Ernesto’s — Restaurant in North Island

Normally pretty generous with reviews, even when the place is average we simply won't bother leaving one if it's not great. We eat out a lot around wellington and the world.

Essentially it's pricey and in a good location but fails to live up to it. Caveat is this is the only time we have been, so perhaps some of the issuesnwere simply an off-night here;

on arrival our table for two was lodged against a pillar. Both of our backs were to other tables forcing us to squeeze in, on the 3rd side was a tall table full of people. I literally had a guys arse at my face. We asked to move and were, so no problem there, but this should not be a paying table it needs to be removed from service.

service/waitstaff. Generally OK. Waitress forgot one of our drinks. Drinks took 15mins to come out, just ahead of entrees. Restaurant was only 50% occupancy and with Friday night staffing at 6.30pm this is too slow. Staff were friendly otherwise and there was one fellow sprinting around like a headless chook, so credit where it's due on that side. Likely a management and staffing issue. I'd hate so see what the state of affairs would have been if a few walk ins had turned up and filled the place out to say 75%

"Cuban set menu" which we came for was not available. Signature Spicy margarita was not available either (once again, early on a Friday - this is poor Restaurant management).

facilities. On the face of it, it looks the part. Toilets were poor though. Men's toilet main door was so worn the metal slider handle was so loose it was almost falling off/flapping around. The toilet cubicles themselves are worn, the locks on the doors are broken and old (they show both green and red occupied/empty at the same time, I tried a door and there was someone in there. I tried the other door that showed green and red also, and was open and empty). This is probably 2 - 3000$ to completely fix and a quick one at that, it's clearly been left and avoided- I'd expect this at a low range Courtney place bar.

entrées were reasonable. Fries, ceviche, prawns. Mains were average. Pork meal was dry and salty, covered with an overly sugar rich sauce, my partner couldn't finish it. Chicken dish - chicken was reasonable, couscous was undercooked clumped together and hard.

Overall it gives the impression that a business person/company has thrown some money at it and a manager and said "Cuban theme, limited money for Renovation, its in a prime location so farm the captive business/tourist market from the intercontinental hotel, GO!!" and walked away afterwards leaving it to its fate.

Not what wellington needs right now, especially at the welcome end of the capital and our "only 5 star hotel".... do...

Visited Ernesto’s recently having heard there was a new Cuban restaurant in the city. I have lived in Cuba previously and as my partner is Cuban (& authentic Latin/Caribbean food is scarce in New Zealand) we were excited to try it. As far as I know, the only Caribbean restaurant in Wellington is Three Little Birds, which serves Jamaican food and is run by a Jamaican family.

As for the restaurant itself, it is beautifully appointed, the service was spotless & the cocktails were good. Our meals were flavourful & well prepared. Hence the four stars.

However, we were left feeling really disappointed that there was no actual Cuban food on the menu. Classic dishes such as moros y cristianos, ropa vieja, picadillo de res, fried sweet plantains, sopa de frijol, which would feature in all Cuban menus - nothing was present. The menu had a bean soup on it but contained corn & chilli. Chilli very rarely makes an appearance in Cuban food.

Truly nothing on the menu was Cuban (apart from being translated into Spanish). The closest approximation would have been the croquettes. Croquettes are a common snack in Cuba & they were well prepared but interestingly enough made with lamb, which isn’t really used or available in Cuba. However my partner did love those (as he loves lamb).

Cuban food is delicious & diverse cuisine. and it definitely seemed like a missed opportunity not having actual Cuban food from the menu, in spite of the menu claiming to offer “La mejor comida cubana en el hemisferio del sur” (the best Cuban food in the Southern Hemisphere). I suspect that prize goes to an actual Cuban restaurant in South America run by a member of the Cuban diaspora.

I don’t mean to knock the restaurant or the owners - they have clearly tried hard to make it a pleasant dining experience & it is. It’s just the food not Cuban. Not even a little bit. And we were...

After half an hour I left this place, unimpressed and very disappointed at that absence of service. I arrived and ordered a beer. When my payment didn't appear to go through, I was told "...my card wasn't accepted their..." I was using Visa!? When the payment module eventually processed my payment...nothing was said. I found a table in the middle of all the diners and waited. After 11 minutes a friendly manager type gentleman came up to me and mentioned they had 2 types of oysters on offer so I asked for a menu, which he got for me and I congratulated him on the opening of his establishment. Then I waited. I counted 7 of the staff who walked right by me without any acknowledgement of me at all. Not a single wait staff came to offer service. So I left. Disappointed that this great new central city Bar ignored the lone patron who was wanting to try their food menu, and their drinks menu. Ernesto's, Thank you for the offer of a voucher but I wasn't looking for a shout. I was simply hoping for the courtesy of being acknowledged as a customer.

I know that you will work on ironing out the creases, and I'm sure my single review means nothing in the scheme of things.

I wish you all the best as we all know, your industry needs to be supported and to flourish for the sake of our community, the related stakeholders...