Boulcott Street Bistro — Restaurant in North Island

We had dinner here on a crisp Wellington Monday evening where BSB have a special offer on Taittinger champagne, clever little draw card. We had a lovely little table for two by a window in the left hand room as you enter the restaurant. The acoustics are not ideal, especially when you’re stuck near a table with a middle aged male from the UK who felt his anecdotes were so amusing he had to raise his voice to ensure everyone in the restaurant was subjected to his yawn inducing dialogue. Anyway on to the hospitality. The service is attentive without being intrusive. Although the restaurant was at full capacity and they had a second seating after ours, we didn’t have to wait too long between orders, and our champagne glasses were attended to without any prompting from us. We shared the chargrilled octopus with (in my opinion) completely superfluous chorizo, the octopus was delicious albeit a miniscule serving (2 weenie tentacles) - they probably felt the chorizo helped to pad out the dish. The Hapuka and the fillet of beef, as well as the cheese platter were all beautifully presented, flavoursome and delicious. The steak was cooked to perfection as requested, and was accompanied by a small puddle of sauce Bearnaise and a small bowl of double fried chips. The hapuka was flakey, perfectly baked in the oven and served on a bed of pearl barley. There were three cheese to follow the mains, a stunning blue, a hard Comte-like wedge and a soft Brie style, I wasn’t paying attention to how they were listed on the menu, but ask if you’re planning on ordering this. Everything was great and reasonably priced, I’d come back here in a heart beat next time I visit Wellington. Coupled with the extraordinary good weather for the third day in a row in Wellington, I don’t know what else one could...

Called up to make a late dinner booking around 8pm and the manager, Josh, was very friendly and accommodating. It wasn't a problem at all. I hadn't been to this restaurant in years so wanted to try it again. As soon as we walked in we were greeted at the door by friendly staff and the atmosphere was cosy, full and buzzing. We were asked to have a drink in the bar area while we wait for our table to become available. We didn't mind at all as the bar was great and the bar staff really friendly and chatty. One guy even looked like Ed Sheeran. When we were seated at our table the waiter noticed our table was wobbly, so he said he would sort it out and came back with a wedge to put under one of the legs instead of making us sort it out. We thought that was great customer service. We ordered the seared venison loins with sides of brussel sprouts with feta, and cooked corn kernels mixed with yummy flavours. I was in heaven and was blown away by the tenderness and flavour of the venison loin and the delicious vegetable sides. I hadn't eaten such a good European meal like that in a while. We were also served their absolutely amazing house-made sour dough bread, which is to die for. I even asked if they had any left that I could take home. Crispy on the outside and beautifully soft and fresh on the inside. I just wish they'd served that to us right at the start instead of with our main meal. I would highly recommend this restaurant for the atmosphere, food and service and located in such a cute old heritage cottage. I'm definitely...

Wow! We have been in New Zealand for over a month now, and this is one of the BEST meals that we have had during that time!

The restaurant is located in an old home, which makes for a lovely, intimate dining experience. Even though the restaurant was full the evening that we were there, we still had a very private dining experience.

We started with two cocktails--a New Zealand rosebud (vanilla vodka, cranberry and pineapple juice with passionfruit syrup and lemon juice for me--the bartender was nice enough to give me the recipe) and a gin, lemon & lime bitters and lemonade for my husband. The rosebud was the best cocktail I have ever had!

We had the chargrilled octopus with chorizo sausage for our starter. The octopus was grilled to perfect, and my husband loved the chorizo sausage with the octopus.

Then, we moved onto our main courses. I ordered the fish of the day, which was grouper that evening. It was served with barley, roasted sweetcorn and a crayfish bisque sauce, and my husband ordered the seared lamb loin, which was served with potatoes and sundried potato jus. Both the fish and the lamb were excellent. We also had the cauliflower gratin as a side dish to share and it was also delicious!

We chose the dark chocolate mousse as our dessert, which was a perfect ending to a perfect meal!

Service was friendly, attentive and informative, without being intrusive.

Boulcott Street Bistro should be on everyone's list if you are visiting or live in Wellington! I can almost guarantee that you will not be...