Embra is an intimate restaurant on Kaimanawa Street in the heart of Taupo, serving modern Kiwi cuisine built on French and British cooking techniques and locally grown, sustainably sourced produce. The dining room seats under 30 guests, and dinner is served Tuesday to Saturday from 5.30pm, with last orders at 8.00pm midweek and 8.30pm on Friday and Saturday nights.
The menu changes roughly every four to eight weeks to reflect the seasons, showcasing hand-picked local suppliers and the artisanal produce Aotearoa has to offer. Chef Phill Blackburne — a born-and-bred Taupo local who spent eight years at Edinburgh's award-winning Castle Terrace Restaurant and later led the kitchen at Poronui Lodge — is known in particular for his game cookery. He and his wife Nora, whom he met in that same Edinburgh kitchen, opened Embra in late January 2022. The name is short for Edinburgh, and the Kaimanawa ranges traced in the logo translate fittingly to 'breath for food'.
The experience is casual yet sophisticated, with a friendly, knowledgeable team and reservations recommended. Embra holds a two-'Hat' rating in the Cuisine Good Food Guide 2023/24 and was named Regional Restaurant of the Year 2023/24. Dietary requirements can be catered for with at least 24 hours' notice, and gift vouchers are available.
Embra sits at 97A Kaimanawa Street, right in the heart of Taupo, and it does things at its own pace. Dinner is served five nights a week, Tuesday through Saturday, in a dining room that seats fewer than thirty guests. The cooking is a celebration of modern Kiwi cuisine built on French and British technique and locally grown produce, and the atmosphere is, in the restaurant's own words, casual yet sophisticated. It is the kind of place where you sit back, take your time, and let a friendly, knowledgeable team look after you.
The name is the first clue to the story. 'Embra' is short for Edinburgh, the city where this restaurant really began. Chef Phill Blackburne is a born-and-bred Taupo local who caught the cooking bug early — first helping his mum with baking, then working weekends and school holidays in a local cafe from the age of twelve, and later completing his cooking apprenticeship at the Millennium in Taupo. Like many Kiwis, he headed off on his big O.E., and it took him to Edinburgh and the kitchens of the award-winning Castle Terrace Restaurant under chef Dominic Jack. Over eight years he rose from commis chef to head chef, with a two-year return to New Zealand in between as head chef at Poronui Lodge — the source of his enduring love of all things game.
It was in Edinburgh that he met Nora, Latvian-born and raised largely in the city, who started at Castle Terrace as a food runner and worked her way up to floor manager before joining the opening team of Southside Scran, its sister restaurant. When the pandemic forced both restaurants to close, Phill, Nora and their young daughter moved home to New Zealand in September 2020, and in late January 2022 Embra opened its doors in Phill's hometown. Even the address feels meant to be: Kaimanawa translates to 'breath for food', and the outline of the nearby Kaimanawa ranges is traced in the restaurant's logo.
Embra's menu is deliberately restless, changing roughly every four to eight weeks to reflect the seasons — designed, the team says, right down to the month of the year. Dishes are crafted from sustainably sourced ingredients, local wherever possible, drawn from a shortlist of hand-picked suppliers and the artisanal produce Aotearoa does best. Look out for Phill's game cookery, inspired by his years in Scotland and at Poronui. Because the menu follows availability, it can change at short notice; the current food menu and drinks list are published on the website, and the mailing list sends the latest menu straight to your inbox.
If you have dietary requirements, Embra endeavours to cater where possible — but a minimum of 24 hours' notice is essential, so email or phone before your booking.
With under thirty seats, dinner at Embra feels personal. The team is described as exceptionally knowledgeable, talented and friendly — down-to-earth people who love talking about food and flavour. The vision is excellent food and laid-back service in an intimate setting, nestled amongst the mountains and the lake. That combination has earned national recognition: a two-'Hat' rating in the Cuisine Good Food Guide 2023/24 and the title of Regional Restaurant of the Year 2023/24.
Reservations are recommended and can be made through the website. Doors open at 5.30pm, with last orders at 8.00pm Tuesday to Thursday and 8.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays; the restaurant closes at 11pm and shuts its doors entirely on Sundays and Mondays, though it occasionally opens for special lunches — keep an eye out for events like its Father's Day lunch. Gift vouchers are available for anyone hoping to share the experience.
'We are both just so excited to put ourselves and our vision out there and feel so very privileged to be able to contribute to the food scene of Taupo and beyond,' say Phill and Nora Blackburne. Few restaurants distil a place so neatly: Scottish roots, Kiwi produce, and a small Taupo dining room named for the breath of food.