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probably my favourite restaurant in queenstown and that's a big call! you just cannot fault the food and service here. we ordered their infamous goats cheese profiteroles, cloudy bay clams, karaage chicken, pork belly and their beef wellington was to die for. if you're a foodie this restaurant is a must!

rata restaurant was absolutely shocking! my experience here was traumatizing. i came here with a group of friends who came to queenstown from china, and all i wanted was a peaceful night accompanied by a nice dinner to exhibit the fine food nz has to offer… however, this was not the case. first of all, the service was terrible, the waiters were not very welcoming or friendly, nor were they very attentive and also very rude. anyway, we decided to order as soon as we got in to rata before it got too busy, as we were starving after a long day of being at the snow. i saw they had oysters, so i wanted to order 2 dozens, as all my friends were dying to try nz oysters and i rata dining had some. i was disappointed to find, they only had 6 oysters left, and this was only at 6pm, which meant there was not enough oysters for everybody. shortly after, i ordered a round of beers, which i asked the waiter to assist me in, the beer wasn’t bad and when i went to order my second round, he told me they had also sold out of the beer?! this definitely came as a shock to me, how could a restaurant not have anymore beer? in addition to this, the beer cost $18 a bottle, talk about ridiculous. i can’t say, i have ever paid over $11 for a bottle of beer in my lifetime. the beer most certainly wasn’t brewed in diamonds or gold, i don’t understand why it cost so much. an hour and a half had passed, and our food still had not arrived, we were one of the first who came to the restaurant that night, and it came to my attention that all the other tables had food, apart from ours even though we specifically ordered early so that we would get out food sooner. after asking the wait staff about our food, they recurringly told us 5 minutes, 5 minutes, but half an hour had passed and our food still hadn’t arrived. at this stage i was extremely hungry and angry, so the rata staff abruptly told us to leave, kicking us out of rata. the bill was $150, for a few beers, and they had also charged us for food, which had not even come out yet. i was extremely humiliated that my friends who had come from so far away, had to experience such prejudicial treatment from a restaurant in nz. it reflected badly not only on me, on the country, as it proved that racism is amongst us here in nz, and occurs in every aspect of our lives. we came to rata dining for our pure leisure and enjoyment, but we left the restaurant feeling oppressed and discriminated against.

the integrity is so terrible. we've booked a table for 20 people and even fully confirmed. later it just made a double booking mistake and delayed our booking while we were the one who booked earlier. this is totally not acceptable and reliable in the consumers' consideration and the management as a famous reastaurant.

dinner was great. started with the bluff oysters, followed by small bites of 'goats cheese profiterole' which were topped with rata honey and rosemary. had an entree of clams in a lovely miso sauce. mains were venison (meaty and winters with lentils and a rich jus and duck which was well made and consisted confit leg and breast. dessert shared a citrus lava cake and took some 'cinnamon oysters' (soft fluffy little mini muffin things filled with cinnamon cream)away for a treat for next day's outings.

it was stunning dinner. we had oyster, profiterole and beef wellington. amazing food. service was good. we ended up ordering too much food as we didn't know the portion of special menu even we over ordered we enjoyed so much. highly recommended!

recommended! and a great call. superb food and great selection of wine and beer to accompany some terrific local produce. booking might be required during peak times but this place was well worth it.

my boyfriend and i had a fantastic meal there for his birthday; he even considers it better than some of the fine dining experiences we've had in sydney! i also really rate the service as our waitress was really lovely and personable and informative about the menu.

devine 3 course lunch for $38 each (set menu for 10) exquisitely tasty, i totally recommend this place, would definitely return again, set menu is the way to go

rata wasn't easy to find, but worth the hunt! food was delicious though a little oily to my palate. the service was excellent, but the main reason i wouldn't go back, was the noise! i had to ask the waitress to repeat the special and it was hard work having a conversation with my husband. the meal was pricey but wonderful flavours and beautifully presented .

could not fault our meal at rata. superb service, amazing presentation - but what else would you expect from josh emett's signature restaurant. not cheap but value for money. loved the rock salt sitting on the tables in quirky little rocks. we were lucky to still find whitebait on the menu as the season finished recently. beautifully cooked. but the beef wellington was a show stopper - tender eye fillet wrapped in the lightest of puff pastry served with mushrooms, crispy potatoes and courgettes with raisins, walnuts and feta. the serving was so substantial that i did not choose a dessert but instead had a robust coffee with salted caramel chocolates. what a combination - soft flowing caramel encased in rich dark chocolate. an unforgettable dining experience!

had an absolute stunning dining experience at rata. food was beautiful, service was top notch, the whole ambience was just perfect. we had tuna to start with and then followed by cheese roll & salmon, then confit duck & gunard as main. we had chocolate dessert & lemon curd. everything was perfect - from presentation to flavour! beautiful! thank you so much for looking after us and we will definitely be back when we are in the neighbourhood 😃

its going to be quite some time before we can treat ourselves to a dining experience so while holidaying in queenstown we had pre-booked dinner at rata. we had heard rave reviews. so anyway, its quite a different layout, has a almost asian influence/feel to it. the lighting was quite dark, i suppose to set a romantic type mood. the forest feature on the end wall was different but made a cool look.
we wanted to treat ourselves so we had entree, main, and dessert. we arrived around 6.30pm and it was just staring to get busy. the place was practically full by the time we finished and left.
entrees were the cheese roll for the wife, and flounder for myself. cheese roll was light, soft and the crepe type surround was delicious. the fish, goodness it was simply fantastic. it just fell apart with a touch of the fork. i've had a lot of fish dinners in my time and this one is up there as one of the best - and this was just an entree!
mains were the duck for my wife, and the venison for myself. two more dishes that delivered exceptional, well seasoned meals. the smaller chunks of venison and miniature beetroot was very pleasant. was a bit of a wait between the entree and main, but well worth the wait. the main servings were generous compared to other restaurants.
desserts, were an interesting chocolate with earl grey ice-cream. unusual mix of flavours but it worked amazingly well. i had the meringue which was far different to what i imagined. it was delicate, gooey, crunchy in some places, and (i think it was) the apricot component was scrumptious. 
service was friendly, smiling, attentive, focused and knew the menu well.
rata is a fine dining experience and well worth paying that bit extra to have a memorable dinner. ended our stay in queenstown on a good note.

...for a slightly more special night out, our pick is rata. josh emmet has created a uniquely kiwi dining room with one wall of the restaurant a photographic light installation of new zealand forest (rata is a native new zealand tree). you’ll find the menu features a few whimsy but expertly executed kiwi classics from the southland cheese roll to the cinnamon oysters. the best of new zealand produce is used on the plate and the food is modern and clever, but comforting. the staff are affable and the atmosphere relaxed...

really amazing dining experience. dishes are good decent size for fine dining. great atmosphere, service and everything in general just makes it a favorite in queenstown and one of the best places in new zealand.

follow the name of michelin stared chef josh emmet.
with a high expectation, only thing that let me down is the knifes, too dull to cut the pork, either the pork is overlooked. should have cutlery in this restaurant.
duck is good. the best is flounder from starter, apple tart desert must try