Classic French bistro food properly priced.
They happen to be a bit heavy on the salt though. But you can let them know before hand if you don’t want too much salt.

Although we were in and out of Le Metropolitan within an hour, we experienced lovely service and a great meal.

Portion size for the meat dishes ordered by our table were very French (ie quite small), however my potatoe and mushroom gratin was hearty and filling. It would pay to order a side of greens, however.

My French Viognier was very pleasant and the boys on the table enjoyed the Tuatara Beer.

To read more about our meal and view images, please visit http://celestereviews….

lovely location and décor. No live music tonight. Somewhat French style on then off service. onion soup reasonable a bit sweet and a little short on flavour but v good texture. Lovely white anchovies on slightly bland roasted vine tomatoes. Main course for me was slow roasted lamb shanks with polenta chips. Meat rather bland ( this is an easy dish to do well) OK polenta chips. potato chips soft fatty not fresh. No vegetables with meal. salad (expensive mesclun with harsh vinegar dressing) ordered separately. wine list limited BUT all wines available by glass well done! Interesting French aperitifs. Cheeses disappointing ( raw milk cheeses readily available in Wellington now) crème brulee very wide and shallow disappointing. overall typical to my mind overpriced “bistro” meal which is an excuse for steak and chips at high price. Suggestion: go for coffee and the atmosphere

Loved our meal here, everything was great.
Nice to have real wine glasses.
Had steak frites without the frites but instead with mushrooms and beans and was very satsfied.
The choc mousse and creme brulee were stunning.

Extremely disappointing. I was expecting a quality similar to the sadly defunct Bastille. The lamb dish I had was poorly trimmed, overcooked and not of acceptable quality. The sauce was watery and unsatisfying.

The service was perfunctory. Avoid

We have been to this restaurant literally dozens of times and have never been disappointed.

The food is always well presented and extremely good quality. The staff are very attentive and every visit has been very enjoyable. No wonder that it is as popular as it is.

This is by far one of the best restaurant I have been to. The staff were very attentive, but not so that it was too overwhelming. The food was soooo good, I would go back to eat there in a heartbeat. I had the parcel wrapped rabbit which was the best dish I have ever tasted. It was served piping hot and the flavours were so amazing. I had no idea rabbit could taste this good. The chocolate fondant was irresistible. We went on Thursday and they had a jazz duo playing, the atmosphere was lively and really lovely.

Couldn’t have been better! Service friendly and attentive, but not overdone. Food delicieux!
The waiting staff were knowledgeable about the menu – excellent! Will certainly go again.

I see someone complained about not being able to have a birthday cake they had brought. Surely it’s polite (and sensible) to ask when you want to take food to a place that serves food…. Why would you expect a restaurant to let you eat your own food, without at least some prior warning?

My partner and I went to the Thursday’s musical Events of the Metropolitain. It was a magic evening for both of us. Everything was there, a cosy atmosphere with the Bossa Nova singers and a marvellous French diner. I would highly recommend this place, probably my favourite in Wellington.

the worst service and maitre/owner that we have ever had to contend with in a restaurant! shockingly rude behaviour.

we had organised a 40th dinner with 15 of our friends, to be celebrated at the restaurant. when we arrived, we found 2 seperate tables set up for us,which was not what was agreed. when we brought this up with the maitre we were told that there was nothing she could do and we would have to just sit. this was not a good start and everyone was feeling isolated and uncomfortable.

we were NOT allowed our birthday cake that we had especially ordered and organised as a surprise for our friends 40th birthday! the maitre told us she did not care what we would do with it, but we were not allowed to consume it in the restaurant as they don’t allow ‘BYO cake!’, and that we should have called to ask. i explained that i had not heard of this before and that is why did not call, and repeatedly told her that it was my friends 40th and what was i now to do with the cake! she said it is not her problem and that i was now being very rude. least to say i was simply shocked! her manner was disgusting, rude, arrogant and just simply unacceptable. i and many of our friends last night have never witnessed such rudeness in a maitre!

we paid for our pre diner drinks and left the restaurant without eating. she left us feeling very uncomfortable and upset.
the maitre confronted my friend whose bday it was and said that is was very unfair and rude that we were leaving and to have a nice bday! charming. they lost custom from us and all our friends that are regulars on the wellington dining scene.

i would never recommend this restaurant to anyone, and will also tell anyone that listens how terrible the service was. shame on them.

Paris has the reputation for contemptuous waiters and spiteful chefs. This is grossly out of date – they’ve all come to work at Le Met.

I asked a suggestion of what drink to have with my “meal” and was greeted with sighs, blank face and an irritable “just whatever you want, ok!”

I ordered meat just over than rare – not bloody. As they obviously reckoned it was ‘meant’ to be rare, they burnt it, plonked it down with a derisive smirk, and that was the end of their ‘service’.

They’re a shame to France.

We dine at Met regularly and we love it. The food and service are consistently good. It’s an authentic French-style bistro with a distinctively French ambiance.

The owner-operators are French and want to deliver a very good French-style bistro dining experience. They do so in spades.

There are any number of cafe and restuarant owners around the city who, by visiting Le Metropolitain, could benefit from seeing what attentive, quality service looks like.

Have been with the family on several occasions and the experience has been enjoyable, moreso on the evenings when the Gipsy Jazz band is playing Django Reinhardt / Stephane Grappelli style music.

Very good atmosphere – gives a sense of being in a brasserie in France and the decor is pleasant.

The service and welcome is warm and throughout the meal very attentive.

The food quality is always very good for a brasserie style restaurant. The only real item which could be an extra to get greater feel would be a bread basket which is offered and maintained during the meal.

Otherwise, no hesitation to go back and recommend to others.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Wellington. It’s moderately priced, the food is consistently very good, the ambiance is comfortable. I have eaten here with friends, with business associates and for a romantic meal with my partner. Results have always been great.

6 of us had dinner here on Saturday night. The food was fabulous, we ordered a range of food including vegetarian for myself which was delicious. We all had starters, mains and desserts and all was thoroughly enjoyed. The creme brulee was outstanding. The staff were attentive and friendly. We think a couple of little errors were made in the order but the lady looking after our table took care of it so well and quickly it was hardly noticed, which considering the restaurant was full, was excellent. We were recommended wines by the owner, which were also very much enjoyed. Overall a lovely evening and we will definately be back!

The hubby and I went here for dinner on a Wednesday night. We wanted something special, as we’d managed to get a rare babysitter in for our darling brats, but not too pricy or upmarket. We both thought the service was good and attentive – the chief waitress (owner, perhaps), cleaned a table down specially as we wanted a cosy booth, got us drinks while we were waiting and then came quickly with some amuse-bouches we had ordered.

The food was lovely, no complaints. I had a vegetarian gnocchi dish and the husband had a tuna salad. Typical French cuisine and cooked nicely. Creme brulee for dessert.

Ambient surroundings and nice, easy location too.

My dining experience here was very lovely! Since the reviews I read on this and another site left me expecting to contend with a rude maitre d’, I was pleasantly surprised by the warm service. Perhaps there was a change over.
I had the goat cheese salad and the Mt. Cook salmon. The goat cheese placed on small toasts tasted soft and fresh, and the dressing was very nice and savoury sweet with the hazelnuts. The salmon was cooked so the skin was crisp and the meat, very moist, just how I like it. Very flavourful and the Provencal vegetables with it were delicious with it, and did not feel like an afterthought. I also snuck a taste of my boyfriends soup which was warm and sweet for the rainy night and I liked the subtlety of a Gruyere crouton on top rather than a thick layer of cheese-just something new and a bit lighter. Though I was having fish, I was in the mood for red wine and the waitress helped me to choose a nice, light recommendation. I was excited to try french wine as I have not had many of them and I was happy with this one that was not too expensive either.
The other reviews say there was a long wait between courses but if it is true I did not notice. I like to take the time to savour my dishes and have a pause between courses so it worked for me. The staff were friendly and the woman who I assume is the owner was attentive. Oh, and I like the vintage french posters as part of the decor:)

My wife and I went there for a nice dinner, and were very pleased with the experience. The food was very nice, and the service was charming.

There were only 2 small downsides – and we are being picky to even find those.

Given we were one of only 3 tables left, I was somewhat confused by the fact the wait-staff remained chatting for a good 10 minutes rather than clearing our obviously finished plates from our table. Odd to think they forgot about us for so long.

My wife (who is overly picky) said her Creme Brulee was slightly under done.

Unpleasant experience.
We came here for my mother’s birthday (six of us) and had a nice meal (average food, nicely presented and cooked properly, but slow service). However I had a very unpleasant encounter with the maitre d’, who I’m presuming was also the co-owner. When we went up to pay the bill, there was some disagreement over a $12 salad which we hadn’t ordered but when it arrived at entree time, the waiter told us it was a side salad, so we ate it with the mains (during which time the real side salad turned up). The maitre d’ told us we were very rude for ordering something and not paying it, blamed her staff (who was on trial and his first night) and would not listen to any explanations. We had actually spent over $370 at the restaurant, so a quibble over a $12 salad (with the customer being told they were the ones being rude) left a very sour taste and bad impression of Le Metropolitain. I definitely will not go there again – she really did ruin my mother’s birthday evening.

It is very strange for a restauranteur to behave like this – instead of just losing $12 over a salad, (which they could have gracefully written off) they also lost a whole table of customers and any positive recommendations I might have made to friends.

And to the poor waiter who was on trial – no doubt she will blame you (for which I am sorry about), and possibly you won’t get the job – but that’s probably a good thing if she treats her staff the same way she treats her customers.

Details of what actually happened – my mother had ordered escargots but according to the maitre d’, she had pointed to the salad on the menu. When the salad turned up (to our surprise) we tried to send it back but the waiter said it was the side salad that we’d ordered with our mains, and then said there had been a mistake on the order and the escargots would be coming shortly. The salad remained on our table until the mains arrived, which we tucked into, starting on the salad as well (since we were told it was our side salad). But then of course another side salad shows up – at this point the waiter (who apparently was on trial) had left for the evening, so we weren’t able to question it.

When I went to pay the bill, I questioned the salad, as we hadn’t ordered it. The maitre d’ came up, and insisted that we had ordered it, and since we had eaten it, said that we should pay for it. I tried to explain what had happened (ie that we were told it was the side salad, which is why we ate it) and she said that the waiter was on trial and didn’t know what he was talking about. She then told me I was being very rude, since I had ordered something, eaten it, and was now refusing to pay for it.

Who do I believe – my mother or the maitre d – and we did attempt to send the salad back. Anyway – my partner, hearing all the commotion, then came up and said ‘have you heard of the phrase – the customer is always right?’ to which the maitre d said ‘I don’t know where you heard that from, I never heard that before’.

I was very taken aback – trying very hard not to be rude myself, I said ‘I don’t think I’ll be recommending this restaurant to my friends’ to which I got the response ‘I don’t care, I don’t need your friends’. At which point, I didn’t want to stoop to her level so we just paid the bill (minus the salad) and left. Talk about ruining what was until then, a pleasant evening for my mum’s birthday. Would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, based purely on the bad service we received from the maitre d’.

I came here for dinner one night with a group of 8. With larger groups, they do a set menu. We started with a lovely glass of Kir, and the food that followed was delicious. The creme brulee was divine. Maryline was most accommodating and we had a lovely evening. The service was good, and it’s a warm friendly atmosphere. We will definitely go again.

Dropped in there for a quick dinner, had the scotch fillet and was very impressed – possibly the best steak I’ve had in Wellington. The service was polite, friendly and not intrusive, and the prices compare with other restaurants with similar menus of lesser quality. They were also able to accommodate our limited time, and still produce tasty food in decent quantity.