Magic Kitchen — Restaurant in North Island

“The magic was Ho-Hum” What I liked: Peering in through the window, all I could see were asian people dining. The restaurant looked spacious, warm and clean. It had diners but didn't look too busy.

What I didn't like: Once seated, looking up at the ceiling - a forest of plastic plants. Decades of dining has taught me to be wary of restaurants with plastic plants and this place almost had as much per square meter as the Amazon Jungle. Oh oh!

The menu was extensive along with blackboard specials and a further laminated card with specials. Too much really. Why do Chinese restaurants do this?

The food came out disjointed, bits of our order appearing in-between lengthy gaps mean't one diner sat twiddling thumbs on his mobile phone while the other 2 diners were eating. In the end we had to prompt the counter for the dish.

My rice congee dish came out so scorching hot, I had to let it sit there for 30minutes to cool down. A mention to the Boss Man as he walked past, didnt help. He said some people like their congee really hot. Oh yeah sure, then off to hospital for 2nd degree burns in their mouth. So that's as far as that 'complaint; got with Boss Man. In the end, the cooling down wait wasn't worth it, the congee was watery and lacked flavour.

The rest of the dishes we ordered were just average. You know, okay to eat, no complaints but that maybe you could make it better at home sort of thought.

End of meal, go to settle account and Boss Man is ready to receive. No 'how was everything' service, more like let me add this bill up service. Then I notice a little sticky taped note on the till "credit card minimum $20 and 3% surcharge" Dang another 3%. So I pull out cash to settle. I am sure I noticed Boss Mans eye twinkle as he presses the No Sale button on the till and stuffs my hard earned belonging into the draw.

Dang maybe I should have charged Boss Man a 15% surcharge discount for the GST content.

The magic was a trick, the plants are for real, and there are heaps of restaurants to choose...

I don't usually write restaurant review but I feel I need to write this one because the Magic Kitchen is so under-appreciated and there are some unfair comments here.

In one sentence : This is simply the best Chinese restaurant in town!

Taking into account the cozy environment and friendly service, I'd even say that this is among my top ten favourite Cantonese restaurants in the world. That means a lot because I am a Chinese grown up in Hong Kong, and I regularly visit cities like Toronto, Vancouver, New York, Melbourne and Sydney where you can easily find more fancy, expensive Chinese food.

I believe that those reviewers who gave a low rating are not Chinese/Cantonese and hence do not know how to appreciate real Cantonese food. This is understandable because most Chinese restaurants in Wellington do not serve authentic Chinese food and hence locals get the wrong impression that good Chinese food is defined by dim sum dishes served in yum cha places.

Magic kitchen is a restaurant that serves authentic Cantonese food. If you are from southern china, you should definitely try it. Trust me, you will definitely like the food there. For dinner, the best dishes are Steam blue cod and Whole duck in three styles. Very good quality and cheaper than other restaurants like Regal and Dragon. You should better call in advance to order. For lunch or breakfast, I would recommend Soy Sauce Chicken, Meat Patty and Salty fish in clay pot, Chicken congee and Beef brisket with rice noodle rolls.

Again these are authentic Cantonese food, so I can imagine that these might not be ideal choices for a non-Chinese who is a bit risk averse. In that case, I would recommend Olive and egg white fried rice, Rice noodle soup with roasted duck (for lunch), Pan fried fish with ginger and spring onion (for dinner). These are safe choices with very good quality.

Finally, while the owner and his wife are not fluent English speakers, they are very kind people and are passionate about food. Chat with them I'm sure you...

Recommended to this place by a friend and was not disappointed. Been here a few times :) The food is delicious and authentic- ordered the beef brisket in clay pot, egg fried rice, Chinese broccoli and siew mai for dinner (yes dim sum is also an option during dinner time!). The menu offers a wide range of dishes from Canton province style, to Malaysian bak kut teh, to Singaporean noodles! So many choices :) I’ve also ordered the 3 dish Peking duck on a different night- which includes the peking duck with pancakes, duck soup and duck stir fry for 3 people- it was delicious and enough to feed 5!

The gentleman that served us is lovely, friendly and a pleasure to talk to. However the lady was a little rude and pushy like she wanted us out of the door fast- customers flow in and out consistently throughout the evening but was never over capacity to warrant her behaviour.

Overall experience, because the food has always been great I would definitely come back to try the other dishes, e.g. hot pot, congee, hor fun, etc! FYI the restaurant does not hold an...