Bistro Gentil

  Sensational setting and note worthy food. We opted to do the chefs choice 3 course with wine pairings. It was wonderful! The rabbit gnocchi was very flavorful and excellent texture.... read more All the food we saw come out of the kitchen looked mouth watering. The view over the lake is not to be missed. Service was attentive and very informed. They handled my allergy’s and food preferences very professionally. This is a must place to book into while visiting wanaka.

  We dined at Bistro Gentil on Sunday 18th February, and it was an amazing culinary experience. The French Onion soup was very tasty and rich, but this was surpassed by... read more the best venison dish we have ever eaten. Subtle flavours abounded, but only enhancing the amazing taste and quality of the meat. Lastly the plum tart was a stunning finale. There are some good restaurants in Wanaka, but in our opinion, none came close to emulating the cooking skills on evidence here. If you are in Wanaka and love your food, this is a must destination. The staff were great and the chefs passion absolutely shines through.

  One of our best meals during our 3-week holiday in New Zealand! Beautiful setting just outside Wanaka, friendly service, warm casual atmosphere and outstanding food! Creative, very well prepared and... read more presented dishes using the best local ingredients. For six of us, to begin our meal,...More

  My partner and I celebrated a birthday and a wedding anniversary at the Bistro Gentil. The Food was just superb, but it was the attention to service that really made... read more the evening stand out. Highly recommend.

  I live in Wanaka and try and get around the restaurants. Been here before and it never fails. Really good value. Highly skilled chefs knowledgable and charming wait staff. Great... read more wine list what’s not to like. They receive good reviews all the time which is...More

  Rare is it that I find a restaurant that can satisfy my tastes and feel comfortable dining in - the portions are just the right size, not too small or... read more large, and the atmosphere was warm and cosy, not to mention the vegetarian main was to die for. It’s incredibly difficult to make nice vegetarian/vegan food let alone amazing vegetarian/vegan food! its almost a shame there weren’t more vegetarian options on the menu to explore but they seemed very accommodating to special dietary requirements checking in with me numerous times before preparing the dishes and serving. You could tell that they really paid attention to great flavour combinations when crafting the menu, not just for the sake of coming across experimental.
I tend to struggle with regular dining experiences because of stomach issues but the food was easy for me to stomach without sacrificing unique flavour. Bonus - there is a mock tail of the moment (different every time) and you get a surprise amuse bouche between each course.
Overall I was thoroughly impressed and can’t wait to visit again!

  Bistro Gentil is described in a major tourist brochure for Wanaka as '...our award winning restaurant ' and came up as #1 on Trip Advisor reviews. The online menu looked... read more exciting too, so off we went for dinner.
Now I don't like writing negative reviews but I really was disappointed.
Wild venison carpaccio as an entree had about as much venison as a single thin slice of prosciutto. And with more than that in the form of poached pear, cranberry gel and sun dried tomato, I just couldn't taste the venison. It's not that these things don't go with venison, but the dish was so mean on the venison that it just got swamped.
It didn't get much better with the fish main. Three tiny pieces of monkfish, while tasting good, just didn't show the character of the fish. The celeriac puree was good, and could have been the main counterpoint of the fish with maybe one other flavour. But add prawns, leek, orange and bok choy to a tiny serve of fish and it just got lost. Somewhere there was apparently black garlic butter too... I've had many entrees that were more generous.
On the plus side, the garden salad was good and so were the wines (though a bit on the high price side by the glass).
Overall I think Bistro Gentil is trying too hard, maybe to hold or rescue some past glory. But the meanness of the and better balanced than this.
A French onion soup was sweet but maybe at the expense of some flavour of the onion. It was saved by a crust of gruyere but we're still trying to work out where the crouton was.
Overall the meanness of the feature ingredients in the serves, and the overcomplicated and overcompensated accompaniments, really it down.
I'm hoping they were just having a bad night, as their menu should really set you alight.

  Great service and New Zealand produce with a french flair
large selection of Maude wine .
a proper Creme burlee , done they way it is meant to be

  We are lovers of French food so picked this place while in Wanaka. Maybe we got it wrong but we found it more Modern and less French. I opted for... read more the king prawn starter but it seemed like more squid than prawn. The sauce, for my taste, didnt resonate with me. It’s probably me coming in with the wrong expectations because the restaurant has so many good reviews that I feel a bit unfair giving them only “okay”. The venue is nice, and the service was good. Wine options were also good.

  Bistro Gentil created the BEST of problems- we wanted to eat more than we knew we could! After some haggling for favorites we had three entrees and two mains with... read more a local glass of 'liquid' dessert to finish. A busy Saturday night was expertly managed...More