Zephyr Restaurant, Kaikoura - Open daily from 5.30pm

Food was great and prices also good but lacks atmosphere. If that is not a worry it's a great place to eat just felt a little clinical

Had a lovely evening meal here. Fortunately I reserved a table earlier in the day. Wait staff were attentive and professional.Atmosphere was upmarket. I felt the pricing was appropriate for the experience we had.As for the food, delicious. I liked all my dishes, very tasty. Portion size was good and vegetables or salad were included - big thumbs up.

Nice to find a place that is passionate about their food. Good service and recommendations. The Snapper was beautifully cooked. Definitely worth a visit, but probably need to book.

Extremely nice and accommodating staff, but their food is truly top tier. Sometimes visiting a small town the food options can be hit or miss but they certainly are a hit! The steak was served with bone marrow on the side, which was quite a treat.

We had the most amazing meal when we went to Zephyr last weekend. Service was very good and we ordered the Lamb shoulder to share (between 2 people). It was the best meal I have ever had. And the duck fat potatoes and vegetable were great to.

What would have been a great time spent at Zephyr was ruined by awful service.Our server condescended us for not warning her we were there for dessert and not a whole meal (seating issue). She gave us attitude but said “it’s fine as I’ve already set the table up for you” - the table which had been set up since before we arrived.Sometimes good service is not what you say, but what you choose not to say.When I said I wouldn’t like to order drinks YET, she took the menu away and promptly walked off.The atmosphere was ruined as we felt that we weren’t wanted in the establishment.The dessert was great.Overall - quality food ruined by a server/manager with a stick up their … .

Wasn't terrible but definitely did not live up to expectations.We had polenta fries and warm bread with dips to start. Polenta fries were amazing but bread was definitely not fresh. Was almost very lightly toasted (which I assume was from reheating) and seemed slightly stale.For mains we had fish of the day and pork belly. The fish was unfortunately overcooked and both the fish and pork belly were exceedingly dry.Service was also very slow. For the relatively high prices we expected a lot more.

Beautiful fine dining experience, excellent service and reasonably priced. Well worth giving this place a try.

I would have liked to have awarded Zephyr five stars because when it arrived the food was very good.There were two waitresses on duty, with about a dozen diners, and we were the last sitting, so not too much pressure.So it was odd that we waited too long for our menus (why not have them as part of the table setting?), water, and the opportunity to order pre-dinner drinks.A couple who arrived after us were attended to before we were. Maybe they were locals known to the restaurant, and I understand the importance of repeat customers compared to one-off visitors.And no problem at all if it doesn’t affect us adversely.However it took 30 minutes from entering the restaurant at just after 8pm to getting our main courses - the stuffed chicken breast and the confit duck leg.I know this because the time clock on my photos of these dishes is 20.36.Both were of top quality, as were the vegetables, and amongst the best food we’ve had during our five week tour of both North and South Islands. Congratulations to the chef.We then ordered slices of the cheesecake of the day and of the chocolate tart.We also asked for our tea and coffee to arrive at the same time.The hot drinks arrived within a few minutes, but not the two puddings.After about ten minutes I wondered why two cold dishes were taking so long. (Why hadn’t our waitress noticed?)I had to raise my arm to wave a couple of times to get attention which is embarrassing. (A common fault is a waiter who doesn’t scan the tables constantly to spot a customer needing something.)Waitress was flagged down, arrived, apologised, checked, and reported back; the chef had turned off the electronic ordering system so hadn’t received our order…Another five minutes and our delicious desserts arrived.At NZ$145.50 or GB£74.58 for two (there was no non-alcoholic wine on the list) this was very good value. In Wellington you’d have paid double that.I appreciate that staffing is a problem being experienced across the industry, but in this case I think it was more a question of vigilance and communication.Zephyr deserves five stars and I hope they go from strength to strength.P.S. I’m not the sort of customer who goes looking for discounts or refunds, but it would have been good to have been offered one. In this case I’d have declined because the gesture would have meant acknowledgment of these glitches, and that’s part of a good recovery.

Without a single doubt, Zephyr is the best meal out I have ever had in New Zealand. Everything was cooked to perfection! Staff were very friendly, prompt and we were made to feel welcome. Wish I could give them more stars. Faultless!