- Top Rated Bakery in Wellington
-
Hillside Kitchen & Cellar
-
19Loading...
-
Vegetarian
Vegan-friendly
Lacto
Ovo
Western
Bakery
European
Fusion
Honey
An upmarket vegetarian bistro that serves coffee, wine, and modern kiwi food. Can provide for allergy and dietary needs. A 5- or 7-course vegan menu is available with advance notice. Open Tue-Sun 5:00pm-9:00pm.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
-
241 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand, 6011
-
Loading...
-
- Accepts credit cards
-
-
Last update on 27 Aug 2023 by VeganSoapDude
Update business info -
Are you the owner?
Claim this business -
Added by AndrewLensen on 28 Sep 2018
-
-
23 Reviews
First Review by ikonova
bfeitosa
Points +5191
Not my favorite, still good - Edit
The ingredients usually don't have anything special to them: carrots, potatoes, onions, pumpkin, almonds, etc. Except for the feijoa and supposedly wild seaweed, I don't recall anything particularly kiwi or Maori about the dishes. Other than that, the main dish and the dessert tasted spectacular, the rest tasted OK. My husband loved everything, so I'll give them the 4 stars even though I think the food deserve maybe 3... Cozy intimate (small) ambiance, and I like the closed cycle idea, though I think it's more for show than real environmental impact - food waste is a serious issue, but the problem rests between the farm and supermarkets, less so after the produce reach our house.
Read morePros: Great for a date, Interesting ideas
Cons: Some dishes are a bit bland, Small venue
Guest
janetnz
Points +494
So fancy - Edit
I’ve been to Hillside a few times for special occasions. We went last week for a birthday and it was as impressive as always. We had two vegans (including me) in a group with some omnivores also. Everything is vegetarian by default and swaps are made to make things vegan with advanced warning. We were with one of those omnivores who likes to complain about not having meat, but even he was very impressed with the food at Hillside.
Read moreEverything was delicious and impressive but disappointingly, I was a little hungry afterwards. When I’ve been before I have walked away stuffed full (all those tiny courses add up), but not this time.
Guest
Dan&julia
Points +47
Best Meal in Wellington - Edit
Staff treated us like family friends and everything was delicious. The wine pairing was excellent (we appreciated that the staff was knowledgable about local vegan wines) and their house-made almond-cheese was our favorite course.
Read moreGuest
SaraNorlin
Points +3541
Divine - Edit
Every dish was inspired and the wine pairing was the best I've had. Plus I think my server could have another career as an ASMR video creator.
Read moreGuest
rymc
Points +506
Great way to explore New Zealand cuisine - Edit
This place is small but packs a great experience. Highly recommend getting into one of their foraging dinners - they’ll show you local items and talk through what you’re able to find in New Zealand. Dinner after the foraging walk is then super interesting since you just have so much more context for what you’re eating.
Read moreTheir dishes (and bar!) are also fantastic. Try the cola if it’s on the drink menu! They’re very comfortable with vegan options and just need advance notice is all.
10/10 experience, would dine again.
Pros: Insightful , Great staff
Guest
1980svegan
Points +70
Amazing!! - Edit
This place is special! We did the ten course degustation with wine pairing. Food was the ultimate taste sensation and the wine was carefully matched. Each dish and glass is served with an explanation of what and where. Love!
Read moreGuest
VeganSoapDude
Points +8127
Really delicious and unique tasting menu - Edit
Beautifully presented, delicious tasting menu made from local and foraged ingredients. The staff were really friendly. My only complaint was that the place isn't fully vegan, and they spent a bit of time talking down their vegan option while I was there. The server apologised that the vegan cheese wasn't as nice as the non vegan cheese (it was excellent by the way) and regularly brought attention to the fact that my meal was vegan in what felt like a negative way. It was just a bit strange, the meal was great and they should be proud of the vegan food, I don't really see any reason for the menu to not be fully vegan.
Read moreCons: Not 100% vegan
Guest
TroyCoyle
Points +146
Should come up in vegan category - Edit
This eco-conscious eatery has a fully vegan option. Great care is taken in highlighting seasonal ingredients. The set menus accentuate the plant-based heroes. A special occasion meal or a treat for your eating experience.
Read moreGuest
MusukoZipang
Points +202
Best in Wellington - Edit
Hillside is the best food place in Wellington. There are only few places that I like in Wellington and hillside is define the top.
Read moreI have visited several times and had different menus each time. Their imagination of using ingredients and paring ingredients are genius worth every penny.
They also have the best bread
Pros: Best food , Best bread
Guest
4goldie
Points +305
Quality culinary experience! - Edit
We were blown away by our vegan lunch. It's clear that so much thought and attention to detail goes into each dish and how it is served. Having the ingredients etc of each chef-cooked dish explained was especially wonderful and the overall experience was unique and exceptional. We had the 4 course lunch taster which was incredible value. Highly recommended!
Read morePros: Memorable dining experience, Delicious and interesting vegan menu, Fabulous service
Guest
tenwit
Points +17
Delicious and informative - Edit
Lovely food, interesting non-alcoholic drinks made in-house, and a good selection of less-commonly-found wines. The amazing service comes with all sorts of insights into what local plants and regional growers are involved in each dish.
Read morePros: Different every time.
Guest
Annabelle0704
Points +592
Beyond amazed! - Edit
What an incredible dining experience. A high end vegan/vego restaurant that is very skilled with what they do. Catered well to allergy’s and the staff were very friendly too. Every dish you have the chef will come out and explain it to you. It is extremely authentic and really is an ‘experience’. A mixture of lots of different types of food and the food is fantastic. Fresh food with a lot of thought put behind it. A lot of things made in house and food sourced externally is sourced locally. Really impressed!
Read morePros: Great dining experience , Friendly staff, good service , Food of outstanding quality
Guest
Kela29
Points +207
Best fine dining in Wellington! - Edit
We went for the 7 course vegan dish. Each and everyone was an experience unlike the last. Tasty, creative and fresh. Will be back!
Read morePros: Varied menu , Knowledge friendly staff
Guest
LisaSpykers
Points +7887
A food journey - Edit
My partner took me here for our anniversary. We were both blown away by the quality and creativity of our 7-course degustation. We also got the matching wines with each course -- all local wines with unique flavors and even production methods.
Read moreThe food is mostly locally-sourced and seasonal. You can tell there is a lot of thought and effort put into each dish (I've uploaded photos of what we ate). There were a few complimentary bites between courses too (it was almost a 10 course meal 😊).
Just note: if you park on the street, push your side mirror in. We didn't and a street sweeper destroyed it (couldn't get the license number).
Guest
Juliaalb
Points +208
Great night out - Edit
My husband and I really enjoyed our 7 course vegan meal at Hillside, interesting dishes and great service.
Read moreGuest
LisaSeerup
Points +15
My carnivore husband said this was the best meal he had ever had. - Edit
The food is seasonal and locally sourced or made on premises and the menu changes frequently but it is always beautiful , original and expertly presented and more importantly- Simply YUMMY. My meat and three veg husband did not know what had hit him but decided it was his new favorite restaurant.
Read morePros: Special dietary req are so normal you feel normal, Quiet, excellent food
Guest
Bonetaire
Points +74
Delectable - Edit
An experience: a night of many great tasting dishes presented in a most beautiful way by the most dedicated and friendly staff imaginable.
Read moreReally, a 100% fantastic, vegan experience!
Pros: Superb variety of vegan dishes
Guest
Jamesgourmetdelights
Points +32
Hillside Kitchen - A Must Do Experience In Wellington, New Zealand - Edit
Hillside Kitchen is superb. Hillside is a vegetarian and vegan restaurant
Read morewith a staff totally dedicated to providing awesome hospitality and creative deliciousness. The Head Chef (Max) has a solid foundation in traditional cooking and is also at the cutting edge of the culinary avant garde.
He stays up to date on what the world's top chefs are inventing and inspired by these masters, comes up with his own unique dishes.
Max gets many ingredients from foraging expeditions around Wellington and from Hillside's organic fruit and vegetable garden. And just about everything on the food menu and many of the non-alcoholic drinks are created in house. For example, there's a brilliant dipping sauce made from the fermented skins of chargrilled eggplants. Juniper soda, celery tonic, blackberry lemonade, kola soda and apple kombucha are some of Hillside's unique home-made drinks.
The Hillside crew takes Eco-regeneration seriously and is always looking to improve their caring for the Environment.
Food waste is kept to a minimum and recycling is a top priority.
Breakfast and lunch are always available, but the main attractions are the 5 course and 7 course evening tasting experiences.
Each dish on the tasting experience degustation menu is based on what's seasonably available and ingredients are locally sourced whenever possible.
The menu changes daily so guests are in for a treat that always surprises.
Every selection is crafted with meticulous attention to detail and literally each offering is a work of art worthy of a photograph.
I had the 7 course Vegan Dinner and absolutely, this is something to be savoured slowly. Dinner takes about 3 to 4 hours and the restaurant has only 24 seats. Dinner begins at half past five.
Both the 5 and 7 course experiences can be paired with wine or non-alcoholic matches. To start, there's a selection of 3 snacks followed by Hillside's home-made sourdough bread and one of New Zealand's highest quality premium olive oils for dipping. The bread is baked fresh and comes out of the
oven just as dinner is starting and it is amazing - a divine golden-brown crust surrounding a steaming hot downy pillow inside.
Following bread, my 7 course experience kicked into mains mode with a broccoli and black garlic tartlet topped with wild yellow brassica flowers.
Up next was a kaffir lime char-baked yams delight topped with a layering of yams thinly sliced and marinated. An arrangement of carrot and wild greens came next. And then the centre-piece of the experience was presented:
a turine of celeriac with hazelnut cream, sprouted buckwheat and micro onion weed accompanied by a separate fresh kale, sauerkraut and magnolia flower salad along with a quinoa savoury bowl. Very nice.
The transition to desserts was a sourdough crumpet topped with home-made strawberry jam and Hillside's smoked walnut cheese.
The hot crumpet was a wonderful play of yang with the yin of the cold smoked cheese. A palate cleanser of tart apple kombucha sorbet sprinkled with tamarillo granita led perfectly into the dessert selection of which there were two: First an apple and parsnip pave topped with a hard candied fruit shell and a walnut accented spicy dukkah. And then a tamarilo compote with candied walnuts topped with a soft tamarillo fruit leather and a creamy almond and horopito sorbet. The experience finished with a selection of petit fours: a freshly baked hot rosemary & peanut cookie; an ice cold dark chocolate banana-peanut truffle and a sugared apple jelly pectin candy.
Chef Max is attentive to the rainbow of textures that makes a perfect dish and each of his presentations is an intuitive stroke of genius.
The service at Hillside is super friendly and the 5 and 7 course degustation tasting menus are exceptionally good value. The waiters and waitresses are very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions and converse about all aspects of the restaurant. Hillside Kitchen is a cafe that makes one of the world's most liveable cities an even greater place.
Pros: Excellent Value 5 and 7 Course Degustation Menus, Brilliant Cuisine, Home Made Selections. Friendly, Helpful Staff.
Guest
erika.veg
Points +136
Delicious dishes, stunning presentation - Edit
The 5-course dinner at Hillside was the best plant-based meal I’ve ever had—and perhaps the best meal ever. Each dish was unique, fresh, and exquisitely presented. Many local ingredients are used, including fresh produce from their garden right outside. The pre-fix menu is vegetarian but you can request vegan. Plan three hours to savor the dinner. Or try lunch or the weekend brunch for something more casual. Overall, a MUST in Wellington!
Read morePros: Local ingredients , Great atmosphere , Vegetarian and vegan
Guest
JonnotheFusspot
Points +69
pretty impressed! - Edit
So far I have to say this was I think the most tasty, delicious, impressive plant based feast (7 courses!!) I have had the pleasure of eating!
Read moreThe staff and chef are also very friendly, professional and accommodating to dietary requirements, too.
Loved it!
Pros: Food, service
Cons: some decor, but that doesn't affect food!
Guest
FredrikRosdahl
Points +18
Heaven! - Edit
The best food I ever had! We went for the 7 courses vegan dinner with matching vegan vine and it was the best. Everything from how the food was presented, to the details of the plating and the vine introduction to the tasting. Just superb! A must go in Wellington, vegan or non vegan, you can’t find better food. Great and friendly service as well.
Read moreThe little cracker with the avocadospread, the main course with the lettuce and the chocolate mousse are dishes I will be craving back home in Sweden.
Guest
SirEatsAlot
Points +123
Amazing dining experience! - Edit
Hillside Kitchen is a wonderful 'fine dining' experience. Completely spectacular food and wine, in a lovely environment, with excellent staff. I had the 7-course vegan dinner, my partner had the vegetarian version (both with matched wines). Every course was interesting and delicious. Possibly my favourite meal out ever (a spot previously held in my heart (and belly) by the Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco). Yes, this place is that good!
Read morePros: Interesting, delicious food, Great staff, A multi-course extravaganza
Cons: Pricey/special occasion
Guest
ikonova
Points +34
A special place - Edit
Amazing, creative food you (I) never would have imagined. Cute place with smart decor. Friendly wait staff. Is quite costly but you get what you pay for and it really is worth it for a special night out .
Read morePros: Very happy to accommodate dietary requirements
Guest
For Members
Why was my review removed? Guidelines for writing a review View our privacy policyFor Business Owners
Claim this business See inaccurate information? Submit an update here Link to this page from your site See an unfair review? View full terms & conditionsThis page has been viewed 8489 times.