charley noble eatery & bar

returnedbackto my old home (and favourite city!) wellington for a few days so decided to try out a new-ish eatery in the city after hearing lots of great reviews.

an interesting space; located inside an old bank building, the restaurant was nice but lacked that high end ambience probably due to the windows being open (it was a cold night) and no candles or anything to make it feel warm and intimate.

service seemed a bit hit and miss from the get go. we were given menus (but not explained the specials, fish of the day etc) and had our drinks order taken after our food order. seemed disjointed and a bit disorganised - i also noticed that there were probably double the staff to customer ratio despite our earlier dining time. still, staff were pleasant and happy to help.

i ordered the scotch fillet - rare, with cafe de paris butter. as it came as meat only, i selected a separate side of brussel sprouts which came with ginger/maple glaze and bacon.

when the food arrived, i was instantly pleased that the chef had cooked the steak rare - and perfectly. so many times i find that perfect rare steak illusive. it always seems medium or the opposite, borderline blue. the steak at cn was perfectly rare and delicious. the cafe de paris butter however, was disappointing. the flavour of curry powder was so overpowering that i ended up scraping it off - what should have been a nice complement just didn't work.

the sprouts were pleasant - not as good as the depot (auckland) sprout dish but tasty. i didn't get much taste of the maple or ginger but it was a good side accompaniment to the steak.

my disappointment however would be that for a steak at $38 and a side at $7-9 - at a total of $47 for a main, every element should be perfectly executed and delightful including top notch service, ambience and even perhaps serve bread/butter beforehand like many high end establishments do.

cn fell slightly short in my expectations due to this - nice, but for that price needs to do a little more. bravo on the perfectly cooked steak though!

exceptional food, service and wine! every dish ordered was met with food envy from our table of 6! all photos taken on old phone that died unfortunately but i had the house hot pie with a side of fries and truffle aioli to die for and it was very tasty! presentation of all meals superb.
must gobackto have breakfast next time i’m in wellington.

one of the best meals out i've had in a while. the wait staff were all friendly, helpful and good at their job, even the people out thebackseemed to be enjoying their night. the place was busy, but our meals came out to us a lot faster than i anticipated and were beautifully presented. we shared the house smoked potted salmon and were given the option of having it as a starter or as a side with our mains, which was a nice touch and appreciated. we also chose the ravioli and charley noble burger for mains. the ravioli was one of the nicest i have eaten, and the burger didn't stay long on the plate either. the burger was served medium rare (the best way) but it was double checked with us that we were ok with this. we also ordered the strawberry and rhubarb tart, and the yoghurt panna cotta. both i would recommend. really good meal.

food was amazing!

staff were friendly, but a bit hit and miss. half the table got cutlery/ plates and the other half had to ask where theirs was...? similar with water, had to ask for top ups several times before the pouring became consistent.

100% would gobackfor a treat, tough!

i have wanted to eat here for a while but had been put off by the no reservations policy. as it turned out the place is large and there was no trouble getting a table.  the service was mostly good, a slight hiccup when our order went to another table, but it was sorted out fairly promptly.
i had the home made pasta with prawns and a light  tomato with chili sauce, it was superb, my companion had the prawns that were also pronounced superb.
i would definitely gobackas the food was outstanding, and despite being a large room you could opt for a booth and have a fairly intimate meal. the drinks list was extensive but we were disappointed to find that the headline cocktail was unavailable.

visiting from melbourne, our party of four were very underwhelmed by our dinner experience here last friday night. the service was almost non-existent - having to ask to have our water glasses refilled shouldn't be necessary. the menu offered a good range of options and the starters (such as my bruschetta) were fine - without being very innovative or memorable. two of our group had 'aged' sirloin steaks for mains which were  grisly and certainly not the tender piece of age beef we expected for the premium $38 price tag. to add to the disappointment we then had to order sides at $9 each. surely its not too much to ask to expect some modest accompaniments when paying a premium price for essentially a 300g slab of meat? at least the turkish delight for desert was a tasty finish but i won't be rushingback. great location and good vibe but charley noble should do much better.

our entree and main course meet our expectations for the night. however all bar one the waitering staff were terrible, our beer and cocktails of choice were unavailable and the dessert was an absolute disappointment. would not gobackor recommend to anyone.

simply beautiful delight.

welcoming staff. warm atmosphere. real tasty foods. nice bar. organized set up. only thing disappointed me was there was no seats next to their awesome open kitchen.

we ordered prawn & crab bisque with brandy cream with breads on side, woodfire grilled lamb shoulder, and their black charley noble burger.

prawn & crab bisque with brandy cream. strong crab and prawn taste with little bit smoke flavor. consistency is perfect. melt in our mouth. with bread. my gosh. we still talking about this dish the following day with our chef friends.

charley noble burger. pickles, patty, buns, sauce. every single things on that place kept pleasing us. we were actually so full already when we half way through. but we managed to kill it all. cuz we will never waste such a a good burger. chips been taken care well too.

woodfire grilled lamb shoulder. pickle in the bottom with perfectly cooked sliced lamb shoulder meat on top. finished with yogurt and garnish. sided with pumpkin sauce garnished with pumpkin seeds. talented dish. beautiful presentation. balanced so well on plate. heavy meat with tiny bit sweet & sour pickles and yogurt. creamy sauce with crispy roasted seeds. nice.

but we ordered coffee latte. honestly, coffee really needs to be improved. very average. no presentation. milk emollience is just ok.

i will definitely comebackand introduce this restaurant to all my friends.

amazing restaurant.
loved the fresh food, drinks that complemented the dishes unbelievably well, bustling atmosphere, friendly service and knowledgeable staff. the open kitchen adds a level of professionalism and honesty as well as style to the modern yet classy decor. 
cannot fault the extensive drinks list nor the food menu. loved our choices in dishes - the fresh oysters and cured salmon for entree which were light and refreshing. market fish and lamb shoulder for mains, which were denser with bolder flavours and on point! the presentation as well as flavours were perfect.
cannot wait to gobackand try the other dishes, although i don't know if i can help myself from not ordering the market fish again. 5/5.
thank you for having us :)

went here on thursday night not realising wow was on across the road. got there just before 6pm and scored the last table. service was very friendly, no attitude, just decent and genuine service. i had pappardelle with duck ragu which was lovely. my cousin had snapper with mussels and clams - she said it was really nice. didn't have dessert - couldn't fit it in after the pasta but had a look at the menu, it all looked nice enough. nothing there to make me change my mind and try to squeeze it in though. we each had 2 glasses of wine (greywacke chardonnay and an argentinean malbec) and a coffee and total bill came to $120 which i thought was really good for the buzzing atmosphere, good service and quality of food. the only thing i would change was the configuration of the tables - wait staff constantly weaving their way around us and even colliding with each other as they move about. felt like we were kind of in the way of where they needed to go. maybe just our table of 2 (up thebacknear the bar).

it was my partners birthday and we chose charley noble to celebrate; which, we were both quite excited about as neither of us had been before - and we'd read good things.

the restaurant has a great look and feel; large windows, big open space, nice decor with some stylish industrial pieces and an open kitchen; all making this a pretty cool spot. the bar hosts several craft beers on tap too which is always a bonus.

we arrived about 5.20pm. there were only a couple of other tables occupied. come 6.00pm, the place was filling up quickly. we started with a drink, 285ml emerson’s pilsner ($10) and a glass of champagne ($18). both very nice indeed as we perused the menu.

for start we ordered the chicken liver parfait ($14.00). nicely presented in a jar on a wooden board. it came with six small, thin pieces of bread which worked well with flavours of the parfait, keeping it the focus of the dish.

the bread didn't last long and we were almost out; the passing waitress noticed and offered us more bread, we accepted. what we didn't realise (although suspected) was that we had to pay for it. $4.00 for six more pieces. it wasn't the cost, but the principle as we were offered the bread, we didn't order it - big scheme of things, not a big deal though.

the parfait was nice but it lacked something - a depth of flavour perhaps. but it was an enjoyable start to our meal.

we ordered two glasses of the marqués de riscal reserva, rioja, to have with our mains ($28.00) - it was quite heavy but thoroughly enjoyable. a good choice.

next were the mains, we both ordered a wood fired rotisserie dish; pork belly ($33.00) and lamb shoulder ($34.00). we also ordered sides; truffle fries ($9.00) and french peas ($9.00).   

my partner had the lamb. she found it a bit fatty and bland - overall average. i tried a bit myself but couldn't really taste it because of the issues i was having with my pork belly.

first bite of the pork belly was extremely salty. quite overpowering. the waitress passed and asked how our meal was going. i said 'fine thanks' as i felt it was too early to judge as it could've been just that piece of the crackling that was over seasoned. so i persisted hoping that it would improve but unfortunately it didn't. the meat and crackling were over seasoned throughout - a real shame.

the next time the waitress passed i mentioned it was too much and i couldn't eat anymore. she apologised and offered to replace it with another portion but by then the salt had killed my appetite and i didn't want a repeat experience, so i declined stating 'thank you, but i'm kinda over the dish'.

i was then offered a free desert and for them to clear the table - which was a nice gesture, but it left me thinking; 'so, i have to pay for this dish even though it was inedible?' - i said i 'wasn't feeling that hungry right now but would think about it (a desert)' - i didn't want to make a decision right there and then.

about five minutes later the waitress returned with a take away box with some complimentary 'sweet treats' to take away, saying: 'i know you're not feeling that hungry so here's something to take away'. this again was a nice gesture but it missed the point. i wanted to make my own decision but it was made for me. we did want a desert, so we shared a panna cotta, which, we later found out, we had to pay for. so my free desert wasn't free after all. i appreciate she was trying to help, but it didn't work.

the sweet treats were a couple of marshmallows, some dark chocolate and toffee popcorn.

the caramel panna cotta ($16.00) was a welcome dish taking the taste of salt away from my palette. however, it was a bit too fussy. as my partner commented, 'i don't see why it needs cream on it', it also had chocolate crumble sprinkled over it - it was a nice desert but would have been much better if it was simpler.

there were some high points to the meal, but also some low points. when i went to pay the bill, it was for the full amount - my main at full price and the desert wasn't free after all. i paid for everything (all up $174.00) as i didn't make a fuss as it was my partner's birthday.

to be fair, the service was good, the ambiance and music are great and if you experience no issues with your meal you will have a great night here, but we left feeling disappointed.

the next morning i still felt that it wasn't right. so i called up and left a message for the manager. to their credit they called mebackthat day and i spoke with the duty manager, and passed on my feedback. he passed my comments onto his manager and they chose to compensate me - i didn't necessarily expect that, but it was a great gesture offered in good faith, for which i was very appreciative.

the point i'm trying to make here is that things do go wrong sometimes, but the important part is how they are dealt with that makes the difference - i was happy with the way they professionally rectified the situation.

because of this i will return to charley noble, and look forward to a better experience.

well, sadly not impressed when i visited this place. i must admit that i have visited it about 6 months ago, so perhaps i should pay them a visit again, but the experience for lunch was not great. i do hope however that they have improved, but in a nutshell, for a start, the wine we ordered was no longer available, and a more recent year was offered instead, although, it could not have been the same wine, we were charged the same price. our main were ok, but the desserts were very average, and so was the service. another thing that annoyed me was the fact that i have noticed that a staff member who got changed camebackto the kitchen to have a chat with his colleagues, in civil clothes. i think that a professional kitchen should be treated as such, and not a come and go as you please area for various reasons. anyway, i may go back, or not, since wellington as much to offer.

we too were here on saturday night. we were prepared for a long wait but were keen to dine here. we checked in at the front of house and were advised of a 90 to 120 minute wait. with that in mind we snuck off to bin 44 across the road for a couple of drinks and some light snacks.
we poppedbackto cn about 90 minutes later and were second in the queue so had a glass of wine at the bar.
finally seated we ordered some starters and mains. the food was fantastic. bruchetta to start then onto mains...
burgers - fantastic
market fish - delicious
lamb shoulder - outstanding
unable to resist we also had a couple of deserts which we also demolished.
yes the wait is bad but we knew that going. great food and we will beback(perhaps a little earlier in the evening to reduce the wait!)

absolutely delicious! this place is constantly booked out and the atmosphere is electric! love it. pork belly is worth a try. great wine list too. would gobackno qualms.

a group of us went to charley noble today for wellington on a plate lunch.  it was 2 courses (from a 3 course menu) and a beverage for $35. as a meeting was scheduled at late notice we were needing to be served promptly so we could getbackto work.  to assist the restaurant we prepared a list of what we would like to eat by course - this was clearly set out in the piece of paper i handed the waitress.  this request was ignored (i was served early rather than with the group) and the waitress proceeded to serve us by menu so people without starters were left waiting until the mains were served and people who selected starter and main were left waiting for desserts to be eaten.  so despite the group having 2 courses we were served our courses as if we were having a  3 course meal.  when a starter and my main appeared (and no one else's food) i reiterated our request, the waitress was very aggressive and unpleasant advising our request wasn't clear enough for her.  she made no effort to apologise or to resolve the situation. the wine- half a glass of a nice pinot gris.  the food.  most of the table (5) of us had the fish.  servings were small, but more disappointing was that the fish was overcooked - this was agreed by all who had the yellow brick fish of the day.  the dessert was the saviour of the lunch.  the dark chocolate mousse - it was delicious and beautifully presented. overall for $35 the lunch was overpriced and the customer service needs alot of improvement.