fat dog cafe & bar

the food here was amazing, my partner and i both got a gourmet burger (i got the beef burger which is pictured, and he got the lamb one) and considering the prices are higher than a standard burger ($20), you do get your worth as the quality and quantity of the food is amazing. personally i was not expecting the burger to be as big as i got so it was quite a nice surprise. many of the customers around us got one of the gourmet burgers and had the same reaction as i did. the place is quite easy to find and inside, the atmosphere is similar to both a cafe and restaurant which makes the place feel more at home. however, when it is busy, can get loud which is expected. quick service, friendly waitresses. overall, it was a good place and i would highly recommend others to give the place a try.

awesome! service, food & overall yayeee! turned up last minute monday night 830pm table for 11 (chef would have had a fit lol) food came out quickly and very generous sizes. and death by chocolate..... woah! (must try)
go in out of the cold: heaters blasting so nice n warm.
we’ll be back next visit to rotorua.

always enjoy this place. it has got great character lots to look at while waiting for your food. nice coffee and food with plenty to choose from.

burger was huge, nice flavours. everyone was happy with their food, reasonable price and nice atmosphere/deco inside. service was fast and friendly, lots of selection on the menu

the good:
thick shakes were hand made with real ice cream.
everything else:
you would think a place that charges $20 for a burger and $19 for eggs benedict would know how to deep fry hash browns and cook chicken.. two hash browns, one cooked pretty well, one way over cooked. surely you would put them in at the same time and out at the same time? the chicken and bacon on my burger had been way over cooked in a lot of oil and both had turned roofless hard, the edges of one chicken which was cooked much more than the other had crystallized. the fat dog special purple onion shreds were bland and completely out of place. the burger would have been much more satisfying with just the cole slaw, bun and aioli. what a joke. nobody else at the table had anything decent to say about their meals either.

some constructive advice for the owner: find some chefs who know how to fry at least and lose that ridiculous shredded onion.

i love the vibe and quirky look of this place. service on the other hand was so so but not the best. instead of table numbers they used random objects instead, i was given a hollow box teddy bear. had coffee and dessert here with my partner. i enjoyed a lemon tart with mocha and he had fried ice cream with flat white. coffee was average, nothing special. their desserts were amazing, beautifully presented and portion size was spot on. i loved their lemon tart pairing with kiwi gelato.

huge servings of fish and chips and nachos, just what i need after a day of walking, playing on the beach and not much eating. great stop-off, reasonable-ish prices.

pretty sweet and colourful café! we had cappuccino, carrot cake and chocolate cake and and everything was very good. i would call it nicer but still shabby chic with different colourful chairs and dog footprints on the ceiling and different colours on the walls an so on. someone really tried to give this place a special touch!

had breakfast here when we were in rotorua for the weekend. excellent service and good food, was pretty busy when we arrived but food came out pretty quickly...pretty happy overalll with food & service

i don't know why you would want to go anywhere else, this place is next level! stopped into this place for a meal while traveling and ended up eating here another 2 times over my holiday really great

what a spot! if your ever traveling through rotorua this is the only place to go for a great breakfast or lunch meal! went to rotorua for a weekend away with my partner and ended up here two days in a row.. great food, lovely staff and perfect for families too!

order angus siron steak, but not good tasty. the steak tasty like a rock. hope next time to give me the real angus beef. not like this rubber steak.

had dinner here last night. (in rotorua for a couple of days.) great little cosy place. i had a chicken caeser salad and it was delish. washed it down with a nice heineken. staff great too.

been into this restaurant for several times, but my last visit was real disappointment. ordered for steak sandwich and tasted bland. got my workmates for lunch and everyone was disappointed. service staff was friendly and food was on time only the food we didn't like. not going to recommending anymore.

this is my second visit to fat dog and for the second time i really enjoyed the experience. the coffee was great, good strong flavour in the espresso, service was rally quick considering how busy the cafe was. a definite go to if you are in rotorua