The Tote — Restaurant in Wellington

I had my big birthday event here at the tote, reserving one side of the building.

I’ll go through the negatives first to get that out the way. When I came in to decorate at 2pm (which was communicated with and authoritised by the events manager) when we came in at 2pm, we came into quite a mess from the previous nights event, being told that we were not allowed to touch one side of the room unless we cleaned the mess ourselves. I was shocked to find out after our event we were expected to clean up aswell, why it shooked me is because I was told that the crew working will take care of everything after the event and that everything left will be binned, also that we had to clean up the mess from the previous event left. My next complaint is that it wasn’t quite clear to me with how the ages/invites worked, I had a few young kids invited and young teens invited, while the children were let in the young teens weren’t which did confused me at first, and if some of my guest didn’t have Id they weren’t allowed in, but then after talking to the manager on (ginger bearded guy, sorry I forgot your name!!) he helped me understand their legal rules and regulations. My last complaint is there was one really rude lady/bouncer, while the rest of the staff was lovely this lady wasn’t, she was locking up all the side doors and I like guess why but I went up to ask just in case there was a different reasoning, I asked “will all my guest invited to my private function come through the main door with yous?” And she replied with her back facing me, walking away “yeah and”. I thought I missed heard so I asked the question again and she then turned around and replied “so”, both replies were clearly said in a rude tone, really didn’t appreciate the attitude as I was just trying to communicate with what’s happening so I can let my invited know. Now time for the positives, just wanted to say thank you to the crew (other then that one lady lol) they were lovely. Special thank you to Stacey (the events manager) she answered every question I had clearly, was really easy to talk to and communicate. Kept things real and honest but still room for leniency. She let me come in whenever I need to look at the room and worked well with my extra bookings. Thank you to Cody who was my middle man when I needed. And bigger thank you to Linsey who was my bar girl that night, she was awesome, kept the energy up that my guest had fun ordering, not a single complaint about drinks or service, she made sure people that weren’t invited weren’t allowed in, kept the room clean always from plates to empty cups. She had perfect communication with me, keeping me in the loop and asking questions on how I’d like the night to go. Overall my experience working with the tote was a 90% success, I’m really happy with how things turned out and I’d probably...

We ordered a selection of dishes via DoorDash, totaling $80. Unfortunately, the experience fell short of expectations.

Lamb Kofta The kofta arrived dry and noticeably overcooked, with a texture suggesting it may have been prepared earlier and reheated. The accompanying sauce was the highlight of the dish, offering the only element of flavour and balance.

Arancini The arancini were disappointing, with an interior that was mushy and lacking any discernible truffle flavour. The exterior was overcooked, which further detracted from the overall execution.

Chive Mashed Potato Presented as “chive mash,” this side was lumpy and under-seasoned. The presence of chives felt more like a garnish than a central flavour, leaving the dish unremarkable.

Buttermilk Chicken The chicken was served in very small slithers, overwhelmed by an excessive coating of batter. Unfortunately, the batter carried little seasoning, resulting in an unbalanced ratio of coating to meat and a lack of depth in flavour.

Overall Impression For the cost, the meal was underwhelming. While the menu suggested promise, the execution across multiple dishes left much to be desired in both...

Let me first start by saying - The crumbed camembert is THE best in town. Delicious, soft, not too much batter. The plum sauce that comes with it is a perfect complement to the dish.

Now, down to brass tax - The fish and chips my friend had were overcooked, the batter on the fish looked brown, due to either dirty oil or due to being burnt. He was disappointed.

The garlic/chilli bread (with parmesan) is VERY spicy, more chilli than anything else. It will blow your brains out. The fish bites were average.

Not many vegetarian options on the menu. I was disappointed my favourite vegetarian pizza is now gone.

Let's just say, you get what you pay for. Average price for average food. If you're after "fine dining", this isn't your place, but if you want food that's just fine, you will find it here. It's just...