Whether you’re looking for a day trip or a date night with a special twist, you can’t go past a movie in the beautiful region of Matakana.
Matakana Cinemas are small and perfectly formed. There are three on offer: the Tivoli features an eye-catching bronze-hued glass chandelier made up of several smaller chandeliers and seats 114; the Paradiso, which boasts 75 chairs, is decorated with 32,000 cloth roses; and the smallest is the cloth-draped Roxy with a 36-person capacity.
This boutique cinema creates a special ambience or a more intimate experience for moviegoers than traditional theatres, and feature the latest box office hits, Met Opera and National Theatre seasons, and special screenings such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Halloween as well as the ‘Cinema Enigma’ – a mystery movie for $5.
The Matakana Market Kitchen and The Vintry wine bar are all part of the same hub as Matakana Cinemas, so it’s easy (and highly recommended) to combine your cinematic outing with a meal, an excellent local wine, or a delectable Ginellis ice cream. The Market Kitchen, or MMK as it’s affectionately known, serves up delicious food and wine, and the Vintry offers 40 local wines, craft beers and an amazing selection of spirits (and yes, you are welcome to take them with you into your movie) with a grazing menu including the likes of Just Baked Cheesy Garlic Dough Balls, Fresh Schnapper Ceviche with Lime Tacos and Posh Chips with Pepper Sauce and Tommy K, Yum Char, sharing platters, cheese boards and ‘Big Little Feeds’.
We visited MMK and had the baked avocado stuffed with welsh rarebit and topped with roast tomatoes (and bacon) and the Chorizo and Spud Crush with herb-roasted potatoes, chorizo with onion jam, wilted spinach and poached eggs for lunch pre-movie.
The dinner menu looked tempting with Tom’s local Mahurangi oysters (natural with champagne shallot vinaigrette, Baked Rockefeller, Grilled Kilpatrick) or local line caught Leigh fish on creamy mash with garlic greens and a pink peppercorn buerre blanc.
With lunch complete, we took our glasses of excellent local rosè up the stairs, indulged ourselves with cones of delicious Gellinis Ferrero Rocher and spent the next hour and a half happily ensconced in A Girl On A Train.
All in all our visit to Matakana Cinemas was a wonderful experience and we’d highly recommend adding it to your to-do list.
Tip: On Monday’s you can get a movie and a glass of excellent wine from the Vintry for $20 after 5pm.
Adult (16 – 64 years) $16.00
Senior (65 years+) – $13
Student (16 years+ w/ student I.D.) – $14
Child (2 – 15 years) – $11
Add $2.50 per person for 3D film sessions
Met Opera
Adult/Student – $33.00
Senior/Child – $28.00
National Theatre (NT Live)
Adult/Student – $25.00
Senior/Child – $20.00
Matakana Cinemas is wheelchair and disabled friendly, and is available for groups, fundraising, and special events.
2 Matakana Valley Rd, Matakana
Matakanacinemas.co.nz
