Personally for foods, High Country Salmon has more variety of food to choose from.
Besides, it has an indoor area when you can dine in. For Mount Cook Alpine Salmon, it has outdoor area where you can eat and see the Lake Pukaki view.
High Country Salmon vs Mount Cook Alpine Salmon: Which is Better?
Mount Cook Alpine Salmon
While visiting New Zealand, I had gone to both Mount Cook Alpine Salmon and High Country Salmon in Twizel to taste their fresh salmon. Both were good but High Country Alpine had more variety of food to choose from than Mount Cook Alpine Salmon.
Mount Cook Alpine Salmon was right on the banks of Lake Pukaki. It had a shop that sold a lot of different things and there was very high quality salmon. Tourists and visitors could move around the shop and buy things that were unique to New Zealand.
I bought a box of raw salmon sashimi at Mount Cook Alpine Salmon just so that I could taste their fish. The salmon was fresh and rich in flavor. I enjoyed the taste of their salmon sashimi.
Mount Cook Alpine Salmon also had a really interesting museum and visitor centre. The centre had an excellent view of Lake Pukaki. There were big windows with benches where visitors could sit and admire the view.
It was a beautiful place. But the one big problem of Mount Cook Alpine Salmon was that they didn’t have any indoor seating areas for visitors to eat. It was sunny on the day that I went. But if it wasn’t sunny, it would have been very cold.
There was an outdoor seating area right beside the lake. Tourists could sit down there and enjoy some salmon, tea or coffee. Outdoor benches and tables had been set up on the lakeside.
The view of Lake Pukaki from Mount Cook Alpine Salmon was absolutely beautiful. Just the view was worth a visit to the shop and the museum.
High Country Salmon
On the other hand, there was High Country Salmon in Twizel. It was a farm where they farmed and raised their own salmon. They also had a shop as well as a café and restaurant. They made a lot of food items at the café and restaurant using their own salmon.
I went to the café and tried some raw salmon sashimi. It was of really good quality. But they also had options like different kinds of sushi. I tried two different kinds of salmon sushi along with my sashimi.
Another dish which I tried was the Boston style salmon chowder. The soup was warm and hearty and it came topped with a lot of greens. It was also served with some fresh bread. Visitors at High Country Salmon could sit down and enjoy an entire meal at the café.
Not only did they serve sashimi, sushi and chowder, there were also different kinds of sandwiches, bagels and burgers that guests could order. They were all made with fresh or smoked salmon. A salmon and spinach quiche and a salmon benedict were some of the most unique dishes there.
The rows and rows of fresh sushi also looked very inviting. There were many varieties to choose from, like the soy marinated salmon sushi or the cold smoked salmon sushi or the spicy raw salmon sushi. They all looked equally good and they all used local salmon.
The boxes of raw salmon sashimi were just as good as the salmon sashimi at Mount Cook Alpine Salmon.
Any visitor who loved sweets and desserts could order berry chia puddings, chocolate brownies or tiramisus. The desserts were all freshly made and looked just as good as the salmon dishes.
Just like Mount Cook Alpine Salmon, High Country Salmon had an outdoor seating area. There was a wooden deck where visitors could sit and eat their food. The view was also beautiful but it wasn’t as wonderful as the view of Lake Pukaki from Mount Cook Alpine Salmon. I had my sashimi, my plate of French fries and a mug of tea outside.
High Country Salmon had the advantage that they also had an indoor seating area. People could sit inside the café during cold days and enjoy their food in the warmth.
There were enough benches both inside and outside to fit quite a lot of visitors. All the outdoor tables had umbrellas to shade people from the sun.
A view of snowcapped mountains was visible in the distance. There were water birds flying around all over the place. Overall, I personally thought High Country Salmon had more food and seating options.
