I am HUGELY remiss in posting a review. Today my daughter called me "remember that place in Nelson…read moreNZ with the smoked manhattan drinks?" Oh yes I do, in fact it was a highlight of places we visited in New Zealand. Inside is a pretty classic setting. Black tablecloths with white butcher paper. Clean, cozy. The first thing we noticed was this very small bar with 6 tiers of shelves hosting all sorts of spirits and alcohol, and the bar tender was ever so gracious. Our table wasn't quite ready but we enjoyed our chat with the bartender and honestly could have waited longer. The menu for drinks and food was immediately appealing. We tried their smoked manhattans. Delicious. They made it at the table and that was just fun. I got their scallops. Fresh, simple goodness. We shared their fries and I rolled my eyes. Great food, service and overall a charming relaxed and gem of a place in Nelson. Highly recommend!

A delightful setting with great seafood. Ok you hungry travelers tired of mediocre tourist food--…read moretry Cod and Lobster in the town of Nelson. Named after the British Admiral but hey, hi there anyway. Fresh is the name of the game here. You want it, they have it. A beautiful setting. Inside and out. I love it didn't feel touristy. Crazy good bar- see pic-- and great wine list. A lot of great regional pinot noir. Fairly priced for very high quality. I paid around $90 NZ for a hard to get delicious bottle. Try Burnt Cottage if you're into Pinot. Go here. Don't hesitate

My husband and I needed a place to grab lunch after the ferry ride, and didn't want to stray too…read morefar as we had a train ride coming up. We walked in to Cockles since they had a patio to eat on and it was the most beautiful day. The menu was extremely limited (maybe 5 items to eat), but we found out that it was the first week the new owners had it. They said they had some changes coming and didn't want to roll out a whole menu ASAP. They wanted to perfect it and make changes to make the place theirs. The wife and son were very friendly and welcoming. I had the blue cod fish and chips and it was probably some of the best fish & chips I have ever had! I was extremely impressed. They had a decent beer selection, too. I am excited for this couple to see what they do with this place, especially if the fish and chips were that good! (By the looks of the new menu now- it looks amazing!)

Stumbled upon this hidden gem while driving to the French Pass from Blenheim. Had to try the green…read moremuscle platter which did not disappoint. A good sampling of every which way muscles can be prepared. 10/10 would recommend a visit

We had no initial intention of dining in Havelock, while on our way to Nelson for the evening,…read morehowever during a kayaking tour we learned Havelock is the Green Mussel Capital of the World! when in Rome...right?! We were encouraged to try the Mussel Pot Sampler. DELICIOUS. So much variety on one plate; the largest, juiciest mussels we've ever had. The variety included: smoked, marinated, creamy white wine sauce, bacon & cheese, garlic & herb, spicy tangy zing, fried, croquettes, with a side of fresh homemade bread. My husband and I split the platter and were equally well stuffed. Along with dinner, we enjoyed reading the table booklet all about mussels & the area's history. The town of Havelock is a quaint town, factoring in this delicious meal, this is a don't miss pit stop!

At a rest area in a highway pullout off State Highway 1, this is little more than a food truck…read more Technically, a trailer and it's permanently installed. Nin's Bin is a seafood shack and you will want to ignore appearances. A selection of fresh seafood is on offer including lobster and crabs and crayfish. It's all available in an iced bin for inspection. I have not had the New Zealand delicacy "White bait" and opted for that. It's also the least expensive thing on the menu and since Nin's Bin i cash only, it's the only thing I had enough cash to afford. A few minutes later, my name was called out and I picked up my sandwich. Tasty, interesting and I am glad to have experienced it. Sitting at a bench overlooking a beautiful bay at the absolute edge of the world may have improved the flavor. I wouldn't miss it. [Review 414 of 2024 - 67 in New Zealand - 21447 overall]

Crayfish! This is a little food van hidden amongst the road…read moreworks along Highway 1 just north of Kaikoura - blink and you'll miss it! The menu was limited to crayfish and chips on the day that we stopped - but the crayfish was amazing. It was fresh and delicious and tasted even better for eating it outside with the beautiful views. Nicey but pricey - we paid $96 for the largest crayfish she had!!

Go eat here and have the green lipped mussels with miso sauce. Heaven on earth. It's served with…read moretwo slices of toasty bread to sop up the delicious sauce.

Went for a date night here. Great location on the harbor. We sat outside. It was beautiful but…read moreservice was awful. No one took us to our table. Bartenders just told us to go outside and sit anywhere. Then no one came out to greet us for at least a half hour. A table that sat down after us was actually greeted before us. A young boy took our drink orders only to come back and tell me they are out of the wine I chose so I need to choose something else. As far as food, we ordered the large seafood platter to share. It was definitely large but I wouldn't consider it seafood as everything was overly breaded and deep fried. I hardly ate anything and same for my husband. Though we liked the ambiance outside we probably wouldn't return.

Overall great vibes and great flavors. They put a lot of care into changing up their menu regularly…read moreto showcase different local or seasonal items which makes for a fun experience. The service is a little hit or miss at peak times, and they seem to forget about us after we get seated, so prepare to be a bit assertive to get attention.

Don't visit this place during busy times. They take on way too many customers/tables than they can…read moreservice. We ordered just two dishes. Oysters, which doesn't require cooking, and one hot dish. The oysters came out after 10 mins, as expected. But after more than a hour, and no second dish, we walked out as they repeatedly gave untrustworthy wait times. When we ordered, we were told a 30 minute wait. After 50 minutes of no dish, we enquired. Waitress talked to chef, came back with an exact 7 minutes needed. 12 minutes later, still no dish. Waitress goes to kitchen again, comes back with 2 minutes. Guess what happened when 2 minutes later passed... No offer to comp dishes or drinks while waiting, no sincere apologies. Just an excuse than "it's busy at the moment, food will take longer". So yeah, just don't go during busy times. Clearly too popular and they're treating it like a cash cow now. Oysters weren't actually that good. Small oysters, not juicy and tasty. We had oysters at another place in town the same day, and it was night and day.

Made a complicated order. Hey, I guess that's my fault : scrambled eggs. Took 45 minutes to arrive…read more No apology, part of a pattern of very bad service. Glum people all of them, doing a lousy job, and not giving a damn. The food was good, tho, when it finally arrived.

My family went to Cortado for lunch after disembarking the ferry from Wellington. It was awesome!…read moreWe ordered a caesar salad, pancakes, pomegranate and pear salad, and a lamb hot stone. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, a hot stone is a really hot stone used to cook meats on. The food was really good! The service was very fast and the drinks came out very quickly! We only had two issues. First, we ordered a meatball upgrade with one of our dishes that never came (they didn't charge for it). Also, the caesar salad needed a little more dressing. Easy fixes. Overall, highly recommend if you are passing through!

A great range of choices. Love this place. If you want…read morefresh fish, and cooked fish and chips this is the place to come.

Fish and chips are on my to eat list during my visit to NZ. After Googling for "best fish and chips…read morein Wellington", I headed over to Trawling Sea Market, which happens to be about 4 blocks from my hotel. This place is not a restaurant. It's a seafood market that also cooks your fish for you. They can grill or fry it. They do have a few tables and chairs but most people take their food to go. The store is clean! I walked in there and did not smell "dead fish" at all even though they are there. That shows you how fresh everything is! They sell combo meals that come with X pieces of fish and hot dogs with fries and drink(s). I really just wanted to try their fish and chips. One piece of fried fish is $4.10 (NZ dollars). Since everything I ate in NZ seemed to come in smaller portions compare to US, I ordered 2 pieces and skipped the chips (about $3). All the cooked orders are placed in paper bags. As soon as I got mine, I rushed back to my hotel room. As I took it out from the bag, I was very impressed with the size of each piece! I could have just ordered 1 piece! It was also very crispy outside with very fresh fish inside. I LOVED it but I could only each one piece. The other piece will be my breakfast tomorrow. The staff in the market were very friendly. The older guy at the counter greeted many of the customers by their names.

We were enjoying walking and exploring the Wellington waterfront when the hungers hit. I go from…read moreDisney princess to hangry wicked witch pretty quickly, so luckily the husband spotted this place with tables featuring tranquil water views and whisked me inside. The interior of the restaurant is beautifully lit with large windows permitting natural lighting to flood the open space dining area. The high ceilings with net and basket lighting give it a fun fishmonger theme and the casual atmosphere is created by the rustic wood floors, mismatched stools, and wooden boxes with utensils at each table. Our server was friendly and helped me navigate the menu which has notations for gluten free items and items that can easily be modified. I had some sauteed calamari rings with a delicious aioli sauce and a by the scoop mussels and clams with a tasty thai green curry sauce. The mussels were massive and quite delicious but the sauce was a little hard to identify and got watered down. The husband isn't a lover of seafood, so he went turf with the mooloo burger which was good but could have used a bit more crisp on the fries. We loved the atmosphere, the proximity to the water, and really appreciated the ease of ordering gf. Definitely a perfect spot to de-hangrify yourself or that special someone in your life.

The Crab Shack had the ambience of a boat house and good customer service. However, the food was…read moreexpensive for what you got and not that great. A group of us had the seafood boil, which they said was good for 4-5 people. It seemed more on par with 2-3 people sizing if you go by U.S. seafood boil standards. I was also a bit disappointed they only had one type of crab on the menu when the website detailed more options that were not available. The mud crab legs were way overcooked in the seafood boil and mushy. The calamari was probably the highlight of the food we tried. Lastly, the restaurant did not have any parking, so we had to use the nearby parking garage which ended up costing $30 for only a couple of hours.

This was by far our favorite meal in Wellington and the service was super attentive and friendly…read more We never went without food or drink or the staff asking how things were going. To start with the appetizers the Oysters with the vinaigrette were the best I had in New Zealand we ended up ordering more because they were that good and the ceviche was excellent as well. Our daughters lemon prawn pappardelle pasta was fantastic she soaked up every last bit with the delicious bread. Both my wife and I ordered fish which were both prepared well and delicious. If I had to pick one restaurant to go back and visit in the North Island this would be it. The ambiance was quaint and comfortable with a fun vibe. We would highly recommend Ortega and hope to visit again.

We were a group of 3 with hunger in our eyes and jet lag in our spirit…read more They took us in, and let us know we couldn't sit longer than 90 minutes due to the busy night, and sat us at the bar. We ate fabulously and deliciously. Everything I read the description of and assumed wouldn't be as good as it sounded proved me wrong. cocktails were divine. They let us stay long enough for dessert and smiles, and a lil chit-chat with the bartender. All the staff seemed to love their jobs, the environment was warm and inviting, and I always look forward to going again when in Wellington. Go! You won't regret it.