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2 days ago
The 3 of us ate at Artisan last night. It is a nice warm atmosphere, spacious and low noise level. The waiting staff are warm and friendly. But I am afraid it is about that is all I can (nicely) say about this. We ordered bread and the Pulled Wild Pork for starter – was at least 30minutes before this arrived after ordering. 3 mains ordered (1) duck con fit – not crispy at all and did not finish (2) my son ordered the razorback pork – dry & tough! he could hardly get his knife to cut this and only finished it because he was hungry (3) I ordered the grilled sirloin (medium rare) – it arrived well done and was not possible to finish. I fully understand that occasionally it goes wrong – but for someone to serve this load of rubbish up to us could only have held us in contempt. I find it hard to believe the person did not know they were putting a well-done steak on the plate??!! I would have complained and sent the steak & the pork back but we had to wait close to 90 minutes and not prepared to wait even longer. Paid the $188 and ran as fast as I could. Give this place a wide berth!!!!
5 days ago
Three of us lunched at the Hippopotamus Restaurant and were delighted with the atmosphere, the service and the food. It was a special occasion and we loved every minute of it. In fact we recommended it to friends who have already made a booking
6 days ago
I dined at this restaurant last week with my family and was very impressed. The restaurant had a relaxed atmosphere and the decor was beautiful. Service was fantastic – friendly and efficent. We jumped straight to mains and found the ‘design your own meal’ concept great, especially as some members of my family are very fussy! Meals were cooked to perfection. I had the venison with potato gratin, vegetables and plum sauce – meat was cooked to perfection was obviously very good quality, presentation was simple yet effective. My family agreed that the food was superb. For dessert the majority of us had the chocolate fondant, a great choice, it was cooked perfectly! A restaurant definitley worth trying!
6 days ago
We were the first there as we were going to the theatre. Our waitress asked if we were going to a show and, I assume, made sure we were fed in time to get there. Cosy and warmly decorated. Good varied selection of food on the menu. The food was delicious and nicely presented. I had the lamb rump, my friend has the beef tournedos and we shared a side of nicely cooked hot veggies. We finished with a chocolate dessert and two spoons. The food was perfectly cooked, the service was good and not too attentive and the place was cosy and inviting. I will definitely return.
6 days ago
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.
7 days ago
It was a cold day in Wellington, but the atmosphere at Karaka was warm and welcoming!
It was the first time the 4 of us (girls catchup) had been together since last year, so thought we would try something new. One of them had previously been there for brunch and highly recommended it.
The service was very good, but not great, as there were a few occasions when we just about ended up with other table drinks!
Apart from that minor issue, the rest of our experience was very good.
We had three different things off of the menu… Salmon, Hangi (Chicken and Lamb, I think) and Chowder… I had the Salmon and it was beautifully cooked. The Hangi, was lovely and had a wonderful gravy which accompanied it… The chowder was apparently “wonderful”… Hence, everyone was very happy with their meals.
Only one of us had a dessert, which was the brownie and OMG, it was wonderful…
We had a lovely experience and what made it feel more comfortable was that we weren’t rushed out the door either.
We will definately be going back there again.
Thanks for a lovely experience. 
11 days ago
the food was fantastic, great taste a really nice place to go with friends and family. A+
11 days ago
This was an amazing cafe the cabinet food look amazing and tasted great i really enjoyed it will be back!! thanks
11 days ago
Mothers day lunch and for the mother it was a wonderful day so mission accomplished. The service was good and they catered for our gluten free guest with ease The food was tasty and presented well What we did not like was being asked if we would like to start with a glass of bubbles and without choice, being served a $25 option Might go back if the occasion arose and finances allowed
12 days ago
So I’ve just tried the food at the refreshed Hummingbird – wow – seriously amazing. The roast duck and lentils were worth it alone. I’d highly recommend for foodies and casual dinners alike…Nice and warm too – perfect for this rainy Wellys evening.
12 days ago
It seems Hummingbird now does brunch of a weekend. My partner and I visited 12th of May, 2012, about 9.00am. The place was empty because they have been doing brunch for only a couple of weeks. Well, it was awesome. I had perfectly scrambled eggs with grilled tomato, asparagus and rocket, on rye toast. Everything was perfectly cooked, fresh and flavoursome: eggs moist with just the right degree of firmness; asparagus grilled, salted, slightly crunchy with a hint of garlic; rocket served with a balanced oil and vinegar dressing. On top of all this, the wait staff were charming, coffee very good, the place as clean as a new pin and there was an enormous bunch of fresh flowers in the loo. All round, an excellent start to the day. Get there before it gets crowded.
12 days ago
Had a wonderful lunch here the other day. Have eaten at the hotel on previous occasions and I really like the new decor. The service was friendly and attentive and the food was great!. I particularly liked the venison which was fantastic. The menu is almost understated – not too wordy as menus can be these days – so when my meal arrived I was really very pleasantly surprised. I will definitely come again!
13 days ago
Mother’s day and three generations of Mums went in for a coffee/cuppa. We did not order a meal so I can’t comment on the quality of that, but the snack food was just awful. My Mother didn’t even eat a quarter of the muffin – it was so dry and hard on the outside (there were no other plain options eg scones). The slice had a fridge taste and there was a bit of plastic stuck in the icing. My small cake didn’t taste fresh either. The coffee was ok but the tea was very weak. I have been several times before for a coffee and the place has a very congenial atmosphere however on a previous visit the scone was very dry also. If the cafe prefers to do meals etc then just do that. It was such a disappointment and I’m not going to be in a hurry to go back again.
16 days ago
I have booked a place in advance , but they forgot to reserve luckily they managed to give us a table 10 min later. the food was quit bad we ordered medium and medium rare steak but it came very well and total well done. we very hungry of all the waiting that we ate it any way but we had to struggle with cutting and chewing. the desert “apple crumble” was very bad – there was no crumble. the apples were almost raw and sour there was a dust of bran no real crumble, it was so bad that I left mine almost whole only tasted a bit . The service was very slow
17 days ago
I went there with a close friend 3 weeks ago and discovered that they serve foie gras, as people outside were handing out leaflets about it. Now that I understand the awful cruelty in its production I will not be returning to Le Canard until they remove it from the menu.
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18 days ago
My husband and I had fantastic meals here last Saturday night. We were looking for a restaurant on par with other Wellington greats like Logan Brown, Martin Bosley’s, The White House etc and we weren’t disappointed – in fact, I loved the intimate atmosphere of Ambeli very similar to the White House and the food was definitely on par. The staff were very attentive, helpful and friendly. The food was amazing. Would definitely go back there again in a heartbeat!
18 days ago
My husband and I came to Artisan Restaurant + Bar about two weeks ago. We did have some reservations about dining here as we had a bad experience about two years ago when it was called Bisque on Bolton, however, we were absolutely blown away by the service and the food at the newly re-branded restaurant. I had the prawn entrée while my husband had the scallops to start. Both of which were very yummy! For our mains, I had the venison while my husband chowed down the rib eye which in weight is 450g. Both our meals were cooked to perfection. To finish we shared the chocolate fondant, which was very decadent but not so rich that it ruined our meals. The service from a young blonde girl was just outstanding. Her knowledge of the menu and wine-list really stood out when she helped us decide our sides, sauces and wines to match our meals. Many restaurants could learn from this place, not only in how to cook good food but how to give great service without being over the top and intrusive. Only one thing that really got to me was the female receptionist who took our booking was very abrupt and boarder line rude. I do wonder weather the hotel and the restaurant are in sync? Other than that, this hotel restaurant is just great. We will be back.
19 days ago
19 days ago
I dined here last month on 11th April. Food was nice, I especially enjoyed the curry and the Vietnamese summer rolls. Service was particularly bad in some areas, such as taking 20 minutes to bring out my friends cake, after asking for it twice. When the cake came out they didn’t even bother to take it out of the box. Entree plates were not cleared from the table until after mains were served, and I had to order soy sauce for $1 (which came out probably about 10ml worth). Had to ask for an extra jug of water for the table (how do a dozen people share a single jug of water, especially on an oblong table?) Bonus was the two for one cocktail evening. I didn’t know that they offered this so it was a nice surprise. They have an interesting choice of music being a fusion Asian restaurant. From Cafe del mar to Police’s Roxanne.
21 days ago
Stayed at the Bolton the weekend of the rugby. Popped in to the resturant on my way to the stadium. Best steak I’ve had in a long time. Love the menu layout and the make-your-own style. Friendly staff as well topped it off. A++ team. Keep it up
North Island
