Here’s the short version on food in Taupo and where to eat: for a lake town of 27,000 people, it eats far better than it has any right to. You can fill up on a $5 sushi roll at lunch, cook a hostel dinner for a couple of dollars, and, if you feel like blowing the budget, sit down to a two-hat tasting menu with the volcanoes on the horizon. I’ve done all three in the same week here, and none of them felt like a compromise.
The reason the eating is this good comes down to what grows and grazes around here. Volcanic-rich soil, clean water off the lake, and big open farmland give the region ingredients most towns would kill for: grass-fed Taupo beef and lamb, wild venison, manuka honey, and craft beer brewed with alpine water. The regional tourism body, Love Taupo, keeps a running list of what’s open if you want to check hours before you rock up. The one thing you can’t buy is trout — more on that oddity below — but you can catch it. Add a cafe scene that genuinely rivals the cities, and working your way through Taupo’s food becomes half the reason to stay an extra day. If you’re still mapping out your trip, our ultimate backpacking guide to Lake Taupo ties the eating in with everything else.
Cheap Eats in Taupo for Backpackers
You can eat well here on almost nothing, and I’d argue some of the best-value food in town costs under a tenner. The trick is knowing which doors to walk through. For the full rundown of budget spots, our guide to the best cheap eats in Taupo for backpackers goes deeper, but here’s where I keep going back.
Under $10 Meals
Suncourt Sushi on Tamamutu Street is the one every backpacker seems to find within a day of arriving — filling sushi from around $5 NZD, and honestly hard to beat for a fast, cheap lunch. The Fish Box on Rainbow Drive does proper Kiwi fish and chips for about $10, with portions big enough to sort out a hungry hiker for the rest of the day. Roberts Street is the fast-food strip: Domino’s does mini value pizzas from around $8, KFC is there, and McDonald’s is famously built inside a decommissioned DC-3 aircraft. Even if you never eat there, walk past it once — a plane-shaped Maccas is peak Taupo.
Backpacker Bar and Hostel Deals
The hostels know exactly who’s staying with them, and they price accordingly. Taupo Urban Retreat runs $5 chilli con carne every night, or $8 if you want a house wine or beer with it — that’s the best straight-up dinner deal in town, no contest. Tejano Cantina and Fiesta Bar at Base Backpackers throws out cheap Mexican: $7 tacos, $6.50 nachos, $7.50 burrito bowls, and $10 jalapeno popper platters. These bars double as the easiest place to meet people, which makes them worth a visit even if you’ve already eaten — handy to know if you’re travelling on your own, and something our Lake Taupo solo backpacking guide gets into properly.
$10-$20 Meals
When you want to sit down properly but still keep it cheap, a few places earn their keep. Mulligan’s Public House on Tongariro Street runs a $20 burger, fries, and beer deal — that’s real pub food with a cold one included, and it fills you right up. Prime Roast on Gascoigne Street does a big roast chicken with roast potatoes for around $12, which is exactly what you want after a long day on your feet. Siam Thai Street Food Cafe on Heuheu Street has entrees around $11.50 and is BYO, so grab a bottle from the supermarket first and knock the cost right down. And Indian Delights on Roberts Street does curry, rice, and naan lunch deals that are frankly ridiculous value.
Best Cafes in Taupo
This is where Taupo quietly shows off. New Zealand takes coffee more seriously than almost anywhere — the flat white was more or less invented on this side of the Tasman — and Taupo’s cafes deliver both the coffee and brunch plates that hold their own against Auckland. If you want the exhaustive list, our best cafes in Taupo coffee and brunch guide covers it; these are the ones I send friends to.
Top-Rated Coffee and Brunch Spots
Replete Cafe and Store is an institution — over 30 years in, serving inventive local cooking for breakfast and lunch in a space that also sells kitchenware and food products. The food is creative without trying too hard, and the coffee is dead reliable. If you only get to one cafe in Taupo, make it this one.
Cafe Baku sits right on the lakefront, and the open layout plus the outdoor seating make it a genuinely lovely spot for a morning coffee. The cabinet food is the tricky part — the salads and baked goods are good enough that picking one is a small ordeal. Regulars rave about the coffee and the breakfasts, and the lake view doesn’t hurt.
Victoria’s Cafe Kitchen Bar is one of the most stylish rooms in town, and the brunch plates look the part — pork belly eggs benedict, citrus pancakes, that sort of thing — alongside some clever drinks. Plenty of gluten-free options too, so nobody in your group gets stuck. The presentation is a step up without the prices following it up.
The Storehouse leans into seasonal comfort food with great coffee and organic cold drinks. Fried chicken waffles and tropical smoothie bowls are the breakfast standouts, and the cosy fit-out makes it my go-to when the weather turns — which, this being the central plateau, it does. If a wet day scuppers your plans, our list of things to do in Lake Taupo has plenty of indoor backups.
Double Shot Cafe in the town centre is the quick, quality breakfast spot — top coffee, genuinely friendly staff, and the kind of place you end up at every single morning without quite deciding to.
Best Restaurants in Taupo
The dinner options here stretch from cheap-and-cheerful all the way to hat-awarded fine dining, and there’s something for whatever mood and budget you’re in. Our best restaurants in Taupo for every budget guide sorts them properly by price; here’s my pick across the range.
Fine Dining and Special Occasions
Embra has shot up the ranks fast. Michelin-trained chefs, contemporary plating, and two hats to show for it — that puts it among New Zealand’s best, full stop. This is your special-occasion or treat-yourself splurge, and it’s the one high-end meal in Taupo I’d tell you to actually save up for. Book ahead, because tables go quickly.
The Bistro has been doing refined European cooking for over a decade under chef Jude Messenger, and it’s the reliable choice for an elegant dinner that never seems to have an off night. Thoughtful with ingredients, careful with the plate — locals and visitors both keep it busy.
Huka Lodge is the other end of the spending scale entirely: a daily-changing menu built on sustainable ingredients, a serious wine list, and one of the most famous lodge settings in the country. It’s a proper blowout, but the food, the service, and the surroundings all land. You’ll spot Huka Lodge again in our where to stay in Taupo on a budget guide, mostly as the thing to gaze at from your hostel bunk.
Contemporary and Casual Dining
Brantry Eatery, tucked under the ZeaYou Gallery and run by local sisters Prue and Felicity Campbell, does contemporary Aotearoa food that shifts with the seasons. Warm room, generous plates, a wine list someone clearly cared about — this is the local gem that captures what Taupo does best: fresh, honest cooking without the fuss.
Plateau Bar and Eatery is louder and more rustic, with contemporary Kiwi dishes built on local produce and a craft beer list worth lingering over. The outdoor tables fill up fast on a warm evening, and the buzz makes it a fun spot for a relaxed dinner rather than a quiet one.
Sorrento Italian Dining and Wine Bar turns local ingredients into proper Italian food. If you’re craving pasta, pizza, or a glass of Italian red, this is where I’d point you. Warm room, honest flavours.
Specialty Cuisine
Suncourt Indian is a Taupo legend, and it earns it — traditional, award-winning recipes running from chaat and dosa through to naan and curry. The vegetarian range is enormous, so it’s one of the best options in town for plant-based travellers, and it’s regularly rated among Taupo’s top restaurants regardless of cuisine.
The Steak House Taupo has been going since 1984 and does exactly what the name promises: quality steaks, from bacon-wrapped eye fillet to scotch fillet and sirloin, all grass-fed, free-range Canterbury beef. When only a proper steak dinner will do, this is the address.
Lakefront Dining: Best Waterside Restaurants
Eating with the lake in front of you is one of Taupo’s small luxuries, and a handful of places make the most of the setting. Our lakefront dining in Taupo guide maps them all; here are the standouts.
Edgewater Restaurant is the premier lakefront address, with uninterrupted views across the water and an award-winning, seasonal menu in a smart room. If you don’t want to commit to the full dinner, the Lakefront Bar opens at 11am daily for a more casual lakeside drink — perfect for watching the sun go down over the lake.
Waterside Restaurant and Bar earns its name, opening from 9am for breakfast right through to dinner. The menu roams from barista coffee and freakshakes to evening cocktails, and between the sunny summer deck and the winter fireplace it works year-round.
Dixie Browns has a big lunch menu and front-row seats to the lake and mountains. Relaxed, dependable, and made for a slow lakeside lunch when you’ve got nowhere else to be.
Two Mile Bay Sailing Club is the quirky one — a cosy interior right on the water where you sip craft beer by the gas fires while waves lap almost under your feet. It’s one of the more characterful places to drink in Taupo, and worth the short trip out from the centre.
Supermarkets and Grocery Shopping
Self-catering is the single biggest lever you’ve got on your food budget here, and Taupo’s supermarkets make it easy. Knowing which store does what — and where each one is — genuinely adds up over a stay. For the full breakdown, see our Taupo supermarkets and grocery shopping guide.
PAK’nSAVE Taupo on Ruapehu Street is the budget king. The whole PAK’nSAVE model is built on the lowest prices in the country, warehouse-style and no frills, and that’s exactly what you want when cost comes first. This is your main shop. They do Click and Collect too, and open with long hours daily.
Countdown Taupo on Spa Road is the full-service option, with a broader range of specialty and organic products than PAK’nSAVE — a decent deli, more international bits. Prices sit a touch higher, but the selection is wider, and the online ordering and delivery are handy if you’re carless.
New World covers the wider district, including Turangi to the south. It plays the premium card: strong fresh produce, a good bakery, quality meat. Usually the priciest of the three, but it carries the widest range of specialty items if you’re after something particular.
My budget shopping shortcuts: PAK’nSAVE for staples and bulk, Countdown only for what PAK’nSAVE doesn’t stock. Buy seasonal fruit and veg at the farmers’ markets when you can — usually cheaper and fresher than the supermarket. Most supermarkets discount bakery items late in the day, and the reduced-to-clear shelves can turn up genuine bargains on stuff near its best-before date. And bring your own bags everywhere: New Zealand banned single-use plastic shopping bags, so you’ll be caught out without them.
Farmers’ Markets and Local Produce
The markets are where I’d send you for the real taste of the place — fresh local produce, artisan food, and the people who actually grow and make it. Prices on fruit and veg often beat the supermarket too. Our Taupo farmers markets and local produce guide has the full calendar.
Market Central Taupo runs every Sunday, 9am to 1pm, at Northcroft Reserve. This is the big one — over 50 stalls of fresh produce straight off local farms, artisan food, crafts, and live music. It’s social and busy in the best way; grab a coffee and a pastry and drift around. The fruit and veg stalls are keenly priced, and you’ll find local jams, honey, and baked goods you won’t see in any supermarket.
The Taupo Market is on Saturdays, 8am to noon — fresh fruit and veg alongside baking, garden art, and odds and ends. It’s the more traditional, loyal-local market, and getting there early gets you the best of it.
Riverside Market at Taupo DeBretts runs every Saturday, 10am to 1pm, with produce, handmade crafts, and plants in a nice riverside setting. Easy to fold into a soak at the geothermal attractions near Taupo, since the DeBretts hot springs are right there.
Pubs, Bars, and Taupo Nightlife
Set your expectations right: Taupo’s nightlife is relaxed, not raucous. This is a small town, not Queenstown, so if you’re after clubs until 4am you’ll be disappointed. What it does have is a clutch of genuinely good pubs with character, decent beer, and a friendly crowd. The action runs along Tongariro Street and Tuwharetoa Street in the centre, and our best pubs and bars in Taupo guide covers the lot.
Jolly Good Fellows is a classic English-style pub with cracking lake views, a great beer garden, and a wide range of New Zealand craft beers. The outdoor area is the place to be on a warm evening, and it pulls a good mix of locals and travellers.
Fox and Hounds is the other quintessential English pub in town — warm, traditional, and a safe bet for a pint, some pub grub, and easy conversation. Quiz nights and regular events keep it lively.
The Pub on Lake Taupo pairs lake views with a buzzy atmosphere, solid pub food, and regular live music. Whether it’s a cold beer on the deck at sunset or a band on a Friday, it’s a reliable Taupo night out.
Mavericks Gastropub goes aviation-themed, mixing quirky decor with genuinely good food and a big beer list — you can eat and drink well in the same spot without compromising on either.
The Foundry is one of the best live music venues in town, with regular sets from up-and-coming and established acts. If you want your evening to come with a soundtrack, start here.
Craft Beer and Local Breweries
Taupo has thrown itself into New Zealand’s craft beer boom, and the region’s pure volcanic water gives the local brewers a real head start. Two breweries anchor the scene, and both are worth a pilgrimage — the full story is in our Taupo craft beer and local breweries guide.
Crafty Trout Brewing Co. is Taupo’s original brewery — a taproom and eatery with a trout-themed gift and bottle shop attached. They use alpine volcanic water in a brewing process that’s picked up international recognition, and pour 14 beers and ciders on tap alongside a beer-matched menu. The freshly baked pretzels and award-winning wood-fired pizzas make it a destination even for non-drinkers, and the hunting-lodge fit-out nails Taupo’s outdoor-adventure feel.
Lakeman Brewing Co. has grown from a small farm setup into a nationally known name. The farm sits on a freshwater catchment for Lake Taupo, and that pure water is the whole philosophy. For the full experience, head to Jimmy Coops Lakehouse, where you can work through up to 15 Lakeman taps and tasting flights at your own pace. Their sustainability streak tends to land well with travellers who care where their pint comes from.
Beyond the two breweries, most of Taupo’s better pubs and restaurants carry a solid local and Kiwi craft selection. Look for the Taupo-brewed taps — they’re usually fresher and more interesting than the big national brands.
Cooking in Hostels: Budget Meal Ideas
If you want one habit that’ll stretch your money further than any coupon, it’s cooking your own meals. Every hostel in town has a communal kitchen, and with a bit of smart shopping you can eat properly for a fraction of restaurant prices. Our cooking in hostels budget meal ideas guide has more recipes; here’s the core of it.
Staples worth always having: rice or pasta (cheapest carb base going), eggs (endlessly versatile and cheap), canned beans or lentils, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. With those in your pantry you can build a decent feed around almost anything else you pick up. A bag of rice from PAK’nSAVE lasts days and costs a couple of dollars.
Easy backpacker meals: stir-fried veg with rice and soy sauce (buy whatever’s cheapest that week). Pasta with canned tomatoes, garlic, and whatever protein you can afford. Eggs on toast — cheap and filling any time of day. Bean and veg curry with canned coconut milk and curry paste. Wraps stuffed with salad, canned tuna, cheese, and sauces. None of it is fancy; all of it works.
Kitchen etiquette, because it matters: clean up the second you’re done — nothing sours a hostel faster than a trashed kitchen. Label your food in the shared fridge. Share your spices and condiments; the backpacker economy runs on pay-it-forward. And if someone’s cooking smells incredible, say so — you might get a plate, or at least a new recipe. It’s also one of the easiest ways to make friends, which our Lake Taupo backpacker budget breakdown factors into the daily numbers.
Local Food Specialties to Try
A few things you can eat around Taupo you genuinely can’t get anywhere else on the planet. They come straight out of the volcanic landscape, the clean waterways, and Maori food traditions, and our local food specialties of the Taupo region guide digs into all of them.
Taupo Trout: Catch It Yourself
Here’s the one that catches everyone out: you cannot buy trout in New Zealand. Selling it commercially is illegal — a deliberate rule Fish & Game New Zealand upholds to protect the recreational fishery — so you’ll never see trout on a Taupo restaurant menu. The only way to eat the region’s famous rainbow and brown trout is to catch it yourself, or have a mate catch it for you.
Honestly, that makes eating it here better. Land a fish — or join a guided trip, where a catch is close to guaranteed — and several Taupo restaurants and accommodation providers will cook your fresh trout for you. It’s usually kept simple to let the clean, sweet flavour do the work: pan-fried with butter and lemon, smoked overnight, or baked with herbs. A trout you pulled out of the lake yourself is a food experience money literally can’t buy, and our Lake Taupo trout fishing guide walks you through actually catching one.
Hangi: Traditional Maori Earth-Oven Cooking
Hangi is the traditional Maori way of cooking underground over heated stones. Lamb, pork, and chicken get wrapped with vegetables — especially kumara, the sweet potato early Maori brought to Aotearoa — and lowered into an earth pit onto red-hot volcanic rocks. The pit is sealed and it all slow-cooks for hours, coming out with a smoky, earthy flavour you can’t fake with any oven.
Around Taupo, hangi sometimes brings in local freshwater ingredients like trout and eel, which speaks to the deep tie between Maori culture and the lake. Authentic hangi experiences are more common through operators over in Rotorua, but some Taupo-area marae and cultural experiences run them too. Ask at the i-SITE about what’s on while you’re in town, and read up first with our guide to Maori culture, history and volcanic heritage so it means more when you’re there.
Regional Specialties Worth Seeking Out
Beyond trout and hangi, the region turns out a few things worth hunting down. Manuka honey from the surrounding bush is prized worldwide for its flavour and reputed health properties — local producers sell it at markets and specialty shops. Taupo’s grass-fed beef and lamb get a real lift from the lush volcanic pasture and clean air; the meat is noticeably better for it. Wild venison and boar from the national parks and forests turn up on menus now and then, gamey and distinctly local.
Kumara isn’t unique to Taupo, but it’s everywhere in the local cooking — roasted, mashed, cut into chips, or dropped into soups and stews. You’ll see it on menus all over town, and it’s cheap and easy to grab from the supermarket or market for self-catering.
Food Budget Guide: What to Expect to Spend
A rough sense of daily food costs makes planning far less stressful. Here’s what different spending levels actually look like in Taupo, and it lines up with the wider daily numbers in our budget breakdown if you want the whole picture.
Shoestring ($15-25 a day): cook most meals in the hostel kitchen from supermarket ingredients, with one cheap eat-out a day — sushi, fish and chips, or a hostel bar special — and a cafe coffee as your daily treat. A weekly PAK’nSAVE shop of $50-70 covers your staples. Entirely doable, and you still eat well.
Comfortable backpacker ($30-50 a day): a mix of cooking and eating out. Cafe brunch ($15-22), one casual restaurant meal ($15-25), supermarket supplies for the rest, plus the odd craft beer or wine. This is the sweet spot for enjoying the food scene without watching every cent.
Treating yourself ($50-80 a day): cafe breakfast, restaurant lunch, and a nice dinner, with room to explore the breweries, try lakefront dining, and hit the markets for local produce. You’ll stop scanning menu prices.
Blowout fine dining ($100+ a day): Embra or Huka Lodge, lakefront restaurants, brewery tasting flights, and premium market ingredients. This is Taupo’s food scene at full stretch.
Tips for Eating Well in Taupo
A handful of habits will get you more out of eating here whatever your budget.
Book ahead for the popular places. Embra, The Bistro, and the lakefront restaurants fill fast in summer and over holidays. A quick call or online booking saves a wasted trip — something worth timing around with our best time to visit Lake Taupo guide.
Ask about the daily specials. Loads of Taupo places run specials that never make the printed menu, and they’re often both the best value and the freshest thing in the kitchen.
Get the First Table app. First Table gives you 50 per cent off for early diners at participating restaurants nationwide, several of them in Taupo. Book the first table of the evening and you can eat somewhere premium at half price.
Use BYO to your advantage. A number of Taupo restaurants let you bring your own wine or beer, sometimes for a small corkage fee. Since alcohol carries the biggest mark-up in any restaurant, a supermarket bottle enjoyed with a good meal slashes the bill.
Hit the markets early. The best produce goes fast, so get there early for the widest choice of fruit, veg, and baking. Plenty of stalls also discount near the end as vendors would rather sell out than pack up.
Order a flat white. If you’re visiting from overseas, New Zealand’s signature coffee is a must — an espresso with steamed milk, like a latte but with more coffee and a silky microfoam. Every cafe in Taupo makes one, and the standard is high across the board.
Plan Your Taupo Food Adventure
Taupo’s food scene is one of the town’s quiet pleasures. Whether you’re stretching a backpacker budget with hostel cooking and $5 sushi, grazing your way through the cafes, or splurging on a two-hat dinner at Embra, eating here rewards a bit of curiosity and a healthy appetite. Between the ingredients, the chefs who take them seriously, the cafe culture, and one-of-a-kind experiences like catching and eating your own trout, this is a genuine food destination. For everything that goes around the eating — where to sleep, what to do, how to get here — head back to the main Lake Taupo backpacking guide and build the rest of your trip. Now go eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you buy fresh trout to eat in Taupo?
No. It’s illegal to sell trout commercially anywhere in New Zealand, so you won’t find it on any menu or in any shop. The only legal way to eat Taupo’s rainbow and brown trout is to catch it yourself, then several restaurants and accommodation providers will cook your fresh catch for you.
Where’s the cheapest place to eat in Taupo?
Suncourt Sushi does filling sushi from about $5, and the hostel bars are unbeatable — Taupo Urban Retreat’s $5 chilli con carne is the best straight dinner deal in town. Cooking your own meals from a PAK’nSAVE shop is cheaper still, at roughly $50-70 a week for staples.
What is the best restaurant in Taupo?
For a special occasion, Embra is the standout — Michelin-trained chefs and two hats put it among New Zealand’s best. For something more relaxed and mid-range, Brantry Eatery and Plateau Bar and Eatery both do excellent contemporary Kiwi food. Book ahead for all three, especially in summer.
How much should I budget for food per day in Taupo?
On a shoestring, $15-25 a day covers mostly hostel cooking with one cheap meal out. A comfortable backpacker budget is $30-50, mixing cooking with cafes and casual restaurants. Treating yourself runs $50-80, and full fine dining is $100 or more.
Which supermarket is cheapest in Taupo?
PAK’nSAVE on Ruapehu Street is the cheapest by a clear margin — its whole model is built on the lowest prices in New Zealand. Use it for staples and bulk buying, and only fall back on Countdown on Spa Road for anything PAK’nSAVE doesn’t stock.
Are there good vegetarian and gluten-free options in Taupo?
Yes. Suncourt Indian has an enormous vegetarian range, Victoria’s Cafe Kitchen Bar offers plenty of gluten-free brunch dishes, and self-catering from the supermarkets and markets gives you full control. Most cafes and restaurants in town cater to dietary needs without any fuss.
Guides in this series
- Best Cafes in Taupo: Coffee & Brunch Guide
- Best Restaurants in Taupo for Every Budget
- Best Cheap Eats in Taupo for Backpackers
- Taupo Craft Beer & Local Breweries Guide
- Taupo Farmers Markets & Local Produce
- Cooking in Hostels: Budget Meal Ideas for Taupo
- Lakefront Dining in Taupo: Best Waterside Restaurants
- Local Food Specialties to Try in the Taupo Region
- Best Pubs & Bars in Taupo
- Taupo Supermarkets & Grocery Shopping Guide