Eleven winery restaurants on Waiheke Island put you among the vines for lunch, and the one to book first is Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant, where you start with oysters and finish with the Syrah.
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Winery restaurants · Oneroa · $$$
★ 4.5 from 1,532 Google reviews
Hours not listed
The last stretch of Church Bay Road brings you out on a ridge above the Hauraki Gulf, with vines dropping away below and the Auckland skyline across the water, and it's the kind of view that stops you mid sentence.
Winery restaurants · Eastern Waiheke
★ 4.5 from 1,379 Google reviews
You reach the far north-eastern end of Waiheke by a long, winding gravel road, by the Explore ferry straight into Man O' War Bay, or by boat onto the beach, and that journey is part of the day out.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.3 from 1,594 Google reviews
The driveway climbs off Onetangi Road between vines and olive trees, and it finishes on a hillside veranda looking across a valley where horses graze on the far slope.
Mediterranean · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.7 from 675 Google reviews
You climb the hill from Onetangi Beach, turn into Brown Road where it forks into the vineyard, and find a Spanish restaurant with Gaudi-style mosaics on the walls, looking over 4.2 hectares of vines to the village and the sea.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.6 from 703 Google reviews
The driveway off Onetangi Road climbs through vines into a courtyard where a Michelin-starred restaurant sits above Alibi Brewing Co., so you can move from a cellar door tasting to a long lunch without leaving the estate.
Winery restaurants · Onetangi
★ 4.7 from 489 Google reviews
You climb the drive off Onetangi Road and Waiheke falls away into vines and olive trees, with the original farm goatshed now the cellar door.
Winery restaurants · Oneroa
★ 4.0 from 1,183 Google reviews
The ferry from Auckland takes about 35 minutes, and from Matiatia it's a two-minute drive or a 15 to 20 minute walk along the coastal track to a hilltop, where the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows look out over the Hauraki Gulf and the Auckland skyline across the water.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.4 from 611 Google reviews
The bus from the ferry drops you right at the gate, and before you've ordered a thing you're looking at vines, a playground and an archery range laid out across the lawn.
Winery restaurants · Eastern Waiheke · $$$
★ 4.5 from 370 Google reviews
Drive to the quiet end of Waiheke, down a gravel road that feels like it leads nowhere, and you arrive in a valley that looks a lot like Tuscany: gardens, vines on the hills, ducks and geese on the lawn and a restaurant looking out over the whole thing.
Pubs and bars · Eastern Waiheke
★ 4.6 from 196 Google reviews
You drive out past Onetangi, along Orapiu Road towards Stony Batter, and leave the hop-on hop-off crowds behind at a working vineyard with vines running down towards a view of Te Matuku Bay and the Hauraki Gulf beyond.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.9 from 109 Google reviews
Rock'n'roll street art, waterfalls running through the gardens and a deck looking out over the vines: this Onetangi Road cellar door has never done the traditional tasting room thing.
The other winery restaurants on Waiheke Island spread right across the island, so you can pick by view, by drive or by what's coming out of the kitchen. Man O' War Vineyards sits at the far eastern end on the beach at Man O' War Bay, about a 40-minute scenic drive from Matiatia, or a 90-minute Explore ferry from Auckland's Viaduct Harbour. Order the Fungi pizza with smoked cheese and kale, add truffle fries for the table, and take home a bottle of Exiled Pinot Gris.
For a Spanish lunch you climb Brown Road to Casita Miro, where the chef's Fiesta menu comes in four rounds of tapas and the goat's cheese croquettes are the first thing to order. Cable Bay Vineyards is a two minute drive from the Matiatia ferry and pours Waiheke Chardonnay, Syrah and Pinot Gris from 11 until 5 every day, which makes it an easy first stop or last one. Passage Rock Wines & Restaurant is only open on Saturdays and Sundays from noon, out on Orapiu Road, and the scallops with Viognier and the beef short rib are worth planning your weekend around.
Booking ahead is the safe move at most of them, with Mudbrick, Casita Miro, Man O' War, Stonyridge, Te Motu and Poderi Crisci all worth reserving, and group numbers matter because eight or more often means a set or chef's selection menu. Passage Rock opens only on Saturday and Sunday from noon and its small room fills fast on holiday weekends.
Casita Miro and Poderi Crisci do long lunch best, since Casita Miro's Fiesta menu brings four waves of tapas from the organic garden, while Poderi Crisci rolls out a slow Italian lunch of pasta made in house in the Awaawaroa Valley. Te Motu and Passage Rock are also great for a lazy afternoon among the vines, especially if you want some serious reds too.
