Eat + Drink
Forget the flabby French toast on other brunch menus – the version offered at The Boat Shed Cafe & Bistro (boatshedqueenstown.co.nz) is unique. Freshly baked brioche filled with rich egg custard, it teeters on the edge of excessive yet isn’t sickly thanks to a dollop of mascarpone spiked with thyme and a sprinkle of lemon pistachios. The menu changes monthly but a few dishes are popular enough to make the cut each time, such as the chorizo scrambled eggs. Within a converted heritage railway building at the edge of the lake, the relaxed venue is a tasty pit stop on the Frankton arm of the Queenstown Trail, which goes past its door.
Boardwalk (boardwalkqueenstown.nz) has one of the more enviable locations in town, a level above the shorefront with views over the water. Go left at the top of the stairs for the bar or take a right for the restaurant – if you haven’t been waylaid by the oyster bar downstairs. While the menu is updated seasonally, it always highlights New Zealand produce, such as poached blue cod with herbed potato gratin or a rack of lamb from nearby Cardrona.
At Little Blackwood (littleblackwood.com), the wine list favours Kiwi tipples but the cocktail menu is no slouch. Espresso Martinis are a signature, while customised meat and cheese platters will keep you going. Tucked beneath a staircase on Steamer Wharf, it’s an intimate space for pre-dinner drinks.
The frontrunner for local destination dining,
Aosta (aosta.nz) is a 30-minute drive away in Arrowtown. Both Aosta and its namesake town in Italy sit on the 45th parallel and chef Ben Bayly riffs on this simpatico by giving Northern Italian flavours a southern edge. Hero dishes might include eggplant cooked on hot ashes in what Bayly describes as a “fast hangi” or dough turned inky with burnt potato skin before being sculpted into tortellini and stuffed with goat’s curd.
Later on, sink into a cosy leather armchair by the window at The Lodge Bar (roddandgunn. com), a few metres back from the Queenstown Bay breakwater. Drape a checked blanket over your lap and watch the last of the light disappear with a gin-based Kiwi Sunset cocktail in hand.