Coromandel's Top 8 Kitchens
By Carl Muir
“Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go.” Anthony Bourdain
Mention the word “Coromandel” to Kiwis and it instantly conjures up emotions and sentimentality from past visits. Food, flavours and freshness would undoubtedly be intertwined in these memories. Flashbacks to balmy summers spent around the bach BBQ with friends and whanau, walking barefoot on the beach collecting tuatua, and the smell of freshly smoked fish.
I feel very fortunate to live in this paradise full time. Being immersed in the Coromandel puts me closer to my food source, I have the time to grow, forage, gather, hunt, cook and share food experiences with my whanau and friends. We eat well! It is hard not to, on the Coromandel.
We still eat out a lot though. We’re blessed to have, within an hours radius, many different local villages, each with their own unique flavours, where we can enjoy someone else doing the cooking for a change. Here are our top 8 favourite kitchens to visit:
BANGING FLAVOURS - BLUE GINGER
Top of the list, and a 35 minute drive from our Tairua home, is our fav, Blue Ginger. Stu and Becks have travelled Asia extensively researching their ingredients, menu and flavours. Their food is quite simply the best on the Coro, if you appreciate banging fresh Asian influenced flavours. Dumplings are always Tia’s go to, and rates Blue Gingers as the best dumpling fix she’s had in NZ. If Tempura oysters are often on the menu which they often are, my face will be full on them, and there’s always a big line up of your classic Asian dishes done to perfection to round things off - Beef Rendang, Pork Belly Bah Mi and one of the nicest dishes I’ve had there was a Balinese Ayam Pelalah. Always reasonably priced, the team always make you feel like part of the whanau, and uniquely, it is completely booze free.
2.AN INTIMATE DINING EXPERIENCE - TAIRUA BEACH CLUB
Looking for the real deal dining experience? Cocktails to start, classic French influenced food with homegrown Kiwi ingredients at its soul, and wine matches from a bar team that know their stuff? Well, in our little village, you can’t beat Tairua Beach Club. Graeme Riki - or chef G as he is known locally, earnt his stripes in some of New Zealand’s best restaurants and has created his dream dining location at the base of Paku hill. G’s ethos is homegrown, organic as possible, where you let the ingredients do the talking. More like sing! There is always a huge menu to choose from, but lately I’m drawn to G’s Beef Short Rib, his latest version is slow cooked in a sticky sweet whisky style sauce. Their blue cod and scampi special has caught my eye, and will mean I return again very shortly! You can’t leave Tairua Beach Club without trying one of their desserts, and if chocolate foundant is on the menu, order it - it is always on point! I also met Tia here, so it will always hold a special place in my heart :-)
3.VEGETARIAN BLISS - WHARF ROAD CAFE
Tia and I found this little gem on social media and visited last year. Don’t expect any bacon on the menu, Wharf Road is vegetarian. And after a few dishes here you might just be convinced going vego is the way forward. We had the most amazing wholesome lunch with turmeric spiced daal and Aglio Olio spaghetti. We just had to go back for breakfast the next day with the highlight being organic brown rice with green herb pesto, house purple sauerkraut, crumbled feta, sautéed kale, sprouted grains & a free range poached egg. The coffee’s were perfection, the smoothies nourishing. We stayed away from the baking but if thats your thing, there is plenty to choose from. We’ve found ourselves making the drive over to Coro town especially to eat there a few times since. It has always been worth the drive.
4. SWEET BEACH VIBES - LUKES KITCHEN
Hands down the most memorable pizza I have ever eaten would be the Never Fail Pizza on a sunny spring afternoon in the courtyard of Lukes, washed down with a sneaky chardonnay. A close second planting my face straight into a hearty bowl of mussels, and licking up every last drop with some garlic pizza bread. Then there was that time they cooked some of my snapper up on the way home from a fishing trip and we chucked back two or three local Bluefridge beers. Actually, there’s been a lot of good times at Lukes. If cruise mode, simple local food done well and fresh air is what you are after, you can’t beat Lukes Kitchen in Kuaotunu. The staff are always friendly and its sort of like being in your best mates garden bar with the pizza oven cranked up. Luke has spent loads of time travelling and surfing in Bali, and decided to bring some of that vibe back to the Coromandel. It works. Back to the pizza. Inspired by Luke’s favourite fishing spot, Never Fail Rock at the back of Great Mercury, it was topped with fresh terakihi, homegrown herbs and loads of goodness. I love the imagination, authenticity and creativity that has gone into creating this destination. Just go. Lots.
5. THE PERFECT LUNCH - CAFE MELBOURNE
I grew up in Thames, and lived in Melbourne for a stint. So I have a soft spot for this Melbs inspired cafe in my home town which does brekkie and lunch through til about 5pm each day. First off, the food is consistent, and consistently good. I’m always drawn to their Taste Platter, which features a taste of their three best dishes. Usually thats a fish curry, pork and apple salad, and lamb cutlet. Melbourne lass Kim is usually at the counter with a big smile, and her and hubby, local lad Russel Kydd created this funky venue when Kim started getting homesick to recreate some of that Melbourne magic. Its funky, a great meeting place, and with a taste platter in front of me and a Pinot Noir in my hand, I can happily imagine I’m in the heart of Melbourne. I certainly would never have thought that growing up in Thames!
6. SMOKY SWEET GOODNESS - PORT ROAD PROJECT
Another favourite lunch time haunt for us, this time south of us in Whanga, is Port Road Project. They’re open for lunch most of the year, dinners in summer. These guys also do a banging Aglio Olio which is hard to go past for Tia, the kids and I are a huge fan of their waffle fries with maple mustard sauce, and with a cranking custom smoker out the back, any time theres some slow cooked brisket on the menu, or in a sammy - definitely go there!
7.THE PERFECT SUNDAY SESSION - MANAIA
One of the longest running cafe’s and restaurants on the Coromandel we’ve eaten at is run by the ever friendly & warm Andrea Johnson, smack bang literally in the heart of Tairua. Their food fired pizza oven takes pride of place in the courtyard, always the perfect light crunchy base wood fired pizzas topped with fresh ingredients. Weekend’s see this place abuzz with bach owners, enjoying the north facing courtyard and sunshine. It is our favourite place for a Sunday session, we recently went for lunch, and ended up having lunch, afternoon drinks and dinner, you literally don’t want to leave. We recently tried out their Tuesday curry night, with in house Indian chef who cooked up South Indian chicken curry, just as he would back home in his local village - it was insanely good. With staff like Viv and JP at the counter with big smiles and banter, you can’t go wrong.
8.TACO HEAVEN IN TAIRUA - JOHNNYS
We don’t do take out very much, but when we do, you can bet it is Johnny’s. These guys have taken takeaways to a whole new level in Tairua, with some of the best tacos you will ever eat. Their chicken and lamb tacos are always loaded with flavour, freshness and goodness, and our other go to items on a takeaway buzz are their chicken wings and kumara fries. A far as burgers go on the Coromandel - a Johhny Mac is is the real deal!
What’s your favourite Coromandel restaurant, cafe or kitchen? Leave a comment below: