Equinox Bar & Restaurant serves brunch, dinner, burgers and pizza from its distinctive spot at Forbury Park Raceway on Victoria Road in St Kilda, Dunedin. The kitchen runs a split service — lunch from 11am to 2:30pm and dinner from 5pm to 8pm, Wednesday through Sunday — with dine-in warmly welcomed.
The menu stretches from French toast, eggs Benedict and pancake stacks at brunch to seafood chowder, herb-crusted lamb chops and wagyu rump at dinner, with 30cm gourmet pizzas, a solid burger line-up and a dedicated kids' menu in between. A short drinks list covers cocktails like the espresso martini alongside mocktails for the whole table.
Equinox also runs a Birthday Club with a free birthday meal offer, and its onsite catering company, Just Essence Catering, handles weddings, corporate events and kids' birthday parties, with venue hire and function rooms available. Staff invite diners to ask about special dietary requirements — gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free options appear across the menus.
Equinox Bar & Restaurant occupies a distinctive Dunedin address: Forbury Park Raceway on Victoria Road, in the seaside corner of St Kilda. It is a bar and restaurant in the truest sense — a full drinks list and a kitchen that runs from brunch through dinner — and having welcomed diners back for dine-in, it now settles into a rhythm of two services a day, Wednesday through Sunday.
The menu is broad in the way beloved neighbourhood restaurants tend to be, and deliberately so. Whether you come for eggs Benedict and a coffee, a 30cm pizza with friends, or a steak and a cocktail, there is a version of the evening (or morning) for you.
Brunch at Equinox leans comforting. There is French toast with a choice of chocolate, vanilla, berry or Nutella sauce; a pancake stack that comes as banana and bacon or berries and cream, with maple syrup; and eggs Benedict on toasted ciabatta with bacon, smoked salmon, or spinach and mushroom. Wobbly's Omelette — fluffy and cheesy, stuffed with spinach and mushroom — sits alongside avocado, eggs and tomato, a chicken quesadilla, and heartier plates like fish and chips, a steak sandwich on grilled panini, and a gluten-free roast of the day.
Dinner begins with salt-and-pepper calamari, garlic prawns, mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce. Mains run from a daily chef's special to stuffed chicken breast filled with spinach, cream cheese, parmesan and pistachio; a grilled wagyu rump with three pepper sauce; ribeye with a choice of pepper, mushroom or garlic brandy butter; pork belly with kumara wedges; and herb-crusted lamb chops with chimichurri and broccoli rice. The catch of the day arrives grilled with asparagus and lemon butter, and the seafood chowder — a creamy combination of prawns, scallops and fish — appears at both brunch and dinner, for good reason.
Equinox pours its gourmet pizzas at 30cm, and the line-up has personality. Delhi Delight layers tandoori chicken, capsicum, paneer and onions under a homemade mint and yoghurt sauce; Schezwan Supernova brings schezwan chicken, dry red chilli and peanuts for spice fans; Hog Heaven tops bacon, chorizo, pineapple and capsicum with a sunny-side egg; and Vege Delight pairs mushrooms, spinach, corn, cherry tomatoes and feta with an aioli drizzle — alongside a Loaded Meat Lovers and the classic Aloha.
Burgers hold their own: the namesake Equinox Burger stacks a homemade beef patty with onion rings and pickled veggies, the Korean Chicken Burger brings fried chicken with pineapple, and there is a corn-patty veggie burger plus a vegan, gluten-free potato and rosemary patty. Younger diners get a menu of their own — chicken or fish tenders, mac and cheese, mini sausages and ice cream.
The bar pours an espresso martini, a 1800 Coconut Delight and a Midori Splice, with Blue Lagoon and Passion Sunrise mocktails for those skipping alcohol. Birthdays are a house tradition: join the Birthday Club at least 48 hours before the big day, and a free meal awaits when you dine with three or more paying diners during your birthday month — redeemed by phone booking with your e-card.
Equinox's onsite catering company, Just Essence Catering, extends the kitchen to weddings, corporate events and special occasions, with venue hire, function rooms and full in-house administration. Kids' birthday parties come with no fees — families bring the cake and table decorations, and the team provides the rest, hats and balloons included.
Equinox is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 2:30pm for lunch and 5pm to 8pm for dinner, and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Find it at Forbury Park Raceway, 146 Victoria Road, St Clair, Dunedin, or call 03 456 2503. Booking enquiries go through the website, and the friendly staff invite anyone with special dietary requirements to ask — gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free options appear across the menus.