Pizza and Craft Beer: Eating Out in Wellington

One thing you cannot fault Wellington on is its amazing food and drink scene. Although I’m (mostly) a vegetarian, I do love food and of course I love wine, beer and coffee too! Cafe culture in Wellington is a lot of fun in the sun, and I’ve been enjoying the food scene here as much as my restricted budget will allow in the past six weeks, since I came back from the UK.

My favourite things about the food and drink here is how local everything is. From the Zany Zeus halloumi found in pretty much every veggie burger to the locally caught fish to the amazing craft beer scene, everything seems to be vibrant, fresh and sourced within a few miles of the city. I’ve really come to appreciate this about Wellington – I get a feeling that there is a real sense of support amongst the food and drink network and that local businesses all work together to keep the restaurant and eating scene exciting and appealing to their customers.

Go to any bar and check out their beer menu (check out Golding’s Free Dive for a great range) and you’ll find a vast array of locally brewed craft beers from the breweries that are scattered around Wellington. I was never much of a beer fan before I came here, and it’s taken a bit of time for me to start enjoying it, but now I love trying out new beers and seeing which ones I like best. My beer of choice has to be the Panhead APA. Panhead are a local brewery based in Upper Hutt and let me tell you, their APA is delicious  – by far the best beer I’ve tried in Wellington.

 

The really cool thing about the local beer scene are the opportunities to go and check out the breweries themselves and sample some of the beers on the tours. If you’re in Wellington, why not check out The Garage Project, based on Aro Street. Although I’ve not been, friends reliably inform me that it’s an excellent way to spend an afternoon. Alternatively, why not try your hand at brewing beer yourself? You can do this at The Occasional Brewer. Check out my friend Lizzy’s blog post here to read about her experiences creating her own craft beer while she was in Wellington.

As well as all this amazing locally brewed beer, you are spoilt for choice with local wine in here as well. Wellington is located just an hour south of Martinborough in the Wairarapa (one of my favourite regions in New Zealand) and this just happens to be one of NZ’s biggest wine producing regions too (hmm, I wonder why it’s one of my favourite regions…!). A wine tour whilst you are in Wellington is a must-do activity – I’ve been twice and had two very different experiences.

 

The first time I went to Martinborough we got the train to Featherston on a sunny Sunday in March and rented a mini-bus to take us the rest of the way. The wineries are mostly within walking distance from each other, so after everyone had put money in the kitty, we proceeded to visit three very different vineyards to sample the wines, before ending up in a bar in Martinborough to
finish our day off with a few bottles between us. I’d highly recommend visiting Poppies – although I’ve only done a wine tasting there, I have it on good authority that the food is divine (it did look amazing when we saw it being brought out) and there is a lovely ambiance.

My second time in Martinborough five of us drove out and visited just one winery (it was low season and many were closed – it pays to ring beforehand and check they’re open from September-November). We spent a lovely afternoon at the Murdoch James Estate Winery, following our wine tasting with a great lunch in the restaurant there and a couple more glasses of our favourite wines from the tasting.

 

Back in the city, make sure you treat yourself to a locally produced wine when you’re out and about – if not from Martinborough, then try reds from Otago or check out the vast array coming out of the Marlborough region.

Wellington was named by CNN as one of the top international coffee destinations in the world, which is some claim to fame when you consider some of the competition – London, Rome and Singapore all feature on the same list.

It is fair to say that it’s pretty hard to get shit coffee here in Wellington. They don’t just serve coffee here – there is over a dozen roasters in the city, and most of the cafes use locally roasted coffee beans. Some of the most popular beans come from Havana, Caffe L’Affare, Supreme and People.

 

The Wellingtonian barista turns making a cup of coffee into an art form, and I’ve heard that some people will follow a favourite barista from one coffee shop to another if they change jobs. Whilst I don’t pretend to be any sort of expert about coffee (nor do I follow baristas around the city), I know that I love flat whites and I can honestly say I’d be hard pushed to find a bad one anywhere
in Wellington.

 

Check out my Wellington Coffee Diaries for some insights into my favourite cafes and places to get coffee in the city. In addition to these suggestions, check out Raglan Roast down near Oriental Parade for great $3 coffees and great ice cream or head to the Flight Coffee Hangar for tasty brunch / lunch choices and excellent coffee.

By far my favourite meal in New Zealand, I’ve fully embraced brunch as a standard weekend activity and will happily cook my own if my budget won’t extend to me going out and buying Eggs Benedict somewhere in the city. My two favourite places for brunch are a bit of a mission to get to without a car – The Larder in Miramar (right next door to the Weta Workshop) and Scorch-o-Rama in Scorching Bay.

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a visit to Scorch-o-Rama on a warm day. Located right next to the beach, you can get brunch all day here. The last time I visited, I chose the Scorch-o-Rama Lama Ding Dong vegetarian breakfast, which comes with eggs, hash browns, creamy garlic mushrooms, homemade baked beans, cooked tomato and toast. The mushrooms are exceptional and the tomatoes were the sweetest and nicest cooked tomatoes I’ve ever had on a breakfast. Scorch-o-Rama is a relaxed and informal brunch spot – make sure you try their thick shakes which are delicious!

 

If you want somewhere perhaps a bit fancier, with a more unusual brunch menu, head to The Larder. The staff are extremely friendly and accommodating, even during their busiest times, and the food is divine. I always have Eggs Benedict, usually with a seasonal side, and a flat white. The food is amazing every time without fail – the balsamic mushrooms are something else!! Also on offer for brunch are things such as buttermilk crepes, Croque Madame and for the more adventurous, lambs brains!!

 

I have to admit, I don’t often eat out for lunch or dinner. If I do eat out, it’s usually a takeaway or in one of the cheaper establishments in town (I warned you I was on a restricted budget!). I also take advantage of the night markets from time to time, revelling in the sights, sounds and smells that capture the senses and have your head turning every which way, trying to locate the source of a particularly wonderful aroma.

Some of my favourite places to eat in Wellington are actually takeaway places – the quality of takeaway food here is superb and I never feel like I’m eating greasy shit, although obviously you can do that if you want to! Some of my recommendations are:

House of Dumplings  – Dumplings cost $2 each and are divine. I’m so lucky that this was my introduction to dumplings – I’ve set a great bench mark for the future!! I usually get five or six when I pop into the shop on Taranaki Street and bulk it out with a scoop of rice, also $2. Make sure you splash on plenty of the Mum’s Sauce!!

The Greek Food Truck – Souvlaki costs $10 and is available with lamb, chicken, halloumi or mititei (skinless spicy sausages). This is beautiful Greek food and is extremely popular with the residents of Wellington – don’t be surprised if there’s large queues and long waits and be patient, it’s well worth it! Grab some Parmesan fries too if you’re extra hungry.

Pizza Pomodoro – Pizzas start at $15.50 for a large Margherita (although they do $10 large Margherita’s on Wednesdays). The pizzas are so good, even my Italian friends recommend them to people. It’s become something of a Wednesday ritual to go to Golding’s Free Dive, grab a craft beer and order a $10 pizza with my group of friends.

Thorndon Chippery – Okay, okay, I don’t eat fish or meat. But I can highly recommend the vegetarian burger (halloumi) for $11 and the beer battered chips ($5 for a small portion), and it’s the only chip shop in New Zealand I have found where you can get vinegar to put on your chips. They also do excellent mushy peas ($3). If you’re in the Mt Vic area, head to the Mt Vic Chippery instead!

Ekim Burger – Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the vegetarian options at Ekim Burger. I think they’re a little off the mark BUT my meat-eating friends rave about the burgers there (prices start at $6 for the Esther burger) and so I’ve included it onto this list in the interest of fairness – my friends can’t all be wrong after all and I frequently hear calls to go there for food.

Tommy Millions Pizza – You buy pizza by the slice here, so it’s ideal if you’re not starving or just grabbing a quick bite. Slices start at $5 for the Margherita (really good!) and you can buy subs too from $9. I love this option if I fancy a snack or as a lunch time option. If you are feeling hungry, you can get whole pizzas, but I think Pizza Pomodoro is a better option for this.

Sweet Mother’s Kitchen – Not a takeaway joint! Good, honest, cheap food with Deep South of the US of A and Mexican influences. Definitely comfort food, and perfect for a rainy day or if you’re hungover and can’t be bothered to cook. My recommendation? The mushroom quesadilla (go for broke and have a whole one, $16.50) and a side of curly fries for $7. You won’t regret it!!

The long and short of it is that I apparently seem to be quite happy to fork out up to $30 (sometimes a bit more!) on brunch but would prefer to save money when it comes to dinner and prefer to eat at cheaper restaurants and takeaway places. I also love a good bit of stodge in my diet, which comes as no surprise to me, and I seem to shy away from the cleaner, sharper flavours found in Asian cooking. Whilst I do find a lot of Asian food delicious, it’s not something I tend to turn to when I am heading out for dinner.

I think it’s also clear to see that I have developed a deep appreciation for the cafe and bar culture here, and the local sourcing of many of the products that I buy when I’m out and about, eating brunch, lunch or dinner or drinking coffee, wine or beer. I will really miss all this when I leave Wellington in six weeks – it is something I have grown to really love about this city and I haven’t found anywhere else (yet). If you’re in Wellington or are thinking of coming, the food and drink scene is one I definitely think you should check out, if not fully immerse yourself in. It is one of Wellington’s finest qualities… Don’t pass it by!!

And because there were so many great quotes to be found about food, here’s one more:

And that, my friends, is just so true!!