Reviews
We arrived in mid afternoon and order 3 light meals: Salmon 5 ways, Salmon chowder and winter salad. The chowder was too salty for our liking, but the flavour was there. Salmon 5 ways, portion wise, a bit skimpy. The winter salad turned out to be a pleasant surprise for us. Fresh ingredients and interesting combination, I've never had asparagus so fresh like so, paired with pear slices and other seasonal veggies, it was heaven. We didn't try fishing but saw other visitors enjoying their time! It's quite a decent place for people of all ages to visit.
Excellent set up. Well worth popping in. Very family friendly with interesting games, fishing & walks. Great menu featuring salmon of course. Beautifully landscaped. Million dollar scenery!!
Went on a clear, sunny day and there was a large family gathering that had reserved most of the restaurant, but still plenty of space for the rest of us. Beautiful outdoor restaurant and great concept to catch your own meal! I had a fun experience catching my own lunch! I opted to have half my salmon hot smoked and half sashimi'd. The hot smoke only takes about 8 minutes and isn't overdone. Salmon have just enough fight to make you feel like you've earned your meal. Also, the fishing crew came around the lake to give tips to anglers, which I thought was a nice touch to help people out. Parking: Parking lot is gravel
Loved this idea of sustainable fishing ! Literally hook to plate ! Staff are super friendly with assisting you with quick fishing tips and fishing lessons are available if needed. Great for family outing, where everyone can get involved, both young and old! What’s better is you get to eat what you catch and can have if prepared to your liking - filleted salmon for home is also an option! Definitely a must when in Wanaka! You won’t be sorry!
I don't know what bad to say when this place was close to perfection. Food was good, we had the pancetta pizza and the Camembert as well - love at first bite. And the Hook beer, wow... Like WOW! The environment was so nice and laid back. Everyone were so nice - 90% of them at least patron wise the staff were all ready to serve and very extremely helpful! And we also took the fishing activity and got sole salmons - 2.5 + 1.6 + 1 = 6.1kgs of salmon. We made them into smoked, sushi and filleted. All were so so good. It's the best that we have had tried. Defo a place to go. For the fun of it and more. If this makes sense - go earlier. Buy beer. Catch the salmon. Get them cooked or sushi style and eat on the spot. Buy chips, buy more beer. Sit down and just chat your days away. Kid-friendliness: Alot of activities for kids
We have been to a couple of other South Is Salmon fishing experience and really want to rate you guys as outstanding. Beautiful environment, great equipment and the cafe was amazing from the friendly, upbeat staff to the speed of the smoke. Thanks for providing wee picnic blankets too though a little more shade about the pond would be much appreciated when your bloke won't give up fishing
Great environment and food. However I felt that the staff has been overrun . The tables were all posted as reserved whilst customers is desperately looking for a table! Some of them were available and had gone past the booking time!Food: 4/5
Great place to get some super-fresh salmon with the added excitement of catching it yourself. We've been 5 times, and only once haven't caught anything. Can be busy in peak season, but otherwise you'll have no trouble finding a spot to fish. They used to offer cold-smoking for the fish you catch, but these days it's limited to hot smoking or sashimi, or else take the fish home as-is. We've had some great times eating our fresh salmon in the dining area while sipping on local craft beers, accompanied by some of the best chips you'll get. So why not 5/5? They struggle to line up cooking the fish with delivering the rest of your meal, so be prepared to eat them separately. Whilst the Canadian guy who was running the fishing counter stopped short of being outright rude, he really shouldn't be in a customer-facing role. And on 1 previous visit they stuffed up the fish-processing orders. But overall this is still a great experience and I would certainly recommend it to anyone visiting Wanaka. Kid-friendliness: Great experience for kids - our 5 and 7 year olds both catch fish there and clamour to return whenever we are in Wanaka. Good for a couple of hours' entertainment.
Extremely fun! Caught a 2kg salmon after about 20mins. Great for both first time and experienced fishers. They provided alot of information and a helping hand if required for fishing. They cook it for you right there so you can eat it smoked or as sashimi.Food: 5/5
Great place to be just to experience fishing. Not a lot of fishing skills required to fish here. Phone never get picked up Lake is full of fish. Pricing is a little bit too expensive Although smoked salmon was great but sashimi was a disaster A little disappointed with the staff cooking ability. Sashimi left under hot air temperature for too long Fish fillet wasn’t cut very well and left too long outside. Temperature control wasn’t great in sashimi. Suggest to train the staff to enhance their cooking ability
