High Country Salmon Twizel: Probably the Best Glacial Mountain Salmon in the South Island
High Country Salmon is a boutique salmon farm near Twizel. They grow their own glacial mountain salmon and have a restaurant where guests can eat (you can also read my article about Alpine Salmon Shop at Lake Pukaki Visitor Centre). I decided to visit the place for a day since I was in the area.
I first went to see the fish shop and deli.
The first thing that I noticed they were selling was plant fertilizer made with salmon. There were several bottles on sale.
But they also had fresh sashimi and smoked salmon that was ready to eat.
The café at High Country Salmon was called Logans Floating Café and Restaurant. It was a cute wooden structure.
Apart from sushi and sashimi, they also had items like spiced salmon wings, wild mushroom arancini, lamb stew and chowder. There were even desserts like tiramisu and brownie.
They had put up pictures of their sushi and their slow cooked pork belly. Everything looked really tasty.
I walked past the menus at the entrance and went inside.
There was a deck at the back with big glass doors leading outside.
Another copy of the café menu was placed there so guests could choose what they wanted before they ordered.
Every table at the café was full. It was obviously very popular with tourists.
Right next to the counter was a big refrigerator that was stuffed with cold drinks. Sprite or Fanta, Red Bull or other energy drinks or even cold water, visitors could choose whatever drink they liked.
I first looked at the bakery case and all the readymade sandwiches there. Some of the options were salmon and spinach quiche, salmon benedict, salmon burgers and cold smoked bagels. Everything had been made fresh that day.
The sushi case looked very colorful and pretty. The sushi was kept in plastic containers. The café staff could just pull out whatever the customers ordered and hand it over. There were many options.
I could see raw salmon sushi, spicy raw salmon sushi, soy marinated salmon sushi, spicy soy marinated salmon sushi, vegetarian sushi, smoked salmon sushi, cold smoked salmon sushi and even chicken sushi. Everything looked so good that I didn’t know what to choose.
On the other side of the case, I could see containers and containers filled with sashimi. The salmon had been thinly sliced.
I looked at the prices. A plate of regular sashimi was $30. I knew at once that I should order some sashimi. It was the specialty of Logans Floating Café and Restaurant.
The desserts at the café also looked very good. They had apple muffins, chocolate brownies, tiramisu, berry chia pudding and raisin wheels.
I could see a couple of prepared plates of sashimi.
But there were also pain au chocolat and vanilla mascarpone cream donuts.
On the bottom shelf, I saw some cooked salmon kebabs. They were made from a premium cut of salmon.
I went out to the deck to find a seat. There were birds sitting on the wooden railings all around me.
My plate of sashimi came out very quickly. It was flavored with sliced red peppers, soy sauce and green onions. The salmon looked very fresh and soft.
I was happy to eat a meal with such a lovely view. The water was deep blue and the sun was shining brightly.
There weren’t too many people sitting on the deck. So I could enjoy my food in peace and quiet.
I had also ordered some tea. The tea came out in large brown mugs and had stirrers inside. It was nice and hot and I took little sips to warm myself up.
An order of French fries was also brought out to the deck for me. I was interested to see that the café served the fries in a small cup instead of on a plate.
Each of the wooden tables had an umbrella to shade customers from the sun. Since it was a pretty winter’s day, the umbrellas were all closed. Birds were flying overhead and perching on the tables and chairs near me.
I could see snowcapped mountains in the distance. I quietly sipped my tea and admired the view.
Once I was done with my food, I could put my dirty dishes away at a special table. The staff would collect them when they had the time.
A few other people had now come out to the deck too.
Then I went inside to eat the rest of my food.
I had ordered two plates of sushi and some more raw salmon.
They served the sushi with soy sauce.
The food looked very saucy and flavorful. The rice was fluffy and the fish was fresh.
The last thing that I ate at Logans Floating Café and Restaurant was the Boston style salmon chowder. It was warm and creamy and was served with two slices of bread. I was very happy that I had decided to visit High Country Salmon (you can also read how I compared this to Mount Cook Alpine Salmon).
