December 2012 – March, 2013
It has taken me a long time to get around to doing a blog post about Paihia eateries because we so seldom ate there. We mostly ate either in Kerikeri or on the boat, and many of the places we did eat in Paihia were covered in our fish and chips blog post. There was a Thai place we’d go to occasionally called Amazing Thai, and that was good, but the portions were pretty small.
Before I wrap up writing about our Opua time, I do have some Paihia places we tried that I’d like to mention.
The first spot is called the Upper Deck. It’s upstairs, overlooking the street and waterfront beyond, and it serves a variety of food, including Mexican food. We went for lunch and were disappointed to find most of the Mexican entrees are served at dinnertime. We did spot chicken chili nachos on the lunch menu and ordered those. The verdict: I would call this less the cuisine of Mexico and more the cuisine of the American happy hour, but sometimes this sort of food hits the spot. I would like to go back and try one of the dinners.
Another place is called Hansen’s Cafe (I think). It’s in the building near the pier, and it’s a very simple cafe that serves pizzas along with basic food. We went early for breakfast one morning and had toasties (toasted sandwiches) with egg and cheese. We sat on the back patio area and the early morning view of the shore was beautiful. The toasties were good; we never did try the pizza.
We finally ventured to Jimmy’s Rib Shack near the end of our Opua stay, and we had to admit that while they were not the best ribs we’ve had, they were surprisingly good. If you’re in the mood for ribs, these will satisfy that yen. (Sorry, we have no picture of this place)
The next place is called The Waterfront Restaurant and Bar. We didn’t actually try this until the end of April. We were far south in Tauranga by then, but we came back to attend a cruising seminar, and the proprietor of our hotel recommended this place. We’d noticed it before, but it has a sort of upscale, touristy look that never attracted us. That day, the recommendation and the fact that we could walk there from the hotel made us decide to go.
We went in to find this beautiful canvas-covered patio full of fire features. There were fires in pillars, and two tables had fires in the middle of them. It was beautiful, and they helped keep the area warm on that chilly fall night. We ordered dinners, splitting a chicken dish in mushroom cream sauce and their famous basta pasta, a meat sauce with cheese on pasta. This was accompanied by glasses of remarkably good pinot noir and toffee pudding for dessert. We were both really, really impressed with the food. In fact we can agree that it is right up there with the best dinners we’ve had in New Zealand. If you’re staying in Opua and want a nice dinner out, make a beeline for this restaurant. It’s a nice place and while not cheap, it’s also not particularly expensive and better than a lot of other places with similar prices. –Cyndi
