Water Bar sits right on the Wanaka lakefront, a fully licensed restaurant with proper bar facilities and panoramic views across Lake Wanaka to the mountains beyond. It covers all the bases of a day by the water: a full dining experience if you want one, a casual brunch or lunch if you don't, and a lively late-night venue once the sun goes down.
The kitchen turns out beautifully crafted dishes for every mood, from locally sourced lamb to mouth-watering gourmet burgers, with healthy salads, tasty mains like baked salmon, and house-made sauces and secret-recipe marinades that are always in demand. Behind the bar, the fun and friendly staff pour drinks and mix cocktails from midday until late, every day of the week.
Walk-in tables are available, though booking ahead is recommended for lunch or dinner. Big groups and private events are welcome too — just get in touch and the team will organise a booking, and gift vouchers are on offer for anyone wanting to treat someone else to the view.
Water Bar sits right on the Wanaka lakefront at 145 Ardmore St, and it makes the most of that address. From the restaurant you get panoramic views across Lake Wanaka to the mountains beyond — the kind of outlook that turns a casual lunch into something you remember and a dinner into a full evening out.
The idea behind the place is summed up in three words on the door: eat, drink, relax. Water Bar is a fully licensed restaurant with proper bar facilities, which means it works just as well for a full dining experience as it does for a lazy brunch, a quick lunch, or a lively late night with cocktails. It opens every day of the week from 12pm and keeps going until late, with a fun and friendly team ready to pour drinks, mix cocktails and serve up delicious food the whole time.
The menu is built around range. There are beautifully crafted dishes spanning locally sourced lamb, mouth-watering gourmet burgers, healthy salads for lighter appetites, and tasty mains like baked salmon. Two things run through the whole kitchen: the sauces are made in-house, and the marinades follow secret recipes — both, the team notes, always in demand.
That flexibility is part of the appeal. Come at midday for a salad or a burger with a view. Settle in over lamb and salmon for a longer dinner. Or skip the formalities entirely and post up at the bar with cocktails while the light shifts across the lake. Food, drinks and cocktail menus are all available to download from the website if you like to plan ahead, though plenty of people simply walk in and see where the afternoon takes them.
As the name suggests, the bar is a genuine part of the experience rather than an afterthought. Talented bartenders work a dedicated cocktail list — the espresso martini gets star billing — alongside the wider drinks menu. Because the venue stays open late, it doubles as one of Wanaka's evening spots: dinner can roll into drinks, and drinks can roll into a proper night out, all without leaving the lakefront.
Water Bar keeps the logistics simple. Walk-in tables are available if you're spontaneous, but the team recommends booking in advance for lunch or dinner to avoid disappointment, especially through the busier seasons when everyone in town has the same good idea about where to eat.
Bigger plans are welcome too. For large bookings of over 20 people you can call during business hours and speak to staff directly, and the venue can be hired for private events — get in touch and they'll organise the booking. If you're planning ahead for someone else, gift vouchers are available online, which makes an easy present for anyone who appreciates a lake view with their dinner.
What Water Bar offers, really, is a single dependable formula: good food, a well-stocked bar, and the best views in Wanaka, available every day from midday. Whether you're a local escaping the kitchen or a visitor working your way around the lake, it's an easy place to settle in — order a burger or the lamb, let the staff mix you something from the cocktail list, and watch the mountains do their thing across the water.
Reservations can be made through the website, or just turn up and take your chances on a walk-in table. Either way, you'll find the same thing waiting: a licensed lakefront restaurant that takes its food seriously and its atmosphere seriously too, from the first brunch order of the day to the last cocktail at night.