Best Cafe is a Dunedin seafood institution whose old-school dining room is part of the point. The business dates to the early 1930s, when the Collins family bought the cafe and developed the long family connection that shaped it for decades. Its dining room once sat between a milk bar and a fresh-fish shop; the operation later concentrated on seafood restaurant service. Today, the Stuart Street venue still serves both diners and takeaway customers, preserving a retro character that feels lived in rather than recreated for effect.
The choice of fish follows the day's supply, keeping the core offer tied to what has arrived rather than a rigid list. Blue cod, lemon sole, elephant fish, gurnard and tarakihi are among the recurring options, prepared in batter or crumb. Oysters also depend on the season and source, whether Bluff or another available New Zealand harvest. Hand-cut Agria chips are cooked in beef dripping, an unapologetically traditional detail, while gluten-free batter gives diners another route to the central fish-and-chip combination.
Seafood runs through the smaller items as clearly as it does the fillets. Blue-cod bites provide an easy introduction, while whitebait, pāua and mussel patties bring several distinctly local flavours into the fryer. Battered mussels and squid rings sit beside a cafe burger built around battered blue cod and a soft white-bread sandwich filled with crumbed sole. Coleslaw, green salad and bread and butter keep the accompaniments plain and familiar. Nothing is disguised by a complicated format; the appeal lies in well-known combinations and a narrow seafood focus.
The cafe's history extends beyond its menu. Court staff and jurors from across the road, university students, farmers visiting wool sales and rugby crowds all appear in its account of Dunedin life, alongside entertainers brought in during the city's busy touring years. Current owners Greg Hay and Andy Brinsley first knew the place as students and describe themselves as custodians of its traditions. Occasional seated live-music dinners add something new without changing the room's basic personality, making the cafe as much a gathering place with memory as a straightforward seafood stop.
Address: 30 Stuart Street, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
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