The Carlton Restaurant is the ground-floor breakfast dining room at Scenic Hotel Southern Cross on Dunedin's High Street. It is explicitly open to locals as well as hotel guests, with advance bookings available and public parking in the surrounding streets. Weekday service starts early, while weekends run slightly later, making the restaurant useful for a business breakfast, a leisurely start before exploring the city or a meeting with visitors staying nearby.
The à la carte menu begins with lighter dishes that still feel complete. Homemade granola comes with Greek yoghurt and blackcurrant compote, while eggs on ciabatta can be kept simple or supplemented with bacon. Mushrooms on sourdough add hummus, spinach and cherry tomato, and pancakes combine caramelised banana, maple syrup and berry compote, balancing warm sweetness with fruit rather than turning breakfast into a plain stack.
Egg dishes cover several different appetites. A three-egg omelette can be built from vegetables, cheese, ham and mushrooms, while eggs Benedict places poached eggs and spinach on sourdough with hollandaise and optional bacon or salmon. The full breakfast adds rosti, bacon, bratwurst, portobello mushroom and greens; the vegetarian version replaces the meats with plant-based sausages while retaining the rosti, eggs and vegetables.
A continental buffet and a combined cooked-and-continental buffet provide an alternative to ordering one plated dish. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan markers make the menu easier to navigate, although the kitchen asks guests to discuss allergies because all food is prepared in a shared facility. The combination of buffet choice and a focused à la carte list gives the Carlton more substance than a generic hotel breakfast service.
Address: Ground Floor, Scenic Hotel Southern Cross, 118 High Street, Dunedin Central, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
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