I needed a place to take my partner to dinner for our anniversary, and I chose Restaurant 88 based off the reviews on this website. I wasn’t sure it would live up to the hype, but it certainly did, and more!
The service was friendly and efficient, attentive but not annoyingly so, and the waiter didn’t get flustered or annoyed by our questions on dietary requirements (all except two of the mains are gluten free by the way!).
The food came quickly, and was just divine, cooked perfectly and so full of flavour, not huge amounts so you feel bloated, just enough to feel satisfied. We indulged in dessert also, again a wonderful selection of gluten free items, and again served promptly, and full of flavour.
Although the restaurant was busy, we did not feel rushed or pressured to leave our table when done.
All in all an amazing dinning experience, and we will certainly be returning!

I was looking forward to returning to Cafe 88, which has always been a favourite of mine. I came away disappointed that the quality of the meal has gone from excellent to mediocre. I selected the pork and prawn crepe, which I’ve had in the past. It didn’t have any of the usual fresh and succulent flavours, and worse of all, it had some strange tasting blob of paste in the middle.

Others seemed to be happy enough with their meals. And the service was excellent.

I’m not sure how much point there is in writing this review as they seem to have so many good ones already. We have dined at 88 four or five times now so it was about time to give them a big thumbs up.
Every time we have been the service has been prompt and efficient, the food has been really tasty and we have always left with smiles on our faces and very full tummies. I am not going to comment on the authenticity of the Vietnamese dishes as i have not been to Vietnam (as i am sure neither have many of the other reviewers) but for us the dishes are well cooked and well presented and have always been very tasty.
Feel free to try 88 and i hope like me you will not be disappointed.

Good food and service, very tasty

I have dined here about four times and the food is outstanding as is the service. The entrees are just amazing in variety and also in taste – extremely refreshing and just a pleasure to dine here. I will be making this Restaurant a must eat place when I am in Wellington

Best food ever! I have been here at least five times + can’t wait to go back! The beef lemongrass salad is incredible. Service outstanding – even when you have 15+ people, they don’t seem to mind. Recommend if you want a delicious meal and a great atmosphere

Have tried this restaurant several weeks ago….good ambiance, nice food….but service is not that great…

Fantastic!! decided to try it after reading the reviews and was not disappointed. Went with some friends and we loved it! The food was fantastic (we shared a selection of entrees), the service was great and the staff were very helpful in recommending some options for us. Will definitely be back to try out the mains.
Highly recommend

This was the first time that I have been to Restaurant 88 and after hearing all the reviews about it, we decided to go there for a friends birthday for dinner.
It was a saturday night and they took a booking for a table of 10 at around 8pm.

We were seated and the waiter took our orders about ten minutes later. However, this is where my complaint lies. I was disappointed that we had to wait an hour for our entrees to come out and then five minutes later, our mains came out. This was appalling on their behalf as the food was simply cold when it came out. I don’t know how long it was sitting in the kitchen before we got served it. We checked and check with the waiter wondering where our food was after half an hour waiting, and he said it would be there shortly. The waiter that was also assigned to our table, did not know the menu very well and did not speak good english. I simply asked whether the spring rolls were made from rice paper or spring roll paper, where he told me it was rice paper and when it came out, it was spring roll paper, which I cannot eat. Some indication of what is gluten free would be wonderful.
Anyway, when we complained, the staff told us that it was simply not their fault, and we were over exaggerating when we said our food was cold.


The food was also not authentically Vietnamese. It is more Westernised for people around here, not as flavorsome as some other Vietnamese food that I have had.

I will not be dining here again. And I hope that their service the night I went was just a one off.

I been there twice
First time is last 3 years
Both time i founded this place made me really disappointing
They said Its Vietnamese Cuisine, but It not a 100% Vietnames, its like 60% Western in the dishes, how can they put Tomato in a traditonal noodle soup !!!
And the stir beef was gone off
Sorry. not thing interesting for me

My all time favourite restaurant in Wellington!

I eat at Restaurant 88 on a fairly regular basis (monthly at the moment) and have never been disappointed. The food, choice of wines, service and overall experience has always been A+.

I took friends recently who have never been and they were also extremely impressed.

Keep up the great work Restaurant 88

We went for Sunday lunch, and found this place disappointing, especially after reading so many outstanding reviews prior to choosing this place.
Although the restaurant was only half full but there was a long wait for the food to be served.
The decor is lovely and the wait staff are friendly. We found the food tasty but the portions are very small.

We always pick Restaurant 88 as the place to go out and eat on occasions. However the last service was really disappointing. We ordered three well-done steaks, however only one came out well-done. We also ordered a medium steak, which came out medium-rare.

The chef did not take the complaint well, instead threw the blame back on us, stating we were the only table ever to complain.

This will now make us re-think where we would go on our next occasion.

Great place to eat. Food was great and service excellent. Went with 5 others and all agreed we would eat here again.

I LOVE this place! The beef salad is my personal favourite. The staff are lovely and friendly. It would be great if they were able to label some of their menu items as Gluten Free (as I am sure there are some!), but other than that I have no complaints. Servings are always nice and large. They happily accept the Entertainment card.

Had a great evening here with 10 friends.

The food was great and a real delight to get a coffee in an Asian restaurant that tasted great as well. Rest of table enjoyed desserts and commented on the great selection of wine.

No grumbling when we used our entertainment cards and was happy to do split payments.

Great night and know the whole table said they were coming back again.

Good all round.

had a quick trip in wellington and for my supposedly last night there, we had a very lovely dinner in this restaurant. what an excellent choice!
the food was superb and the serving was so big, we had to take home our excess food. =)
the staffs are so nice as well.and the price was fair enough.
i’ll be back, thats fosho. =)

My friends and I were undecided where to have lunch and decided to try this restaurant. It’s quite a cozy little Vietnamese/Asian restaurant in Tory with a green motif and a green rickshaw outside the door.

The decor is very pleasant and warm — however it took 30 mins for our lunch orders to come but they were very much worth the wait. I had Vietnamese pork meatballs and crispy spring rolls and they were very delicious. My friend and I had a bite of each other’s meal and her fried pork loin was yummy as well — everything was just perfect!

Will definitely return to this restaurant! Best Vietnamese food I’ve ever tasted. Very highly recommended!

I have been there couple of times and really enjoy every single dish ordered. My last visit, I ordered pork balls as entree, it was juicy, full flavors and delicious.

I cannot wait to go back. Great service, very tasty vegetarian dish, friendly staff. This Vietnamese may not the cheapest but its worth every cent! Nice atmosphere, no excessive loud music.

The food is great here. Friendly staff and a reasonable price.

I and my partner dinning out all the time, I have to say this is the best Asian restaurant in Wellington. The design of the restaurant is very elegant. The food are really good and tasty, no matter what you choose always give you a surprise, the staffs are very very friendly and helpful, they are very busy,but every customer still being look after very well. We always want to go there again, but just so hard to get a table on Saturday nights. My favourite dish are stuffed mussel as entree, and chili crispy chicken and prawn in a pot as main.

I’ve eaten here more than a dozen times and have never been disappointed, delicious and authentic food, quick service and well priced.

No trend breaking here. I have been the Restaurant 88 several times now and have yet to be let down. The menu is exciting and the food is just as delicious. Impeccable service, a great atmosphere and reasonable prices top off this great dining experience. Recommend this to everyone looking for a great night out and something other than your run-of-the-mill!

My partner and I went to this restaurant. it was full booked but the staff made us a table out of the end of the bar because we really wanted to try the place. We weren’t disapointed. Food was AMAZING, great size and not expensive at all. I would recommend this place to anyone and we will definatly be going back