Southern exposure: New Zealand’s Stewart Island cooks its way through a tourism boom

Boats bob in the water at Halfmoon Bay in Oban, the only town on New Zealand’s Stewart Island. Photograph: Ben Mack

Tokyo may be famed for its density of eateries, at 994 restaurants per 100,000 people – but it has nothing on a small island at the foot of New Zealand’s South Island.

With seven places to eat regularly and a population of about 400 people, Stewart Island (also known as Rakiura) would have 1,750 eateries per 100,000 people if it was a major international city. But for many locals, being in a tiny town at the bottom of the world is part of the charm.