The Seafood Kitchen is a boutique seafood restaurant on Rue Lavaud in the seaside village of Akaroa, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It serves fresh, sustainable local seafood in what the owners describe as the culmination of a lifelong exploration of cuisine from all parts of the globe.
The menu changes not just with the seasons but daily, inspired by the available catch. Provenance is central to everything: oysters from the Marlborough Sounds, kingfish from Kaikoura, mussels from Havelock and fish caught locally in Akaroa, with the fishers themselves credited on the menu — including Johnny Clark, who supplies crayfish and paua.
The kitchen grows and presses its own olive oil and herbs, ferments, pickles, gathers and forages whenever it can, and supports small organic farmers and sustainable fishing practices, both farmed and wild caught.
Winter hours currently run Thursday to Saturday for dinner (5pm–9pm) and Saturday and Sunday for lunch (12pm–2.30pm). Reservations can be made via the website, and gift vouchers are available.
On Rue Lavaud, the main street of the seaside village of Akaroa on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island, The Seafood Kitchen does exactly what its name suggests — and does it with real conviction. This is a boutique dining room devoted to fresh, sustainable local seafood, and the culmination of a lifelong exploration of cuisines from all parts of the globe.
The restaurant opened in mid-2025 after eight weeks of painting, cleaning and reimagining the space, and it arrived with a clear philosophy: serve what the boats bring in, treat it well, credit the people who caught it, and support the small organic farmers and sustainable fishing practices — farmed and wild caught alike — that make a menu like this possible.
Most restaurants change their menu with the seasons. The Seafood Kitchen changes it daily, inspired by the available catch — and says so plainly, labelling its published menu a sample only, with fish subject to change depending on the day.
That daily-catch approach shapes everything from the raw bar to the larger plates. Start with Oysters Natural from the Marlborough Sounds, shucked to order and served with mignonette dressing and lemon, or the Mixed Sashimi of the daily catch, plated with koji miso, soy and fresh local Coppersfolly wasabi. Blue Fin tuna tataki comes with ginger ponzu, spring onion, daikon and mandarin, while the Wild Kingfish Crudo, from Kaikoura, pairs lime kosho and bonito cream with pickled cucumber and sticky soy.
Among the larger plates, the Grilled Kingfish — credited to Truant in Akaroa — is served with corn and tahini puree, oyster mushrooms, green harissa and a pinenut and preserved lemon salsa. The Akaroa King Salmon is grilled after a koji cure, with burnt orange, apple, pickled radish and miso. There is a Peruvian-style ceviche cured in lime and ginger with kumara and sweetcorn, a seafood risotto with wild-caught banana prawns, mussels and north african spices, and, for those who prefer land to sea, a 300g grilled aged rib eye from local Canterbury beef with red harissa and porcini salt.
One of the most distinctive things about this kitchen is how prominently it credits its suppliers. The team has spent time with many of the local fishers on land and at sea, and names them on the menu — among them Johnny Clark, who supplies crayfish and paua.
As the restaurant puts it, the journey of something as simple as a fresh flounder from the ocean to your table is not straightforward: bad weather, big seas, strong winds and shifting sand bars are daily challenges. It calls its fishers dedicated, passionate and humble — and, it adds, some of the best cooks they know.
The kitchen's ethos extends well beyond the fish. The team grows and presses its own olive oil and herbs, and ferments, pickles, gathers and forages whenever it can — part of a deeper care for the place they live and the oceans that surround and sustain them. It is one reason the menu reads like a map of New Zealand's coastlines, from Havelock mussels to Whitianga fish.
Even the sides carry the same touch: charred broccoli with whipped tahini and tofu creme and za'atar, or chive and lemon potato puree finished with their own pressed olive oil. Desserts stay classic — a traditional tiramisu and a sunken chocolate pudding with cherry mascarpone and raspberry coulis.
The Seafood Kitchen currently runs winter hours: dinner Thursday through Saturday from 5pm to 9pm, and lunch on Saturday and Sunday from 12pm to 2.30pm, with Saturdays offering both services and Sundays lunch only. Reservations can be made through the website, and gift vouchers are available for anyone wanting to give a table by the sea.
For visitors to Akaroa, this is a rare kind of meal: a small kitchen that can tell you exactly where every piece of fish on your plate came from — and often who pulled it from the water.