Del Mar - Eatery & Beach Bar sits on the water at 16 Waterfront Rd in Oamaru, bringing together fresh, coastal flavours and a relaxed beachfront atmosphere. The kitchen keeps the menu designed for sharing, ranging from seafood and pizzas through to casual favourites and house-made gelato, so a table can graze its way from a long lunch into the evening.
Whether you are joining for a long lunch, a sunset drink or an easy dinner with friends, the vibe stays laid-back and coastal. Plates span the likes of sushi and crispy squid, rib eye for heartier appetites, burgers with chips, waffle-cut chips and pizzas made for the middle of the table, with house-made gelato to finish.
Del Mar opens Thursday to Monday from 12pm until late. Reservations can be made online, and the restaurant also offers online ordering and gift cards through its website.
Set on the water at 16 Waterfront Road, Del Mar - Eatery & Beach Bar brings fresh, coastal flavours and a relaxed beachfront atmosphere to the heart of Oamaru. This is a place built around the simple pleasures: good food, good company and a laid-back coastal vibe. People come for long lunches that drift into the afternoon, sunset drinks by the water, and easy dinners with friends.
The concept is straightforward. The menu is designed for sharing, moving from seafood and pizzas through to casual favourites and house-made gelato. Rather than a formal, course-by-course dining room, it is an eatery and beach bar where plates arrive as you are ready for them and nobody is in a hurry.
The breadth of the menu is one of Del Mar's calling cards. Seafood leads the way, with crispy squid served alongside fresh salad and sushi joining the coastal line-up, while pizzas cover the table-friendly, everyone-agrees territory. Casual favourites fill out the list: burgers with chips, a rib eye for heartier appetites, and waffle-cut chips that get their own moment in the restaurant's photography.
Because the menu leans share-style, it works just as well for a couple picking at a few plates as it does for a full table. Order across the categories and you get a little of everything the beach bar does best — seafood, pizza, a grill item and a pile of chips in the middle.
Del Mar positions itself for every part of the day. From 12pm it is a lunch spot, and a long lunch over seafood and pizza is exactly what the room is built for. As the afternoon rolls on, the beach bar side takes over: a sunset drink with the water close by is one of the experiences the team names outright. By evening it settles into an easy dinner venue for friends.
The vibe throughout stays casual. This is not white-tablecloth dining — it is beachfront ease, with coastal detail and plants in the room, and a menu that meets you wherever the day has taken you.
One detail sets Del Mar apart from a standard bar menu: house-made gelato. It features throughout the restaurant's own imagery as Oamaru gelato, and it rounds out a menu that otherwise runs savoury. After squid, pizza and rib eye, a scoop or two of gelato is a fitting coastal finish.
Del Mar is open Thursday to Monday, from 12pm until late, and closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays — worth checking before you set your heart on a midweek visit. You will find it at 16 Waterfront Rd, Oamaru, NZ 9400, and the team can be reached on 03 434 0455 or at hello@delmar.nz.
Reservations can be made online through the restaurant's booking link, and there is online ordering through the website if you would rather take the coastal flavours home. Gift cards are available too, which makes an easy present for anyone who likes their meals with a sea breeze.
Whether it is a plate of waffle chips and a drink in the afternoon sun, or a full spread of seafood, pizza and gelato as the light fades over the water, Del Mar keeps the formula simple: fresh flavours, a beachfront setting and no rush at all.