Review Aorangi Peak Restaurant - Rotorua

We enjoyed a beautiful luncheon with good friends up at Aorangi Peak. The welcome was warm and genuine, the views obviously spectacular, but I the food was the star attraction. We had platters with fresh oyster shots, seared scallops with a beautiful dressing, beautiful beef pieces, lamb ribs. Absolutely delicious. Totally awesome experience

The food is good but the scenary is better. Clear mountain view of the city and the lake. Great place for a date or function by the looks of it. The road is a bit tight on the way up tho.

We ate the Stratosfare Restaurant in the evening. Was told to wear smart casual clothing. We turned up and there was people sat around us in sporty clothing etc. The special occasion feeling of this meal went. It's buffet style foods, very very large selection to choose from. All cooked very well, worth it for the cuisine. The views from the top are pretty special too.

found this place randomly and it happened to be dinner time. the views are great. Food was delicious but not really suited for kids

Good food, great view. Recommended to have a window seat for the view over the lake and city.

Wonderful views and delectable cuisine! Stumbled across this restaurant and was immediately welcomed. The staff were all courteous and inviting! I was thoroughly impressed!

Lovely view, very friendly service. Food was acceptable, with a large variety, but the lamb and beef was a bit tough.. Pricy at 79$ per person.

Absolutely Delish, All my life I've wanted to Visit Aorangi Peak & The chef is Fantastic. Fantastic Atmosphere, Waitress are Awsome too. I'm totally going back with my friends from work

We had lovely Valentine's day dinner here, lovely sweets, lots of food choices and staff were friendly and helpful. Nice view as well.

Still one of the best buffets around. Fresh food with a million dollar view. Great bang for buck with gondola and meal @ $75 each.

Nice view. Food is also good. Good wine collection. Dont forget to reserve your table

Enjoy the views while being nice and warm inside! The place has a good upmarket feel, but standard pricing, for coffee and cake anyway. Parking right outside & lovely staff.

Awesome reception. The food was so good. Continental cuisine. Love the array of choices. Money well spent.

The view is amazing❤️ The restaurant is a bit "tired", but the food was delicious.

Its the most stunning panoramic view restaurant over Rotorua. Very delicious food and great service 👌.

Costs $75/person to eat as much as you want watching the entire beautiful Rotorua city buy its worth it once in a while.

Although it's usually a smorgasbord, under red light restriction the entrees and deserts were brought to the table and were unlimited. Only had to order the main, which was really nice. The hardest part was working out how much room to leave for the main and desert! Always a stunning view!

Amazing food and service. It was a lovely view looking out over the lake and city.

We had a lovely dinner made more special with gorgeous view and exclusive wine cellars!

Been there to eat brunch. Nice view and good environment. Limited food list in the menu. Ordered salmon and scone, both taste pretty average. If you are looking for good view this is the place, but if you're looking for good food, better go somewhere else

Very bad experience... view was good... food is very bad. Fish and beef served cold. Side salad is not fresh. Definitely a no-no place. Just a waste of time and money.

Emmm a big no for me, the food is literally cold, the view was nice, but the food..... don’t even know what to say, definitely don’t recommend👋👋

The food really lets this place down which is such a shame because the location and views are breathtaking, I really liked the decor and style of the restaurant and the staff were lovely and very welcoming. For entree I had venison Carpaccio, it was nice but nothing special, there wasn't much flavour going on there. For main I had the duck two ways. The duck had a nice flavour but was overcooked and could have used some sauce to go with it and really lift the flavours. The Kumara filled yorkshire pudding however, had good flavours and I really enjoyed it. Vegetables well cooked. For desert I had the cheesecake with pineapple coulis, the cheesecake texture was more like a moose, and the base barely existed and was soggy, so there was no textural difference between that and the cheese part. The pineapple coulis was boring. For what you pay, it's not worth it to have food here. I guess for them though and the money they make off bus loads of tourists they don't need to up their game because they make plenty of money giving tourists average food for an extremely high price.

Had morning tea here. Tea was served in a pot, with hot date scone, jam and cream - all for $8.50. The ambience is a bit underwhelming but I was really there for the view. When the clouds parted it was well worth the drive!

Food is very average, waited one hour for the food to arrive. The steak was badly done, I can do better than that. The view was good tho, and they also charge more for public holidays. Only dinner menu available for lunch. Not worth the money sorry.

Took long time to drive up one day before, the restaurant didn't open on time. The day after, trying to got a coffee break there, was told by the waitress that the coffee machine was broken and not coming back. It was pretty obvious that a restaurant should be prepared by serving food and coffee and all the services they supposed to give on the menu. Anyway, it was a pretty disappointed experience.

Had lunch here on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The view over the lake is loverly, unfortunately that is where it stops. The restaurant is dark inside like a ski chalet. <br/>The guests predominantly Chinese tourists are fed an unappetising limited menu that is a throwback to the New Zealand I remember 40 years ago, in a word a disgrace. Save the money drive up the hill for the view but eat anywhere else.

Had the $125 dinner option with a seafood/salad entrée, mushroom soup, lamb/beef fillet, and cheesecake dessert. Apart from the view (which you can get from other restaurants in Rotorua for a quarter of the price), I would definitely avoid this place.<br/><br/>The whole meal and atmosphere felt very much like a Cantonese/Hong Kong style tourist meal. The salad/seafood with seaweed was something you would expect from a buffet and the mushroom soup was extremely bland. Protein in the main was very inconsistently cooked with a cut of meat only suitable for stir fry or stewing and the dessert was way below restaurant quality.<br/><br/>Neither the quality of the ingredients or the cooking matches the price. Huge disappointment.

This place is under new management. You cannot beat the location you have 360 degree views of Rotorua. The food is pricey and the lunch menu is limited. The salmon I had was delicious. The staff were very friendly and we had some lovely visitors at lunch llamas and a deer. The cheeseboard was quite basic. I would come back in the summer for the view and to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine

Not sure whether I'm paying a premium price for the view or the decorations inside the restaurant...but definitely don't think the quality of the food meets the rates they charges their customers.<br/><br/>I've been here twice because the first visit (a decade ago) was amazing and the breathtaking view over Rotorua. The second visit, I felt like the staff were snobby just because we are a group of younger looking audience.<br/><br/>Not impressed at all, the food tasted like reheated left overs or cooked by a microwave. Truly disappointed and really wonder what happened? Why such a huge contrast between the two visits??<br/><br/>

Me and my wife went to Aorangi Peak for dinner to celebrate our first new year’s eve after marriage. We have very fond memories of the place. Seeing the lake and fire works from high above when the clock struck 12 are just some of the things this place can offer. They were serving a set menu and made adjustments to suit our palette as we are vegetarian. They owner himself came to pick us up at the Novotel and the owner’s wife dropped us back to the hotel. Neither of them seemed very hospitable though. The staff was nice and food was super expensive and average tasting. However, we didn’t expect much with regard to taste, there aren’t too many non-Indian vegetarian dishes that Indians would like. This rating is primarily for the ambience. Must visit, just to see how amazing this place is.

After looking at Aorangi Peak's menu online, I was really excited to visit the restaurant on my recent trip to Rotorua foloowing a recommendation from a friend. We decided to go for lunch, as the menu looked like a reasonably scaled down version of the dinner menu (which was priced a bit above my budget). Sadly, the experience did not match up to the expectations given by the website (or even by the menu and pricing).<br/><br/>We were the only patrons when we turned up for an early lunch, and were happily seated beside the window which gave us a stunning view over Rotorua and the lake. The restaurant itself was had a nice atmosphere at first glance, but on closer inspection everything seemed to need a really good clean (a fair bit of dust) and the carpet was torn and stained.<br/><br/>We already knew what we both wanted - the Aorangi Peak Scotch Fillet Steak (medium rare for me please), served with gourmet potatoes and seasonal salad. At $22 I thought this was a great price, and around the same as what I would be prepared to pay in restaurants at home for lunch. After a 30 minute wait (which seemed quite lengthy, considering that we were the only people there), our food arrived. It wasn't quite what I'd expected - the steak was thin, overcooked and overseasoned. The "gourmet potatoes" were mashed spuds, that tasted suspiciously like the oversalted reconstituted mashed potato you get in prepackaged meals from the frozen section of the supermarket. The "seasonal salad" was a heap of lettuce, drowned in a dressing. Overall, it was extremely disappointing - I opted not to finish my meal. <br/><br/>At no point during our meal did someone come to check and see if everything was okay with our food, or offer to replenish our drinks - despite seeing the staff member who was serving us sitting in another part of the restaurant with her back to us. When we went to leave, I made a point of mentioning that we were unhappy with our experience, the staff member didn't seem at all surprised and didn't ask what it was that we didn't enjoy, or offer any form of an apology. <br/><br/>The singular high point of our visit was the cute dog that came to our table for pats - although given that it was a food service area and he was begging for food, probably not an appropriate addition.

On a recent trip to Rotorua with my partner for my birthday we came to Aorangi for dinner. With an 8pm booking we were soon the only ones in the restaurant, which was nice for a change given the occasion. The interior is a breath of fresh air with a unique personality, not to mention the awesome views. Friendly staff. I had the Lamb rack and my partner had Salmon. Lamb was some of the best I have ever had and the Salmon was also very good. However, given the price of the meals I would have liked larger portion sizes. Try their manuka honey craft beer!

I've been here twice with my partner. Our first experience together was amazing. We watched the sunset over lake Rotorua as we enjoyed our canapé entrées. Though the portions were slightly on the small side, the experience was amazing. Loved it. The matre d'/sole waiter was amazing. He was of Indian decent we believe? He was attentive, informative, polite, best service ever. We had gone for a walk around the courtyard after we ordered and he had waited till we came back before firing our entrées . immaculate service. On our next visit we bought guests over with us, we wanted them to experience what we did. Boy were we dissapointed. The canapé/entrées were still amazing but then it went down hill. Mains were lacking in flavour, it was just the taste of salt, no depth and our meats were over cooked. The waitress was horrible (not that race matters, but I think she was Malaysian?). She kept trying to hard sell us these dishes we didn't want. I wanted a glass of Riesling that unfortunately wasn't available, she offered me another option but snarled when I declined. She wasn't attentive throughout the experience. We were missing cutlery and it took a very long time for us to get her attention. We ended up getting it ourselves only to be told that we should ask them first if we need anything. Our cups were not filled and we found ourselves craving replenishment due to our food being so over seasoned. We love this place for its environment but don't think we will return any time soon.

The service was fantastic, the food was fantastic, the drink selection could do with a re-vamp as a lot of popular/premium spirits were not there but i still found something to enjoy. We went on a Saturday night &amp; i thought it would be very busy but there was only 1 other table of 5 people while my partner &amp; I dined. 1 other couple arrived as we were leaving around 8pm. The inside has a certain charm, very Gatsby-ish in some parts. Very interesting place but needs more attention to detail with keep things maintained properly, carpet is wearing through &amp; replacing it would lift the place. The food was great but i don't know how long the menu has been the same, quite a few years by the looks. I understand it is under new ownership so i would have though they may have given it a fresh menu - the actual menu's themselves are quite worn, same with drink list. The view is beautiful but we went for a walk around the outside &amp; couldn't help but notice several maintenance issues that really bought the place down - clogged gutters, broken boards, wonky steps etc. It has SO much potential &amp; it is a pity it seem to be getting neglected apart from what comes out of the kitchen.

A magical event to dine. I was here with my wife and good friend on a Sunday and we had the place to ourselves. Very knowledgable waiter and most accommodating. We enjoyed the Schubert Syrah, a fantastic 2008 Syrah from martinborough.<br/>The food was amazingly presented and the view was sensational. The staff were very knowledgeable on the heritage of the building and rotorua itself. Definitely return and would be the best example of fine dining in rotorua.

My husband and i went up to have our 2nd wedding anvisary up there and we went at night time.The view was beautiful and the resturant was amazing.The waitress as i can not remember her name was wonderful.I would recommend to everyone that i know.The food we had was just amazing aa++ to the chef.All we need to do is go up in the day time and i bet that is just as amazing.

Meal and service was great, couldn't fault it and what a view!! I had the beef fillet wich was superb, my wife enjoyed the rack of lamb. Entree and desert was also delicious, every dish was very well presented.

Wow, boy has Paul He done some work around this place in the least 12 months! What was once a chalet style regional restaurant that somehow got lucky and was dropped on top of a hill with the most magnificent views has now been landscaped and is truly worthy of wedding venue status with a gorgeous gazebo and a perfect 270 degree backdrop.<br/><br/>This is our second visit to the Peak, and our second dinner here and this one was better than our last.<br/><br/>The complementary Amuse-bouche – a new offering of palate amusements prior to our starters were an admirable attempt – the home baked bread rolls were a little yeasty and flavourless (and would have been better accompanied by a cold falvour-infused butter, rather than warm unsalted); the cold broccoli soup was over seasoned and a bit too adventurous for most; the prawn stuffed with mushroom was a good attempt but completely overpowered by the black truffle stuffing (a citrus or ginger stuffing would have been better). With some small corrections here these offerings could well make a magnificent start to what is sure to be a delightful culinary excursion.<br/><br/>We shared a starter of the Skipper lobster (as did many other diners) and it did not disappoint. Beautifully warmed the soft moist flesh was served in the shell and covered in a delightful pesto, on top of a capsicum puree and accompanied by a cous cous stuffed tomato. This went perfectly with our wines by the glass from an exceptional wine menu that Paul really must be congratulated for – it’s such a delight as a couple to journey through exceptional and different wines by the glass rather than having to order whole bottles.<br/><br/>My main was venison, and despite feeling just a little guilty about eating this meat when the deer roam freely around in the paddock next door, their antlers majestic in the evening light, the dish was a triumph – the perfectly cooked melt in your mouth venison sat on top of a rich velvety savoury chocolate jus aside a vegetable puree which was dotted with delectable onion and mushroom morsels. My partner’s dish of duck two ways was also exceptional – the filo parcel of bananas, raisins and grapes an unusually well matched accompaniment to the perfectly cooked duck. The unexpected platter of mixed vegetable was welcomed. And did I mention the wines by the glass were exceptional? Gosh your NZ Pinots are getting good.<br/><br/>Watching the array of fine looking desserts wafting past us it was hard to make a choice - the Tiramisu looked divine, as did the chocolate fondant cake. Feeling like something a little lighter we chose the Pina Colada dessert and I fear we chose the poorest selection on the menu. It was not very Pina or Colada-ish and was nice, but somewhat bland and very small to share.<br/><br/>Aorangi Peak really is one of Rotorua’s top restaurants. I suspect a better approach for this restaurant is to adopt the ‘2 or 3 course fixed price’ policy rather than a la carte, where a palate cleansing sorbet could also be added between courses and the Amuse-bouche could be refined.<br/><br/>Overall service was a little slow, I suspect due to slowing patronage due to the current economic times making additional staffing difficult whilst keeping the prices in a reasonable affordable range. But Paul was careful to spend time with each diner and give them a personal touch, adding to their experience. But at Aorangi Peak, apart from the incredible food and wine, you come here for the incredible view – and there aren’t enough stars to rate that.<br/><br/>This is a highly recommended restaurant, in fact you must go – it’s imperative.<br/>Restaurants in Rotorua come and go, but this one is a true treasure that needs to be supported, and enjoyed to the full.