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the meal that my partner and i enjoyed at rata was faultless.the service was flawless and it is adiningexperience that i shall remember for as long as i live.the main reason that i am writing this review is to say to rosalie who complained about not being able to get a drink at 10.30pm is this...its 10.30 at night the staff have had a long day and most probably wish that you would leave so they can clean up and go home to their families or hit the town themselves!!as a hospo myself i feel that people who over stay their welcome in a restaurant are very tiresome and need to cop on to themselves. back to the restaurant i was so impressed with the food and service,the staff knew it was my birthday and when my dessert arrived "happy birthday" was written in chocolate on my plate which was a lovely gesture.thank you to all the staff at rata for an amazing experience.

that is the most famous place for finediningin queenstown. we had two entrees and one feast that night but in fact only one feast was enough for two people. we had the ox tongue and the cheese roll for entrees. the ox tongue was super tender and it took little work to cut. the cheese roll tasted light, but the soup kind of ruined its crisp skin and then the taste. the feast was lamb shoulder. it was quite huge, but we still finished it because it was delicious. the lamb was juicy and tender and the honey sauce was surprisingly perfect for matchup. i also like the eggplant inside. finally, the service was great, the staff was kind and warm. she offered many recommendations to us.

a beautiful finediningrestaurant located on a discreet street in city. lovely ambience, great for intimacy dining.

the bluff oysters were fresh and decently sized. the beef tartare was well marinated and matched well cheese granule. the fish crudo was also very refreshing and fruity.

the venison was cooked perfectly, raw but not gamey. the pumpkin purée tasted delicious too. the 55 days beef fillet was nicely cooked as well.

the chocolate fondant was sweet and soft, with a runny inner. the mango sorbet created a good balance to the palate.

this was the best restaurant i’ve experienced so far in queenstown. reasonably priced, good service. the food were fresh and delicious with beautiful presentations.

highly recommended to all.

food: 10/10
food presentation: 10/10
service: 7.5/10
location: 9/10
ambience: 9/10
price $60 per person

waitstaff seemed to be poorly trained, asking on multiple occasions if we were having anything to drink when my husband had a full beer in front of him and i a soda and clearly pregnant, not telling us much about the menu and rude when we didn’t know sweet breads did not relate to bread. food was ok, lamb tender although without a lot of flavour. also overpriced for what you get, which would be fine if it had been an overall good experience at a finediningrestaurant but definitely doesn’t have that vibe with other patrons there in work out gear.

rata has been on my bookmarked list of finediningrestaurants in queenstown to visit since i saw photos and reviews when it first opened (i can’t remember how long ago now). for various reasons, it becomes a last minute decision on our last night in queenstown. initially, over the phone, the lovely maître d’, claire, is only able to accommodate my son and i at the bar, which is fine with us. when we turn up however, despite having the places set at the bar, she kindly offers us a vacant table that isn’t required until 8:30pm - perfect!
we had eaten some late afternoon snacks elsewhere after a long bike ride, so we are happy to have just main courses tonight.
the two ciders on offer are both enjoyed as we wait the estimated 20mins for our meals to arrive. i opt for the te mana rack of lamb, onion tart tatin, smoked onion purée, salsa verde yoghurt, and ty takes the glazed beef cheek, red cabbage, canterbury truffle, garlic crumb, quick brown fox jus. we supplement these with sides of charred organic cauliflower, and the beetroot and goats cheese salad. i also leave the choice of red wine to accompany my lamb in the hands in of our waiter, and i’m very happy with a robust pinot noir, served in the largest special pinot glass on the planet! overall, each mouthful of each dish came together like a well orchestrated symphony of flavours, textures and colour. there is a lot of quiet moaning and each of us thinks our own choice is the best. the beef cheeks are incredibly tender, yet holding their shape, and my lamb is beautifully pink, succulent and flavoursome. all the components of our plates just seem to harmonise magically, leaving us very satisfied. full marks to the front of house, and back of house teams for making it an experience to treasure for a very long time.

rata is a chinese restaurant. if you want adiningfloor filled with diners taking selfies, drilled into their cell phones and ignoring each other then rata is the place to be. if you want a genuine kiwi experience then try elsewhere.

perfect place for what i'd like to call relaxed fine dining. service is attentive and sincere - ordered a glass of pinot noir, waitress asked whether we wanted a light or heavy one, then when she brought out the bottle insisted we taste it in case it wasn't quite what we were after. food was amazing - bluff oysters and beef short rib were the winners. great place if you're looking for a finediningexperience with kids as there were families there with one walking in and seated at 10pm!

came here with a friend the first night we arrived in queenstown, and we're so happy to have dined here because the food quality and service was 10/10 . our waiter was very knowledgable about wine and we were pleased with his recommendations. we had bluff oysters and goat cheese profiteroles for starters, and they were both delicious! we also ordered the beef wellington in advance because it takes 45 minutes to cook. the beef wellington also comes with your choice of two sides, we had roasted potatoes and the kale salad. the beef wellington is probably the best steak i've ever had, it was so juicy, tender, full of flavour, and melt in the mouth. trust me, it's a must try!!! we didn't end up finishing the beef wellington because it was way too much for two people, i would recommend sharing it with 3 others. btw, it's $110 including the two sides. overall, we had the bestdiningexperience at rata dining, and would definitely return if we ever visit queenstown again.

we loveddiningat rata. the food was absolutely delicious and the service was second to none. for starters we ordered the goats cheese profiteroles, scallops (which were a special on the night) and octopus. everything was amazing, but the standout were the profiteroles! yum! we preordered the beef wellington as they tend to run out when busy and we were not disappointed. cooked to perfection and was enough for 2 people as you also get a choice of 2 sides. would definitely recommend dinner at rata if you are visiting queenstown

i didn't have a favourite restaurant in queenstown until tonight. wow. wow. amazing. the food is incredible. the service is impeccable. the ambience and fitout is just perfect. i was unexpectedlydiningsolo and felt so welcomed not out of place at all. my fav part was pudding (hey i'm english!) cheese please. out comes a large selection of cheeses with an explanation/description of each so i can make an informed decision on the ones i wanted to choose. thank you josh. this restaurant and your staff are a credit to you.

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 ratadininghad 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 ratadiningfor our pure leisure and enjoyment, but we left the restaurant feeling oppressed and discriminated against.

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

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 unforgettablediningexperience!

had an absolute stunningdiningexperience 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 adiningexperience 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 finediningexperience and well worth paying that bit extra to have a memorable dinner. ended our stay in queenstown on a good note.