Rakau is an informal Arthurs Point pizzeria built around a wood-fired oven and a converted-container setting. The outdoor and covered seating suits a quick coffee stop as readily as a casual pizza lunch or dinner, and the restaurant also handles pickup and delivery orders. Its compact format keeps the focus on the oven, while a menu of salads, sandwiches and sweets broadens the choice beyond pizza.
The kitchen fires its pizzas with red beech wood and looks to Otago for seasonal ingredients. Gibbston Valley Cheese is the dedicated cheese supplier, giving the local produce story a particularly visible role. Diners can choose a smaller personal pizza or a regular size, and the toppings move from a straightforward Margherita to combinations that use roast vegetables, butternut, local cheeses and house-made sauces.
Vegetarian options include roast vegetables with baby spinach and Kalamata olives, a vegan pizza with plant-based cheese, and a three-cheese combination of mozzarella, blue cheese and brie. Meatier choices layer chorizo with capsicum and chilli oil, pair prosciutto with rocket, or use chicken, bacon, beef steak, pork belly and smoked salmon. The Chinese-pork pizza is especially distinctive, combining char siu pork belly with crackling and spring onion.
Away from the main pizza list, wood-fired chicken gyros come wrapped in house-made flatbread with Greek salad and tzatziki. Calzones can be filled with ham, chicken, vegetables or lamb, while focaccia sandwiches cover beef, smoked salmon, bacon and prosciutto. Tiramisu, lemon cheesecake and small baked sweets sit beside espresso coffee and tea, giving Rakau the range to work as a meal stop or a slower afternoon break.
Address: 170 Arthurs Point Road, Arthurs Point, Queenstown 9371, New Zealand
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