Vine Eatery & Bar

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#14 of 101 Restaurants in Taupo$$ - $$$, European, Contemporary, Vegetarian friendly

+64 7-378 5704+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Mon

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Tue

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Wed

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Thu

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Fri

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Sat

11:00 am - 11:00 pm

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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.0

1,506 reviews

#14 of 101 Restaurants in Taupo

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, European, Contemporary, Wine Bar, New Zealand, Vegetarian friendly

“Best meal in New Zealand, some staffing opportunities”

“Some had chosen the larger size pasta option, and again wondered how small th...”

“My salmon was also very good.”

“The falafel balls were cooked well but were very bland and the chorizo in she...”

Location and contact

37 Tuwharetoa Street Taupo Central, Taupo 3330 New Zealand

+64 7-378 5704

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Is this a Mediterranean restaurant?

Yes

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About

Our talented chefs invite you to indulge in the dishes that have inspired our Mediterranean & NZ influenced menus. Our extensive tapas menu is designed to be shared, and we also offer a full a-la-carte menu for those wanting a more NZ traditional approach to dining. There's awesome Allpress coffee if you just want to relax and a full bar specializing in whisky, craft beer and a huge wine selection reflecting over 25 years in hospitality and wine Along with the many varying areas to enjoy, we have private areas such as 'The Balcony' and 'The Vintage Room' upstairs for groups of ten or more. Specialising in Long Table Shared Plate Dinners' makes Vine Eatery & Bar the perfect place for larger groups who are looking for something a little different and entertaining. For this we offer affordable $45 to $65 including a full tapa menu at $49. All options include dessert and can be paired with some great beverage options. For more casual gatherings we have some amazing platters full of fresh delicious meats, seafood and local produce. Open daily from 11am - Coffee by the fire, lunch, dinner or a drink and catch-up with friends, we look forward to hosting you soon.

CUISINES

European, Contemporary, Wine Bar, New Zealand

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, After-hours

FEATURES

Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining, Seating, Street Parking, Highchairs Available, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Live Music

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4.0

1,506 reviews

Excellent

875

Very good

322

Average

160

Poor

Terrible

Brian L

Oceanside89 contributions

Bad night?

Jan 2020 • couples

I will start by saying the food we eventually got was excellent, so maybe this review is a bit off. However, it must be said that it took 3 times ordering the same thing before it was brought out to us and the service was extremely slow. Tough to take when the plates are bite size and you are very hungry. I will say we were a large group, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

Written 27 January 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FeildingTracey

38 contributions

Disappointing Start

Jun 2020 • none

4 of us dined here on Saturday night for a birthday celebration, I made a booking 2 weeks prior as we were visiting Taupo for the weekend. We arrived at 7.30 to be told we are running behind and we’re kindly given a free round of drinks, thank you to the manager for that. We have been in the restaurant trade so I totally understand these issues. We then stood at the bar for an hour while other locals were ushered to their tables, when I finally complained about the hour wait, we were taken to a table, this was a disappointing start. Onto the positives, the food was very nice and the service was great once we were seated. For a $500 spend for 5 people we were a little disappointed, is this because we weren’t local? Who knows

Written 14 June 2020

wellybint

Wellington34 contributions

Food good - service not so much

Feb 2021 • friends

Had a nice enough dinner at the Vine Eatery over Waitangi weekend. Between us we ordered 7 sharing plates, a main each and a couple of drinks each. The food was quite good but the waiter was quite rude. He was a older (maybe Italian) guy who pulled funny faces at what we ordered and tried to push certain dishes on us even after we told him several of our party were vegetarian and that's why we hadn't ordered a dish he suggested that contained meat. We kept having to order drinks from other waitstaff we could flag down as he either wouldn't take our order (he walked off a few times when we tried to order drinks). He had periods of being ok but overall it wasn't an awesome experience.

Written 7 February 2021

Neil the tourer

Maidstone67 contributions

Top restaurant in Taupo

Feb 2020 • couples

We wanted to end our 2 week holiday with a special night and chose Vine Eatery after previously enjoying a lunch there. The waitress, Barbara, was knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. The range of food was excellent at a reasonable price although we (from UK) find the cost of beer and wine slightly higher than back home. The ambience is very good with a variety of restaurant areas inside and outside. The wine wall is a nice touch with a very large choice of wines. We went for 3 starters to share between 2 couples with mains of pork, beef and scallop risotto concluding with cheese board and creme brulee. We were all very full at the end. Very special evening to celebrate the end of an amazing trip.

Written 21 February 2020

2MilesforaCookie

Philadelphia130 contributions

Must try Expresso Abrigato dessert!

Feb 2020 • family

Stopped here for dinner included with our tour. Had a strange seating arrangement on bar stools (we made it work) and served a tapas board - the chicken wings were exceptional! But the highlight of the meal is the expresso abrogato served with fresh seasonal fruits and mini pavlovas. This is the BEST dessert I have ever had! It’s seasonal, pricey but worth every penny. Sadly, I did NOT take a picture.

Written 4 March 2020

Jane B

Tauranga65 contributions

Think outside the square We walked in to try and book

Apr 2021 • couples

We walked in to try and book for dinner at 5.30pm and were told fully booked and if you want a table you need to book in advance. They could have suggested please you are welcome to have a drink. We went elsewhere for early dinner and walked past again just over an hour later and the reserved tables were still empty. Surely you could be told that will be fine but you need to be out by 6.30pm as the table is booked for 6.45pm. Disappointing.

Written 14 April 2021

Annette Lowry

Sydney3 contributions

A night to remember

Dec 2019 • none

A few weeks ago our family dined at Vine Restaurant in the "Vintage Room" for a 50th birthday, which we loved as it was like having our own private dining room. Our waitress was Hayley who introduced herself at the beginning of the night and made sure we were accommodated for right until the very end. Despite it being very busy and having a rather drunk but amusing hens party next door, we couldn't fault the service or the standard of food or drink- Hayley really made our evening enjoyable with her likeable personality, huge knowledge of the menu as well as talking about recent travels in Europe with my husband. She was very pleasant and we wish her all the best for France next year. Her suggestion of sharing tapas for an entree and then individual main meals after to enjoy the full range of the menu was spot on. We also really enjoyed desserts including chocolate fondant, classic sticky date pudding and berry coffee delights... they did not last long!

Written 23 January 2020

av106

Bristol130 contributions

Pricey for what it is

Feb 2020 • couples

Felt decidedly under dressed. But given early table at 5.20 to finish by 7.30. Small plates all right but given the places seems to have pretensions of high standards and fine dining they were disappointing. The scallops with black pudding and horse radish cream was mixed. The scallops were beautifully cooked, the black pudding was good but a little over salty and the horse radish had no bite. The tempura cauliflower wings with chilli sauce again were salty, over sweet and no heat. The mains of Moroccan style kumara and lamb salad was improvement. Salad was deliciously fresh and the lemon olive oil dressing subtle. Over all, all right. Service a bit slow considering we had early table to finish by 7.30 and therefore no time for dessert.

Written 6 February 2020

Eisiek

3 contributions

Save your money

Nov 2020 • friends

Big pretentious noisy place with huge portions of ordinary food. Ordered medium rare rack of lamb. Was served well done rack. It was taken away with no apology. While I waited for my medium rare lamb to arrive, my friends finished their meals, so we never really ate together. They made sure to way undercook the lamb. Take that, you ungrateful diner. Again, no apologies or any indication that they had screwed up and ruined a nice evening. For those prices, they should treat you with some courtesy. Ridiculously oversized wine glasses. Just give this place a miss.

Written 19 November 2020

Jane

Napier46 contributions

Waited, Expensive, Cramped

Oct 2020 • none

Not a good experience at all. We waited over an hour for our main. Four tables that were seated and ordered well after us were served their meals first. We didn't order anything complicated either - just the fish and the venison. When the food finally arrived the fish was cold with very little sauce and the portion of venison was meager .. just a few pieces. We had already waitd os long for our food, I didn't want to send my meal back so we ate what they brought. After paying $40 for each main, we excepted a much better quality than what we were served. We have eaten here before and had good meals with good service. That is why we booked here again. We were celebrating my husband's birthday and were looking forward to a special meal. Instead we were extremely disappointed. As well, there is no wine list. My husband had to go to a wine wall and look at all the bottles to see which wine to choose. They are just too many there and they are over-priced. There is no description. How does a customer have the knowledge to choose? He couldn't decide, so we just ordered wine by the glass, but even a glass of wine costs $15 dollars. The atmosphere was not comfotable either. We were crammed into a small space at the front of the restaurant with 6 other full tables. It was just too busy and it was obvious the few staff members could not handle the situation. Though we were offered a glass of wine for having to wait so long, we will not be dining at this restaurant again.

Written 30 October 2020

KathyS

12 contributions

3 visits in 4 days!

Feb 2020 • none

We discovered Vine by chance for a light dinner enroute to Napier and were so impressed we went back for a drink on Saturday early evening and brunch on Sunday morning. Very friendly team, great food, fabulous decor and surroundings - just wish we could have had more time to explore the menu. Just a minor suggestions: could be more brunch-like options but we found enough to satisfy our appetite.

Written 8 February 2020

David B

Napa Valley1 contribution

Valentines dinner

Feb 2020 • couples

Aweful. Waiter forgot our order. We we stuck up in a balcony that soon became deserted. When the door came it was cold. The new french waiter also tried to tell me the steak put in front of me was the lamb I had ordered. Just dreadful service.

Written 16 February 2020

Navigate795163

Auckland1 contribution

Terrible Terrible Service

Jun 2021 • none

Service is absolutely shocking. This lets this place down and such a shame as it is gorgeous. 10 of us had lunch there and they weren't overly busy. Had to constantly ask for service, to the point it was embarrassing and we gave up. Had to ask for menus, had to ask for drinks, had to ask to order, gave up in asking for our plates to be cleared and there was no way we could even order dessert. Was in there for over 2 hours and there was no sign of them removing our lunch plates. Really disappointing as the prices are up there, and if you are paying those prices you should be getting service. Over a 1k lunch bill we thought they would want to look after us. The only way we got service is by numerous people going up and asking for service. The poor waiters advised us they couldn't cope and were used to the complaints and said please do a review as the owner won't do anything about getting more staff on. Unless they sort their staffing issue out, I would think seriously about dining there

Written 21 July 2021

Jessica

23 contributions

2 hour wait for cold food

Dec 2020 • none

Booked a table of 8 for 7.30pm. We arrived and ordered starters and mains. By 9pm no food was in sight. Our mains were olives and oysters so no cooking required and a simple bowl of steamed mussels. At 9.20 the olives and oysters arrived and no sign of the mussels. They also bought us some croquettes (4 pieces) for 8 of us for free as we were starving! The mussels came and they were cold. After still waiting for our mains we were offered a free bottle of wine. At 10pm our mains finally arrived. The lamb was cold, the steak was over cooked and the venison was raw. The fish didn’t come out and the manager apologised and said she wasn’t happy with the quality of the fish and to order something else. By this time we were over it. We left with out parting with any money with hungry tummy’s and went to hell’s pizza and enjoyed a yummy pizza. Very disappointed as we have been to vine before and had a great experience.

Written 29 December 2020

Nicole

1 contribution

Disappointed

Apr 2021 • family

I have never been so disappointed in a meal in my entire life. My partner ordered the Hapuka fish and was given snapper, after his meal took 15 minutes longer than everyone elses to arrive. We didn’t receive any service for 30 mins. While some meals were ok many meals were either cold or overdone. The chicken was dry and the venison was cold. The best thing about our meal was the beans and broccoli.

Written 17 April 2021

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