The Blazing Copper Restaurant is the in-house restaurant and bar of the Croydon Lodge Hotel, set on six acres of landscaped grounds about two kilometres from Gore's city centre. Proudly owned and operated by the Mataura Licensing Trust (MLT), it serves hotel guests and everyday diners alike, with the kitchen open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The menu offers a delicious selection of modern and classic dishes — Croydon Lodge favourites alongside new ones — with prime cuts, fish and gluten-free options well represented. Breakfast brings a continental buffet and cooked classics such as eggs Benedict and the Blazing Big Breakfast; lunch runs from Southland seafood chowder and baked Camembert to a wagyu beef burger and char-grilled ribeye; and the dinner menu is served from 5.30pm each evening. Portions are generous and the service style is fast and friendly.
Families are well looked after thanks to a children's menu, and from 3.00pm until late (Monday to Saturday) the Croydon Lodge Public Bar serves bar meals, platters and drinks. With room service available for guests, free onsite parking, a fireplace lobby lounge and five meeting rooms hosting conferences and weddings, the Blazing Copper is the warm heart of a complex built for travellers, celebrations and the local community.
Set on six acres of landscaped grounds just two kilometres from Gore's city centre, the Blazing Copper Restaurant is the in-house dining room of the Croydon Lodge Hotel, proudly owned and operated by the Mataura Licensing Trust (MLT). Whether you're a hotel guest rolling out of bed early, a local settling in for dinner, or a traveller passing through Southland, the kitchen here runs from first breakfast to last dinner service, every day of the week.
The pitch is simple: fast, friendly service and tasty meals with something for everybody. The menu pairs Croydon Lodge classics with newer favourites, leaning on prime cuts, fish and a solid run of gluten-free choices. Portions are generous, and because the restaurant sits inside the lodge complex, there's no need to head back out once you've settled in — room service is available for guests, and the lobby lounge with its fireplace isn't far away.
Breakfast kicks off at 6.30am on weekdays (7.00am on weekends) with a continental spread of cereals, toast, fruit, pastries, juices, tea and coffee. The Works adds a cooked option from the hot menu, which covers all the morning greats: bacon and eggs on ciabatta, a three-egg omelette, classic eggs Benedict with smoked salmon or streaky bacon, a potato and herb rosti topped with avocado and feta, and the Blazing Big Breakfast — sausage, hash browns, garlic butter mushrooms, grilled tomato and streaky bacon with eggs and toasted ciabatta. There's an apple cinnamon porridge for cooler mornings.
Lunch runs from midday to 2.00pm and splits into lighter plates and proper mains. Lighter options include the Southland seafood chowder, house-made Filipino-style vegetable spring rolls, baked Camembert with Manuka honey and candied walnuts, and a seafood skillet of prawns, scallops and mussels in garlic butter. The mains list is where the kitchen shows its range: a house-made wagyu beef burger on brioche, panko-crumbed chicken and bacon kebabs, a Moroccan-spiced pulled lamb sandwich, slow-cooked BBQ pork ribs, and a 250g char-grilled grass-fed ribeye with your pick of sauce. The tempura-battered blue cod — served light or full — is a nod to the local catch.
The seafood is a genuine highlight. The chowder is made with locally caught seafood cooked in white wine and cream, and the blue cod arrives golden with tartare sauce, lemon, steak fries and salad. Meat lovers have their own pilgrimages to make, from the ribs to the ribeye, matched with mushroom, peppercorn, garlic butter or jus.
Vegetarian and gluten-free diners are catered for properly rather than as an afterthought — dishes are marked GF, GFA, V and DFA across the menu, from the cheesy garlic bread to the fresh Blazing Copper salad with avocado guacamole and pomegranate dressing. Families are welcome too: a children's menu keeps younger diners happy, and the team is known for its friendly, unpretentious style of service.
The Blazing Copper is only part of the Croydon Lodge story. From 3.00pm until late, Monday to Saturday, the Croydon Lodge Public Bar serves bar meals, platters and drinks in a more relaxed setting. The lodge itself hosts conferences, meetings and weddings across five meeting rooms and six acres of grounds, so the restaurant regularly feeds celebration parties as well as everyday diners.
Practicalities are easy: the lodge sits on Waimea Street with free onsite parking, about two kilometres from the Eastern Southland Art Gallery and the Gore District Library. Tables can be booked online or by phone, and anyone with a food allergy or restriction is asked to chat with their waitstaff, since the kitchen handles many products and can't guarantee zero cross-contamination.
It's an unshowy kind of place, in the best Southland way — generous plates, a warm room, and a kitchen ready from early morning until dinner winds down. Whether it's a big breakfast before a day on the road, a chowder at lunchtime, or a ribeye at night, the Blazing Copper makes a strong case for not leaving the complex at all.