Social Club - Taupo — Restaurant in North Island

We went there based on reviews that there were vegan options and I saw that there was plenty for all types of diets and would please all our group. It exceeded our expectations. Jas, the manager was friendly and gave us the best service complete with a view of the lake. Normally I am used to vegan options being a watered down version of other items ( take out the dairy, cheese etc) but I was delighted to see proper “made for vegan” choices for starters, mains and desserts. For the non-vegans at our table, my parents enjoyed the pork belly ( sous vide and seared with delicious spices) and my son, the fried chicken. My husband loved his vegan lentil burger. I had the vegan croquettes - exquisite! The desserts including a vegan rhubarb tart and a sticky date pudding were lovely! There was a good selection of decent cocktails, beers and wines to complement the food. I could not fault anything, think it suits groups with varying palates and will definitely come back. I felt like we were in the best kept secret restaurant in Taupo for those in the know....

We had only a quick stay at the Lakefront Lodge in Taupo. To our delight, upstairs was the Social Club, Taupo, offering drinks and food, with happy hour from 3pm. Kiran, the young lady basically running the show was AMAZING!!! She was friendly, knowledgeable, shared a joke with us and all round SHE made our visit very enjoyable. Kiran is efficient and very good at her job, she kept the show running as it got busier through the night.

As for the food, my partner ordered the Pulled Lamb and thoroughly enjoyed it. He’s not much of a “foodie” so for him to rave about his meal, it must have been good. I ordered the Chicken Tacos, they were tasty and two was certainly enough, along with the yummy garlic ciabatta we ordered. The surprise delight for me however, was the Strawberry Lime Cider! Soooo good and a definite winner.

The view is of course wonderful, looking out over the lake and it’s a pleasant, casual atmosphere, made lovely with the real fire crackling away. A must visit...

Terrible food. A couple of examples: Salmon dish - Salmon over cooked, vegetables old and unseasoned and was more like a boiled Watties frozen medley from the supermarket and the ‘Potato gratin’ was inedible. Social Bowl with chicken - salad had out of season vegetables that were soggy, dressing was disgusting and the chicken pieces were like rubber - in taste and texture so also inedible. The Chicken Burger - McDonalds has a better one for a quarter the price and we don’t even like McDonald’s. The service was abrupt and rushed and when asked how our meals were, didn’t actually stick around long enough for an answer. All in all VERY disappointing. We had come here as a family group the night before our wedding so didn’t go out of our way to complain at the time as we didn’t want to ruin the occasion, but for the price we paid (eg $38 for the salmon meal) and the experience we had, we felt compelled to warn others. It is the biggest dining disappointment we as a couple...