Menu

  Magnifique - what a delight it was to sit at a table and dine at Bistro Gentil. The food & wine was amazing and enjoyed by all.
The service... read more was attentive with good knowledge of each plate offering. Highly recommend Bistro Gentil for your next dining experience.

  Tasty food, presented well. I felt the sauce on the aged steak masked the flavour of the steak a bit, but apart from that it was good. The proportions of... read more the salmon in the start was laughably small. I suppose you could argue its fine dining...but it didn't look like it took a lot of effort to justify the price of the starter compared to other places I've been... Which served better tasting salmon dish. Overall worth the visit, great views, but don't necessarily expect to be blown away by the cuisine

  Before we went here we had only reviews to go on. The website suggests going up in the afternoon, enjoying the stunning views of the lake over a wine-tasting and... read more staying for dinner. So we did.
The views are lovely and the sun shining in on us was warming as we were welcomed by a wonderful host for our wine tasting. In the end, over a little over an hour, we enjoyed three tasting trays between the two of us before moving on to dinner. Our wine host was knowledgeable, helpful but never in our faces or the slightest bit pushy. It was all about enjoying the day.
Our dinner also proved to be stunning with great but again not in-your-face service. We enjoyed beautifully presented and delicious amuse bouches, tartare for entree, the duck for main, a delightful palate cleanser and creme brulee that I have to rate as the best I have ever tried. All the food was amazing. And the wines included a wide range of Maude wines but also a wide range of wines from other vineyards.
Rather than just a night out, this turned into the pinnacle of our 4 days of dining and wining around Wanaka.

  We had excellent food our entire wonderful Backroads trip but Bistro Gentil was my favorite.
Beautiful setting, comfortable seating, elegant casual decor. Servers were excellent, even serving our group of... read more twenty.
Great vegetarian options - I am pescatarian. Loved all three courses, had a goat curd and leak appetizer, moki fish entree - fish cooked perfectly, and creme brulee with sorbet for dessert. My husband had a cauliflower based entree that he loved.
Wine was good - like everywhere in NZ.

  We enjoyed a very special meal in a spot with great views. The staff were very friendly & looked after us very well.

  Having been locals for over 5 years now our special treat has always been Bistro. Seasonal, fresh ingredients backed by a creativity that's second to none! They never cease to... read more amaze. It's definitely the best restaurant in Wanaka for its consistently mind blowing inventiveness. I...More

  Delicious modern French cuisine served in a cute restaurant overlooking the hills in Wanaka. Service took a little too long though, but overall was a good experience.

  Eye watering prices mediocre food. Not fresh not tasty.Very pretentious.They call it french cuisine but I doubt any frenchman would want to make that comparison.

  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.

  This delightful bistro is about a 10 minute drive from the lakefront; and sits up on a hill with gorgeous views of Lake Wanaka. Sit outside on the patio if... read more the weather is nice. Nice menu variety - lamb, monkfish, duck. Everything is so tasty...More