Luke's Kitchen

Nestled away in a small town on the Coromandel Peninsula is one of my absolute favourite restaurants. It may not have tablecloths and silverware (in fact I think they would laugh at the idea), but it never fails to disappoint me.  With tables made from surfboards, and bench seats made of drift wood, Luke's Kitchen embodies everything good about a New Zealand summer.

Luke's Kitchen started out as a small pizza shack by the beach and has turned into a heaving Coromandel hotspot packed full of hungry, sunburned beach goers. Pizza is still the crown glory of Luke's- and an enormous wood fired oven stands proudly in the middle of the restaurant where a team of surfer boys are rolling the dough and cooking to order.

On this balmy summer night, Mum and I made our way to Kuaotunu to visit Luke's Kitchen. We started off with kumara fries- the best I have ever had (and I've had a LOT), washed down with some Corona beer in the spirit of summer.

The pizza menu has a focus on NZ and seafood ingredients, atop a thin and crispy base. I'm a huge fan of greasy pizza (mmm Sal's), but Luke's Kitchen pizza is incredibly light and fresh, and all the more tasty.

We chose the Pacific Chix (coconut chicken, courgette, onion, preserved lime and coriander) and the very similar looking Never Fail (fresh fish, mushroom, courgette, onion, garlic aioli). Both were amazing, but the Pacific Chix was a winner for me, and is my go-to order whenever I am there.

LK is everything a beach restaurant should be, and is a true celebration of summer food. If you ever find yourself in the East Coast of the Coromandel, make your way to Kuaotunu, and pop into Luke's for a pizza before we run out of these glorious long summer nights.