Wood-fired kitchen
Blue cod, ribeye and whole pumpkins go through the same oven. What comes out depends on the market run that morning.
See the menuHappy Daydreams · 1 Esplanade, Oamaru
Good food, long nights
and honest poker
on the waterfront
Happy Daydreams is a restaurant and social card room at 1 Esplanade, Oamaru. Coastal dinners, a considered wine list and hosted poker nights from Thursday to Saturday.
The room
A supper club that grew out of a beach shack
We opened Happy Daydreams in an old kiosk space by the water, mostly so our friends had somewhere decent to eat after nine. The kitchen got serious fast, the wine fridge got bigger, and at some point a regular asked if he could bring his poker chips. That's the whole origin story.
These days it's a proper restaurant with a card room at the back. You come for dinner: wood-fired fish, bread we bake at four, vegetables from a farm up in Totara. And if the night stretches on, the tables clear and the chips come out. Everything happens in the room, with people, at an actual table.
Est. Oamaru
waterfront
waterfront
Dining
Dinner is the main event
The kitchen runs on fire, seasonality and whatever the boats brought in. Menus shift weekly, so this is the shape of a night rather than a fixed list.
Wine and the bar
Fourteen wines by the glass, mostly Central Otago and North Canterbury. The bar does a sharp martini and a zero-alcohol spritz worth ordering.
Drinks listLate supper
After nine the menu shrinks to plates that travel well between courses of poker: terrine, oysters, a very good cheese toastie.
Pair it with cards
From this week's board
What the kitchen is proud of
Board changes with the market and the season. Allergies covered — just tell us when you book.
Poker nights
Cards come out after dessert
Thursday to Saturday the back room turns into a small hosted card room. Real tables, real chips, a dealer who knows everyone's name by the second visit. The poker is social — dinner first, a few rounds after, home by midnight.
In-person only
No online tables, no betting apps. Cards here mean sitting across from someone and reading their face.
0
seats in the dining room
0
poker tables
0
wines by the glass
0pm
when the room goes quiet
What's on
Nights worth booking ahead for
Beyond the weekly card rhythm we run a few standing events: long lunches, producer dinners, the occasional tournament social.
Thuweekly
Thursday Social Poker
The gentle night. À la carte dinner, then a relaxed hosted game. Good for first-timers and rusty regulars.
From 7pmDetails
Frimonthly
Producer Long Table
One winemaker or farmer, one shared table, five courses. Cards stay in the drawer; this night is about the food.
From 6.30pmDetails
Satweekly
Saturday Tournament Social
A structured poker tournament with dinner between rounds. Livelier room, limited seats, proper prizegiving at close.
From 6pmDetails
In the room
A night at the Esplanade
Guests
What people say on the way out
Booked for dinner, stayed for the poker. My wife beat me at cards for the first time in eleven years of marriage and the staff brought her a complimentary dessert about it.
MK
Marcus K.
Oamaru
Best fish I've had south of Christchurch.
JT
Jess T.
Dunedin
We brought the whole office for a Thursday poker night. Half the team had never played, so the dealer taught them between courses and by eleven they were unbearable about it. Booking again for Christmas.
PR
Priya R.
Timaru
Find us
On the Esplanade, where the harbour does the decorating
We're the warm windows at the South Hill end of the waterfront. Parking along the Esplanade, a short walk from the Victorian precinct, five minutes from the penguins if you're making an evening of it.
Hours
Kitchen Wed–Sun, 5pm–10.30pm.
Bar till late.
Cards Thu–Sat from 7pm.
Address
1 Esplanade, South Hill,
Oamaru 9400, New Zealand
Tables held
till 6.45
till 6.45
Come hungry, stay curious
Book dinner, a poker seat, or the whole room. We'll take it from there.