Whitestone Cheese Diner & Deli — Restaurant in South Island

Exciting to try the new diner. Made reservations online and our table was waiting for us with a cute little table marker with my name on it, a nice personal touch. The deco is beautiful and fun. The only draw back is that it is a noisy and echoy place. It was hard to have a conversation with my dining partner.

When you first walk in there is a little gift shop area to the left, and a counter staight ahead. This area could get a little congested and bottle necked, and was a little confusing. We went to the counter were they acted like they did know where to send us, then we were directed to a young lady down at the other end of the counter with a tablet, who had our reservation, and seated us. To be fair the diner had only been open for a couple of days and were probably still working out the kinks.

When we got to our table they brought us water, however it was sparking water, and not my preference. They may have asked, but like I said earlier, it was hard to hear in there.

The menu has a smallish selection, but all the food sounded good, especially if you like cheese. Iorderedr the chicken sandwic, and my dining partner ordered the fish. The meal were on the small size, but perfect for us. The sandwiches were served with a side of slaw instead of fries, which we also preferred. The food was well presented, hot and delicious. They also have a good selection of cocktails and drinks.

Lastly, the parking is out front with only about half dozen of spaces and you have to back out onto the main road, which gets very busy at times. I didn't noticed any signs for additional parking.

I will go back and look forward to trying other items...

Stopped in for lunch while passing through. The decor is beautiful and staff very friendly. Ordered burgers - would suggest that it is noted on the menu that the burgers have tomato on them as we would have asked for this to be left off. Hopefully the Pattie’s are made onsite as they were very very raw inside - some parts I wasn’t able to eat. The coleslaw was delicious. The poutine was ok - curds very nice but gravy very watery and tasteless. All of the servers are absolutely lovely to deal with but there was a bit of confusion between them all and we had 4 different waitresses asking if we had ordered or how our food was - still had to remind them we were outside waiting for our order to be taken after a while waiting. Ordered entrees and mains but all came out at the same time - one of the servers did apologise for this which was appreciated. Overall, the concept is great and cheese amazing but definitely a few tweaks to be made before I could rate this as 5 stars - which is a little disappointing after a $140 lunch for two (couple of drinks included). Would also suggest a baby change table for the bathrooms to accomodate for...

Visited on August 30th for the 10am cheese tour as a few friends had recommended we visited and we weren't disappointed! Our host, Jim, had a fantastic energy, was super knowledgeable, explained the process of the cheese making well and made sure everyone in the group felt included. I personally loved the cheese puns and cheese related Dad jokes. After a short film on the history of Whitestone specifically, a guide will take you around the facility, pointing out areas where different award winning cheeses are made. After the tour, you are brought back to a conference room to try 6 different cheeses - all were yum! You can opt for a wine pairing too if you would like too. The tour finishes around 11:30 ish. I would personally recommend staying for lunch in the cafe after as they have the most delicious cheese rolls. The only area for improvement I would suggest is to include a chutney (one that they sell in the shop so customers can buy after) with the cheese platter. Highly recommend this activity in Oamaru. Thanks Jim for making our tour...