2 Sept 25 Lunch at Le Marche Français…read moreLong queue at the counter for service: up to 15' wait. Though the cafe was not full. We were served after a couple who arrived later than us. One platter arrived after 35' wait. Service was poor and quick to excuse delays "There's only one person working in the kitchen today!" as if that was acceptable. Salmon quiche was made yesterday, and the pastry was not fresh. Tarte Tatin was nice, but served with aerosol cream, and too little of it (see their own photo above). The food is expensive, and they act a bit Frenchy-snobbish. Would not go back. Simon R

A jewel to not miss in Wellington. A little paradis for French food. Every day they have fresh…read morespecial. Also adjacent, the store offers you a good variety of French cheeses

Food (5/5): The breakfast here was really great. We had the buffet and it came with an order of…read moremade to order food. I had the salmon eggs royale and it was delicious. Service (5/5): The service was fast and very kind. Ambiance (5/5): If I could give this place a 10, I would! It's so beautiful up here!!

Formal, artsy and they tried to make the food very interesting but in the end the food was just ok…read moreand the atmosphere was a bit stuffy. I had the fillet, which was tough and very overcooked. Risotto starter was good. Had breakfast there the next morning. Small buffet plus a la carte items. Coffee was self service which was good but ran out quickly.

Carnivores rejoice! Wellington welcomes it's first specialty charcuterie into town today, and Big…read moreBad Wolf looks set to become the purveyor of many salted, smoked and cured delights. The specialties board boasts many of my personal favourites; Prosciutto di Parma, Salami di Milano and Chorizo, but it was a Spit Roasted Pork Sandwiches that brought us down to the store today. $8 will get you a no-frills french stick filled with a bit of sauce and a good helping of the most succulent pork I have had a good long while. Upon reflection, other fillings would diminish from the attention necessary for pork that good. All produce is available for takeaway deli-style or to be eaten in store, including each of the 13 varieties of sausages, and alpaca burger patties (!!!) on offer in the cabinet. We order some specialty sausages and it comes out presented in a hot skillet, served with a slice of bread and fried cabbage. Delicious. And these aren't your run of the mill supermarket sausies either. The taste was light and delicate and there were actual chunks of meat and apricot. They also serve soups 'from the cauldron', and a fine selection of pâtés, parfaits and a host of other condiments suitable for pairing with your takeaway Big Bad Wolf treats. All ingredients are organic and free range where possible. The piggies get to live free range on a pear and apple farm in Otaki (pre-slaughter of course) and the game meat is sourced from a MAF certified organic hunter in Marlborough. They also have a liquor licence and are open late on select nights.

Four of us had dinner at the Big Bad Wolf this past week, and I want to spread the word! This is…read moreone of the few dining experiences in Wellington that tries to be unique (rather than the typical, one beef, one lamb, one fish, one vegetarian approach to nearly every menu in the city). Not only does it produce wonderful charcuterie, as close to what you could find in Italy as possible down under, but it puts on a lovely and creative lunch and dinner menu. There is a set menu for $50 for two dishes or $60 for three dishes (choice of entree, main, dessert) with gratis sides of roasted veggies. The dishes were tasty, well-prepared and simply presented (without the pomp and pretense of foam and other fluff!). The menu is online if you want to check it out. I ate the snails as an entree (though you can even have them in lieu of dessert!) and duck and found both delicious. The sides that were brought to the table to share included roasted mushroom caps, pumpkin, potatoes and bacon-wrapped asparagus. One member of our group had a vegetarian meal, so dont be deceived by the name of the resto if you are not into meat! Pumpkin pie for dessert was also very yummy! I have also been to this resto for lunch in the past, when they had their slow-cooked pork sandwiches (well enjoyed with a pint of locally brewed beer). I highly recommend Big Bad Wolf!

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

This was a disappointing experience for me. I normally do research on Yelp before heading out to a…read morecafe or restaurant. This time I was walking by and thought oh good a deli how can you go wrong. However it was not what I expected. Having ordered firm poached eggs for breakfast they came out and were completely runny. Also annoying was the fact that the eggs had been placed straight onto the toast from the pot and so the toast was now damp. They re-did the eggs however the second time around they also came out marginally better but still runny so at this point I decided that I had no choice but to proceed to eat. The coffee was also rather bland so I'm afraid I won't be going back here.

We had the pancakes, myself the bacon and banana and my girlfriend had the fruit. Both were nice…read moreand filling but a little stingy with the maple syrup :) Placing an order was quite disjointed, with the waitress taking our order, asking us to go up to the counter to pay but then letting in two people behind me to pay first, which was pretty annoying, but the service was quick and the coffee and hot chocolate were very good! We will come back but at a quieter time.

Walked down to the pier for dinner from our hotel. Foxglove provided nice views of the water and…read moregreat people watching as they blew by. Wow it windy here in Wellington. We split the Caesar salad and fish and chips. The fish had a nice light batter, not greasy as some can get. Fries were skinny and crisp. Salad had fresh ingredients. I like the whole Romain lettuce leaves and shaved parm. Service was excellent. We called for a reservation but didn't really need it. Good stop.

OMG! If you're an oyster lover, this is oyster heaven. Our server, Del, suggested the perfect wine…read moreto accompany the local oysters. I have eaten oysters all over the world (really!), and I have never experienced such sweet, full bodied oysters as here. The atmosphere is casual, the wines are exquisite, and the service is fast and friendly. If you're in Wellington and love oysters, this is the place for you!

Our dinner at Boulcott Street Bistro in Wellington may be the best meal we had in New Zealand…read more Old house converted into a great restaurant. Staff and service was excellent We had the prawn ravioli, duck parfait and the beef filet with Bernaise sauce. Also every Tuesday their glasses and bottles of Tattinger are half price. A bottle was about $45 US dollars. A superb dinner.

Service was amazing and friendly. The food was yummy and the setting was warm and inviting.read more

From the onset we knew we were in for an experience. I had been highly recommended the restaurant…read moreby friend's step daughters, and for me recommendations are a great place to start. This quaint tiny two story cottage is nestled between wellingtons towering buildings, reminding us of an almost forgotten era. On entering the front door you are instantly transported back to an atmosphere of warmth with its brick fireplaces and warm glow, and I couldn't help cheekily yelling 'honey we're home' as I entered. We were greeted by the friendliest of faces and they offered to take our coats. We were then led upstairs to the main dining area where we were seated in another cozy environment, for what we thought would make it perfect for that special date night. I had requested gluten-free options for myself and gluten-free and dairy free options for my friend, so when our server ran through the menu they pointed out where these ingredients were hiding and how they could be left off or substituted. Our server was warm in nature with a big genuine hearty smile, she was attentive, knowledgeable, and made excellent recommendations which were only to happy to try. We had three small sharing plates and two large sharing plates, followed by two more dessert plates. Every dish was a flavorful masterpiece. It's hard to describe the amount of oohs and ahhs we produced, as each new dish opened our eyes further. Each dish was balanced, fresh and full of surprise! Everything was cooked perfectly. Every plate accompanied by the staff came with a breakdown of the highlights of the dish and where it was locally sourced. I loved that they were delivered and explained by the chefs (including head) with such enthusiasm and respect for their local area. The standout dish for me is usually a main and always something savory, but to my own surprise it was a dessert. For me the flavor experience grew for me as the night progressed, finishing with an absolute hero dish 'Organic Blueberry Pitachio Black Garlic Meringue' which you will just have to try for yourself. These guys truly deserve some hype for thier mouth-watering dishes, that have been constructed with creativity and respect of thier locally sourced ingredients, and served by genuinely warm passionate staff. In summary (incase you haven't already picked it) the food quality, service and atmosphere made for a 5 star experience. Hats off to the Chef and his team! I will most definitely be back when I wellington next.

Every now and then it pays to visit a restaurant that lives at the front edge of culinary art, if…read moreonly to break out of one's routines and habits. Such a place is Jano Bistro. Frankly, this is one of the hardest reviews I shall ever write. I've only had this problem a couple times before - and each of those times whilst experiencing high-end haute cuisine in France. Hard because with such experiences not every flavour is necessarily in keeping with my tastes. But that is not the yardstick by which a dining experience like Jano should be judged. Rather, the entirety of the experience - and this isn't a meal, it is a culinary experience - has to be considered. Walking in for our early seating we were greeted warmly by 3 people - who turned out to be the entirety of the staff. The young French chef and two associates handled everything from the kitchen to the table to the checkout. And the first mention I must make is that the service here is second to none, anywhere in the world. Each of three took turns delivering courses to our table, and each brought with them some unique knowledge and insight. Never were we rushed (we were there for 3 hours), never did we have to wait. Every question was answered, every dish introduced with knowledge and love. On a scale of 10 to 10, the service was an 11 (with all due respect to Spinal Tap, this is actually appropriate in this instance). Jano offers a set menu, with the option of a wine pairing which we chose in order to experience the full extent of their vision. Each dish was a revelation. I confess here that one or two were not suited to my palate, but between us one or the other enjoyed each. Each course introduced us to some unique method of preparation, some completely new approach to food. Lemon peel from lemons that have been brine cured for months; venison topped with grated dried venison (I could not help but think of a spiced pemmican); a simple butternut squash slow and low roasted for many hours and transformed into a delightful dish; tiny 'spring rolls' (for lack of a better term) with a pastry indescribably light and crisp; a french onion "soup" that is not a soup at all but a mouth watering concoction that I have no clue how it is achieved. The list goes on. The food was amazingly conceived, perfectly prepared, and presented with an artist's eye. The wine parings were, in a word, varied. Some were exceptional. Some, not so much. To be fair, I have to confess here to being a very old wine geek, a one time winemaker, and a lifelong lover of all things wine. So my palate may be a tad more critical than some. But were I to offer a word of counsel to Jano, it would be to up their game just a little on the pairing side of the experience. In a nutshell, Jano is a dining immersion suited best to those who truly love culinary adventures. I choose to give Jano a 5, despite my misgivings on the pairings - simply because the service, the artistry, and the experience were so far beyond just "excellent" that they deserve nothing less. But I do nudge them to re-think some of the pairings.

I was craving a little snack to make up for missing lunch and Crepes A Go Go were enthusiastic in…read moretheir response to "Can you make it vegan?" Not only that - they were very helpful in identifying vegan options for the filling -- they make their own chocolate paste from cocoa powder -- combined with hazelnuts -- super yummy! Great location, service and price.

Hey, what do you know! That great crepe place I found in Auckland actually started in Wellington! I…read morearrived in the city without knowing this, but when I discovered it I went searching. It's a very small window; I smelled it before I saw it. And what a smell it is. The level of service was a tad below what I received in Auckland, with the two different employees I met both seeming oddly indifferent and slow to react to my presence, but I'm rating on taste, and the crepe itself, their house caramel sauce, and everything else is just great. What secret ingredient they have that the other crepe vendors do not I am not sure, but the nuance of flavor here was about as good as it was up north. They do savory buckwheat crepes as well, which helps for a lot of dietary restrictions. The only real drawback is that they're very thin and crispy and not that filling, which would likely cause me to just overspend and get more of them if I were in a position to visit regularly.