Fishermans Table has been a fixture on the Paekakariki shoreline since 1977, perched above the beach at the southern edge of the Kapiti Coast with panoramic views across the ocean to Kapiti Island. Open seven days for all-day dining from 11.30am until late, it pairs friendly table service and a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere with honest food at down-to-earth prices. The menu leans generously to the sea — seafood chowder, green-lipped mussels, scallops, Pete's Hot Pot and the shareable Fishermans Basket — alongside rib eye and T-bone steaks, chicken, vegetable lasagne and a vegan burger. Every main and light meal comes with help-yourself access to the all-you-can-eat salad boat, a local institution in its own right. House-made desserts such as pavlova, chocolate mud cake and the chocolate scallop shell are the ideal finish, ideally timed to the sunset. Children get their own menu with an ice cream sundae included, and set menus cater for groups of ten or more. The kitchen closes only on Christmas Day.
Perched above the sand at the southern edge of the Kapiti Coast, Fishermans Table has been feeding Paekakariki locals and visitors since 1977. The restaurant sits right on State Highway 59 where the road first meets the sea, about 40 minutes' drive north of Wellington, and its tables look out across the water towards Kapiti Island. More than four decades on, it remains what the New Zealand Herald has described as a place that never sought to be fashionable, yet has always stayed in fashion.
This is coastal dining without pretence: friendly table service, a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere, and honest food at down-to-earth prices. Lunch rolls easily into dinner, and the kitchen serves all day.
Ask a Paekakariki local about Fishermans Table and the salad boat comes up quickly. Every main and light meal includes help-yourself access to unlimited freshly prepared salads — a simple tradition that has become the restaurant's calling card. Children load their plates between bites of fish and chips, and adults go back for a second helping they swear they don't need. Even entree-sized dishes can be paired with the boat, so there is no wrong way to build a meal here.
Seafood is the heart of the menu, and it runs from light bites to full feasts. Start with a creamy seafood chowder, green-lipped mussels grilled with herb butter, or The Platter — half-shell mussels, crumbed fish, squid and prawns made for sharing. Bigger appetites can aim for Pete's Hot Pot, a tomato broth crowded with fish, prawns, scallops, mussels, squid and shrimps, the Fishermans Basket of crumbed seafood, pan-fried flounder, scallops, seafood pasta or a fish burger with the house tartare.
From the land, the kitchen grills rib eye, fillet and T-bone steaks, and serves pork loin with sage and onion crumbs, chicken breast in apricot and almond sauce, a vegetable lasagne layered with spinach, feta and pumpkin, and a vegan burger stacked with beetroot. If you have a special dietary requirement, the team asks only that you advise reception.
On clear evenings the sun drops behind the horizon and the view turns gold — a sunset the team describes, accurately, as breathtaking. Save room for the house-made desserts: pavlova with kiwifruit and passionfruit sauce, hot Dutch apple crumble, chocolate mud cake, cheesecake of the day and classic sundaes. The chocolate scallop shell, served with ice cream, boysenberry sauce and whipped cream, earned a special mention in one glowing Tripadvisor review of a dinner by the sea.
Reviews regularly single out the same things: fresh fish, generous plates and staff who go out of their way. One Google reviewer recounted the team replacing a drink unprompted after an insect made an unwelcome landing at an outdoor table — the sort of small kindness that keeps families returning.
Fishermans Table opens seven days a week for all-day dining, from 11.30am until late, closing only on Christmas Day. Bookings are encouraged — simply call to secure a table — and groups of ten or more can be catered for with set menus, making it a reliable pick for birthdays, family gatherings and corporate functions.
Children are properly looked after, with a dedicated menu that pairs mains such as crumbed fish, squid rings or a waffle dog with chips and tomato sauce, then finishes with an ice cream sundae. The drinks list runs from local beers and New Zealand wines to cocktails, mocktails, proper coffee and milkshakes.
Many visitors fold a meal here into a bigger day out. Paekakariki is the southern gateway to the Kapiti Coast: walk the clifftop Escarpment Track, wander the driftwood-strewn beach, explore Queen Elizabeth Park, or drive up Paekakariki Hill Road for the lookout — then sit down to eat as the light fades over Kapiti Island.