We hosted our post wedding brunch at St Johns bar restaurant last weekend, and it was a fantastic venue for this event. Our guests reported that food was great, the service was excellent and the space set aside for our group of 40+ worked amazingly well. Thanks Nicola and your team for accommodating our needs (eg child menu, separate bill for hot drinks, etc). The kids loved the packs of stickers and colouring in resources (as did their parents!), and we really appreciated the warm and attentive service the staff provided. We highly recommend St Johns Bar for brunch!

Friend and I had brunch here today and both had the big breakfast. Was served quickly and nicely presented. I asked for an extra tomato instead of mushrooms, which was no hassle. Breaky was nice enough. Few let downs which may sound picky, but it’s the little things that make a difference! No straw in the orange juice with ice… makes it a bit tricky to drink and at the end of our meal got a coffee offer, but no offer of desert, which we both wanted.

Asked for desert and waitress said she would have to check with the kitchen whether they would do desert as she had never had that request at brunch! We went at 1pm so didn’t think a sweet treat would be an odd request at 2pm and other tables were having desert. Kind of odd.

One of the best experiences I have ever had in a bar/restaurant.
From the moment we arrived we were treated amazingly. We went to 3 previous bars and asked if they could find a cake as it was a friends 40th, they weren’t bothered. When we asked John (the manager) he went out of his way to find a cake, then put the candles on it and present it to the table. We then stayed for dinner, even though it was a quiet night and the kitchen was closing early. They asked us to order quickly so we did. Penny was the waitress and she was the most informative and well trained hostess we could ask for, with a really good sense of humour.
The food came out and was spectacular, fresh and tasty. Compliments to the chefs
The bar made us feel like a million dollars, and the service was second to none, I have worked in hospitality for many years and I would employ any of the staff that worked that night in a heart beat, you cannot train the service that we received and I can not praise the staff enough.
When in Wellington St Johns will be my local every night.
Thank you for making my friends 40th a very good night to remember

With all the lovely weather we have been having in Wellington recently, I thought the St Johns would be a great place to unwind with a colleague.

Once we got there, it was PACKED! Walked up to the bar and ordered some drinks, the bar staff were rude, but quick to make the drinks and collect payment.

The drink was just a standard lemon lime vodka bitters, nothing great for the amount I paid.

Went to sit outside but the amount of people and lack of outdoor furniture made it hard, and we sat on a rug (supplied by the bar) on the grass outside. The rug was stained and wet so instead we gulped down our drinks and retreated home.

The placement of the bar is awesome, and the staff are efficient, just was unhappy with the lack of outdoor chairs and price for a couple of drinks.

I have been to St Johns three times now, the first and second was amazing, the Pork belly cooked to perfection and the ravioli amazing.

The last time I went however the pork belly was well overdone to the point of dry and stringy, and the cracking wasn’t crispy all over.

The waitstaff are always so friendly and have great knowledge of wine and what pairs well with what.

I would certainly go again, although it may be a ‘what chef is on’ deal each time.

We went here for dinner on Saturday night with a group. The rest of the place was empty – that should have warned us, but we had prebooked. Our meals were small and tasteless. Boring and ordinary. No veg or salad were served, or offered. My gnocchi was like rubber, and my friends’ fish was overcooked.
Staff were friendly, and the creme brulee was great, but we would NEVER go there again.

I had brunch here last Saturday. I ordered the eggs benedict, it was enjoyable but certainly not the best eggs benedict I have eaten. For dessert I had the poached pear with butterscotch sauce and this was absolutely delicious, I would thoroughly recommend this dessert. The place was very empty but our waitress was helpful and friendly and it did not take long to receive our coffee, mains or dessert.

Very nice setting, comfortable surrounds and helpful staff. But for a mains price of $36 plus $6 for sides, the servings are just way too small, even if they are nicely presented. If you are hungry, tell them in advance and ask for decent-sized mains, or you’ll go out hungry! Other top restaurants also come at this trick, perhaps to encourage you to have entrees and desserts.

Food is alright, but I guess most people really go for the drinks/location anyway

Went to St Johns for a business lunch. This place is the bomb!! We sat outside in the sun (yes, this is Wellington), and had a few wines from the extensive wine list. Lunch was fantastic and super fast coming out. Could have quite happily parked up for the day on one of their bean bags, but alas, had to go back to work!!! Cheers, and we will be back

We stopped in for a quick business lunch between meetings. The bar service is very quick, however we found the table service a bit slow.
The three of us had the large Hot Mixed Platter which was not really big enough for three large blokes.

A nice bar but nothing special.

My husband and I went for dinner on a Saturday night a few weeks ago. Having read the reviews here I wasn’t too sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.

Entrees – garlic ciabatta and buffalo mozarella arancini. The garlic ciabatta was disappointing and in fact wasn’t even ciabatta. However, the arancini was delicious.

For the mains my husband had steak and I had pork belly. Both were lovely and my husband’s steak so tender that it just melted in your mouth.

On the waitresses recommendation we both had the chocolate fondant for dessert. While delicious it wasn’t a fondant – a fondant should ooze liquid chocolate from the centre and this had the consistency of a chocolate mud cake. So while it was tasty, I’d recommend the chef head to the Tasting Room to see what the real thing should be like.

The service was pretty much faultless. All in all a lovely evening.

Had the tempura oysters and duck in pancake with hoisin sauce entrees. Oysters were nice, but the duck pancake was nothing exciting. Mains were a major disappointment. The Bouillabaisse was acceptable, although there was only one of each shellfish and fish. The Wagyu beef must have sat around for sometime after being cooked as it was not even warm. It did not go with the salty fishy wakame warm salad and the tempura veggies accompaniment were really tough to chew! The beef was bland and although it was pink it was not tender. The Crayfish medallion, Scallops and Crispy Skin Snapper looked good on the plate although a mean portion, but was equally bland and dry. The Lamb trio (Lamb cutlets) looked pink but was also not warm when it arrived, and the jus lacked flavour. I made a point to inform the waiter of our disappointment with the mains.
The Frenchman waiter was wonderful, he was very helpful, friendly and obliging. We were hesitant to order dessert after being let down by the mains. However, the waiter managed to cajole us to order a trifle and tiramisu. The desserts were nice, the Tiramisu was especially yummy and saved the evening for us. As it was my birthday the waiter arranged for a candle on the Tiramisu – a nice special touch. The Mojito drink I ordered was average – I have had better tasting ones elsewhere.
Overall, It is a pity that such a nice location and ambiance is let down by the quality of the mains.

My family and I recently dined at this restaurant to celebrate my son’s graduation. I have dined there before and had an exquisite meal, but unfortunately for Wellington diners the restaurant food has declined significantly in the last two years.
The olive gnocchi was stodgey, very non olive in flavour,and the portion mean for $29, not that I would want any more.
The fish of the day was described to me by a fellow diner as not fresh and overcooked, mean portion again.
The most expensive meal at $39 was a trio of crayfish scallops and fish, all overcooked, actually chewy, again a mean portion.
The other two diners had the lamb racks, ok I’m told.
I would like to say the wine list and the garlic bread were very good, well done.
The restaurant was very busy, but on reflection this restaurant is marketing itself as fine dining, the prices reflected this but the standard wasn’t met.
I believe I could produce better myself and I am not a trained chef. So disappointing, we will not return.

Went to St John’s for lunch. Received a Brunch Menu at 1pm. Place was quiet. Ordered pancakes. Waited over 50minutes, without being warned there would be a wait, for the pancakes to arrive without bacon.

Was slightly miffed to be told we had to wait in the Bar area before we were able to get a table in the restaurant after walking in and seeing half the tables were empty. Finally, we were attended to and dinner was able to commence. Good food & reasonable service however it seemed the staff were focused on what was happening in the bar area. May return

A great afternoon with friends was had at St Johns – as they weren’t busy we received table service. I found staff were knowledgeable and friendly – would recommend based on my experience.

We went there for lunch today. The restauran had no customers, but still they managed to make us wait more than 40 minutes to bring a plate of bruschetta ( which really would take no more than 2 minutes to prepare ) !! and on top of this, they completely forget my lunch special order.
I went there several other times but I am really frustrated by the bad service. Mac’s brewery is just around the corner and is worthed 10 times better than the “posh” wanna be St. Johns Heineken bar.

We have an awesome local brewery around the corner, why would anybody want to pay twice to drink a beer which had to travel across the entire world to make some already rich multinational businessman from the other side of the planet even more rich ?

This place has surprisingly good food for such a busy bar, good menu, pretty good service, and would definitely go again.