SODA faces Queenstown Bay from its lakefront site on Rees Street, with several ways to settle in beside the water. Diners can choose the main restaurant and bar, a covered balcony or the outdoor area facing the lake. Open across the week from midday into the evening, it can move naturally from a long lunch to dinner and later drinks without changing its central Mediterranean character.
Sharing guides the menu, while the grill and wood fire shape much of the cooking. Fire-roasted bread can be paired with olives, taramasalata, prawns, hummus, anchovies or peppers to create a flexible antipasti opening. From there, the kitchen applies Mediterranean flavours to meat, seafood and vegetables, building a meal through a sequence of smaller plates before the larger centrepieces arrive.
Those smaller plates offer considerable range. Tuna ceviche brings chilli, coconut vinegar and kumara puree; calamari is matched with paprika aioli, and goat's cheese croquettes come with honey and almonds. Grilled eggplant, wagyu beef skewers, lamb cutlets, house-made chorizo and octopus with smoked garlic and pistachio gremolata show how vegetables, seafood and meat each receive a distinct treatment.
Larger dishes are made for the middle of the table: braised lamb shoulder, market fish, seafood paella and barbecued chicken sit beside a wild mushroom fideua. Several steaks extend the grill section, while greens, wood-fired mushrooms, potatoes and seasonal vegetables complete the spread. The breadth makes SODA workable for a few shared bites at the bar or a full group dinner assembled across multiple courses.
Address: 2 Rees Street, Queenstown, Otago Region 9300, New Zealand
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