Shepherd is not worth a visit in Wellington. The food is not nearly as inventive or interesting as…read moreit seems. The service is slow, both in terms of the waitstaff's intelligence and the kitchen's ability to deliver. Also the portions and tiny and expensive without a high quality. Go elsewhere and spend your money more wisely. The bar here is solid and merits 2 stars itself, but only because they know how to poor a stiff drink... Or two. Which you will need to get through an evening here.

Absolutely worth the time to find this place. While this place was a bit fun to find it was…read moredefinitely worth it. Since we were visiting Wellington we weren't familiar with everything but it was around the corner's corner. Fantastic food! They had a delicious grilled asparagus with angry goat cheese. The tart and creamy complemented the asparagus perfectly. We also shared a bit of salmon and hake, as well as broiled ribs. They also had a variety of whiskeys

How can you get better than this? Foredeck is the fine dining restaurant at The Bay of Many Coves…read moreResort, with a genius of a chef in residence. Each night after ordering we were presented with a platter of little crafted breads, salted butter and a blended cream cheese spread (beetroot one night, mushroom the next) - so simple... yet so delicious and flavourful. Each dish is cleverly crafted with an almost deconstructed style so that you can enjoy each individual element (of which there are many) with every mouthful. I'm talking a harmony between texture, balance of flavour, colour - the whole 9 yards. Surely this is food at its best... It's so hard to pick a favourite dish because they were each so unique and enjoyable. I would highly recommend the degustation menu if you want to re-discover flavour! Combinations included Beef Tartare (never thought I'd eat it in my life, but the mix of citrus and some sort of little salad was out of this world), Pork Belly with Scampi, poached apple balls, sultanas and a divine sauce, Terakihi with a creamy black rice, it goes on and on! We had the wine pairings too, which were really well matched and a real experience. Very highly recommended. Last comments from me are that the service was also very friendly and attentive. Perfection!

Great atmosphere in the Cuba Street area of Wellington. My friend and I walked up and was able to…read moreget a spot at the bar counter without reservations. The place was bustling with after work diners on a Thursday night. You might need one on busy times. I had a passionfruit daiquiri to start. We ordered the Waiheke oysters and added a yuzu foam thing on two of them. It was so good! We also got some snapper crudo and lamb ribs (forgot the photo.). One of the best meals I had in New Zealand!

Yummy great food with nice crispy not oily batter Cheers to…read moreDaniel fora wonderful meal

We did the AirBnb experience here and it was absolutely incredible! We had Tom guiding us through…read morethe night and he was incredibly wonderful. Not only did he take the time to connect with us, but also genuinely showed the passion he had for the Thistle Inn. The head chef's menu was outstanding, letting us try dishes that we might never have had ordered before. That SHORT RIB! Buttery, melt-in-your-mouth, blow-your-mind bite of the main dish was out of this world. Tom explained the local sourcing of the ingredients and the wines, which was great to hear. Loved learning about the history of the Thistle Inn over a fantastic meal.

Excellent food and service. I had two raw oysters and the market blue nose fish that was served on…read moretop of brown butter mashed potatoes and asparagus on the side that was delicious. I tried one of their desserts that was phenomenal warmed frangipane almond tart with preserved apricot and marmalade thyme syrup and burrata ice cream that was phenomenal. I highly recommend this restaurant right on the harbor when in Wellington.

Shed 5 standards remain high after all these years - amazing really. We had a great meal and tried…read morethe oysters followed by local fish - fresh and great flavors. Ambiance and the vibe there is welcoming and good people watching, as ever. Busy on a Sunday night despite all the Wellington woes. Great to visit again

Absolutely the most dreadful dining experience during our stay so far on the South Island . Upon…read moredelivering our meals the host was so pleased with the presentation she thought we might want to take a photo before eating which we politely declined. As far as the food I can only say don't bother the lamb rump was ordered & corrected twice with the waitress to be cooked medium well it literally was not even cooked barely raw. They offered to cook to medium well but was told it would take longer which we said yes. As for my partners mystery fish of the day (we were never told species) a complete disaster under cooked & clearly not fresh as advertised with a combination of sauces which even individually were of poor quality let alone combined. It gets better while waiting for my lamb my partner waited for my dish to arrive but we decided instead to start eating OMG . During this time I observed my lamb going into the microwave at this point we decided enough of this nonsense & asked for our bill for our drinks & to forget about dinner they actually waffled at first about paying for our dinner. They were actually asking us what was wrong with their food in detail how about everything they really could use chefs Gordon Ramsey or Bob Irvine from kitchen nightmares or restaurant impossible to solve their issues. Hanmer Springs locals recommend the place but warned of new owners. As it was later by then out of desperation we had pizza down the street @ Irish bar as most everywhere was closed.

Came here for dinner with my wife and we were definitely not disappointed. It's a nice little fancy…read moreplace with a fairly simple menu and a friendly staff. I ordered the angus beef steak and it was very delicious (one of the best I've tried). If you're in a mood for a good steak, I'd order this. I don't drink alcohol but there's a wide variety of alcoholic drinks including wine. I ordered the lemonade raspberry and it was good. The portion size they serve here calls for a dessert afterwards and we got the rich double chocolate fondant. We strongly recommend it if you like the mixture of a nice cold ice cream with steaming hot fudge fresh out of the oven. We loved it.

The service were friendly, but declined to see us by a window, even though there was an open table…read more The servers did not seem to know much about the menu or how to make beverages. I asked for a Manhattan and I'm not sure what I got. We ordered mussels that arrived cool but the 3-4 tablespoons of lukewarm sauce was tasty. We also ordered scallops and calamari and were underwhelmed to discover there were a mere three scallops and 4-5 small pieces of deep fried calamari distributed on the plate with 4-5 balls of canned lychee.

Walked in today, 4th October. The bar tender finally acknowledged us, and I asked him politely if…read morethey were fully booked. He stared at me in a frankly p*ssed off way, and grunted they were. No "sorry sir/mam" or any nicities. His ponytail was distinctive, his poor attitude too.

Beautiful location to watch a jet take off while pulling on a long black or pint. Busy bee hive…read morewith a coffee corner and dining room in constant motion. We were there on a gorgeous day with 40km views. On to the food. Your your normal breaky all day menu with Benedict's, bacon, beans and burgers. We had the Montreal with smoked salmon and it was brilliant. Oozing bright yellow yolk shows the chook lived on a farm not a cage. Spouse loved the bread crumbed fish as a nice change from the normal beer batter. So easy food, fun aviation location and a nice break before your flight.

TL;DR The wait times are long but overall it's worth it…read more This is a reasonably priced cafe, that is not just in the vicinity but also the overall ballpark and feel of the more established Maranui Cafe. This child friendly venue is a common choice for families looking for a brunch location close to the beach. The menu is diverse enough, ranging from egg dishes to burgers and salads. Having beer and cider on tap is very appreciated on a hot summer day. The outdoor seating should be avoided on a windy day, mostly because sand should not be the main ingredient in any dish... The coffee was much better than I expected and came quicker than the beer. The desert selection was quite generous, too, and it helped wrap up a great outing. The only real complaint has nothing to do with the venue itself: it takes a while to be seated because of the popularity of this stylish Wellington Cafe.

Very disappointing, changed hands. I will not be back. Poor…read moreambiance, breakfast grill was dry, needs less meat less bread, it seemed as if the food had been standing around sometime then loaded on the plate lukewarm.

Disappointing. We're local, been here a few times recently and it's been all good, but today is…read morelike it's a different restaurant all together. Suspect new chef. Super slow. Change of menu, over priced. Drinks never arrived. Hopefully they're having just a bad day...