A taste of ...
278 Willis St, Wellington.
We’d heard… They had a great all-weather courtyard, great for staying warm and dry without being shut up indoors.
We ordered… A slow-cooked pork scotch finished over charcoal and adorned with mustard, cider, tomatoes, and grilled cos ($22), and 200g of sliced wood-grilled Angus eye fillet with little dishes of garlic butter and wasabi mayonnaise ($30) to satiate our meat cravings.
A vibrant green pea gnocchi with broad beans, sugar snaps, black pepper, and mascarpone ($19), and a bowl of caramelised cauliflower, baby spinach, hard goat’s cheese, and pine nuts ($12), ensured a bit of balance and upped our vege intake.
Call us tight but we couldn’t bring ourselves to pay $14 for a glass of New Zealand chardonnay, so went with a French one for $12, which drank well enough, though we usually prefer to support local.
The service… Not bad but not as good as we’d expected – a couple of simple questions about the menu seemed to be misunderstood by our server, no one checked to see if we wanted a second glass of wine (we did), and the steak came out cold, which was especially sad as there’s nothing more beautiful than watching garlic butter melt into a perfectly cooked (which it was) cut of meat.
The vibe… Was also missing a bit on the Friday night we visited, with only a few tables full in the large space – but perhaps this was partly due to Wellington being very quiet.
If you go… Bring a group and make your own vibe.
The menu is delicious, well balanced, and designed to share, so the more the merrier – and it will give you an excuse to try some of the ‘‘feast’’ items such as the 1kg Angus rib eye ($85) or whole lamb shoulder ($80), which just seemed too much for a party of two. Rating out of 5: 4 – Josie Steenhart