Red Earth Bistro & Wine Bar is a friendly local bistro on Great South Road in the heart of Papakura village, serving bistro-style European and New Zealand cuisine. It is a family-oriented restaurant built around a simple idea — that food and wine come together — whether you are calling in for a glass of wine and a share plate or settling in for a full tasting experience.
The kitchen works with quality New Zealand produce: Hawkes Bay lamb shank simmered in shiraz, Te Mana high country lamb braised for nine hours, grass-fed Angus beef aged 21 days, and organic Clevedon Coast oysters. The menu stretches from wood fired breads and tasting plates to slow-cooked classics, char-grilled steaks with a choice of five sauces, vegetarian plates, desserts and a cheese board.
An extensive wine bar and full-flavoured beers on tap accompany the food, with a dedicated bar menu of share plates and a special coffee menu topped with whipped cream and liqueurs. Red Earth opens for lunch and dinner Wednesday to Sunday, runs a $35 lunch special (garlic bread, main and a house wine, beer or juice), caters for under-12s with its own kids menu, and takes reservations online, by phone or email.
Red Earth Bistro & Wine Bar sits on Great South Road in the heart of Papakura village, and it makes no secret of what it wants to be: your friendly local. The kitchen cooks bistro-style European and New Zealand cuisine, the room is set up as a family-oriented restaurant where food and wine come together, and the offer is straightforward — quality dishes, an extensive wine bar and full-flavoured beers on tap, whether you are in for a glass of wine and a share plate or a full tasting experience.
The menu runs wide. It opens with a bread selection — garlic bread, wood fired feta & spinach bread with roasted red pepper and a garlic dipping sofrito, and turkish pide with caramelised onions and dips — alongside a seafood chowder crowded with calamari, fish, prawns, mussel and saffron.
Tasting plates are made for the middle of the table: battered organic Clevedon Coast oysters with remoulade, salt & pepper prawns with wasabi mayonnaise and pickled red onions, polenta chips with black garlic mayonnaise, and two kinds of meatballs — lamb & feta in pizzaiola sauce, or South Island venison with rosemary, dijon and sour cream.
Slow cooking is where the kitchen has built its reputation. The famous Hawkes Bay lamb shank simmers in shiraz & onion sauce and lands on mash; the Te Mana high country lamb shoulder braises for nine hours and is served as a dish for two; the wagyu beef brisket is spice-rubbed and braised sweet & sour, Ashkenazi style.
Grill lovers are looked after too. Angus scotch fillet and eye fillet — grass fed and aged 21 days — come off the char grill with a choice of five sauces, from Madagascan green peppercorn and béarnaise to blue cheese & ricotta butter and portobello mushroom & smoked bacon, while hanging skewers pair lamb rump with chorizo and eye fillet with capsicum and onion. Elsewhere: market fish with pistachio crumble and lemon hollandaise, crispy chicken breast in gypsy sauce, a beef eye fillet schnitzel with mushroom marsala and grilled mozzarella, and scallops wrapped in smoked bacon over arborio rice. Vegetarians get a proper main — chickpea-battered cauliflower and broccolini with cashew cream and chickpea ragu — and the Red Earth Classics column pairs macaroni cheese with ham off the bone against char-grilled eye fillet finished with scallops or garlic butter prawns.
The wine bar half of the name carries real weight. There is an extensive wine list and full-flavoured beers on tap, plus a dedicated bar menu of share plates — oysters, prawns, meatballs, mac n cheese, polenta chips — for a lighter kind of visit. Coffee gets its own chapter: the special coffee menu tops drinks with Bailey's, Jamesons, Wild Turkey, Frangelico and Drambuie, all finished with lightly whipped cream. Dessert runs from crème brulee and mascarpone tiramisu to mango panna cotta, pecan pie and affogato, and the cheese board pairs Italian Gorgonzola with Clevedon Buffalo Gouda.
Red Earth opens Wednesday to Sunday, with lunch from 12pm to 2.30pm and dinner from 5.30pm to 9.30pm; it closes Monday and Tuesday. The $35 lunch special is the local drawcard — garlic bread, a main course and a glass of house wine, house beer or juice.
Families are clearly welcome. The kids menu, for children under 12, covers fish fingers, macaroni with ham and cheese, flat lamb meatballs, American-style hot dogs and chicken nuggets, each served with salad or fresh fruit and a choice of juice or soft drink, with chocolate brownie or ice cream to finish. Menu items are subject to availability, and dietary requirements can be ordered on request.
Reservations can be made online, by phone on 09 296 9027 or by emailing bookings@redearthbistro.co.nz. Whether it is a slow-cooked dinner for two, a family table on Sunday or a quick plate and a tap beer at the bar, Red Earth keeps the promise of a neighbourhood bistro: generous food, a serious wine list and a warm Papakura welcome.