Fergus Bar & Kitchen is Rototuna North's newest bar and restaurant, located on Turakina Rise in Hamilton. It's a big, easy-going local: ample parking, generous indoor and outdoor seating and even a little playground for the kids mean there is plenty of space to entertain — whether that's a weeknight dinner, a long weekend lunch or a catch-up over drinks.
The kitchen covers a lot of ground: shareable snacks like gochujang fried chicken, chicken liver pate and pork croquettes; burgers on toasted milk buns with fries and truffle aioli; hand-stretched sourdough pizzas; and heartier mains from Greenlea rib eye and slow-cooked beef cheek to NZ snapper fish and chips. A dedicated kids' menu comes with colouring-in, and desserts run from Whittaker's brownie to Biscoff tiramisu.
Behind the bar there are cocktails, tap beer, a wide New Zealand and Australian wine list and proper coffee. Doors open from 11.30am on weekdays and 11am on weekends, trading until late. Tables can be booked online, and the team also hosts functions and offers gift cards.
Fergus Bar & Kitchen is Rototuna North's newest bar and restaurant, and it has arrived with a clear idea of what a neighbourhood local should be: roomy, easy-going and open late. From its spot on Turakina Rise in Hamilton's north, Fergus pairs a proper drinks list with a kitchen that runs from snacks and hand-stretched pizza to rib eye, seafood and desserts worth lingering over.
Above all, Fergus is built for gathering. There is ample parking, generous indoor and outdoor seating, and even a little playground for the kids — so, as the team puts it, there is plenty of space to entertain. Tables can be booked online, and the venue also caters for functions and sells gift cards through its website.
The kitchen starts things off with a snacks list made for sharing: confit garlic pizza bread, chicken liver pate with brandy and tamarind date chutney, pan-fried chicken and cabbage dumplings with chilli crisp, braised pork croquettes, loaded fries topped with brisket, and crispy calamari and prawns dusted with ras el hanout. The fried chicken is a choose-your-own affair — sweet and spicy gochujang with kewpie and sesame, or buttermilk-crusted with horseradish ranch — and soft tacos come in fried chicken, brisket or crispy oyster mushroom.
Burgers arrive on a toasted milk bun with fries and truffle aioli. The Fergus Burger is the house classic — prime beef, double cheese, McClure's pickles — alongside a buttermilk crispy chicken version, a slow-cooked brisket burger and a halloumi burger with crispy oyster mushrooms and chipotle salsa for vegetarians.
Pizza comes on a hand-stretched sourdough base, with a gluten-free option available, and five pies from the double-cheese Double Margherita to the Pit Boss, piled with pulled brisket, bacon, ham and chorizo on a smoky BBQ base. There's also a Chickeroni, a Chorizo Popper and a Lamb & Feta.
For a proper sit-down dinner, the mains step up: a Greenlea rib eye with fried mac & cheese and chimichurri, ancho espresso-rubbed beef cheek on smoked mash, chermoula lamb rump with whipped feta, harissa half roast chicken, butter chicken with garlic roti, spaghetti meatballs and snapper fish and chips. Lighter appetites are covered by a duck salad, a smoked chicken Caesar and a teriyaki beef salad bowl, while lunch brings its own lineup including chicken parmigiana and sirloin with truffle parmesan fries. Save room for dessert — Whittaker's brownie with cookie dough ice cream, warm pear and almond tart, or the Biscoff tiramisu.
Fergus is unusually welcoming to younger guests: there's the playground, plus a dedicated kids' menu with colouring-in — crispy chicken tenders, a mini cheeseburger, a kids' bento with fried chicken and steamed rice, tempura fish and a Hawaiian pizza — and a vanilla sundae to finish. Weekend service starts from 11am, which makes it an easy call for long family lunches.
Behind the bar, the cocktail list runs from a Tommy's Margarita and Dead Rabbit Sour to the house Fergus Check In — Bumbu rum, lime, cranberry and mint — and the Movie Snack, built on house-made popcorn syrup. Tap beers pour from Heineken through to Tuatara hazy pale ale, the fridge covers ciders and RTDs, and the wine list spans Marlborough sauvignon blanc, Central Otago pinot noir and French G.H. Mumm. Coffee, tea, juices and a solid non-alcoholic lineup round it out.
Fergus opens Monday to Friday from 11.30am and from 11am on weekends, trading until late every day. You'll find it at 14 Turakina Rise, Rototuna North — with online bookings, the full menu, functions info and gift cards on the website, and updates on Facebook and Instagram.