hippopotamus restaurant & cocktail bar

i had been wanting to try the breakfast buffet for a long time, so hubby took me today for my birthday. it had been booked for weeks and the excitement had built. however, the experience was entirely underwhelming.

where do i start?

the hot food was contained in heavy iron dishes with lids. there was nowhere to sit the lids - i have arthritis in my arms and hands, so it was difficult to hold a plate, lift these lids, and scramble to find a spot to set them down. had i not been the only one there at the time, a traffic jam would've ensued.

there were no side plates for the pastries or toast.

there was an empty bottle of golden syrup on the buffet counter.

theteawas the most insipid i have ever had in my 53 years on this earth.

the scrambled eggs were watery and tasteless, probably due to being thinned down to maximise profit.

i expected a better selection that would rival that of chameleon. what was offered was bog-standard with no love. i get more joy from a mcmuffin!

it was so dark and the lights dimmed that another guest commented to me: "if we pull together we can buy them some light bulbs!"

the woman behind the counter when hubby went to pay did not utter one word - no 'how was your meal?', 'thank you' or 'have a nice day'.

$64 of hubby's hard-earned money wasted. not wanting to cause a scene on my birthday, he has written to management.

i came here for highteaand i was amazed at how beautiful this place was.

the service was amazing and the staff were really friendly.

i totally recommend this place for group gatherings and high tea!

we came here as a group for highteato celebrate a friends birthday and it was a really lovely place. the staff are wonderful and attentive, food and drinks were great and the decor is beautiful. i can't wait to come back!

i was staying with a friend at the qt museum hotel recently and we repeatedly ordered room service from here. though i really enjoyed what i had i found the sauces, chutney - smears/dollops of flavour on all of the dishes we received to be a shade overpowering. (i had a beef burger, my friend had ravioli and we shared brulee). the greenteawith the brulee was oddly strong, the chutney was too intense in flavour and spoiled the burger in my opinion, and the ravioli was ok, not amazing. my friend ordered a second round of ravioli and this was overcooked. presentation of all food was beautiful, and the quality of the ingredients was great, it was just flavours and execution were a bit ott. to be fair i need to dine in to really judge and will as i've heard lots of positive feedback from friends. i look forward to visiting in the future!

three of us dined here in early december for my wife's birthday, and the food and service could not be faulted, but the 'fine dining' experience that we had come for dropped from a 5 to a zero when the waiter cleared our desert plates and asked us if we could finish as soon as possible as they had other guests to seat. as it happened we were planning on leaving anyway, but too bad if we had wanted a coffee orteato finish. if we had wanted a rushed meal we would have gone to a fast food restaurant or booked in for their early evening specials (and as it was we had eaten reasonably quickly).

i came here for afternoontea with a friend. we were one of the last sittings but at no time felt rushed to finish. they were able to cater to me being a vegetarian, and the food the provided was delicious. i did worry at the time that i would be left hungry as it didn't seem like much but i was surprisingly full at the end. we were able to chose theteawe wanted and our cups  were constantly being refilled.

hippopotamus is my favourite fine dining restaurant in wellington, but what an odd choice for name.  i wonder where the inspiration came from.  when i think of hippopotamus, wilbur smith’s novel, the river god, comes to mind. it is a story of pharaohs, queens, the lush river nile, and of course, the story wouldn’t be complete without the the omniscient ancient eunuch, taita.  then again, egypt has nothing to do with hippopotamus as the head chef, laurent loudeac, is as french as they come.  laurent is classically trained in the traditional french method.  the food that he plates up beats any other french restaurant that i have been to.  although laurent is a chef de cuisine, he is also incredibly talented in creating dessert masterpieces, leading his team to win the coveted 2015 dilmah global highteachallenge.

my sister n husband suggested we visit the hippopotamus for after noon dessert. what a great suggestion love this place, very arty, light and inviting with the stylish chairs, mirrors and art works. we were welcomed to our seat and provided with menus. a small but delightful choice for dessert. i went with a selection taste plate type dessert while hubby got the pear in chocolate accompanied with nugart ice cream. teawas the drink of choice. well we were not disappointed, all were very well presented and my selection of 4 samples of just plain yum but enough to satisfy. the staff we attentive but respectful. very nice..we will so be back for dinner on our next visit to wellington.

had highteahere on saturday - have been here before for dinner so hopes were high. overall great! lovely service,teawas flowing frequently and great selection of treats. only lost the 0.5 as my partner specifically asked for no seafood and then was still served some - staff were understanding but no replacement was given.

lovely setting with perfect views and wonderful staff, feels very lush. we came for highteawith delightful treats and flowing tea.  nice as a little treat every once in a while.  wear a pretty frock and enjoy!

beautiful and luxurious afternoon tea. theteakept flowing and the food was top notch. excellent decadent treat if you've done some culture at te papa and need a treat.

went here for highteaand it proves to be popular. the service was very good and the miniatures very tasty. we also had cocktails that were enjoyable. the restaurant itself is a little quirky but cool. enjoyed my experience here and would definitely come again.

oh my lord.... what happened to this place?? went last weekend for high tea, and i am not sure how to rate this place now, because the food served for our highteawas simply a disgrace to "this use to be" must go place for high tea. the service was good, as expected for this place, and theteawas also good but not great. alas, once presented with our food, i was not sure if i was to be embarrassed for my choice of place, as one of my guest commented once the waiter left:" by the look of it, this reminds me london in the 70'", and it was not a great time for food there in the 70' let me tell you... there was no real efforts made for the high tea, most things presented looked either boring or premade sweets, the kind that you pull out of a box, add a little flower, and then voila, and there was no flavors to it, apart from either sugar or salt... but as much as you would have get away very easily in the 70' anywhere with that, the kitchen may need to be reminded that this is 2015, and this is well below the expectation anyone could have for this place. anyway, it's ok, there is a way better place that i recently found in wellington for high tea.so to sum things up, you may want to go for lunch or dinner, but i would not recommend this place for high tea, waste of money, time and great disappointment for your palate.

the hippopotamus is a beautiful and elegant setting for an afternoon tea. the kitchen staff were very accommodating to our group's dietary requirements which was a plus.
silver service (pouringteaat the table) is offered here, however we were overlooked sometimes and had to call upon wait staff to top up our teas.
overall it was a pleasant experience.

one of wellington's best!
i've dined here for lunch, dinner and highteaand it is definitely one of the city's best restaurants. the staff are warm and attentive. i've celebrated my mother's 60th here as well as my 40th and both times we had a wonderful time. i am allergic to dairy products and am gluten intolerant and nothing is ever a problem for the staff. a really terrific restaurant. if you get the chance to go make sure you do.