Hotties Beachfront Eatery

My husband and I popped in here for a cocktail and a view!
Great cocktail menu they are delicious!
Great vibes, it looked like it had a good menu for dinner but we didn’t stick around. Staff seemed friendly!

The food was good (but pricey) -when it finally arrived - the service was dreadfully slow. There was no explanation or apology as to why we had to wait half an hour for our order to be taken, then another hour for our meals to arrive.

The amount and quality were lacking for the price. Beautiful scenery and lovely restaurant. Staff were very good. Felt the size of meal was very small.

Had our small wedding reception here in December. Make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing (even if making use of a wedding coordinator). Things agreed upon were not all met. They were most unhelpful on our wedding day and left us totally stressed out. Furthermore, we were told that guests could use the bathroom facilities in the restaurant, but on the day (with a torrential downpour) guests were instructed to use the public toilets outside. Canape's and presentation of food was good and tasteful, though. We would NOT recommend this facility. Shocking to think that people who work in the hospitality industry treat paying customers this way. What was supposed to be the most memorable, enjoyable day, ended up the total opposite.

Fresh & Delicious!
Lovely beachfront restaurant overlooking Hot Water Beach.
Great vibe & excellent service.

Phenomenal food and exceptional flavours! We had the mussels and the fish of the day with the risotto. Could not recommend this place enough, restaurant quality by the ocean at sunset. A beautiful experience.

We spent a wonderful afternoon at Hotties!

I don’t know what people are talking about the “rude” American Man. He was a fine host, and a gentleman, he seated us at the best table in the house (we later switched after we realised the best tables were “in the bar”)
He talked at length about his love of Brighton & Hove Albion football club, if you want a quick bite don’t get him started on Brighton’s promotion season!

He showered us with his extensive knowledge of the beer menu, and the wine selection was excellent. The “rude” American Man regaling tales of his travels through Burgundy & Bordeaux, storytelling reminiscent of Tolkien himself. We sat, we listened, we soaked it in.

Brilliant. Such good food, superb wine list, amazing deck areas with north facing sea and beach views. Took a little while to get order, water, but I just needed to relax and enjoy and stop whinging. Waitress at the bar was having a big rant in front of us at the owner which was a tad unprofessional. Owner also waited on us and is very, very good.

We spent 2 weeks in Sydney prior to 2 weeks on a cruise ship, ending up in Auckland. Now, we’re going to finish up with short 7 day tour of the North Island by car. We’re from Alaska and really take our fish and chips seriously, so we made it a point to try the local fish and chips in every port we stopped at.
Having overindulged on food on the ship, we decided to share entrees on our 7 day tour, but still want to continue our quest for the best fish and chips.
We found it here! Absolutely delicious! Hot, tasty with a nice batter and not greasy. Chips were hot and tasty. We liked it so much that we almost decided to forego our agreement to share entrees for one more day and order another order. We didn’t though, and instead indulged on the hot cookie and ice cream desert. So proud of ourselves!
Our cocktails were finely crafted and we enjoyed them immensely with the olive appetizer.
And the view! Incredible ambience that completes the picture of a perfect meal.
And Mark? Don’t pay attention to reviews with negative comments about the owner. We found him personable and very engaging. Hope to return some day!

Amazing food, great service and such a great vibe! Beautiful spot on the beachfront with an outdoor fire for the cooler evenings. Highly recommend!

Never ever go here, AVOID!
Wow the customer service is so bad. Just brought some ice creams and were wanted to have beers, cocktails and hot chips for the kids and were told on no uncertain terms that we were not welcome as this was a place for “drinking” and is a restaurant and we are not welcome… interesting that in these COVID times our tourist dollars are not welcome here. Maybe it was our young kids that put them off. Not a great way to do business.

Great place with a great family team. A pair of awesome bois and girls behind the bar. Food was delicious and a great part of making us feel welcome on our holiday. Would defo recommend after a day at the beach!

We arrived on a gorgeous day for lunch over Easter weekend. Easily got a parking spot at the carpark next door. We were very warmly welcomed by a young man and shown to a table with stunning beach views. The teenagers ordered fish and chips which they said was plentiful and delicious. My husband and I ordered Fish Tacos which was really fresh and just melted in your mouth. We ordered sparkling water as neither of us drink alcohol during the day, but on a hot summer day it was cool and refreshing. The highlight was the fabulous Chocolate Skillet Cookie served with vanilla bean ice cream. It arrived oven fresh, and beautifully presented and decorated. We really enjoyed the wonderful food and the stunning beach views. There was a good variety of options on the menu, and next time will pick the fish cakes followed by the house smoked salmon. The restaurant is beautifully decorated. A real treat for the Coromandel Peninsula. It was a perfect dining experience and a highlight of our Easter Weekend break.

Burgers were yum. Friendly staff and good location. Nice spot to walk upto for lunch if your staying at the camp grounds.

Great food, fine service. Fresh fish with risotto was great. Full of flavor, fresh fish. Mussels were delicious. Burger amazing. Thanks for a great day.

Great views with food to match. If you have an appreciation for food, I recommend Hotties as my favourite spot in the Hot Water Beach/Hahei area. It is not pub food, so is priced accordingly.

Great location, probably the best thing about it. Almost the only place to get dinner around here, so we tried it out and it was very mediocre. The food was fine but the portions were small. I ordered the fish tacos and there were only two small tacos for 28 dollars. Overall I wouldn’t eat here again, but it did the job i guess.

Hotties is in a prime location with great views however the service leaves little to be desired.

We arrived at dinner time to no-one else in the restaurant. Upon arrival the guy at the bar (who I can only assume is the grumpy American referred to in other reviews) appeared to make every effort not to acknowledge us and instead leave us standing in the waiting area for an uncomfortably long period of time.

Eventually we decided the place wasn't worth our patronage so we went to the pour bar in Hahei instead (which we highly recommend!).

While we are unable to comment on the food and drink, the mussels appear to have the highest mark up in the country.

Expensive and unpleasant experience.
The American man who served us was unbelievably rude and was talking poorly about other staff infront of the entire restaurant. When we asked to use the bathroom, he pointed us to the public restrooms next door.

Paid close to $110 for mediocre meals and a couple of drinks and this establishment wouldn't let us use their bathroom.

Decent food but the North American man is rude, as noted by several other reviewers. It’s a shame as the cafe is in a great spot.

After experiencing his sneer during our first visit when he made clear in the bluntest of condescending terms that there was a minimum spend (fine but we were there for lunch and always going to exceed it), we tried to visit a second time months later as the food had been good and he had taken great care over our drinks.

On this occasion when we were greeted by a friendlier staff member. We asked for a table for two, at which point the North American with his back turned to us exclaimed ‘no dice’. It turned out if we returned 30 minutes later there would be a table for us, by then we decided not to put ourselves through his service experience once more.

Like me, he’s better suited to back of house.