the wellingtonista -

The 3(year old) Amigos!

Hadyn — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:48:00 +0800

Saturday (today) is the third anniversary of Amigos Chilean Restaurant in Newtown. And to celebrate they are opening their new area.

We are having a live latin music from 8pm. We are offering a delicious "set menu" for $55 per person including cocktail,entree,main,dessert and a glass of wine.

There's gonna be another party on Thursday the 18th of September to celebrate the Chilean national day of independence from Spain with another special menu and live music.

Booking are essential (ph 939 0310)

Ray of Light

The Masked Barfly — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:27:46 +0800

Sure, I'm a nasty little insect that brings doom and pretense, but I like to think I also bring some small rays of sunshine.

At a recent outing to the new Wagamama (along with hundreds of other Wellingtonians I had a wonderful experience. As a quick aside Wagas was just how I remembered it from London (when I was a Anglo-fly-le, ha ha) aside from having more space here to swing a cat in.

But the real story begins when my main was late coming out, however, the floor manager more than made up by:

spotting the fault in the line order in the kitchen and fixing it, and
offering free extras - drinks and more starters to tide us over for the two extra minutes it took for the mains to come out

Hopefully this isn't just new-restaurant diligence. Well done Wagamana!

What do I expect: when I use my Entertainment Card?

The Masked Barfly — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:12:06 +0800

Yeah I know, I'm a disgusting pesky fly. But just because I slurp food off the plate with my proboscis doesn't mean I should have to pay full price when I have a handy-dandy gold entertainment card to get a free meal.

Here's how it went down... we went to Finc on a Friday night - for the simple reason that it is in the Entertainment Guide. We ordered two mains both worth around $34 each and an entree for $8. The deal in the Entertainment Guide is:

"you and your guest are invited to enjoy one complimentary main course when another main course of equal or greater value is purchased. Up to $30.00 value".

We were told that as our mains were both over the value of $30 we would receive NO discount. When we also asked them why was the entree not taken off we were told that we did not intend to have this as a main so they would not discount that either.

To read the shocking conclusion click "read more"

Molesworthy updates

Joanna — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:26:25 +0800

Item! The next Cellar-vate dinner, which we have drooled about before is on July 9, featuring Ngawaka wines, and it costs $40. Give the lovely Rebecca a call to reserve your tickets.

Item! The supercute Green Land Cafe under the Ministry for the Environment on Kate Sheppard Place is running a competition to win a bottle of the famous olive oil grown on Mt. Vic. Buy a coffee, pick an number and go into the draw. Actually, don't, because it's a gorgeous green virgin, and I wants it. So back off! Also, how lovely are the staff there? They totally buttered my scone for me, if you know what I mean. And of course what I mean is I think it's part of their waste reduction responsibilities.

Item! It's not near Molesworth Street, but it's just as bleak - Stanley Road on the corner of Victoria Street and Willeston is running Happy Hour from 4pm-6pm, with all kinds of beers (Corona etc) for just $3.50. It's not a particularly cosy spot, but hey, given how dry this part of town is, consider it a good oasis to stop at while you cross the desert of Willis Quarter.

Music in Miramar @ Eva Dixons every Thursday

Mike Riversdale — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:17:48 +0800

Eva Dixons lives on in Miramar (133 Darlington Road - Google Map | Zoomin Map) - just up the road road from the newly visited Weta Cave which, as Richard Taylor said to me, "It's a bit different for Miramar eh?" ... such a shameless name dropper I am.

Back to Eva Dixons ... Not only is it a great place to eat (all day menu), drink and be merry but if you happen to pop in on any Thursday eve (menu) this month you'll be treated to free live music.

12th: Mojo Mama
Piano based boogie and blues with enough sass to light your fire.

19th: Sean & Amanda O'Connor
Inspirational folk/pop songwriters & harmonisers, singing their inner and outer journeys with guitar, flute, heart and soul!

26th: Eva Prowse Trio
Eva Prowse (vocals, violin, mandolin), Chris Prowse (guitar, bva), Dave Currie (bass, ukulele, bva) playing a variety of alt-country music. Suitable for old-timers and new-timers alike.

This should be more popular: Chef's Cafe

Joanna — Wed, 28 May 2008 06:49:21 +0800

At the top of Cuba Street, opposite Fidel's and next to a sex shop is what appears to be a crappy little tea room named Chef's Cafe. You might think that they're going to try and sell you a pie and a custard square, but you couldn't be more wrong. See that little sandwich board outside that says "Takeaway Curry $10"? That's right, this is an Indian restaurant. And it's good. And it's insanely cheap*. If you dine in, you're looking at a cost of around $12.90 for a meat curry, rice and naan. The decor is admittedly nothing at all to look at, but the menu is really extensive and the curries do actually all taste distinctive and tasty, rather than just coming in different colours of the same slop (cough cough Tulsi). Plus, it's BYO, and not just wine - the corkage on a small bottle of beer is $1, and $2 for big bottles. We really think you should try it out. We would like it to have more patronage. Just not on Tuesday nights, because that's when we go before the Quiz around the corner at the Cross.

* If you work on the basis that most Indian places charge at least $15 for a curry, and that doesn't include naan and in some cases doesn't even include rice.

All Night Amigos

Hadyn — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:14:43 +0800

In two weeks Amigos, the Chilean restaurant in Newtown, will be expanding in to the space next door. Their plan is to keep the restaurant going until 9pm and then have live music and tapas into the night every night of the week.

The Wellingtonista heavily approves of this move as we are fans of Central/South American food, late night dining, music, tapas, and drinking. So, wanna get your Pisco on? Then I'd recommend popping down to Amigos, order a pitcher and flamenco the night away.

Entertainment Book Review: One Red Dog

Alan — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 12:22:36 +0800

At the Wellingtonista we don't often give props to less consciously hipster places like One Red Dog, even though their continued success shows they have a devoted following. Today we discovered one of the reasons why this devoted following might exist.

Review after the jump.

Entertainment Book review: Medina

Joanna — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:08:41 +0800

Once again, I had left my book at home somewhere, so it was another gold card restaurant that was needed. Since my other sister decided to gatecrash our party, a total discount venue, rather than a two-for-one mains was desireable. And because it was cold and I was lazy and didn't feel like walking anywhere, somewhere on the bus route home was needed - preferably somewhere that I could get a big plate of heartiness at. Medina was decided upon, as it seems to have beaten the curse that made other restaurants in its location at 18 Cambridge Terrace close down very rapidly. The review is after the jump.

Cheap and Cheerful 3

Hadyn — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:04:22 +0800

Rollin, rollin, rollin.
Keep them doggies rollin.
Rollin, rollin, rollin.
RAWHIDE!

Where: Rawhide, Waterfront in those shed things by Frank Kitts Park
What: Gourmet Hotdogs
How much: $5-6

Sindy and I had walked past this place a few times on our way home from work and we decided that it did indeed meet our criteria for the CNC crusade due to the seating.

Rawhide is the latest in a run of food/juice places that have occupied the sheds. Tom's documented a few including this one. Rawhide does gourmet steak sandwiches and gourmet hotdogs with nothing over $10. So over summer it seems like the perfect place to stop in on your way home along the waterfront, then maybe grab a coffee and gelato at Kaffe Eis, around the corner, afterwards? Lovely.

So we bowled up at 5pm (or there-abouts) on a blustery but sunny afternoon. There were a group of kids sitting and talking about Frank Zappa with an old fella at one table and one spare table in the lee of the wind. While we were perusing the board, the "chef" came out and started to pack away the spare table. We looked a little perplexed and asked if they were closing.

"Well that depends on what you want" she replied.
"Well what can you make?" I asked
"Well that depends on what you want" she replied.

This was getting us nowhere.