Wither Hills — Restaurant in South Island

Wither Hills Restaurant is absolutely stunning! We were celebrating our anniversary and had a gift voucher to use, so we decided to book on a Sunday lunchtime as they have a roast meal on the menu during winter hours. We were served by the amazing Freddie who also took our booking and he to helped us over the phone when we had to cancel our original booking, he was so lovely to deal with, nothing was a problem. We both ordered the roast beef meal, which was absolutely divine! The red wine gravy was incredible, full of flavour, the beef sirlion was perfect blushing pink, and the vegetables were so delicious, crispy potatoes, leek mornay, roasted carrots, braised red cabbage and swede mash all just married together perfectly. And the yorkshire pudding was huge, perfect for mopping up that delicious gravy. I had the wine match and oooo lala it was perfection. Freddie kindly acknowledged it was our wedding anniversary and brought a beautiful sweet treat to the table for us to share. Thank you. And we also had a dessert off the menu, which was the banana fritter and roast peanut parfait. I loved the crispness of the fritter, and the parfait was so incredibly delicious. We were really impressed with our meals, and we feel the service is impeccable, friendly, and super organized both from Freddie and the lovely young ladies. We totally recommend visiting Wither Hills Winery and Restaurant, even if it's for a wine tasting because their wines are amazing. But treat yourself to a beautiful meal, pair it with the wine they recommend, you won't be...

My recent visit was overall very enjoyable, with several highlights that nearly earned it a perfect score. The ambiance and general service were commendable, setting the stage for a pleasant evening.

While the food was generally good, there were a few areas where attention to detail could elevate the experience:

The glassware, while clean, had some minor imperfections. A more thorough polishing process could ensure a flawless presentation, especially for wine service.

The pasta dish we ordered would have benefited from more thoughtful utensil pairing. A soup spoon instead of a knife would have enhanced the enjoyment of the sauce.

The flavors in the tomato-based pasta sauce were slightly out of balance, leaning a bit too sweet for a dish featuring Italian sausage. A more savory profile might better complement both the sausage and the Pinot Noir we chose.

The sausage in the pasta could have been cut into more manageable pieces. Smaller, minced chunks would improve both texture and flavor distribution, making for a more seamless dining experience.

These minor adjustments could transform an already good meal into an exceptional one. Despite these small issues, we enjoyed our time here and would recommend it to others. With a bit more attention to these finer points, this restaurant has the potential to become a true five-star...

A group of friends and I were excited for lunch at Wither Hills this past Saturday. The restaurant itself is lovely but the experience and the food was terrible. Firstly, we ordered entrees and mains and all were brought out at the same time so the table was over crowded. The cos lettuce side at $11 was just regular lettuce leaf, our steaks at $42 looked like they had been boiled and were chewy and inedible, the plate was also missing a listed ingredient. I questioned this with the waiter and he said “yeah I noticed that too, makes all the difference doesn’t it” yet nothing was said by your staff when they were brought out to us . The Rissoto was under cooked and crunchy. The presentation of the steak actually made us laugh out loud and we were shocked your chefs felt comfortable sending it out to us. A bit of communication from your staff to let us know your kitchen was out of ingredients could have helped us decide whether we still wanted to order those meals or accept a substitute (which we wouldn’t have and would have chosen something else). There was just no acknowledgment and it would have made all the difference. One of your staff members kindly offered us some wine to turn our experience around and apologise, which was appreciated, however we were left extremely...