My Top 6 Restaurants in Wellington So Far

For almost two weeks we have been eating out every single day, twice a day at least. Expensive you might think, but no. So far for me, eating out in Wellington is reasonably cheap. Probably because when I look at the price I automatically convert it into pounds, so then the price becomes 50% less. Honestly, it is very tempting to just eat out in this city. 

The thing about Wellington is that there are plenty of bar and restaurants to choose from. We are currently staying in Te Aro which is at the centre of the city and boy, there are restaurants whichever direction you look at. And they're not even just random restaurants,  most of them are the best reviewed restaurants in Wellington. There is no doubt that J and I want to try every single one of them. Luckily we have at least 10 months to do this. But for now, here are the restaurants that I instantly fell in love with. 

1. Olive - 170 Cuba St
- Since we arrived in Wellington, I have been craving for so many foods. On top of my list was pork- any sort that is. For the first 5 days though, we have been waking up at 10pm so we were always left with almost no option. Those were the days when we were not even bothered to check anything online. We basically just walked around the city and trusted our instincts.

At past 10pm, there were not many restaurants in Wellington that served food. In Cuba St though, is a long strip of restaurants so we knew that there's bound to be one restaurant there that could feed us. And we were right as we found Olive restaurant by chance.

The restaurant was still quite busy at that time. The lady who greeted us directly took us to the garden. My first impression was "wow". With all the massive plants, pots and wooden furniture, I suddenly felt refreshed. The experience got even better with the food and the lady who served us. She was very pleasant all throughout. She told us that the food at the restaurant is pure New Zealand food and that the head chef is also the owner of the restaurant. He was apparently revising the menu at the table next to us at that time. 

Food-wise, J and I were very satisfied with what we ordered. Well, I was very happy indeed that they had roast pork belly. J had the fish and although it looked quite unusual with all the froth, it tasted so good.  Definitely  would go back there again.....and again.
Roast Pork, NZ$33
Fish, NZ$34
Fries, NZ$4
The Garden

2.  Floriditas - 161 Cuba St
- Not very far from Olive is Floriditas, where we had our first brunch meal. I actually have mentioned Floriditas on my previous blog but I will write about it again because it's that good. I instantly loved this place because of its high ceilings and welcoming atmosphere. And when the food came? It was too neat to eat and was very tasty.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and the service.
Poached Egg on Ciabatta with vine tomato salad, NZ$16
Scrambled egg on Ciabatta, NZ$11

3. Kazu - 13 Tory St
- This is where I thought a £10 worth of sushi was too much to eat. J and I came here for lunch on our first week. This was our first meal of the day so we were quite hungry. When our food came, it was more than we expected. The food tray came in three layers of assorted sushi, teriyaki chicken, prawn tempura, salmon sashimi and tofu. I mean, it would have been enough for both of us but we ordered one each. So, as much as I loved the whole thing, I couldn't possibly finish all of it. 
Sushi and Teriyaki chicken, NZ$19
My plate after

4. Restaurant 88 - 88 Tory Street
- Eventually I learned how to rely on trip advisor to find the best restaurants in Wellington. On their top ten list is Restaurant 88. Of course there are fancier restaurants on top of the list but I am a massive fan of Vietnamese food so I'll choose this anytime of the day. Well, sort of. 

My trip to any Vietnamese restaurant will not be complete without my all time favourite Vietnamese spring(or summer) rolls. No matter how they make it, it's still my favourite appetizer. And the sauce in particular at Restaurant 88 is out of this world.
Vietnamese Spring Rolls, NZ$7.50

Now, there was a little bit of confusion on the main meal that J almost didn't want to eat his food. He ordered the grilled chicken noodle salad, but when it came it looked like this:
Grilled lemongrass chicken noodle salad, NZ$15.50

It was really funny because the guy behind J also ordered the same thing and their food arrived at the same time. One after the other, they both said, "this is not chicken!". I felt so sorry for the waitress because at first she thought she made a mistake but then when she realised it was the right food, she insisted that it was chicken. As J was hesitant to eat the pork-looking-chicken, I had to taste it first. From the amount of chicken skin that I have eaten through the years, I could tell straight away that it was  chicken.  In the end J ate it but still not convinced (until now) that it was chicken. 

Meanwhile, I was expecting more fat on my grilled pork chops but nevertheless it was very good.
Vietnamese grilled pork chops with rice, NZ$15.50
Inside Restaurant 88

5. Field & Green - 262 Wakefield St
- This restaurant is right across our hotel but it took us ten days to notice it. I'm so glad we finally did because it is a very charming restaurant. I like the fact that the design is minimalist and the dominant colours are white and cream with a touch of some eye friendly colours  here and there (mostly the light lamps which are green). I also just found out that the founders are actually from London. 

The first time we went there, I was torn between the sardines and the omelette. I couldn't have both because then I would be committing a sin. Between the two, sardines sounded more interesting so I went for it and really, really enjoyed it. Very tasty little sardines. And salad was delicious also.
Marinated Sardines on char-grilled sourdough, NZ$14

J who is far healthier than me, ordered the Muesli.
Muesli with yoghurt and gooseberries, NZ$14
Minimalist effect at Field & Green

And of course, as I was craving for omelette, I went back two days later. I am not very keen on the cheese and ham though. But still, this one  is worth a try.
Spinach, cheddar cheese and ham omelette, NZ$16

6. Majestic - 11 Courtenay Place
- Duck has been one of my cravings but since I haven't done enough exercise to deserve it, I thought I will leave it for now. On Monday however, I ran up the hill and got really tired and hungry. Not too far from the bottom of the hill is apparently one of the best Chinese restaurants in Wellington. So I went and instead of trying the Yum Cha (dim sum being served around by staff), I  ambitiously ordered the half roast duck. I was probably dehydrated and a bit delirious as I didn't realise how big of a portion it was. When the duck was served to me along with the egg fried rice I was like, "Oh My God! That's too much!". I felt embarrassed as the restaurant was full and people were looking at me. Seriously, with the amount of food in front of me I looked like I haven't eaten in days. Needless to say, the duck was soft and full of taste and the skin was perfectly crispy. I probably would have finished it all if I was not worried I might have a heart attack.
Half Roast Duck, NZ$23
Egg fried rice, NZ$15

We are finally moving to our apartment tomorrow so that means less eating out and more cooking at home. But we shall see.


tintin x



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