I'm not much of a small town person, and one of the reasons for that is simply that I love food. And usually, cities are where it's at for eating.
But the West Coast surprised me with amazingly simple, fresh pub grub and café eats. (I already raved about the degustation dinner at Te Waonui.) If you're ever travelling up or down the coast, here are a few places I heartily recommend.
We arrived in Greymouth around lunchtime on a Sunday on the TranzAlpine only to find most of the town shut. One place that was open was Freddy's, tucked away upstairs on Mackay St. A couple of doors down was a chain cafe that we actually spotted first, but when faced with a franchise vs an indie? I'll almost always try the local offering.
While the sweet treats in the cabinet looked tempting, what we really needed was a proper lunch. I went for the classic fish and chips and was not disappointed. Generous plate, with a side salad to boot. If I recall right, my lunch buddy had the whitebait fritter special - not as big but apparently excellent.
We decided to follow the path of least resistance and dine in. If you've got the dosh and the desire for a somewhat upmarket dinner experience, the Ocean View restaurant is the way to go. But we wanted something more casual and a little cheaper, so we opted for the Coasters bar (it's in the building in front). There were locals winding down with a beer after work, and a wall paying homage to local sporting talent that have done the town proud over the years.
I ordered the paprika hotpot, which arrived steaming and topped off with a fluffy pie crust. I'm still not quite sure how you're supposed to actually go about eating a dish like that, but I think a bit of mess is inevitable.
Afterwards, it was back to my room for a soak in the spa bath while listening to my happy playlist on Spotify.
Donaldo's is a neat spot in Westport - Carter's Beach to be specific - looking out to the ocean that was humming with locals when we popped in for dinner.
I must confess, I don't really get the appeal of whitebait. But I figured I'd give it another shot while I was here. It was prime whitebaiting season, after all - what better time to sample it? And while the whitebait fritters were crazy fresh, I can't lie ... I still think whitebait is plain and boring, no matter how much lemon or salt you add. But hey, a lot of people love it.
In short: whitebait ain't for me, but this is a great place to eat whitebait if you do.
Denniston Dog, in the main Westport township, came highly recommended. We wound up eating here not once but twice - first, an early breakfast, then for afternoon tea in anticipation of the plane ride home.
I'm personally leery of anything Mexican down under, but my buddy had the breakfast quesadilla and had good things to say about it. I went for the breakfast stack myself and was absolutely blown away - every aspect was out of this world. I cannot fault the crispy hash brown, the perfectly poached egg, the hollandaise or any of the accompanying veggies. Also recommended: the cabinet snacks and the fresh fruit smoothies.
