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1 day ago
We have been regular diners at 1841 since the new ownership took over a year ago. Noticeably, this place is beicoming busier no matter what day of the week. The menu offers a wide variety(although we have been through it in full!) and is very well priced. If you are after good pub grub at a great price this is the place. The staff are very attentive, friendly and welcoming. I also come here with my girlfriends and feel safe and comfortable. Perhaps adding a tasting platter of some sort may cater to the females a little more than the deep fried platter that I’m sure the lads love! Overall great offering, service with a smile and a place that caters to the people! Keep it up
2 days ago
I had dinner at the restaurant last night. It was absolutely awful. I ordered the ribeye steak on the bone with red wine jus, hand cut fries and the house coleslaw. The meal also came with onion rings. The steak arrived on top of the fries which were soggy and had no taste. They were soaking in the red wine jus which was watered down. I asked for a new order of fries in a seperate bowl. The coleslaw (if you can call it that as it had bits of corn in it) was tasteless as was the steak which tasted like cardboard. The onion rings were obviously pre-frozen and not made on the premises. They also were tasteless. There was no seasoning in the whole dish. All in all, a bad experience.
2 days ago
Probably one of the best coffee places in Newtown, I wouldn’t go anywhere else. Fast and friendly service. They use free range milk and peoples coffee beans too very cool!
3 days ago
Went there today, asked if Restaurant Association gift cards were acceptable. “Yes”. So on paying told “No”. L’Affare was listed on the Retaurant Gift Card site this morning. So after having to fork out $44 on credit, return home, look on website – no longer listed. Very underhand. Will not return and will tell the usual 10 people, etc, etc. And the oil the fish was cooked in needs changing. The 7 kumara chips were nice.
4 days ago
I recently celebrated my 5 year anniversary and emailed Pravda and asked about the possibility of a degustation. I received a call from the functions manager who said that she chatted with the Head Chef and they would be delighted to accommodate my request. I had a quick meeting with him the following week to discuss the evening, state that I have an egg allergy, and he said he can take care of everything. We arrived on the night and were taken to our seats, a wonderful cosy corner with the outlook of the entire restaurant and the kitchen. We had custom made menus just for our special night. The menu looked incredible and the wait staff were always so happy to serve us and answer any questions – we didn’t have to ask for anything the whole night and were really taken care of. The Head Chef came out to personally serve us a couple of dishes and talk about the food which was fantastic, so incredible that he was able to do this and that there was a bit of a fuss – this made us both feel on top of the world. We got a touch nervous at certain parts of the meal because there was ‘Mayo type sauces’ and Gnocchi but without eggs! I’m often I’m reduced to having no sauce to speak of or very run of the mill, packety, type stuff – This was fantastic for me and the Head Chef shared a few nuggets of gold ‘cheffy’ information on how to’s (fantastic!). The food was absolutely terrific, The Head Chef is truly an artist and you can see the passion on the plate when we were presented with the meals. We were so impressed. We have been foodies since before it was ‘mainstream’, we have travelled far and wide, close on 30 odd countries with a passion for tasting everything we could. Our mind over the evening and for the week since has turned to our best dishes and dining experiences, the food and our experience at Pravda is right up there. The Head Chef (Adam) is a ridiculously passionate and fantastic chef. In Wellington we have dined at The Chameleon, Boulcott St Bistro, Logan Brown, Shed 5, White House, Matterhorn among others and Pravda would be one we would revisit and recommend to our friends in a heartbeat.
5 days ago
Went for lunch today, in a word SUPERB! Great decor, friendly staff and fabulous tasting food. Will be going back
7 days ago
How to say? This is just BAD! I went there in the afternoon to have a lunch, coffee and pastries. It was so disappointed for me as I am french. The service is poor (people are not smiling) and the food taste like NOTHING good. I had a veg pie and it was disgusting. The pastries were average, nothing special. And the baguette sorry again but bad tasting. This not the bread I know from France for sure. The coffee was ok though. One advice if you really want to taste something good about french food go somewhere else or just go to France.
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. 
8 days ago
A handy cafe by the corner of Willis and Manners St, this place is convenient for office workers, but it is definitely hit and miss. I’ve just had two misses so as far as I’m concerned they’ve had their chances – too many good places around. Miss No 1: Their Caesar salad. Looks delicious in the cabinet, lovely yellow eggs invitingly halved atop what looks to be a reasonably authentic Caesar. But it came out of a chilled cabinet and was cold, way too cold. The lettuce was flaccid, and verging on slimy because clearly it had been sitting there with its dressing for some time. The croutons were very dark – completely overcooked, and the bacon very pale and not cooked enough. The egg may have been cooked properly when the salad was first assembled, but one of the delights of a Caesar is the gentle warmth of the coddled egg. There was not enough Parmesan and no anchovies to give it the necessary kick. It was under-seasoned and there was no salt and pepper on our table, or any adjoining table. I left the salad largely untouched and was studiously ignored by wait staff who were clearly not interested in why a meal was uneaten. Miss No 2: Not keen to return, but this was with a group of friends, and arranged by someone else. We had a reservation and the group arrived promptly and ordered promptly. Fifteen minutes later the waiters comes to say he doesn’t think he had all the orders so we had to check them off. He still argued it wasn’t right – seems he was incapable of matching 12 orders to 12 people. And then we waited, and waited. It was another 40 minutes until the meals (some of them) came out. By then we’d been there for 1.10. The food was okay – not fantastic, but not a repeat of that sad Caesar. Had to wait several minutes at the till to pay and when I complained about the long wait I was told we should have preordered and that it was our fault. The woman was rude and defensive. So that is 12 people never returning. I cannot recommend this place. Don’t bother with it – too many good options in this city.
9 days ago
We went for lunch at the ballroom today, we were very disappointed the food was inedible. Mushrooms on toast was dry bread far too thick and no sauce of any type with the mushrooms–Yuk. Frittata was the other and I have no idea what the basis of that was other than days old vegetables. Neither course had even a vestige of salad or normal small embellishments. Extremely disappointing as we had very fond memories of the cafe over the years , when food and the atmosphere were always good.
10 days ago
I was really disappointed as I had walked down from my hotel. I am not a big fan of hotel breakfasts. The coffee was ok, however the poached eggs on ciabatta turned out to be over cooked eggs on sandwich bread toast. Keep walking.
11 days ago
Definitely one of my favourite cafes in wellington, it brings in alot of sun is a bit away from the city which is also nice. Me and my close friend come here all the time as we really enjoy the food and friendly service, would easily recommend this place to anyone wanting a nice cafe to try or bring visitors from out of town.
11 days ago
Good first impressions outside, as they cater to dog walkers with bowls of water and dog lead holders (great!) However I ordered a coffee to go, and then a customer who was probably at least 7 customers after me got served her coffee first because she wanted it then and there. Regardless of her bossiness to be served first over all these other people before her, I really was angry that she got want she wanted, that was totally not cool, i work in a cafe and know first in first served – basics guys!
11 days ago
This was an amazing cafe the cabinet food look amazing and tasted great i really enjoyed it will be back!! thanks
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
This is a great cafe – one of my favourites. The food, service and staff are awesome. Friendly, helpful staff who were quite relaxed when we were still there a bit past the closing time as we didn’t know they closed a bit earlier on Sundays and they even offered a couple of yummy leftover muffins for us to take home. It’s great they are open on Tues nights now – we will check it out soon.
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.
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.
13 days ago
just brilliant! Laksa is awesome, staff are friendly. Every time I visit Wellington it is a must stop.
14 days ago
Wow this cafe is amazing and I have been there time and time again. Their vegetarian big breakfasts are worth a try! You do need to line up and wait for a seat on the weekends but I think this just shows how good the place really is.
North Island
