Palate Restaurant is one of Hamilton's most awarded dining rooms, independently owned and operated by chef Mat McLean and part-owner/sommelier Larissa Muller since 2005. Now located in the SkyCity building at 346 Victoria Street in the heart of the CBD — the restored former Chief Post Office with its magnificent glazed roof dome — Palate marked its 20th anniversary in February 2025.
Mat's cooking is produce-driven and seasonal, described by the man himself as “all smoke no mirrors” and “complicated simplicity”. Menus change with whatever Greater Waikato suppliers deliver — think Coastal Lamb, Greenstone Creek Beef, Meyer Cheese, Kaimai Greens and Southern Fresh — and a South American-style asado grill is the heart of the kitchen, where Mat cooks from scratch each day.
The SkyCity space offers four ways to dine: a street-front courtyard, two indoor rooms, and a casual nook in the SkyCity atrium beneath the glazed dome, home to the Kitchen Table chef's table. Larissa's wine list focuses on the best vintages from New Zealand's wine regions and earned her Cuisine Magazine's Sommelier & Wine Experience of the Year in 2024.
Dinner is served Tuesday to Saturday from 5pm, lunch on Friday and Saturday from 12pm-3pm, and half-price oyster happy hour runs at the bar Thursday to Saturday, 5-6pm. Relaxed rather than formal, Palate suits milestone celebrations and midweek dinners alike.
Palate has been part of Hamilton's dining story since 2005, when locally trained chef Mat McLean returned home after a scholarship that took him to Leith (one Michelin star) and The Capital Hotel (two Michelin stars) in London, followed by a stint as head chef at Middle Brighton Baths in Melbourne. He opened Palate in the city's southend, later moved it to vintage premises on Alma Street, and in 2024 brought it to the SkyCity building at 346 Victoria Street — celebrating twenty years in business there in February 2025.
Mat describes his food as “all smoke no mirrors” and “complicated simplicity” — produce-driven, technically assured and never over-worked. Despite the accolades, he shrugs off the fine-dining label: “We're very relaxed here.” Guests are welcome to pick up a lamb cutlet in their fingers, mop up the last of the sauce with sourdough, and laugh out loud while they do it.
The consistency has been recognised. Palate is regarded as one of New Zealand's most awarded restaurants and wears a Cuisine Awards hat — a one-hat certification in 2024 on top of the two hats it earned in 2018. In a fiercely competitive industry, that longevity is rare, and hospitality commentators credit Mat and Larissa for valuing staff, customers and suppliers in equal measure.
The SkyCity move gave Palate four distinct dining spaces: a street-front courtyard, two indoor rooms, and a casual nook in the SkyCity atrium directly beneath the glazed roof dome of what was once Hamilton's Chief Post Office. It's in the atrium that you'll find the Kitchen Table — Palate's chef's table in direct sight of the pass, where a South American-style asado grill occupies prime real estate. Mat cooks from scratch on the grill every day, and the menus shift with whatever the region delivers.
If boxes of white asparagus, globe artichokes, whitebait or flounder arrive unexpectedly from a supplier, they go straight onto guests' plates. Mat has visited the farms, horticulture blocks and beaches behind his ingredients, and the kitchen draws on the Greater Waikato's fruits, vegetables, truffles, meats, seafood and cheese — with Coastal Lamb, Greenstone Creek Beef, Meyer Cheese, Over The Moon Dairy, Kaimai Greens, Southern Fresh and The Grumpy Baker among the loyal local names.
A sample of the group set menu gives a sense of the cooking: woodfired octopus with tuna tartare, persimmon and pickled radish; Cambridge duck breast with potato pavé and chimichurri; roasted artichokes with artichoke panna cotta, confit egg yolk and Meyer smoked gouda; Greenstone Creek beef tataki with miso-roasted pumpkin; and seared southern bluefin tuna with potato gnocchi and chive velouté. Short on time? The Showstopper menu is a two- or three-course early-evening format built for theatre-goers, movie-goers and after-work dinners, with tables returned by 7pm.
Thursday to Saturday from 5-6pm, the bar runs a half-price oyster happy hour — the house suggestion being oysters and a glass of champagne, or a beer and a charcuterie board with mates. Dinner runs Tuesday to Saturday from 5pm, with lunch on Friday and Saturday from 12pm to 3pm.
Co-owner Larissa Muller, at Palate since 2013 and a certified sommelier, is the force behind the wine list — focused on the best vintages from New Zealand's regions, with a rotating cast of international beauties always in the cellar. In 2024 she received Cuisine Magazine's Sommelier & Wine Experience of the Year award, and in 2025 was named one of New Zealand's top ten women sommeliers.
Tables are allocated a two-hour dining time, groups of more than eight should contact the restaurant directly, and Kitchen Table bookings must be made by phone. Reviews regularly single out the team's willingness to cater for gluten and other allergies. Whether it's a milestone dinner or a Wednesday night, the door is open — just not on Sundays or Mondays.