The Smoking Barrel

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#1 of 28 Restaurants in MotuekaCafe, Barbecue, $$ - $$$

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The Smoking Barrel

Review

At a glance

Open until 10:30 PM

, 8:00 AM - 10:30 PM

Website

+64 3-528 0693Improve this listing

About

Welcome to The Smoking Barrel. Home to legendary gourmet donuts made fresh daily (actually world famous!) Low n slow American BBQ smoked meats and fresh seafood. Come inside and you'll be greeted by a cabinet full of fresh donuts. The hardest part is deciding - which one! Authentic American BBQ smoked for 10-14 hours. Brisket, pulled pork, buffalo wings and so much more. We hope you'll leave satisfied and like so many regulars, keep coming back for more. Friendly staff who love what we do. Come and experience what everyone's raving about.

Features

CUISINES

Cafe, Barbecue, Grill, Fusion

Meal types

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Drinks

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

Digital Payments

Free off-street parking

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Highchairs Available

Mastercard

Outdoor Seating

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Street Parking

Table Service

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

105 High Street, Motueka 7120 New Zealand

Free off-street parking, Street Parking

Is this restaurant good for brunch?

Yes

Unsure

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Open until 10:30 PM

Sunday

8:00 am - 10:30 pm

Monday

Closed

Tuesday

Closed

Wednesday

8:00 am - 10:30 pm

Thursday

8:00 am - 10:30 pm

Friday

8:00 am - 10:30 pm

Saturday

8:00 am - 10:30 pm

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4.5

(488)

Excellent

334

Good

Average

Poor

Terrible

t0mcebu

Cebu City10 contributions

Best Tomahawk steak in the world!

Nov 2024 • couples

The Smoking Barrel at 105 High Street, Motueka, 7120, New Zealand, serves what is hands down the best tomahawk steak you’ll ever experience. From the very first bite, you can taste the quality of the New Zealand grain-finished beef, first raised on the lush, green pastures that give it a unique, rich flavor. Eating an excellent steak is a feast for the senses, from the moment the aroma first hits you. This tomahawk is truly a form of art. It starts with a cold smoke to infuse the meat with a subtle manuka smokiness, followed by a hot smoke, and then it’s sous vide for three hours at a perfect 52c. This meticulous preparation ensures the meat is extraordinarily tender, bursting with flavor and cooked to perfect doneness. Just before serving, the chef Jo, applies a special charcoal based rub and finishes it on a searing flame-grill, creating a charred caramelized crust that perfectly complements the juicy interior. Served on a rustic wooden board, the steak arrives with a selection of signature house-made sauces as well as expertly prepared sides like smoked portobello mushrooms and charred local asparagus, enhancing the experience without overshadowing the main event. The chef himself cuts the tomahawk off the bone, tableside, slicing it against the grain for perfect tenderness. Cooked to a beautiful medium-rare, each bite is buttery, succulent, and melts in your mouth. Even the connective tissue and tendon points, often overlooked, are tender and add a delightful texture. We have been to the best steak houses in the world. Yes, all were very good to excellent, but let me tell you…The Smoking Barrel is on an entire different level. We were totally blown away and ordered the Tomahawk steak again two days later just to find out if this outstanding quality is consistent. Well, if it’s possible it was even better. The Smoking Barrel’s tomahawk steak is a must for meat lovers. This is no ordinary steak; it’s a taste of heaven, prepared with expertise and care, and served with a touch of New Zealand’s natural charm. An unforgettable culinary experience! The best Tomahawk steak in the world!

Written 15 November 2024

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.

Explore708920

1 contribution

Best BBQ in NZ

Mar 2024 • solo

11/10 experience with it being the best BBQ I've had since being in Texas nearly 10 years ago! Walked in after a recommendation by a local and tried their Carnivore Share Platter intending to take some home when I got full. Suffice to say that did not happen as the brisket, southern Carolina style pulled pork, Buffalo wings and salad/bread rolls were devoured. Incredible food with fantastic customer service as well! Was so great I had to return the next night for another go with something else and I tried their special of slow smoked lamb rump in Manuka honey then flash grilled with an incredible salad underneath. Normally I leave salads but this time I was scraping the plate clean as their salad ingredients and dressing was just sublime! Overall a 11/10 experience with how great the food was, how friendly and amazing the waitresses were plus how they accommodated me asking to buy some brisket by itself. Cannot recommend this place enough!

Written 14 March 2024

Clara L

2 contributions

Wonderful place for dinner and donuts.

Dec 2024 • family

Food is great. Reservation recommended. We went for dinner at 6, and there was no table. We had to return at a later time. There is no specific closing time - the restaurant sign says "late". Google says 11 p.m., but don't trust that. When we left at 9 p.m., they were preparing to close certain section, but they were certainly not rushing anyone out. We went back in the morning to try their donuts, too.

Written 22 January 2025

Simar K

3 contributions

Overpriced, zero presentation

Feb 2023 • friends

We went for a lunch, the staff served us were good but Our meals took more than 30 minutes, it wasn’t even busy time.I ordered a mushroom burger with side of butter milk chicken, which in total have only 2 portobello mushroom. Which were originally $19 for that burger.as I added a side of chicken with it they added the chicken in the burger. Which made my burger look like little worth of $19 but obviously I paid extra for the chicken. When our meals arrived we ordered fries coz clearly the meals was not full filing. Very disappointed with the food quality and the portions of meals, attached a picture of my burger. we use to go there a lot in 2018 2019 their food use to be very nice.

Written 10 February 2023

G G

1 contribution

Not a nice place

Jan 2023 • friends

I dont usually leave bad reviews since i am a fellow hosp worker and know how it can be but we came here on our way home from the abel tasman and had half arsed bad servuce. We stood waiting for a seat for about 5 minutes while all the staff ignored us. When they finally sat us we were sitting there for over 5 minutes with no menus and had to ask to get them. They didn't get our drink orders or food order for a while and the drinks took around 10 minutes to come even though it was a quiet lunch time and staff were standing talking behind the bar. When our food came it came at different times and 2 people were missing their sides and when asked about it the staff said that we hadn't ordered any. Our tables cutlery was dirty aswell. We thought our service was bad because we are teenagers and the staff might have assumed we didnt have money. Overrated overpriced and rude servers.

Written 25 January 2023

Jess

2 contributions

The best food ever!

Nov 2023 • couples

Literally the best food I’ve ever had!! I had the 16hr slow cooked brisket with eggs and hubby had their big breakfast, we wish we could eat there for every meal! The eggs were PERFECT. The staff were lovely and the waiting from ordering to eating was quick as well.

Written 23 December 2023

Mum of 3 boys

Auckland6 contributions

An OK experience

Jan 2022 • none

We came here for the famous doughnuts and found they were average and overpriced compared to other places. The other food was pretty good. The service was not friendly, they rushed us and appeared very impatient as we were deciding (even though there was no one else waiting). We didn't feel very welcome.

Written 22 February 2022

Darleyowl

Matlock52 contributions

Maybe just a beef steak place

Feb 2025 • couples

Busy place, but is that because there’s not much else in Motueka? Got our drink order wrong. We both had fish caesar salad, fish was salmon (tinniest piece of salmon you could get), egg was nice but other than that it’s just flavoured lettuce - underwhelming. Had a mass of donuts they were trying to sell off cheaply .

Written 2 February 2025

MoolooSwampy

Auckland212 contributions

When everyone goes home happy, you know it's a good place

Apr 2023 • friends

We popped in during the morning rush to buy donuts and coffees (outstanding on both counts) before heading over the Tākaka Hill, and took the opportunity to make a dinner booking for our return journey that evening - we were really pleased we did. The place was busy, despite being a Sunday evening. The meals took quite a while to arrive, but the quality of the food more than made up for this. My son said the brisket and bacon burger was the best he'd ever had, and my wife's gluten free bun on her burger was fresh and delicious. My fish of the day (Fijian albacore tuna) was generous and succulent. I can see why this place is so popular - would definitely go out of my way to visit again.

Written 18 April 2023

Rochelle C

104 contributions

Meat, meat and more meat

Nov 2022 • none

I booked for a group of 14 and popped in ahead of the group arriving and they had originally put us on two tables, so I asked if there was another option, they were very helpful and found us a table in the courtyard, which has heaters. The food was excellent and perfectly cooked, the salads were really good also. They had an item on the menu called the 'Table Breaker 500' which we tried to order, but were advised we had to order that 24 hours in advance, so I feel that they missed an opportunity there, by not calling us ahead of time to see if we would like to order this for our group, so we ordered three of the Carnivore platters and loaded them up. They meat was perfectly cooked and the staff were friendly and helpful. The cocktails were also very good. We all had a very enjoyable evening.

Written 13 November 2022

vtnz

Nelson49 contributions

Food was not as good as I had expected.

Oct 2023 • family

This is our second visit to this restaurant. We were wanting to try the famous savoury donuts. We did not get to try this two years ago when it was sold out by the time we were there. On this second visit two years later, we thought by arriving at 9am sharp ensured our opportunity to try it. Unfortunately we were left disappointed as they did not make them on the day we have visited. Apparently the daily menu is on facebook which we did not checked beforehand. We have ordered other food from the menu. The food that we ordered were pricey and not great . Hence I have given a lower rating based on the other food that we ate at the cafe.

Written 9 October 2023

Emily

Cardiff4 contributions

Poor Service

Jan 2023 • family

During our trip to Abel Tasman we were recommended the Smoking Barrel. First we attempted to visit on a Wednesday evening and they were full which was absolutely no problem, we booked for this evening (Saturday) and then went back later for drinks that same evening. We were greeted by a waitress with a very poor attitude, everything seemed too much trouble and we felt very uncomfortable. We decided to give it a second chance, and went back this morning for donuts and coffee and again, the manager was very sour faced and non approving of our request for a table as we weren’t ordering food. Once we found our own table outside after being told there were none, the same waitress from two nights prior slammed a bottle of water and four glasses onto our table and walked away without so much as a hello. The food here looks lovely and other waitresses seemed much more hospitable, however due to both poor experiences, we will be cancelling our reservation this evening and going elsewhere.

Written 13 January 2023

Lilie Voyage

Auckland Central61 contributions

Its pretty good but expensive

Feb 2021 • couples

We took 2 starters the cheese jalapanos for 12$ was missing fews pieces. The second starter was the 7 layer dip, its not written but a dominant taste of coriander ruined a bit the great quality of ingredients to make the sauce, but also missing fews corn chips unfortunately... and if you need more you have to pay $2 !!! Our meal is the low and slow platte carnivore $52 was not really worth it to my opinion, i was thinking more venison, angus beef, lamb but you have pork, chicken and brisket ... except if you add more money to more option. The service was great but 3 differents waitress is not really helpful and a bit random.

Written 13 February 2021

Cigogne72

Issy-les-Moulineaux147 contributions

Disappointment

Nov 2023 • family

We were desappointed by the food : we ask to the waistress to confirm that the burgers we chose was beef and finally we got something with pork belly. It is possible to make a mistake but the explanation was not honest (I made the same mistake all the day). The chicken burger was not made with the best parts of the chicken either (not a breast). We won’t recommand this place nor would come again.

Written 25 November 2023

Ellie B

Wellington78 contributions

Smoking Jo's burger did not disappoint

Apr 2022 • none

Finally re-visited this restaurant and had the giant Smoking Jo's burger. It was fantastic. Admittedly we had just returned from 5 days of dehydrated food on the Abel Tasman track, but I think this burger would have hit the spot regardless. Staff were very accommodating, The restaurant was full on a Thursday night, we had not booked, so were directed to the courtyard which was very comfortable with the heater on. We could detect cigarette smoke, which was dealt with very quickly and politely by the waiting staff. An insect repellant spray was provided. The staff kindly told us when a table indoor became free, but we were very settled outside. Too full for the donuts, but they looked amazing. Staff were following Covid mask wearing requirements

Written 16 April 2022