charley noble eatery & bar

returned back to 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 ofgreatreviews.

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!

have eaten here a few times now and it's currently the best meat restaurant in wellington. dined here as a group and had a wide selection of the menu- all excellent, and dined as a couple at the kitchen bar. what a fantastic experience. probably the best kitchen in wellington. loved all the side dishes, the desserts and especially the delicious meats. agreatbar too with yummy cocktails. my husbands favourite, the oysters and rib eye, mine the arancini, corn and the lamb. only disappointment was that it was closed for a private function one night when we got there!

visited in early may 2016. french waiter had been in nz for 1 month. amazing service! food was incredible.greatto see such an open kitchen. a pure delight. serrious props to the waiter!

i had the duck and it was delish!greatatmosphere, eventhough it was quite busy it was quieter than most busy restaurants. my dessert; while nice....just was weird. it had funny textures and flavours. some sort of trifle.

very popular eatery/bar based in a lovely old building near the wharf. happy to prop at the bar until table was ready (quick at 10 mins considering how busy it was). delicious pasta had by both of us & agreatchoice of wines. helpful & friendly waitress (with green hair) who gave further tips on places to see.

very popular place. staff are knowledgeable and friendly. very good food andgreatpresentation. all four of us were impressed. keep up thegreatservice.

had dinner here last friday and it was agreatexperience. staff were very polite and accommodating. the restaurant was full but they seated us at the raw bar which looks into the kitchen. this was a buzz of activity. being a big foodie it was such an awesome experience to have front row seats. price wasgreatfor what we got. only downside was the cabbage served with my duck main was very strong and overpowering, having less on the plate or toning the intensity down would have been perfect.

overall agreatexperience. would give a 4.5 if i could.

when prepping to go to charley noble, every time i mentioned it, i was met with a "oh i love that place" or "i really want to go there". as you can imagine, i had high expectations.

i am gluten free so the fact they have a whole menu for us g.f. folk is great. makes ordering a lot easier and less awkward.

the food was beautiful. unlike fine dining places, the portions are huge so i skipped the entree so i could have dessert. if you're not a massive eater at home, i would suggest doing the same as fitting in three courses may be a mission.

the service was great. we had a lovely waitress on a work visa from michigan. she wasgreatto chat and have a laugh with. water glasses were always full, empty plates were cleared quickly and you always feel like someone is keeping an eye on you to check you're ok.

the beer was a bit on the pricey side for the size but i guess that means they won't get any riff raff.
the decor is new stl.

only criticism i have is not being able to book a table in advance but i do understand how it will create additional revenue so people sitting at the bar when waiting for a table...i just like to be organised and have places booked!

we grabbed dinner here on a friday night and it was busy. you should definitely book! the food was awesome i loved my burger,greatflavours and super filling!

went there last week and got a table straight away. the service from a visiting young man from
france was personal and attentive. excellent lamb shoulder and divine cauliflower dish .greatnight.

great service, good wine list, a menu with good variety and one of the best steaks in town. tonight i started with bluff oysters, followed by the ribeye with a side of truffle fries (perfect combo) and finished with a strawberry soft serve in a waffle cone.greatmeal at one of the best restaurants in wellington.

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 rushing back .greatlocation and good vibe but charley noble should do much better.

charley noble is one of my favorite places to go in wellington. their arancini balls are fantastic. service is great. all roundgreatplace.

many people have recommended coming here for dinner so we finally did on a sat evening in early january and were able to get a seat. the restaurant was really busy but the service was pretty quick. i asked for sparkling water and my partner a tap water. out comes a 750ml bottle! often waitresses will let you know the size if it’s only 1 of you drinking it but this waitress didn’t. had i known, i would’ve ordered something more exciting than spend $11 on a bottle of water as they had some interesting non-alcoholic drinks on the menu. this was more than an alcoholic drink! i ordered a small size of the duck ragu pappardelle which was tasty but not amazing for the price you pay. my partner enjoyed his steak with béarnaise sauce. they said they would bring out a selection of mustards to go with the steak but this never arrived. we shared a sesame slaw which was really tasty and had an orange flavour to the dressing and some chips with aioli which were nice but not as good as they could’ve been. overall, not asgreatas i was expecting.

an early dinner for two after a long day. we were seated quickly despite a full bar. a delectable red was suggested by the friendly waitress and eagerly taken up on a cold wellington evening. the entrees arrived quickly but not before the after work drink was savoured. superb pumpkin ravioli with amaretto pine nuts and burnt butter sauce. the amaretto added a delicious dimension. the fried sage and pine nuts gave a fabulous textural element. every mouthful perfectly balanced. mr c declared the chicken sausage and mushroom risotto rich and flavoursome. steak with pepper sauce came next. tender and beautifully seared. the sauce smooth and rich but perhaps lacked a little punch. delicious asparagus with hazel nuts. needed a little acidity which i stole from the husband's tomato and basil salad (a little heavy on the oil a little more acidity would have been better). mr c's battered fish fresh, but a little plain.greatservice attentive and friendly. would definitely go again and hopefully soon.