Macau has been named as one of New Zealand's top 100 restaurants for 2017, delighting owners Craig and Bronwyn Cameron.

'This is the second time we've made it into the finals,” says Bronwyn. 'Restaurants don't enter, it's all done anonymously, with about 40 judges going around the country.”

Cuisine Magazine released its top choices for the Good Food Awards through its nationwide restaurant awards programme on Wednesday. Chief judge Kerry Tyack, who established the Metro awards, is a food writer, commentator, and lead restaurant critic for Cuisine. He says the judges were very impressed with Macau, which was the only restaurant from the Bay of Plenty to be selected for the top 100.

The judging process has been going on around New Zealand for the last few months, with Wednesday's announcement effectively completing the first stage towards announcing the industry's top restaurants and chefs.

Now that the 100 finalists have been selected, the next step prior to announcing the winners in August, will be the awarding of 'hats” – a rating system of 1, 2 and 3.

Craig and Bronwyn Cameron bought Macau in early 2016 on returning from China where Craig had been managing a footwear factory. Prior to that the Camerons owned Latitude 37 in Maunganui Rd.

The judges for the Good Food Awards are seeing a shift in 2017 towards more casual dining and fresh produce in New Zealand restaurants. They also noted a trend toward using local produce, fermented and pickled foods and providing gluten-free and other diet options.

Macau, located on Tauranga's waterfront on The Strand, caters for two to 100, from intimate dinners to small business meetings, sporting events, and formal banquets. The menu brings together Asian and Eastern flavours with the added influence and fusion of Pacific fresh produce. Many of the dishes are created to be shared, enhancing the dining experience.

The grand awards night for the Good Food Awards will be held in Auckland on August 7.

The awards include Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Best Metropolitan Restaurant, Best Regional Restaurant, Restaurant Personality of the Year and Best Winery Restaurant. An award for Best Casual Dining Restaurant has been added for 2017.