The Rusty Snapper

I wanted to love this place but in this instance the 4 stars is generous. The fish saved it as it was delicious. However the chips were woefully undercooked. Undercooked chips may be an anomaly of the person cooking them though and could be easily fixed with a timer on a known temperature. I have to believe this is not the norm as I am loathe to complain but every self respecting Aussie would have been deeply offended by the chips and there would be an outbreak of war between the otherwise amicable neighbors if the chips were always this bad. Just being cheeky.

This appears to be the main cafe in town. The food is delicious, basic and traditionally kiwi simple and the coffee (short black espresso) was really very good. Beware! Eggs only come fried! The staff were very friendly and there is plenty of parking on the street. The ice creams were very popular with tourists and locals alike and there is a beautiful reserve directly opposite.

Cool old-school fish & chips + great burgers and food. We had the chance to be in this place only. There are more similar establishments at the same street, but this one was very nice. We choose to get there because of the name.

Nice fish and chips,always good to enjoy by the seaside.

Came here for a late lunch around 2:00pm and ordered a burger meal and large chips to dine in, waited 45 mins sitting, waiting to be served our order. Staff were very slack, gave our order to the wrong people, those people touched it, then gave it back to the staff. Staff then left our order OPEN on the bench. The order was also in TAKE OUT boxes, but we asked to have it here (Dine in). So obviously we had no idea it was our order, (expecting it to be plated) and went to ask because 45 minutes had passed and others were receiving orders before us after arriving much later than us. Asked about our order, was told it was the food in take away boxes that had been left to sit and get cold for 20 minutes. (Which had also previously been touched by another customer) So this was made known to the staff. They offered to make another meal but we had already waited 45 minutes and were not willing to wait another 15 just for the meal to be recooked. Ended up leaving with a refund at around 2:50pm with only milkshakes from the place which also could've tasted better.PS: Some sanitary issues such as a staff licking their fingers after touching someones plate. Another staff was hand rolling their cigarette in the kitchen, (was walking to the outside) but obviously should've hand rolled it outside away from food.

Fantastic meal. Fish tasty, batter primo and those kumara chips cooked perfectly. Lovely to have a meal right on the wharf.. picked a great day... No crowds..

Good, clean, fresh food. Great view of harbour. Smiling service. Good prices.

Lovely little cafe. We had fish and chips. Nice big portion size with chips.

I don't usually need to give a low rating, however in this case, I am.Their Service was extremely slow with insufficient staff front of house.The girls serving were polite but reserved...customer service/engagement, is extremely importantWe waited over 45mins for food to arrive and the coffee (which should have been served up before the food or with the food) arrived 15minutes AFTER the food so had to get it put in a takeaway cup...something desperately needs to change here!Kawhia is a gorgeous wee town!