2 Best Restaurants in Otago, Invercargill, and Stewart Island, New Zealand

Come here for good old-fashioned fish-and-chips wrapped in a newspaper. There isn't an ounce of pretense in this cheerful little place, which is little more than a trailer with a shelter tacked over close to the town's "skateboard park" (a wooden ramp). The owner has a mussel farm in Paterson Inlet, and the cod comes from the Halfmoon Bay fishery. Try the bacon-wrapped mussels or chef Hilli's divine mussel chowder. They also do great venison burgers.  

Authentic and quirky, the Ale House serves as a lively bar in a brewery–restaurant setting. The menu includes a "drunken" steak (steak marinated in dark, malty porter) and beer-battered fish, along with plenty of Speight's ales you can match with your meal. Heavy wood furniture, old brewing equipment, and a huge schist fireplace makes the place feel welcoming. A couple of seasonal beers are released each year; in the past, these have included Harvest (an apricot beer), Chocolate, Samradh (a ginger-and-pimiento beer), and Spiced Amber Ale. You can order a "tasting try" to sample all the beer offerings which include Triple Hop Pilsner, 5 Malt Old Dark, Distinction Ale, Cider, and Summit Lager.