Picton eats well for a small town — partly because the ferry traffic supports a critical mass of cafes and restaurants, and partly because Marlborough Sounds mussels, oysters and Pacific salmon are all farmed within an hour of the wharf and arrive almost the same day.
The cafes along the foreshore are the obvious lunch options; the more interesting dinner places are a block or two back. Le Cafe on the foreshore is the local favourite for an all-day breakfast or a glass of Marlborough Sauvignon before the ferry. The Picton Village Bakkerij is the standard takeaway stop for the ferry crossing — Dutch-run, very good pies and pastries.