Having read the other reviews we were looking forward to a different type of Indian experience and we were not disappointed.

The mixed platter for 2 as entree provided an initial taste of the flavour profile and the wait staff were very knowledgeable about the menu and ingredients.

We both ordered our mains to “medium” heat. The fish mappas was mild-medium and the lamb masala was medium-hot. The waiter later explained that these are the natural heat profiles of the ingredients. Despite variations here, the food was absolutely delicious.

The option to BYO helped keep the cost to a very reasonable rate.

Definitely good value for money, fresh and clean decor, delicious food and friendly staff.

I don’t know what we expected of this restaurant but, to be honest, we didn’t expect much. I was pleasantly surprised how great the food tasted and our experience here was simply fantastic!! I went there for dinner with 4 others and all of us enjoyed ourselves immensely. Travancore Hutt claims to be one of the best south Indian restaurants in Wellington and rightly so. Food was as close as it gets to being authentic Kerala cuisine and the ambience was great. Unsure what to order, we asked our maitre’d for his recommendations. He was spot on! EVERY dish we ordered was out of this world! It wasn’t costly either. It worked out to be $25 per person (including a drink each)!. I will be very happy to revisit and add to my experiences Well done to the team at Travancore hutt. keep up the good work and don’t change a thing. You are amazing!!! Highly recommended.

Best South Indian food restaurant so far in New Zealand. If you really want to experience something different about Indian cuisine then the regular butter chicken/korma…and stuff, please try this restaurant. Most of the Indian restaurants run anywhere overseas serve typical same menu which is mostly North Indian food. If you wish to experience the huge variety about Indian food please try Travancore. You’ll love it and will come again and again. We have recently moved to Upper Hutt and have tried all Indian restaurants so far here. Travancore is special and the first thing that comes to our mind when we decide to dine out or even get a takeaway..its TRAVANCORE!!

Having heard from a friend that this was the place to get authentic Kerala food which was real we decided to do the long haul to Uppee Hutt today!
Since my wife is not from India but does cook great Indian and world cuisine I wanted to introduce her to Kerala ‘ stew’, appams and malabar parrottas!
We started with a mango lassi (more North Indian) and the platter. The platter was superb containing mini vege dosa, fish/ chicken and vege bites battered with spices and fried very different from the norm!
Then we ordered beef stew with appams/ iddiyapam and parrottas. To spice it up we ordered the “nadan chemneen mulagitathu”. Yes we were warned by the friendly boy who served us that it will be very chilli hot and it was just that …which my wife found delicious too!
We were real full so decided to do a takeaway in the form of fish byriani ( promised with an egg) as this restaurant had dished out real tasty authentic food!
I must say it was a great experience. It’s a very neat place which can host a good group of ppl. They do serve wine beer, spirits and other soft drinks. Could do with a better air conditioner on a hot day like today! The owner did have a friendly chat and stressed that he would like to turn people away from the”butter chicken” culture and train people to appreciate good authentic foods from India!

The biggest disappointment was what i anticipated when leaving! I did see the cook with an unbroken egg in her hand which quickly disappeared and I was given my take away packet. I reached home and instinct made me look for the boiled egg in the byriani and discovered what I didn’t want to… the egg wasn’t anywhere to be found. I just wonder how they didn’t think I’d notice… after all I had coughed up almost 3 figures in $$! Obviously after such a lovely experience this left a bad taste in my mouth!

I do wish to thank Sebastian for his prompt apology and much appreciate his eMorefforts in taking trouble to sort out my concerns. Also for graciously clarifying what he was trying to tell me about his sincere effort in promoting authentic Kerala food. Please note that I did enjoy the fish briyani at home which had a unique flavor! I am very impressed overall by the food and would highly recommend his place to my friends in Upper Hutt and to anyone who is willing to try out authentic Indian food… something which is rare in Wellington. It’s worth the distance!

Excellent, authentic Kerala food. Suits people who are after the real taste of South India, especially Kerala. We have been to this restaurant many times and absolutely love it. One of the very few restaurants in the world where the taste of South India is undiluted. If you are worried about food being hot, I strongly recommend visiting this place to see how food can have flavour without offending your palate. Strongly recommend driving 45 minutes to anyone in Wellington who is after real South Indian food. Reasonably priced and excellent service. Easy to find a park nearby.

I went here for the first time after my boss recommended visiting. Took the long drive out to Upper Hutt from Wellington City and wasn’t disappointed. Fantastic food, attentive service, and well worth the journey for what is the region’s only authentic South Indian restaurant. There are other restaurants that serve South Indian food, but they didn’t come close to my meal at Travancore.

If you live in the Hutt Valley, or are willing to make the journey out from other parts of the city, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Tip: If you’re vegetarian, experiment with the Vege 65 and one or two bread items. While Vege 65 isn’t “South Indian”, it is a classic Indian dish that’s famous around the country. Definitely try the paper roast, but also save some space for the authentic Kerala specials like Appam and Idiyappam.

Had a great meal, will recommend to all. Not the usual Indian food out of a pot. Fish curry and appams are a must have. Under exposed due to the location. Food and service worth writing back home. Should try .

We had lunch at the TH, and it was fantastic. We moved from India to NZ more than 25 years ago, and we’re tired of all the North Indian restaurants we have in Wellington (not that they are bad). So, we were pleasantly surprised to hear of a Kerala restaurant, and decided to try it.

The food is authentic and superb. If your experience of Indian food has been limited to Rogan Josh (yuck) and Butter Chicken (double yuck), you are in for a treat. The curries are yummy, and the “breads” are different from the North Indian breads. You must try both the paratha (spelled parotta in the South), and the rice/lentil flour based aapam.

Six hours after the meal, and I can still barely move.

I have been into Travancore twice now and have had to enjoyable evenings, excellent service, fresh and delicious food, we had a table of 25 last night and were quite a rowdy bunch and they catered to us amazingly and we didn’t sit there and wait for our food service was fast. Highly recommend this place good to have a different style of Indian i have found this my new favourite to the traditional Indian now highly recommend!!

My family and I went to the Travancore on Mother’s Day for dinner. Fairly small restaurant and the tables were small but the food made up for it.
Everything we ordered was delicious and really quite different to other Indian food that we had eaten before.
Be careful if you order the “hot” version of a meal, my son who likes hot food was struggling:)
All in all, food was excellent, could have done with more waiters, the two guys working that night were run off their feet.
Definitely plan on going back again

It was a great opportunity to visit Travancore Hut last week. I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘meen pollichathu’ (fish roasted/fried in banana leaf) and ‘parotta’. If my understanding is correct, it is the only Kerala restaurant in Wellington and the second in New Zealand after the one in Auckland. You will get puttu, appam, dosa and most of the Kerala cuisines in Travancore Hut. When I arrived there, the restaurant manager, Sumodh John greeted me with a very pleasant smile; since then was a great experience. Surprisingly, the restaurant was full with New Zealanders on my day of visit, although it was a Wednesday and I was the only non-New Zealand origin kiwi dined in the restaurant in that evening. I recommend Travancore Hut to everybody. I am, in fact, taking some kiwi friends in the coming Friday.

Dr Alex Thomas

For the first time in Wellington, a pure authentic South Indian restaurant. Came recommended to us and we were not one bit disappointed. Food was absolutely authentic, fresh and the service was top of the world. Did not have to wait long either. True hospitality is something to learn from these guys. They took great care to serve our dishes to the exact need. We are pure vegetarians and it is such a relief to know they prepare veggies separately. Would recommend if you are after authentic Kerala cuisine served with a smile.

Excellent food- authentic Kerala Cuisine and best of all – made from fresh ingredients. Highly recommend the Meen pollichathu.

Excellent service and very friendly staff.

Will go again.