The Wellingtonista

Random stuff about Wellington since 2005

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A sausagefest with Harrington’s at Logan Brown

by Joanna September 4, 2018

As should be obvious by now, we love a free dinner here at the Wellingtonista. So when we were invited by Harrington’s Smallgoods to dinner at Logan Brown, of course we said yes. It ended up being one of the more interesting dinners I’ve been to in my life so this review is going to […]

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Graze at the Portlander

by Joanna July 3, 2018

A couple of weeks ago I was invited by the lovely people at the Portlander to head in one freezing evening, along with a number of Instagrammers, to feast on their new grazing concept. From our signature long bone OP rib-eye presented at your table, to our on the bone grass fed Sirloin dry aged in house […]

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Chasing the Black Dog with beer

by Joanna April 5, 2018

Last night we went to the opening of the new Black Dog brewery on Cuba Street, and, spoiler alert, it was bloody delightful. All pics were supplied by the publicist because if you follow us on Twitter, you’ll know I can’t photograph for shit. A confession: I had never been to the old Black Dog […]

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Review: Kátya Kabanová

by Joanna October 7, 2017

Kátya Kabanová was the first opera I ever saw, back in 1996 when it was here for the International Festival. I was 16, and we got $5 tickets to the dress rehersal through drama class. I was overwhelmed by the music and the draaaaama and the rain on stage and the cliff that rose up on hydraulics […]

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WOAP 17: Concrete, Glasshouse, Hillside

by Joanna August 16, 2017

How are we all going with Wellington on a Plate then? As we tweeted today, there’s no less than three alternatives to the official site in order to help you navigate your way to a burger (One, two, three). Maybe they’ll be incorporated next year? In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been eating Lock Stock […]

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WOAP 2017: Portlander

by Joanna August 12, 2017

The Portlander at the Rydges Wellington is well-known for its beef – they are a steak restaurant after all. So of course their newish head chef decided to do a chicken burger for Wellington on a Plate, because it was his chance to do something different. I was lucky enough to be invited in to […]

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WOAP ’16: a burger, a stew and a beer

by Joanna August 17, 2016

The mad rush of eating continues, so without any further ado, let’s get into it. The Steakholder at Portlander You know by now how we feel about the Portlander, so of course this was going to be on my wishlist. “Medium rare rib eye with Scotty’s Meats double smoked bacon, fried egg, onions, melted Te […]

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Karmageddonit

by Joanna November 5, 2015

Anyone who refers to burgers as “dude food” clearly has never had their uterus screaming at them for meat before. Accordingly, I was bloody happy to be invited along to the launch of the Karmageddon burger – Karma Cola’s collaboration with Grill Meets Beer. The Karmageddon burger is made with Karma Cola braised pulled pork, […]

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Springing into a spa

by Joanna March 3, 2015

Not that long ago, a new spa opened up in town, as part of the new apartment complex where Il Casino once played host to a million marriage proposals. We got invited to come and try them out, and so off to upper Tory Street I went in search of some total relaxation. Oh the […]

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Fancy times at a fancy hotel

by Joanna October 17, 2014

Wellington does not have a lot of very big big hotels. I believe the Rydges has the most guestrooms (at 280), and the mayor was misquoted in the Dominion Post as saying Wellington has no five star hotels – a fact the Bolton and the Museum Art Hotel would probably take umbrage with. In fact, […]

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