Amazing!! A large group of us dined here for “Wellington on a Plate – Long Lunch – Grain vs Grass Fed” and all I can say is amazing. Every single course was mouth watering and each wine was perfectly matched.

The Chef and his team certainly know what they are doing, it shows in the outstanding service and fresh, perfectly prepared and beautifully presented food.

Four of us went for a friend’s birthday, and as the friend had recently dined there and said he’d be back for his birthday he was recognised and got star treatment. The waitress was fantastic – a lovely mix of professional, friendly and fun.
We all had oysters to start – some raw and some tempura. Both equally delicious (though at $6 an oyster on the pricey side). The tempura is the best I have had – light and tasty and didn’t overpower the taste of the oyster.
We all had a 200g Wakanui eye fillet – cooked to perfection. Very very tasty. The best steak I’ve had in Wellington. You definitely need to order sides – the steak comes with your choice of sauce – and that’s it. We had the beans, beetroot, boulangere potato, fries –and we recommend them all.
Our friend was brought a (complimentary) tiramisu with a candle in it by the waitress and a few of them sung happy birthday to him. They had also added four macaroons for us. A very nice touch.
The desserts were great. The tiramisu was so good our birthday boy had three! I had the poached pear which was delicious; the sauce was very sweet but blended well with the filo and ice-cream.
I was initially reluctant to dine here as thought it was just a “regular” hotel restaurant – with no atmosphere. How wrong was I. We were lucky enough to sit in the booth seat which gave us privacy and a nice ambience. The food is really very good. We have been to some of Wellington’s top restaurants and the food at Portlander is up there with the best.
We can’t wait to go back. It was a fantastic night.

Went for lunch on Friday with a group of six, and overall I came away unimpressed with the Portlander almost completely due to the lack of table service.

We started with a beer and some shared entrees, and the quality of the food was good, tasty hot, and enjoyable.

But the dirty plates hang around, while the staff take our main orders and, the plates stay while the staff disappear. The water carafe is non-existent and wee tumblers are empty.

The mains arrive – steaks of course. Each and every one of them is cooked correctly, and the servings are as described. Food is good. If a little pricey.

The sides start to arrive, there isn’t much room on the table with all the dirty starter plates, but the staff find a way to ignore the plates and get everything on the table .. and then disappear.

Getting a bottle of wine and a couple more beers sounds simple – if you can find any wait staff. Eventually – after 20 minutes – this is accomplished.

Mains are good … we finish them … enjoyed with another beer and/or glass of wine. But the plates are not cleared (none of them) and no one comes to see if we’d like to order from the desert menu – and we were keen for the cheeseboard.

Fully 60 minutes after we’ve finished our mains a waitron does inquire about whether we’d like desert? Although we can barely see her over the mountain of plates. We decide on a few coffees – OK then – and off she disappears ignoring the plates. Coffee does arrive and by some miracle a plate or two is cleared – but only to make room for the cups.

The rest of the crockery is left there, and as you might imagine after a good steak meal – it’s not a pretty sight to see.

So for Friday lunch – in a restaurant that was busy – but not full – the serving staff have managed to ignore a basic tenet of restaurant service for over 2 hours. Well done Portlander – you’ve snatched a potential 4-5 star rating and turned it into 2 Morestars with service that was shambolic and non-existent for most of the time.

I liked the décor, I liked the food, but the service was so poor that there is no way I’d take a business client or family member there.

Learnt about their burgers just the other day.

Decided to give the lamb one a try. It was delicious – pulled lamb cooked in duch fat – just delicious!. Ordered some fat cut fries. The fries was deeply disappointing paid $7 for the fries and got 6 fries. Would have been better if they ofference more fries.

Must admit that the service was pretty slow

We had a dreadful time here last night. Table of 8. over an hour before we received drinks and when they arrived the martini was warm, and the margarita was made with lime cordial! undrinkable and both were sent back.

Food service was very slow, oysters au natural had been left sitting under the heat lamp as part of the seafood platter. they were straight Nelson pacific oysters rather than Cleveland or some of other excellent types currently available.

They then delivered the wrong steak….

Once the steak arrived it was pretty good – everyone else thought theirs was excellent. Mine suffered from a quick cooking and no standing time as they tried to correct the order quickly.

Portlander has set themselves up at the premium steakhouse end of the market, but don’t deliver. Staff were generally untrained and inexperienced (although the maître d’ did his best to put things right at the end of the night – didn’t charge for a meal and gave us a free bottle of wine.

We stayed at the Rydges Hotel and had breakfast, lunch and dinner at Portlander over the duration of our stay. The service was excellent with friendly and attentive staff. I was especially impressed with the Seafood shell we shared for dinner and the breakfast buffet was one of the best I’ve seen. We will definitely be going back and recommending Portlander to all our friends.

I dined here with friends on a Saturday night, the service and food were great. My friends had the lamb which they both enjoyed and I had the fish of the day which was delicious. We shared 2 desserts between the 3 of us and thought they were very tasty as well. I will definitely be going back and will likely order the fish again.

After attending WOW last Sunday my wife and I went for dinner at the Portlander. We were very impressed with the staff who were very friendly and as it was very busy the young waiter we had was fabulous he really looked after us. The food was great, I had the Lamb while my wife enjoyed the fish. We were both so pleased and will be back again to dine with our friends. Well done!!

My partner and I recently dined at the Portlander and found a complete service from the time we walked in to the time we left. The service was second to none with our waiter being very attentative.
The standard of the food was excellent and the place was buzzing on a Wednesday night. We are looking forward to trying other options from the menu next time because every dish was a hit.

We have recently been lucky to dine at Portlander Bar and Grill, we weren’t sure what to expect as we took our 3 kids with us. We had a great time, food was absolutely fantastic and both the seafood and steak was cooked to perfection. Our kids loved the children’s menu and the staff they had on were very patient and obliging. We were served in a timely matter and always with a smile, even the F&B manager came over to see if everything was OK, little things like that make a huge difference, I would recommend Portlander to anyone, even with 3 kids it was a great night out.

I have never written a review before, but we were both so extremely disappointed with the Portlander. Firstly we arrived at the restaurant to find they had no record of our booking – it was our wedding anniversary. In the first two minutes we were seated we were asked if we ready to order 3 times. (Did we have the only menus?) My wife ordered the lamb and I ordered the rib eye steak. The mains are around $40 and you need to order sides as well, as my steak came with nothing else.
For $40 I expect to get something pretty amazing. My wife’s lamb was small and neither of us thought it was a special dish. My steak was even more disappointing – I have had steaks that cost about half the price that I enjoyed more. While we were eating our mains one of the waitresses came around with a carafe of water. My glass was almost empty and the amount of water in the carafe did not even quarter fill my glass – I have to wonder she bothered, as she did not come back and top up my glass. We were so disappointed with the mains we decided not to have any dessert.
While I paid for the meal my wife went to the bathroom. While I was waiting for her, one of the waitresses asked if I had settled the account. After I said yes, she said yes waiting for me to reply again. This was one of the worst dining experiences we have ever had and I would not recommend this restaurant.

Yum! The dinner we had here was excellent. We each had 3 courses and enjoyed them all. The entree was fresh seafood including lovely whitebait patties. For the mains we had the wagyu steak, goat wrapped in rabbit, pistachio lamb and the fish of the day. All of these were looked great on the plate, tasted great and were a satisfying size. The desserts, tiramisu, poached pear and apple crumble were top notch too. The barista made great coffee to finish the dinner off. Throughout the night, the staff were all friendly and attentive. Would definitely go back here!

I went there earlier this month with my family and my partner’s family. The food was absolutely delicious. I had a steak that was cooked perfectly to how I like it. The sides were nicely presented in small dishes and we could easily share them around.

The service was great, the waiters and waitresses looked after us well and were well mannered.

Overall the atmosphere was positive and we all had a great time! Definitely keen to go back there

Fantastic night at Portlander.

Last Friday myself and the lads from work wanted a few beers after a long busy week at work.
Great atmosphere within the bar and greeted with very friendly bar staff. We got served at the table all night, not once did we get up to order… Great!!
All staff were talkative and polite and very friendly.

We all decided to stay and grab a bite and portlander did not disappoint. Amazing steaks, all the lads enjoyed it.
Great service all evening.
Nice to see a place cater for large groups, families and couples.

Il be back with the mrs soon

WOW, what an amazing experience, “portlander” is by far the biggest thing to hit Wellington, if I could I would eat there every night.
My partner and I arrived early into Portlander and where greeted by a young lady who was stood on our side of the bar, wearing a little black dress and heals, she smiled at us and said relax take a seat and she would be right over, and she was within seconds, we had a drinks menu presented to us and some water we sat down in the comfy arm chairs and relaxed. After ordering cocktails the friendly server talked to us about our day, and what plans we had for the weekend, the host was lovely she then brought us a menu to look at while we sipped our drinks. The Cocktail the “Maroon 5″ was delicious, great flavours and also the earl grey tea cocktail which was so so good, light, fresh, and elegant -Yummmmie!!

In the restaurant we had a lovely little table by the window and able to have a good look around. It was great being able to see the chefs work and use the restaurant like an extended kitchen. I saw one chef come out with a bowl to grab some Oysters from this huge open fish display.
The staff are great here, so talkative and helpful i was asked if i have any questions about the menu and then my served told me where different cuts of steak were from and what wine goes with different foods “Amazing Service”
Breads to share, 2 great entree’s and then 2 steaks… not just any steaks, mouth watering, fantastic and perfectly cooked tender steaks. I had the the T-bone and my partner had the Sirloin. We got to choose our own sides: mushrooms, beetroot, rocket salad and gratin potato and sauce. We were told can create our own meals. Hand on heart best food iv had in ages.

We only managed to squeeze in one desert to share, the apple crumble it was so good better than my mums – that’s hard to beat.
Huge thank you to Portlander, staff were great, service was spot on and fooMored was top notch – i will be back!!

We are Aucklanders who were fortunate enough to be invited to this new restaurant. It gave us the opportunity to compare the standard of fine dining between the two cities. We were very impressed with the standard of food and friendly service. we will definately coome back to this restaurant the next time we’re in the capital.

I went to the Portlander with a couple of friends and it was a really enjoyable evening. The service was great, staff were very friendly, and no request was too big of an ask. The food was amazing. My lamb was perfectly cooked, and my friend who had the venison also had a meal cooked to perfection. The sides were just as good, the Beetroot side was so yummy. Looking forward to going again.

Recently my husband and I were celebrating our anniversary dinner and decided to go to the Portlander after hearing great things from some of our friends, and they definitely didn’t disappoint!! We shared the Seafood Shell and it was well worth the price that we paid. Staff are friendly and approachable, and they create a great atmosphere to relax and enjoy the food. Will def be recommending to all our friends!

My husband and I recently went to the restaurant at Rydges Wellington – The Portlander. We had heard several good things about this restaurant and they all lived up to expectation. The staff were friendly, the service was efficient but the food was definitely the highlight. I had the Pistachio Lamb and it was cooked to perfection – delicious flavours! Will certainly be returning for another meal.

I was recently invited to join a friend at the Portlander Restaurant at Rydges Hotel in Wellington. Everything about my experience was amazing. Such a great atmosphere and the bar staff were helpful and had a huge amount of knowledge about the food they were serving. And the food they serve is incredible! I have been a vegetarian for over 15 years, and recently began eating meat again. On viewing menu at the Portlander Restaurant I decided to try the Wagyu Steak – it was so delicious and there is now no way I will go back to being a vegetarian!

I have to say that the Portlander cooks the BEST steaks in town. Sirloin steak on the bone is to die for. Service was impressive and the overall atmosphere is amazing. Can’t wait to take my future wife back there.

My husband and I chose this restaurant as we wanted to show our future in-laws the standard of fine dining in Wellington and we were not let down at all. The service was impeccable from the moment we stepped into the dining area and the waiting staff was attentive, polite and very professional. The restaurant was warm and inviting and the mood lighting provided nice ambience.
We ordered cocktails and these were impressive and delivered promptly. They were delicious and set the tone for the rest of the evening.
My steak was cooked exactly as ordered and the side dishes of mushrooms and the salad were very good value as they were far too much for 1 person. I ended up sharing them with my fellow diners. My husband’s side dish of the hand cut chips was absolutely stunning. Our desserts were beautfully presented and equally mouth watering.
Our future in-laws were from Auckland and are also in the food business and they were suitably impressed.
We look forward to returning with our next batch of out of town visitors so we can show off our high standard of culinary culture in Wellington.

Upon arrival at the Portlander Bar & Grill, I found the atmosphere warm and pleasant, and the wait staff were all very personable, knowledgeable and made us feel very welcomed.
My wife and I had the Wakanui Sirloin Steak, I like mine medium and she likes her medium rare. Both our steaks were cooked to perfection. I also had the hand cut fries and they were massive, but delicious.
The service was extremely prompt and we could have a conversation with a normal tone of voice.
My experience was a wonderful one and I would definitely return

This place is unreal, we had a meal here on Saturday night and the place was humming. We had heard about the place through friends and they were so right. The young waitress seemed to know everything that we asked(and being foodies we ask a lot). I got the Portlander OP rib – WOW huge, Fred Flintstone would have loved it, partner had the Pistachio lamb dish loved the flavours. Thanks guys just what Wellington needs a Steak house with ” staff that care” and a chef that can cook the perfect steak.Your trainer must be a star. We will be back.

A group of friends and I went for a leaving dinner (about 12 of us) and were blown away at how attentive the staff were to such a big group. Normally wait staff don’t want to engage with such large tables but even the manager came over, she was chatting away and our Canadian waiter was cracking jokes too. The food was divine, nearly all of us had steak and some had the fresh seafood on offer, whitebait, paua and oysters. the atmosphere was humming and we will definitely return as they looked after us so well, and that’s a rare thing in Wellington.

I walk past the window everyday and thought I would give it a go. WOW is all I can say, restaurant was full so had to wait for a table in lounge bar – no drama here was well looked after. But once in restaurant we were blown away by the transformation. The service was impeccable, slick almost. The food amazing had the OP Rib cooked perfect. No complaints from us at all. We will be back. thanks guys.

I had dinner with colleagues and was blown away by the atmosphere of the place and the food was excellent. I haven’t found it in too many, if any hotels bfore but the Portlander makes the leap out of just hotel food to a dining experience in a hotel. Really worth checking out for a wide range of dishes and pretty good fast service. Great wine menu too!

I went here with a business associate and had a fantastic experience. My t-bone was absolutely the lovely, large, perfectly cooked piece of meat I was hoping for. My associate’s marmalade coated ribs were decadent and moreish. And the Syrah (I forget the brand) was as big as the steak! For dinner, this place is awesome. It is at a part of town (near Parliament) where there aren’t many good places to eat or drink, so if you’re in Wellington on business or for a bit of politics, very much recommended!