t-Lounge by Dilmah — Restaurant in North Island

I had the pleasure of dining at T-Lounge on a recent visit to Wellington where I had the Hopper meal along with one of my favourite teas, the T-Kitsch. A perfect slice of Sri Lankan Ribbon cake later rounded out a truly delicious meal that brought back memories of a home cooked meal in Sri Lanka. This is the latest in a number of visits to this lovely place that is always a “must-do” when in Wellington. It is a place full of warm, generous Sri Lankan hospitality and an amazing array of authentic, delicious Sri Lankan food and truly interesting fusion dishes, all paired with the iconic Dilmah teas.

Living in Melbourne, we are currently experiencing a palpable excitement generated around Sri Lankan food and its unique and diverse offerings, from exposure on Australian MasterChef by the inspirational Savindri Perera, one of three semi-finalists and by the opening of several new restaurants serving authentic Sri Lankan food around the city. Many Australian friends who have visited Sri Lanka and sampled our cuisine seek to recreate those experiences in Melbourne, and it’s such a pleasure to be able to make recommendations to places that guarantee the authenticity of our food.

The Dilmah T-Lounge offers the same authenticity and diversity of Sri Lankan food in Wellington and is a place I am delighted to recommend to anyone in New Zealand. From the traditional, flavorsome curries and sambols that accompany perfectly crisp hoppers or egg gothamba roti, the array of Lankan sweet delights (the Ribbon Cake is my personal favourite), the innovative use of traditional ingredients in modern dishes ( the waffle with Jackfruit a perfect example) to the delicious morsels of traditional and fusion cuisine served for High Tea, the T-Lounge team create a perfect harmony between the traditional and modern to showcase Sri Lankan food to the NZ community.

Well done to the T-Lounge team for creating a focus on Sri Lankan food in a myriad exciting ways; my sincere hope is that this unique experience continues to be shared with every curious diner in NZ seeking to sample the authenticity, diversity and sheer deliciousness that is Sri...

I booked an 11am high tea (for my 10 year olds birthday) for 4 and a la carte for 3 which we had today - 11 March 2023. Our booking had been adjusted to 12.30pm due to a conflicting large booking - which should have been a warning to me. I am not someone that gives negative reviews often and I always provide positive feedback in person when I feel it’s due.

Our table’s experience today was simply dreadful. From the loud, forthright and rude staff member who ‘looked after us’ to large whole sections of the menu not being available (whole sweet waffle list, over half of the entrees and the same for dessert options - cakes and such) to excessive waits on drinks, food and the overall level and quality of service - the only positive thing I can say is some of our food was lovely.

My older daughter is vegetarian and had very limited choices. Also buffalo curd and some other weird option was being pushed as it was clearly all they had an abundance of. I have had a better experience at the t-lounge previously albeit with long wait times.

Our waitress told us “I’m only working with the information available to me and this isn’t the fault of front of house staff”. This person should not be working in the service industry in my view. Having family members in this space they were appalled when we relayed our experience. These types of comments continued during our whole 2.5 hours.

Our drinks were cleared when they were not finished (this particularly upset my 10 year old daughter who was the birthday girl) and my plate taken away as I was having my last mouth full. Our waitress told me what drink I was having rather than the other way around and constantly interrupted me.

I do think the owners and senior staff want a high quality experience. And are proud of their business. My advice is do better, train staff to be respectful and please train them and the overall operations to run to a schedule that has the menu items available and delivers drinks and food to an acceptable time frame.

I will not...

Went for a mother’s day high tea and wouldn’t recommend at all. If I could give zero stars I would.

Since the beginning the service was really bad. They were rushing us since we got there and making clear we only had limited time to be there. We were celebrating a special moment with friends and were constantly reminded that we had to leave at certain time. I just didn’t feel welcomed and that they wanted us to be there.

We informed them of dietary requirements prior when we made the booking over the phone, on the day they didn’t have it noted down and said we didn’t inform the dietaries.

The food was average, nothing spectacular. Way too expensive for what they offered.

Lastly, when we went to pay they informed us that they cannot take more than 3 payments (????). I have never seen this before! We were 10 friends and one ended up paying over $400 as they could not split the payment so we could all pay individually. What kind of service is this? They should have at least let us know about this in advance. They didn’t forget to mention multiple times that we had to leave, but of course forgot to mention about the payment policy. Poor service.

There are many other places in Wellington you should go before even considering this restaurant.

Do not recommend and will not...