Mussel Inn

What a fantastic spot!! Make sure you stop off and try their various pies - I went with a lamb & rosemary pie. Enjoy their open fire 🔥 Try their homebrewed ginger beer too !!! Cool gigs and live music throughout the week. Lovely staff & a super cool setting.

Had an amazing rib eye steak in a really great atmosphere. Hope to visit another time to enjoy live music and the beer tasting padel as well!

Very good food and amazing atmosphere! You will enjoy this place

This place is a must visit if you are passing through here as a band or musician. Everything we tasted from what they brew onsite was great. They have a great little sound system setup too. The place is warm and welcoming, and they serve some yummy stuff. Lots of fantails and birdsong around there and it was so lovely staying in the log house with our tour party, and watching some cider being made!

In Golden Bay for 3 nights, had dinner here twice! Absolutely loved the food and drinks! Vibe was on point. Lots of interesting things to look at and discover!! Staff were fantastic. We will be back!

The cheesy corn chips weren’t up to much, better to increase the price and add more filling. The fresh mussels and garlic bread were very good. Bohemian style cafe with roaming wekas and composting toilets. Reasonable prices. Latte wasn’t great, never-ending foam and I thought Id never get to the liquid. Dog tied up near entrance door annoying - surprising to know not all of us want a dog sniffing us as we walk out a restaurant door after our lunch.

The Mussel Inn – A True NZ Gem! If you’re anywhere near Golden Bay, do yourself a favour and make a beeline for The Mussel Inn. This place is an absolute New Zealand treasure — warm, quirky, eco-friendly, and full of character. But the real star of the show? The legendary green-lipped mussels. Fresh, plump, and cooked to perfection, these mussels are a must-try and easily some of the best you’ll find in the country. Whether you go for them steamed, grilled, or in one of their signature dishes, every bite is packed with flavour that screams “pure NZ.” The vibe at the Mussel Inn is just as impressive — relaxed, rustic, and welcoming. With local brews on tap, live music on many nights, and a charming garden area, it’s the kind of spot you plan to stop at for an hour and end up staying all evening. If you love great food, good people, and true Kiwi culture, the Mussel Inn is simply unmissable. Don’t even think about visiting without ordering the green-lip mussels! 🥘

We shared a bowl of steamed muscles and they were unreal!! So tasty even better than along the coast! Good value too I thought, I got a coffee as well and it was really nice, would love to try the beers and pies but I’ll be back one day again

This was well worth the 6.5 hour trek from Christchurch over Easter Weekend. Having sampled some beers at the Great Kiwi Beerfest, we decided we had to get up to the restaurant itself to try some other beers. Located just off the main road to Onekaka, The Mussel Inn is a great local haunt that is regailed for it's beer and offers a great family feel with a large outdoor gathering space with picnic tables, a giant tire swing and a firepit. There is some indoor seating, but the real experience is outside. There are about 5-6 beer options on tab and other specialty beers by the bottle. My favorite is the Captain Cooker Manuka Beer, but the Super Swine (hoppy manuka beer) was great too. My husband tried their chilli beer, but it is only available by the bottle at the restaurant. They are known for their pies, and I regret not trying one. We ordered small nachos (a blossom of nacho chips stuck into a bean/sour cream/salsa/cheese mix) garlic bread (a large rosemary? foccaia loaf with a generous portion of chopped garlic, the bacon burger (don't be fooled, this burger is all bacon and no beef) with lettuce, a light and fruity salsa and aioli servce on the garlic bread and green-lipped mussels. My husband says they're the best mussels he's had in NZ. I wasn't so impressed with the open-faced burger and ended up eating each piece separately (as it was extremely messy and over-bearing). The flavors were great once eaten by themselves! We had an extra beer over dessert, but their pavlova looked appetizing. Be sure to stay through dusk as they light the fire pit, which is a great place to cuddle up to someone, or just sit and enjoy a beer. Arrive before 6 to beat the local crowd and secure a table outdoors as well as parking in their very small lot. When we left, cars were lined up down the side of the highway.

Awesome place for an early lunch. Green mussels for 18$. Superb. They're huge and fresh. Good cappuccino for 4$.

We were really excited to have local beer and good fresh mussels! We at least got the beer, and some good food along with it. We were bummed that they were out of mussels, but the food was had was very nice.

We just can't pass without stopping so today was our third visit. They make their own beers on site and have 6 plus a cider on tap. A tasting flight lets you choose 5 on tap @ in 200ml glasses. Our selection included 2 which are seasonal, ie not always available. Great fun and it means the 2 of us were able to try, compare and rate both before getting our meal and then with food. My favs were the Cool Giraffe and the Dark Horse. On a windy, rainy day the table by the fire was a delight. My mussel chowder was great and mr really liked his beef pie. We had the fruit crumble. Excellent.

Really excellent beers/ales. I've stopped here twice and sampled several. The mussel chowder was tasty too. Also a very nice setting. If you are in the area, DO NOT miss lunch or dinner (or at least a beverage) here!

Legend has it there was a pub with both good entrees AND good snacks. Also perhaps some good drinks. To confirm, I took a stop here and found all three. The serving sizes are quite large, expertly made, and overly satisfying to no end. I have since returned two more times to test consistency and have been given multiple instances of similar quality. The nachos are the best I have ever had, every burger on the menu is great (AND LARGE!), and I enjoyed the salad. As for the drinks, their rum and coke is quite good, good ratios of hard to soft comparitavely for the cost. While enjoying food and drinks, the atmosphere adds to the experience to create a cozy and comfortable place to be. Definitely worth a visit!

Amazing place to find yourself warming up during a rainy day or after a long fun beach/hike day. Their brewed beers are very tasty and pies delicious! Only wish I lived closer to enjoy more often. Highly suggest the chicken & Camembert pie & apple cider. Can't go wrong with the original Captain Cooker lager either.