Typically the only time I would consider eating in a hotel restaurant for any meal is when I am staying in the hotel, and then I’d still only do it if that meal was included in the cost of the room. This is because, typically, they are massively overpriced.

Well, we decided that this week’s breakfast would be at Vivant, and we’re glad went. In fact, I think we’ll go back. I had the all you can eat cooked breakfast buffeet for $21.00 – which while not cheap for breakfast was not the most expensive we have found, and it was almost certainly the best value.

There’s the usual hotel buffet breakfast offereings, including a range of fruit juices and tea and coffee in bottomless cups (plus pay for it as you go esspresso if you want it), plus a ‘cook your own waffle’ station which was excellent.

The staff were cheerful, helpful and attentive, and the food was very good too.

Easily the best curry house in Wellington. I’ve been there 8 times now and the only item to disappoint me has been the Peshwari Naans (my usually Naan choice)- but luckily their Onion Kulchas are superb.

The Chicken and/or Vegetable Dheli Daiwala is a smash hit, and their current Green Curry Chili Chicken on Bombay Potatoes and Spinach is unbelievable.

Not since I discovered Mantra in Henderson, Auckland has a curry house in New Zealand reached such standards.

5 stars, without a moment’s hesitation. They EVEN asked if we would like another coffee when they delivered the food! Imagine a cafe that actually does that!?

The Toulouse sausages are amongst the best sausages we’ve found in the Wellington CBD. The Poached eggs on toast were perfect and the mushrooms sauteed with garlic and shallots were a highlight.

The coffee is great, the service is friendly and engaging without being annoying. The prices are reasonable and the quality of the food is top notch.

The blackboard outside claimed FInc served “Wellington’s Yummiest Breakfast”. That seemed RIGHT up our alley so this week’s destination was decided. The blackboard certainly cannot be accused of an outright lie. It may or may not actually be the absolutely yummiest breakfast, but at worst it is a podium contender.

We both hit the eggs on toast with sides. One set of Poached on Ciabatta and one of Scrambled on Vogels. Both were good, although the poached may have been slightly under-done. The butter came close to the award for best butter in a Wellington Cafe – Actual Butter (not in a foil covered plastic container), at a nice soft consistency – easily spreadable, but the ‘slightly not enough per serving’ was a slight drawback. Two fantastic sausages, the equal of any we have found, for just $4 as a side. A Potato Cake of top quality – not quite the equal of Mixed Business’ hash browns – but getting close… two excellent flat mushrooms and a generous portion of bacon which was well cooked, although still had rind, a minor quibble perhaps but with rindless bacon so commonplace why not just use that? All accompanied by two very good coffees, and good service… when asked if there was any possibility of a side bowl of rocket sauce or tomato chutney of some sort, rocket sauce arrived promptly, for two as well, even though only one was asked for. The views of the street were constricted but the cosy surrounds make for a comfortable (with nice cushions) retreat from the early morning chill.

Overall I came away unsure how I felt. Due to the price structure of the menu I felt slightly violated, but due to the quality of the food I am not sure I minded, too much, in the end.

I arrived early and surveyed the menu, and the others arrived soon after. I told them, that in my opinion there really was only one valid option, the Pravda big breakfast. They perused, and then agreed. The pricing of the sides was either an attempt at humour, or a loud statement along the lines of “Don’t you dare go messing around with side orders… order a dish from the menu please, we try very hard to ensure our dishes need no side orders.”

$8 for a side of bacon or sausage,
$5 for sough dough, and
$3.50 for hollandaise sauce.

Is that a Tui Commercial?

So, three Pravda Breakfasts it was. At $21.00 each this was in the category of “Well it had better be bloody good then”.

And it was. The sausage was extraordinarily good. The mushrooms were great – whole portabellos, and the bacon was nice and crispy. The eggs were good eggs, mine scrambled and the other two poached. The hand made has browns got mixed reviews. I thought they were a close second to Mixed Business’s (on the Terrace) for the title of ‘Best hash browns in Wellington’, but the other two members of our partly were less impressed… one thinking they were overly salty and one thinking they could have been cooked longer to be more crispy – whereas I liked the moist soft centre… The food was very very good, and we were all very pleased and well sated.

The service and the coffees were both good, although the continued difficulty with the sugar dispensers at Pravda did cause consternation and humour (and sugar all over the table). The music was overly loud and the ambience was intrusive – you have to try to maintain a conversation. Pricey, but with food of a suitably high standard to match.

Felix café is worth the visit for Breakfast. The service was very good. The Waiter who looked after us was friendly, competent and enjoyed some light hearted banter. He made a point of taking coffee orders early so that we were well placed for a second coffee to be delivered when the food arrived.

The rest of the experience was closer to the average mark however.

The Menu is on the more expensive side for a café breakfast and it doesn’t make it easy for you to simply order one of the classic staples. However it has some unusual highlights with my dining companion ordering the Salmon bagel which, pleasingly, comes unassembled giving you absolute control over your bagel. Finding the classic Poached Eggs, Bacon and Hash browns a little confusing to order and expensive, I ordered the pancakes with Bacon, Banana and Maple syrup.. These were superb. Quality pancakes that I was unable to finish, and a small jug of Maple syrup that never seemed to run dry no matter how much I drowned my pancakes. Our third diner elected for fresh fruit which looked well varied and tasty.

The Coffee was of a good standard, although the first cup was a little better than the second. The Tea was fine, but nothing remarkable (for great tea check out The Wellesley)

Felix gets very bright sun through the large windows in the morning and the tables are arranged along a large bench seat that runs the length of the windows. This means that one dining party gets their back to the window (which reduces the viewing pleasure), while the other gets bright sun directly in their face. Choosing a good seat that avoids this on a sunny day would be critical as it does somewhat ruin your enjoyment. Some shades that could be adjusted would be even better.

Overall, worth a visit, especially on a cloudy morning, but not a stand-out cafe. Sadly.

The breakfast experience at The Wellesley Club was so good that perhaps our search for the Wellington CBD’s best breakfast could be called off, and we could just go to the Wellesley Club every Friday, however the enjoyment of the process of searching and trying new places will probably result in the Wellesley being selected once a month to remind us of the standard others must aspire to.

The service really is exceptionally good. It is attentive, caring, pleasant, humorous and genuine. This perfectly augments the very comfortable environs, complete with the CBD’s best flower boxes and easily the best mounted Buffalo head. The classical violin music is a very welcome departure from the normal cafe background music. It is soothing and uplifting, and perfectly accompanies the stellar service and setting.

At the Wellesley it’s all about the details. The tea, for example, was excellent. Other cafes seem quite readily prepared to spend thousands of dollars on the provision of quality coffee but think that tea can either be sold in tea bags, or limited to English Breakfast, Earl Grey and a range of herbal teas. Not at the Wellesley… the Darjeeling was excellent, with a nice proportion of flowery leafy tips in the leaves too. The tea arrived in a white china pot, not a stainless tea pot, which added to the quality experience. The strainer was already in my cup, with a strainer drip tray provided to the side, and the milk in a matching white china milk jug. The sugar bowl had lumps of sugar, which was of no interest to me as I do not put sugar in my tea, but was deeply pleasing for my breakfast companion for his coffee. On our last breakfast at the Wellesley Club the coffee had been average – but this time the coffee was very good, with a second cup ordered to complete breakfast.

I had what must be close to the perfect porridge experience. Smooth porridge with almonds, bananas, fresh cream and brown sugar (a must with porridge) which came in its own small bowl, allowing me to tune the amount of brown sugar to my tastes, and reapply more after the top most layer of porridge had been eaten. Splendid. And at just $6.50 it would have to be a podium finisher for best value breakfast too.

Our second diner had 2 free range eggs, poached, on toast with sides of fried potatoes, and bacon. Again the value proposition was outstanding, with the two free range eggs on toast being just $6.50, and the sides $4.00 – $5.00 each. In line with the excellent standard of the place our table had it’s own pepper grinder and salt shaker, and the fried potatoes were indeed fried potatoes and not potato bites out of a frozen packet.

A close to flawless breakfast experience that really is the standard by which all other CBD Breakfasts are to be judged. And at $36.00 for the two of us including tea and coffee, who can complain about the value for money?

As the newest member of our regular Friday search for Wellington CBD’s best Breakfast, Victoria Cafe was my choice for a first outing. My fellow members unanimously agreed that my choice was arguably the best breakfast yet (they had frequented over 20 cafés in recent months)” We thought it had an appealing menu, covering all the standard breakfast offerings, although without much in the way of speciality items. The bacon was very good, the mushrooms were the best we have found in Wellington to date, however the eggs were slightly under poached (a minor criticism). The sausages were favourably commented upon, with both beef and chorizo to choose from. Servings were well sized for a breakfast plate. I had the flapjacks which were served with bananas, bacon and maple syrup. Sometimes this can be a stodgy start to the day leaving me feeling uncomforatble, but the flapjacks here were light, flavoursome and easily digested. A recomendation from me.

We noted a slight anomaly on the pricing front, with the Big Breakfast offering immediate price point advanatge over shorter options when sides are included. This limited choices to a short serving (poached eggs on sourdough for example) or the Big Breakfast, since when a side of bacon is added, the differential favours going straight tho the Big Breakfast. This pricing strategy may encourage more purchases of the big breakfast, but is not so customer friendly if you are after a lighter breakfast.

Good coffee, prompting a second cup from two of our party and very good service. A slight confusion, partly of our own making, in regards to one of the cups of coffee was met with good nature by the staff and even an unnecessary personal apology from the manager – a nice indication of good customer service which was polite, friendly and attentive without being overly so.

The atmosphere of the café is good, nothing exceptional, but it was pleasant and comfortable. The panoramic windows presented a truly stunning view of some of Wellington’s most appealing frontages (and one or two rear-ends as well).