wonderful, with a huge colourised poster of early Queenstown, beautiful lighting fixtures and comfortably sized seating and tables.

Of course, the most important aspect is the food. While pricey, it's not substantially higher than other cafes in the region but it delivers exceptional quality, both in terms of presentation and flavour. The food is richly flavoured, with a good textural variety exceeding expectations. The obviously intentional choice of components is also excellent - usage of a crispy base layer (e.g. Toast or panko crumbs) to mop up sauces without becoming a soggy mess, sauces themselves seem to be home made (the hollandaise has that iconic 'layered' texture from not being overmixed) and good usage of supporting flavours/textures to improve edibility and cut through the richness (I note chives and basil are used for this). Aside from the actual consumption, the presentation is also fantastic, with dishes plated beautifully and generously. The effort really shows and there's an incredible attention to detail - your staff should be extremely proud of themselves.

Thank you for the...

DATE OF VISIT: end of February 2020

A great stop for breakfast! We stopped here on the morning before one of our tours and enjoyed our coffees and pastry by the beautiful view of Lake Wakatipu. We did not order off of the menu, as you can see by the many photos they have a entire case of pastries that vary. We had a savory pastry that was absolutely delicious! So even though their posted menu may not sound all that enticing, I highly recommend trying this place to see what's in their case!

Seating is very limited indoors and outdoors but on par with a lot of the other restaurants in the area. There is also a front and back entrance that people can come in/out of which made it a little confusing for us at first, but everyone's friendly and will help out.

They are known for their Vegan food and I think those are most of their high ratings - so if you're vegan, I think this would be a great stop for you. Would I return here when we come back to Queenstown? No. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here. The food is decent, but I always rate based on have I thought about them nonstop since we left and...