Rosella — Restaurant in Wellington

We were told by some self-described foodies that Rosella was the best restaurant in Wellington. So we were arriving with very high expectations. We were not disappointed! Absolutely could not fault this experience. We were greeted quickly and introduced to the menu by our friendly server. He gave us recommendations and we chose a wine flight of different types of Pinot Noirs. We chose the luxe “Just Feed Me” option. I explained an annoying food sensitivity that I have and the server had a discussion with the chef about it and accommodated me without making me feel like a nuisance. The wine was delicious and interesting. The dishes that came out were, one after another, the most flavoursome and divine things. The oysters were perfect, the beef carpaccio was incredible, the lamb succulent, even the carrots were spectacular. The raw fish was amazing. (oh how I wanted something to soak up the sauce on every dish). We were so full and happy and delighted. The dessert was a rich chocolate tart with an espresso cream that went together perfectly. I absolutely could not eat another bite. The atmosphere was relaxed but refined, the music was at the right level, and we never felt rushed along even though we were there for 3 hours! We were planning our next visit while we were still there. I will be talking about Rosella...

Rosella is going to be one of the most frequented drinking and eating spots in Wellington very soon.

The venue is cosy and modern scattered with wine bottles and pleasant modern tables. I would recommend a booth for taller people or parties of 3+

The food is well priced for a fine dining experience, beautifully presented and well executed food with the perfect levels of sweet, sour, umami as well as texture. The wine selection is vast and well known by the servers who can pinpoint your prefered wine with a description of the notes of flavours you wish to try.

The wines are portioned well with fresh with complex flavours and all match well with the food. The portions are small sharing tapas style but are flavoursome regardless of size.

I would recommend the pickled mussles with wasabi aioli, and the Lamb Skewers as a must try. The pacific oysters had a fantastic bite and did not have a dreadfully briney ocean flavour (This is from a oyster hater so I've been converted)

Overall it is a wonderful experience. From the servers to the chefs a wonderful dining experience for a early birthday.

We had 4 wines and 6 items from the menu for a...

You know when you arrive, you’re gonna enjoy the whole event and it did not disappoint.

Fantastic decor and design from top to bottom. We were a bit early, so we started off upstairs at the bar, Oliver looked after us until our table was ready and he made me an exquisite Tommy’s Margarita, best I’ve had in a while.

Fantastic sized menu with lots of snacks and bites, we made our way through a lot of them (too many to detail). Smoked tomato toast, wagyu tartare, pickled mussels, lamb belly all stand out. Settled on braised beef cheek with zucchini and Brussels for mains as suggested by our server and wow what a combo.

Finely curated wine list also helped move us through our dinner with top suggestions from Tim.

We couldn’t settle on one dessert so had 3, olive oil torta was sensational. Chocolate cake #3 was decadent and moreish and a very surprising tiramisu rounded it out.

We had a brief chat with Caleb, Head Chef and he explained a bit about the business and how they source locally where possible or the best NZ produce available and you could taste that...