Went in on Good Friday while on holiday in Wellington. Partner had been there once for drinks and said meals looked good. The food was lovely. The mushroom tea infuser was a great touch of theatre for the table. Very happy. One thing I did note and did not like was I assume the owner sitting outside chain smoking. One he took up a table and two the smoke was drifting inside. I did notice that most bars in Wellington have smoking in their outside areas.

As a Wellington based couple, dinning in all other restaurants with in the Capital. We found the Hummingbird to be excellent. Food was of a very good standard / Cocktails great / excellent choice. Good location

One of my favourite eateries in Wellington in the past and has now seemed to re-capture it’s previous glory. Service excellent; food very tasty – loved the groper in chilli and lime taco wrap; very good wine list – good choices available by the glass also. In windowseat as requested, returned later for dessert – wicked! Overall a very good experience, thanks.

The food and service could not be faulted. Not sure about the new decor but that is just my taste. Music could have been a little softer, but it was Saturday night. Will definitely return next time I am in Wellington. Great value, good drink selection and wow those desserts.

I’d been looking forward to dining at the re-launched Hummingbird for a while now and took friends from out of town along to share the experience.

Unfortunately I picked the night when the B team was on the front of house….the staff wavered from surly and indifferent to almost offensively pushy, and that doesn’t cut it even on a Sunday.

As for the food, while the starters/small plates are excellent, and the mains are average, great food doesn’t over come crap service.

Won’t go back in a hurry (certainly not with visitors), won’t recommend it. Wellington has much better choices. Spend your hard earned $$$ elsewhere, especially on a Sunday!

Oysters. Go get them. Dined Saturday and should have ordered more. Service is great and the lamb for two could have feed more! My wife didn’t like the small loo but you get that… Keep it up, you never know who will walk in the door. Cheers!

AWESOME!!! We popped in for a dinner on a thursday with our friends. Table was waiting for us which was great to see. Friendly service by a young lady. We then began with some bread, oil and butter which was really nice and was told they bake daily – Great!! We then shared mains of a pork belly for two and a lamb for two. Both came with different side plates like yummy roast potatoes, asparagus, flatbread, aubergine which were all perfect. Too full for dessert so had a truffle and coffee each. What a lovely meal…….. Well done Hummingbird!!

Wow is all I can say, every time I go here they impress me…. Great service and food would eat out here every week if I had the time and money. Great food and very good wine list, love my wine so this is very important, will be back with friends soon..

Perfect start to our evening. Excellent food, well cooked and well presented. Chocolate Pudding perfect!!! Good choice of wines and a lovely waitress to look after us. Overall a great eating experience. Thank you.

So I’ve just tried the food at the refreshed Hummingbird – wow – seriously amazing. The roast duck and lentils were worth it alone. I’d highly recommend for foodies and casual dinners alike…Nice and warm too – perfect for this rainy Wellys evening.

It seems Hummingbird now does brunch of a weekend. My partner and I visited 12th of May, 2012, about 9.00am. The place was empty because they have been doing brunch for only a couple of weeks. Well, it was awesome. I had perfectly scrambled eggs with grilled tomato, asparagus and rocket, on rye toast. Everything was perfectly cooked, fresh and flavoursome: eggs moist with just the right degree of firmness; asparagus grilled, salted, slightly crunchy with a hint of garlic; rocket served with a balanced oil and vinegar dressing. On top of all this, the wait staff were charming, coffee very good, the place as clean as a new pin and there was an enormous bunch of fresh flowers in the loo. All round, an excellent start to the day. Get there before it gets crowded.

We went to the NEW and IMPROVED Hummingbird at the weekend. The restaurant had just reopened from a re-vamp with a new chef, new menu, new drinks list and an amazing new interior so we were curious to give it a go. It surpassed our expectations. The atmosphere is inviting and relaxed and there is a huge emphasis on food loving combined local ingredients which is delicious and refreshingly unfussy (We had crab, squid with choritzo to start lamb with broadbeans feta and mint, amazing roast chicken for main and devine orange brulee and salted caramel chocolate for dessert) The whole place has an attention to detail and casual atmosphere more commonly found in London than in Wellington. The best thing about it was that despite the makeover-and how amazing the meal and service was- it just didn’t seem like it was trying too hard. As Wellington based foodies who eat out regularly we were so impressed with the menu that we went back for dinner the following night! Well worth checking out.

I don’t actually live in NZ but was staying with friends in Palmerston North. Went to my Mothers funeral and needed to get out of Palmerston. Found a little restaurant on a corner in Wellington thought ” this looks cute”. OMG !!!!!!!!!!!
I own a Restaurant and Bar in Australia; and the staff, the food, the cocktails, the service, lighting, music of Hummingbird was and is 5 star!! My Brother and I were already upset as we just buried our Mother and when we left the premises, ( pretty sure we were the last to leave ) just had the best time of our lives.
Eddie and his staff don’t just treat you as customers but as their friends. Coming from a Restaurant owner you can’t teach that!!!!, it comes from within, and the team there at Hummingbird are the best in Wellington.
If I could I would fly them all over to my restaurant, but that would be selfish because if anyone out there reading this who wants to go to Hummingbird won’t have the experience like my Brother and I had!!!!!!!!!. To me they are the best.
Wish I lived in wellie. Sue-Ellen White from Brisbane.

Went earlier this year. Great food & cocktails, although i think the service was average

Cool atmosphere & great location

I would say we had an average evening too. The surroundings were really great and there was a nice atmosphere too. The night we were there there was a couple playing the piano and violin who were very clever and got the audience going, brillant. The staff were nice enough although not amazing, I am not sure that I would say they were an award winning front of house team?

It was the food that really let the place down, we had a voucher for $100 and we couldn’t even spend it all as there was nothing on the menu that looked that delicious. We wanted to spend it all but just ended up getting some change for the tip and the taxi home.

There didn’t seem to be anything on the menu that I couldn’t make myself at home, roasted chicken breast, crumbed fish, deep fried calamari. All in all, not that bad, but we’d definitely dine somewhere else next time we are in Wellington. Very Average.

First time to Wellington for both my boyfriend & I we found this beautiful cafe in Courtney Place.From the gorgeous entrees to the darling main menu to the entertaining yet subtle staff, this place is what a restuarant should be….
absolutely devine…

took my partner here for our anniversary. would say we have no complaints but altogether we found the hummingbird to be pretty average really.

we were seated promptly without a booking, but as our waitress claimed it to be her first night any questions we had to ask about the wine lists or menu had a delay in being answered as she had to go back to the kitchen to check.

we liked the concept of the small plates but much prefer the likes of DUKE CAVILS for their TAPAS style.

the food was tasty and presented well.

all in all we felt that for the up market place it is they are missing the point, an example of this is asking for a Drambuie and having it be served to us in a shot glass! also the waiter looked and sounded like he belonged on a rugby field! sweet as bro!

is this place a weekend drinking bar or a fine dining restaurant, it is hard to tell!

The setting was wonderful , staff served us with a smile from the get go and we loved the music and ambiance.
We were seated next to the fireplace, nice way to thaw off before eating! We ordered starters , dumpling and brochette’s which were lovely , but I must say when I tried to change a small thing on my next order the chef demanded that I buy him a Heineken beer first? Very odd and kind of let me know he didn’t have our best interests at heart, plus some very obscene language could also be heard from the table when our order was put in .
Needless to say I don’t think we will return if that same chef is still there , pity because it was otherwise an enjoyable evening out .