Where to eat in Wānaka – an insider's guide

A magnificent kimchi toastie, monkfish bites and mapo tofu are all essential eating in Wānaka, according to chef and local insider Dane Archery.

Picture perfect. That’s one way to describe Wānaka. The South Island resort town, with its fairytale-like township clinging to the sapphire-hued lake and framed by snow capped mountains. Vineyards and floral fields dot the surrounding countryside. Some might tell you that places with ridiculously picturesque outlooks like this don’t necessarily make for interesting eating. Dane Archery, the founder and executive chef at Archery & co, and eat Sūperb, begs to differ.

Born in Durban, South Africa, Archery moved to Hawea, just outside Wānaka and “maybe the greatest town on earth”, two years ago. Since then, he’s run Archery and Co, a private dining company that caters to high-end lodges and villas across Wānaka, Queenstown and Central Otago. Last year he opened eat Sūperb, a food truck located at the ​​Three Parks precinct in Wānaka, giving him another (more accessible) way to cook for the local community (follow chef_danearchery on Instagram for updates on upcoming pop ups). Next year, he will be teaming up with Breast Cancer Cure and Lake Hāwea Station for their annual Hike & Dine For a Cure events, raising funds for breast cancer research.

When he’s not cooking for others, whether at a high-end private lodge, in his food truck or at a charity event, Archery makes time to explore what his adopted home has on offer. Here are his favourite places to eat and drink around Wānaka – a place where the food does in fact live up to the views.

Three words (other than vibrant) that sum up the food in Wānaka: Young. Expensive. Evolving.

My most controversial food opinion about Wānaka: If Wānaka was a suburb in Auckland, and you were listing the suburbs by best food, we wouldn't even make it in the top 10. 

Everyone has a dining out pet peeve. Mine is: Trends. Also restaurant chains and hospitality groups (which are both wrapped in a parcel).

The local dish I crave most: Szechuan tripe at Gusto (it pops up as a special sometimes).

The best restaurant in Wānaka is: Muttonbird.

Why I love Muttonbird: It’s owner-operated by hospitality pros that are doing what they do, exactly how they want to do it. It has personality, honesty and humility. It’s as close to eating in someone's home as you can get in a restaurant in Wānaka. It feels truly hospitable.

My go-to order is: Whatever they are offering on their multi-course menu. Always add the mussel escabeche – they bang. And the monkfish bites too – ooooh! – which is maybe my favourite snack (or, canape, if you’re fancy like that) around. On the "big" section of the menu there’s the lamb neck – this is fire, too.  

When I’m craving something cheap and cheerful I head to: Gusto, which is a Chinese joint that is unpretentious and delicious. The mapo tofu is all you need to satisfy your tummy and soul. A pizza at Hook ain’t half bad either – they also have a sand pit and plenty of space outside if you have kiddies.

The most underrated local gem is: eat Sūperb – our food truck. Our food is honest, flavour forward, gut healthy. It's all the kinds of things I want to eat, but given the attention it deserves. We make our own slow-fermented sourdough for our burgers, sandwiches and hotdogs; we use the best of the best of local produce; we hand-cut our chips; we make sixteen different ferments, from our own yoghurt and kefir, to kimchi, pickles, atchars, and so much. Phew! I think we give the other food trucks around a run for their money.

A recent food discovery I can’t stop talking about: South Coast Co. honey. It’s extremely small batch, local and delicious.

Celebrating with a group? Book a table at: Hook. Great long tables, multiple dining areas, activities for kids and awkward men, a big bar and pizza.

Pub or bar of choice: Verve wins first, second and third. Just a swaggy spot for locals away from the lake, with a great list that changes often. And really knowledgeable staff.

The BYO I keep going back to: Gusto.

For a late-night food fix you’ll find me at: This is sadly a category that needs a lot of work. 

An ideal date spot would be: Alleyway Emporium for a takeaway snack. Then, head up Mt Iron and watch the sun retire with the bottle of Black Quail Estate or Māori Point that you brought with you for the walk – heaven.

Make sure to order: From Alleyway Emporium; a takeaway coffee, a kimchi toastie and a buffalo cauliflower sanga.

But I’d advise you to avoid the: Thick cookies. I don’t get the craze around these. 

Wānaka’s best… 

Breakfast: Relishes Cafe for a bacon and egg butty. Add a Martinez sausage.

Coffee: Alleyway Emporium. I order two double short blacks in a single cup. 

Sandwich: For me, it’s a toss up between the kimchi toastie at Alleyway Emporium and Scroggin’s one hander (bacon, sausage or halloumi, scrambled egg, aged cheddar, kasundi and mayo in a housemade brioche bun).

Noodles: Singapore fried noodles at Lake View Seafood Restaurant.

Pie: Sanga's. In particular the underbelly (pork belly braised in IPA with Chinese spices) or the holey smoke (steak and smoked cheese). Most dairies sell them but it’s worth the drive out to Cromwell – they are best at the source.

Comfort meal: Mapo tofu at Gusto.

Seafood: We suck at seafood.

Bowl of soup: Ramen Ramen. At times it can be average, but on their good days they’re really good.

Bread: Either eat Sūperb’s sourdough buns or the sourdough for the reuben. Not us is the sourdough at Muttonbird.

Baked treat: The canelé at Pembroke Pâtisserie. Also their spinach ricotta roll – sheesh.

What defines a great canelé? The burnt toffee. They should be almost crunchy on the outside coupled with the rum custard interior that takes me back to Christmas trifle memories. Also just the right size for a treat without the guilt. 

If you’re after spice, make a beeline for: Gusto and order the Szechuan pigs ear. If their Szechuan tripe special is on, get that too!

A splurge that’s worth it: Seafood at Lake View Seafood Restaurant. Especially when bluffies are in season. It's all good. The pāua is ridiculously tender and the way they serve it has forever changed the way I see and use pāua. The cray slaps too.

A little local treat that always cheers me up: Red Bridge Berries. It’s the best pick-your-own strawberry farm ever. They also do frozen yoghurts and ice creams, and you won't believe that the strawberries blended into them are strawberries that are actually grown on the farm, not overseas like every other spot seems to use.

My favourite grocery shop: Freshlink Grocer. It's always a good experience here. It’s not the sensory assault you get at a supermarket. People chat and the pace is slower. Beware, however, the prices are Wānaka prices. 

For the best produce, I stop in at: Wild Things – it’s gangsta. Organic, seasonal, no fluff. It's what's ready now and nothing else.

A perfect place to linger over a drink: Verve is just so, so, so vibey. 

My favourite local hospo personality: Tasha Wadeson (a weapon) who founded, owns and operates Relishes. I have very rarely in my career needed a hand out of the weeds, but those very few times I have, Tasha has helped me out. 

Also, the whole team at Lake Hāwea Station, which is the home of truly out of this world hospitality.

For outstanding people watching, go to: Wānaka Lavender Farm. It’s a great spot for kids and you can watch the lunacy that is influencers around flowers too. Related side note: please don’t park on highways to get your lupin shots for Instagram.

The place I’m most likely to bump into someone I know: Anywhere. We are still a community down here and you need to allow time for yarns in your life. Your soul deserves it.

The place I go to avoid bumping into anyone I know: I love people. So should you – put down your device! We are all one. Hospitality is the act of being hospitable; it's who I am, how I am, what I believe in. We have the power to bring people together in this industry. It should be a priority. 

A restaurant I would love to relocate to Wānaka: Gemmayze Street in Auckland – it’s the best restaurant in the entire country so I’d love to have it here in Wānaka. But we badly need dumplings and late-night spots, too, so if I could pick up the Chinatown complex in Burswood, Auckland and drop it here in Wānaka, I would. There should be multiple Michelin starred joints in that part of Auckland, but we all know how racist and Eurocentric food reviewing has been traditionally. I mean, how else does a place like White + Wong’s – serving truly horrible dumplings, but owned by non-Chinese people – end up on some of the country’s top restaurant lists? There, I said it. 

The place I return to again and again: Relishes – for the people, the vibe and the best fluffy for my boy. There’s also parking (but I can’t say where – that’s a local-only secret).

Why I love eating in Wānaka: It’s my home.