Chef Josh Phillips is the Head Chef at Little Aosta and is associated with Destination Unknown Restaurants. He was recognized as the Clyth MacLeod Rising Talent of 2025 at the Cuisine Good Food Awards. Beyond...
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ItalianSteakhouseSeafoodBakeryVegan-friendlySeafoodModerateBreakfastLunchDinnerAll Day
Last updated: 7/2/2026, 4:29:16 AM
Key Information
The Blue Door is a beachfront restaurant in Paihia, offering a delightful fusion of Asian-inspired and Kiwi flavors. It boasts stunning views of the Bay of Islands and provides a casual, friendly dining experience for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Customers consistently praise The Blue Door for its delicious food, excellent and friendly service, and inviting ambiance. Many highlight the quality of the seafood, the unique Asian-Kiwi fusion dishes like Lamb Roti, and decadent desserts. The beachfront location and welcoming staff contribute to a highly positive dining experience, with several reviewers expressing a desire to return.
Additional Details
The Blue Door features a full bar, offering a variety of drinks including mocktails and sharing 'fishbowl' cocktails. The owner is noted for providing a warm welcome to guests. The restaurant is also mentioned as being available through 'First Table', suggesting potential deals for early diners.
The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, making it suitable for any meal. Reviews suggest it can be a peaceful spot for lunch, and popular for dinner. Its beachfront setting makes it ideal for enjoying meals with a view throughout the day.
Such an amazing experience here!! Every plate was amazing, service and timing was the quickest we’ve ever experienced and super friendly waiter, we got a fish bowl which was also super good! Absolutely coming back and highly recommend!
Very friendly, casual beachfront restaurant, full bar. The owner gave us a very warm welcome. Excellent food, Asian fusion and Kiwi favorites. We enjoyed calamari, fish & chips, lamb roti, drinks, dessert, US$79 total for two people. We enjoyed dinner so much that we returned for breakfast the next morning. Full English-style plus fresh fruit, mango lassi. Lots of vegetarian and GF options.
Fantastic dining experience ⭐️ We had the Carnivore Platter to share and finished off with the Banana Spring Rolls. Could not fault anything. The staff were attentive, friendly and welcoming. Thank you for a wonderful evening 😊
Easy parking across the road and a peaceful Friday lunch spot—just us there mid-afternoon.
I had the Pan-Seared Eye Fillet, cooked medium-rare and served with red wine jus, seared vegetables, and mild garlic mash with prune jam. Well-balanced and flavorful.
My daughter loved the Seafood Combination—creamy, cheesy, and packed with perfectly cooked shellfish. Her highlight of the meal.
We shared the Chocolate Bomb—rich, decadent, with a surprise berry sorbet centre. Definitely recommend sharing.
The passionfruit mocktail was fresh, minty, and not overly sweet.
Friendly, relaxed service and beachy décor made it a great experience. Thanks to First Table for making it even more affordable. Would return.
From the moment we arrived by bike with the kids, Deep showed us where to park, talked through the menu and shared his personal favorites. First, drinks mocktails for the kids and a huge sharing fishbowl for us- a pesky wasp liked it as much as us but Deep also shooed it away 👍🏻. They were delicious. We ordered lamb roti, kids fish and chips, mussels, seafood pasta and scotch followed by a delicious banana fritter and kids ice cream.
We were impressed with every dish, from the bread served with the mussels to the chargrilled vege flavor of the broccoli, everything had been thought about.
The pasta was the best i’ve had and the black detail from the squid ink was another special difference. The roti was delicious with the spice of the lamb and the sweetness of the roti paired with a crunch of the salad. Mmmmm we both have said we want to go back again before our holiday is over so we will see you soon Blue Door.
