Canturbury Guiding Co.

One of our absolute favorites, Pegasus Bay was again recently awarded top winery restaurant in New Zealand, shared with Black Barn Bistro in Hawke’s Bay.

While it’s hardly a secret that Pegasus Bay serves lunches that are equally as good as their awarded fine wines, (4 x Cuisine Winery Restaurant of the Year awards in a row is no mean feat), what makes this most recent award so special is that it was achieved with a new head chef in Shawn McGowan. No secrets for guessing why we love taking our guests to lunch at Pegasus Bay after a day of wine tasting in Waipara Valley, or on the way back from whale watching at Kaikoura by helicopter.

Whilst at the Southern boundary of the Canterbury region, well probably more North Otago than  Canterbury but lets not quibble over details, Riverstone Kitchen near Oamaru, won the Best Casual Dining Regional category following on from last year’s win as the Restaurant of the Year. Having been lucky enough to enjoy lunch at both restaurants in the last month, I’m confident that visitors to the South Island, and Canterbury in particular will be pleasently suprised at the consistently high standard of cuisine that is being served.

Aside from great service and flavor combinations, one of the features of these outstanding dining rooms is you can literally taste how fresh the local produce is on your plate. Fresh, local tastes. A winning recipe in Canterbury!