The raw bar board
Market
Oysters, kingfish crudo and scallop ceviche, shucked and dressed to order.
GFDFrawWhat the boats bring, we cook.
A seafood bistro on the Kaikōura waterfront. The board changes with the catch, the view never does.
Whatever the boats bring in, we cook the same day. The board is short on purpose, it changes with the catch, and when the sea keeps the fleet in, it says so.
Today’s board
Written fresh each morning once the skippers call in. Prices in NZD. Kōura, oysters and whitebait follow the day’s landing, so ask your server for today’s rate.
- GF
- gluten free
- DF
- dairy free
- raw
- served raw
Signature plates
Chilli garlic prawns
$26
Seared in the shell with garlic, chilli and lemon.
GFDF
Catch of the day
$38
Line-caught, pan or grilled, over seasonal greens.
GF
Whole flounder
$41
Brown butter, capers and lemon.
GFThe oyster bar
each / half dozenShucked to order and served on ice, natural or with a shallot mignonette. All raw, all landed close to home.
Bluff oyster
Deep cup, briny, dredged from the cold south. In season now.
$6.5/$37
Clevedon rock
Plump and sweet, farmed up in the Hauraki Gulf.
$4.5/$25
Kaikōura pacific
From our own bay, clean and cucumber fresh.
$4/$22
From the raw bar
Cured and dressed the moment you order, never a minute before.
Kingfish crudo
Lime, green chilli, a slick of avocado oil
GFDFraw$24
Scallop ceviche
Coconut cream, lime, coriander, a little heat
GFDFraw$25
Tuna tartare
Sesame, soy, diced nashi pear
DFraw$23
Larger plates
Kōura, grilled
Half crayfish, lemon and seaweed butter
GFMarket
Kōura, chilled for two
Whole, cracked, lemon aioli
GFDFMarket
Catch of the day
Line-caught, pan or grilled, seasonal greens
GF$38
Blue cod, beer-battered
Hand-cut chips, house tartare
$32
Whole flounder
Brown butter, capers, lemon
GF$41
Scotch fillet
Grass-fed, hand-cut chips, watercress
GF$39
From the sea
Green-lipped mussels
White wine, garlic, toasted sourdough
$24
Salt and pepper squid
Lemon aioli, pickled chilli
DF$21
Pāua fritters
Two, remoulade, lemon
$22
Smoked kahawai pâté
Grilled sourdough, pickles
DF$18
Whitebait fritter
In season, egg, lemon, white bread
Market
Sides
Hand-cut chips
Rosemary salt, aioli
GF$11
Garden greens
Leaves, herbs, lemon dressing
GFDF$12
Roast market vegetables
Whatever the growers bring, whipped feta
GF$14
Grilled sourdough
Warm, with seaweed butter
$9
Dessert
Pavlova
Kiwifruit, passionfruit, too much cream
GF$14
Lemon posset
Shortbread, poached tamarillo
$13
Affogato
Local roast, vanilla, whisky if you like
GF$12
Whitestone cheese
Oamaru brie, quince, oat crackers
$19
Drinks and wine
Waipara riesling
By the glass, off-dry and citrusy
$14
Marlborough sauvignon
By the glass, crisp and grassy
$14
Local tap beer
Kaikōura and Amberley brewers
$12
House lemon and mānuka
No alcohol, plenty of fizz
$8
Flat white
Local roast, all day
$6
Three boats, one handshake each
We buy straight off three boats working out of the peninsula. No middlemen, no mystery fish, and if the weather keeps the fleet in, the board says so honestly.
- Hukarere
- Wiremu and his boy Tama, crayfish pots off the peninsula three mornings a week.
- Tavake
- Hemi Ngātai, line-caught blue cod and groper from the deep reefs south of the point.
- May Belle
- The Kerrisons, set nets for flounder and butterfish, and whatever the season throws in.
Landed today, or not at all
We only cook what a local boat brought in that day. It makes the menu shorter and the fish better, and it keeps the bay in good heart for next season.
Day-boat only
Landed in the morning, cooked by night. Nothing is frozen at sea or trucked in from far away.
Size and season
Undersized kōura go back over the side, and we rest a species from the board when it needs a break.
Nothing flown in
If it did not come off a local boat or a garden up the road, it does not make the board.
Twenty-eight seats and the whole bay
Reclaimed timber, a blue door off the old jetty, and an open kitchen at one end. Every table sees the water, and on a clear evening the light does the decorating.
How a visit works
Two ways to eat by the water. Come as you are for lunch, or book ahead for the full board at dinner.
Lunch
From 11.30am, walk-ins welcome
A quick plate and a cold beer, the fish sandwich on the deck, and no need to book. Come as you are while the boats unload.
Dinner
Two sittings, 5.30pm and 7.45pm
The full board and a proper sit-down. We hold your table for the sitting, so settle in. Weekends book out early.
Closed Tuesdays, when the fleet rests and we scrub the decks.
What people say
“We came for the crayfish and stayed for everything else. The mussels, the blue cod, the pavlova. Three hours by the water and not a dud plate.”
“You watch the boat come in at four and eat the same fish at seven. Nothing in the city compares.”
“The crayfish is the postcard, but the mussels and that fish sandwich are why we keep coming back.”
Photographs from Kōura
In the press
“The crayfish is the headline, but Kōura’s real trick is trusting the sea to write the rest of the board.”
Southern Table
“The most honest seafood on the coast. If the boats stay in, they tell you, and you love the place more for it.”
Coastlines
“A blue door, a short board, and a view that does half the cooking. Worth the whole coast road.”
Cadence Food Journal
The long table
One rimu table down the middle of the room, or the whole bistro to yourselves. We build a set seafood board from the day’s best and bring it out to share, the way the coast is meant to be eaten.
Enquire about the long table- Up to 16
- around the long table
- $95pp
- set seafood board
- From 30
- for the whole bistro, by arrangement
Good to know
- How does market price work?
- Crayfish and whitebait move with the season and the day’s landing, so we price them fresh each morning. Ask your server for today’s rate before you order.
- Can you cater for dietaries?
- Yes. There is always a plate off the land and plenty that is gluten free. Tell us about allergies when you book and the kitchen will steer you right.
- How do the sittings work?
- Lunch is relaxed from 11.30am and takes walk-ins. Dinner runs two sittings, at 5.30pm and 7.45pm, and your table is yours for the whole sitting.
- Can you seat a big group?
- Up to six online. For anything larger, or to book the long table, call us on 03 555 0162 and we will sort it out.
- Where do we park?
- There is free parking along Wharf Road and a public lot by the boat ramp, a two-minute walk. It fills up on summer weekends, so come a little early.
- What if the boats stay in?
- Then the board is shorter and honest about it. There is always the garden, the plates from the land, and whatever came in before the weather turned.
Reserve a table
Lunch takes walk-ins. For dinner, pick a date and a sitting and we will text or email to confirm within the hour.
11.30am
lunch, walk-ins welcome
5.30 & 7.45
dinner sittings
9 Wharf Road, Kaikōura 7300
On the old jetty, look for the blue door
Lunch from 11.30am, dinner sittings 5.30pm and 7.45pm. Closed Tuesdays.
03 555 0162