Regatta Bar & Eatery is a seaside destination that doubles in size in the sunny seasons as the bifold doors open up and connect the establishment with its environment. Raised on a hill overlooking the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto Island, it’s got what we think is the best seaside dining view in Auckland.
It’s the kind of place you can feel comfortable walking in off the beach in your jandals for a burger and a beer, then at dinner time you can get dressed up and have a proper dining experience.
In celebration of this month’s Taste of Takapuna awards, we caught up with Regatta owner Andy Ruzich to talk about local food and happenings.
We’re here to talk food, so can you tell us about what Regatta is known for?
The food has quite a following. It’s European with local seafood, very bistro-style food. Probably our most famous dish is line caught Lee Fish snapper. Lee Fish is a local boutique fishery so they’re catching fish and sending it direct to us. We get it whole and fillet it ourselves. We like local produce and making the most of our location.
The menu is not 100% seafood. There are some hero seafood dishes, but we’ve got something for everyone.
What have you got going on for Taste of Takapuna?
We’re launching our summer menu today, which is pretty special. You should probably try the market market seafood, where we have fresh oysters in every day, a market chargrilled fish, a market pan-fried, fish and a market fish ‘n’ chips. It’s forever changing based on what is the freshest fish we can get – every morning the chef is choosing the best of what’s available.
Coming into tomato season, we ‘re doing an heirloom tomato, lemon ricotta, cucumber and basil gazpacho, which will be a summer dish that’s also vegetarian and vegan.
What’s your favourite dish on the new menu?
My favourite dish would be the raw kingfish. It’s sustainably farmed from Ruakaka. They’re not drawn from the ocean, they’re farmed kingfish, and they’re with pickled daikon, coriander, lime and coconut. That’s a really fresh and vibrant dish, I think that’s really going to fly in the summer.
What else is going on at Regatta this season?
We’ve got a pop-up with a spritzer bar in the outdoor garden. The 12th of November is the launch party for it, and it’ll be running for ten weeks into the summer with a range of cocktails and things, and there’s a new product called Pampelle.
We’ve also got some ticketed entertainment events with live DJs. There’s one called Scenic Sounds with Leisure DJ SET, which is a New Zealand group, and that’s on Saturday 5th of November. We’ve got an event on Melbourne Cup day, but that’s already sold out. And we feature live DJs every Friday night, playing a mix of funky soulful disco house.
Head in to Regatta Bar & Eatery to check out their new menu:
Main Beach, The Strand, Takapuna
Check out their website here for events and menu info, or to book a group table call: 09 488 0040.
