Chouchou — Restaurant in North Island

Great coffee, still finding their way with food and atmosphere.

Moderately friendly service with a touch of ‘I’d rather not be here’ by the lady who took my order.

Complementary sparkling water (but should really ask if still or sparkling is preferred)

Coffee was fantastic! As a decaf drinker, it’s often hit and miss and they smashed it out of the park.

I ordered Eggs florentine and the eggs were delightfully cooked to perfection. (No runny egg white, almost all the yolk was runny 👌)

However the hollandaise sauce was far from being anything close to hollandaise. Some kind of frothy green tasteless sauce covered my entire dish. And the spinach had not been drained adequately and water soaked my toasted croissant.

Having chosen to walk the waterfront and enjoy some quiet people watching with breakfast, I was somewhat surprised and very annoyed that the soft music being played on arrival was abruptly (and I mean abruptly!) changed within a few minutes of starting to eat to loud old pop music. Maybe in an attempt to catch the attention of passers by? (I was the only patron at the time). Spoilt the lovely waterfront atmosphere so I promptly downed my disappointing florentine and left.

Great location, just tickle up the...

Venue hire! Firstly the venue is beautiful to hire but there are lots of flaws to hiring this venue. I have followed up with the manager since my function and haven’t heard back which is pretty disappointing considering how much money we spent. Leading up to my function date the venue manager was not great at communicating, I had to go into the venue just to get a response once and then had to send follow up emails as they simply weren’t getting back to me for weeks. It is stressful planning a function and a lot of time and money goes into the process, I feel like the team at ChouChou didnt understand this. I planned everything myself, moved all the furniture the day of the function.

There was no communication amongst the staff as I was told my deposit would be used towards food and drinks, and then on the night being told the deposit was just to secure the room! Which was very stressful to be told mid function. Also months before the function I told/showed the microphone that would be available to use on the night, then when needed they not longer had one which I wasn’t informed of.

Honestly very disappointed with how the team handled things but the venue its self...

I was so pleasantly surprised by the new fit-out—it’s far more stylish than I expected. The food was on another level. I was thrilled to see Cordon Bleu on the menu (my all-time favourite), and it absolutely delivered. I can also confidently say this was the best steak I’ve had in Wellington. Prices are pretty standard for a central city spot.

The drinks menu really stands out! There are so many creative cocktails to choose from—the namesake house wine was excellent, and the espresso martini was just as good. They even offer a cocktail tree, which is such a fun touch.

I’ve also tried their cream-filled croissant, which was delicious, and I’ll definitely be back to sample the coffee menu—especially the beetroot latte that caught my eye.

P.S. Every table gets a basket of warmed bread with oil. How...